Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Hart Fellows, James McCrosky, Josiah Parrott, John Scripps, George H. Scripps, Adams Dunlap, Rensselear Wells, William E. Withrow, O. M. Houghland, William H. Ray, George Nelson, Micaiah Warren, Thomas Goodwin, and all other persons who may hereafter become members of this company in the manner herein prescribed, be, and they are hereby, incorporated and made a body politic, by the name of “The Schuyler County Mutual First Insurance Company,” for the purpose of insuring their respective dwelling-houses and other buildings, with their contents, against loss or damage by fire, whether the same shall happen by accident, lightning, or by any other means excepting that of design in the insured, or by the invasion of an enemy, or insurrection of the citizens of this or any of the United States or Territories; and by that name may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, appear, prosecute, and defend in any court of record or other place whatever; may have and use a common seal; may purchase and hold such real and personal estate as may be necessary to effect the object of their association, and they may sell and convey the same at pleasure; may make and establish, and put in execution, such by-laws, ordinances, and resolutions, not being contrary to the laws of this State, as may seem necessary or convenient for their regulation and government, and for the management of their affairs; and do and execute all such acts and things as may be necessary to carry into full effect the purposes intended by this act.

Sec. 2. All and every person and persons who shall at any time become interested in said company by insuring therein, and also their respective heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, continuing to be insured therein, as hereinafter provided, shall be deemed and taken to be members thereof for and during the time specified in their policies and no longer, and shall at all times be included and bound by the provisions of this act.

Sec. 3. There shall be a meeting of the said company at Rushville, in the said county of Schuyler, on the first Monday in the month of June annually, or on such other day as the said company may hereafter determine; at which shall be chosen, by a major vote of the members present, a board of directors consisting of not more than nine nor less than five members, who shall continue in office until others shall have been chosen and accepted the trust in their place and stead. All vacancies happening in said board may be filled by the remaining members until the next annual meeting, and a majority of the whole number shall constitute a quorum for

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the transaction of business. Special meetings of the company may be called by order of the directors, or in such manner as the by-laws thereof may have prescribed.

Sec. 4. The board of directors shall superintend the concerns of said company, and shall have the management of the funds and property thereof, and of all matters and things thereunto relating, not otherwise provided for by said company. They shall have power, from time to time, to appoint a secretary, treasurer, and such other officers, agents, and assistants, as to them may seem necessary, and to prescribe their duties, fix their compensations, take such security from them as they may deem necessary for the faithful performance of their respective duties, and may remove them at pleasure. They shall determine the rates of insurance; the sum to be insured on any building not exceeding three-fourths of its value, and the sum to be deposited for their insurance thereof. They shall order and direct the making and issuing of all policies of insurance; the providing of books, stationery, and other things needful for the office of said company, and for carrying on the affairs thereof; and draw upon the treasurer for the payment of all losses which may have happened, and for the expenses incurred in transacting the concerns of said company. They shall elect one of their own members to act as president, and may hold their meetings monthly or oftener, if necessary, for the transaction of the business of the company, and shall keep a record of their proceedings.

Sec. 5. Every person who shall become a member of said company, by effecting insurance therein, shall, before he receives his policy, pay into the treasury such a per centum, in money, on the property insured as the directors shall actually require to defray his proportion of the necessary expenses of transacting the business of said company for one year and no more; and annually thereafter such further sum as may be required during the current year for the same purpose; and he shall also, before he be permitted to receive his policy, deposite with the treasurer of said company his promissory note for the balance of the premium for the term of years for which his property shall have been insured; which note, together with the amount paid annually in money as provided above, shall constitute his proportion of the capital stock of said company; and for the payment of which, should any loss or damage happen by fire to the property insured in and with said company by any member thereof during the period for which he shall have insured, he shall be held liable for his proportion of such loss or damage forever; and any member neglecting or refusing to pay his proportion of such loss or damage, (and due notice having been given, and assessment made upon him for the same by the constituted authority of said company,) may be prosecuted against by suit, instituted in the name of said company, in any court of record or other

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place whatever; and any member so neglecting or refusing to pay such assessment, or his or her annual proportion of the expenses of said company as hereinbefore provided, shall cease to have his property insured therein until the day on which he shall make such payment, and no allowance or alteration in the time of his next payment will be made. Should any member neglect or refuse to pay such assessment for one year after they shall have become due and payable, his right to the benefit of the capital stock of said company shall be forfeited.

Sec. 6. That in case of any loss or damage happening to any member upon property insured in and with said company, the said member shall give notice thereof in writing to the directors, or some one of them, or to the secretary of said company, within thirty days from the time such loss or damage may have happened; and the directors, upon a view of the same, or in such other way as they may deem proper, shall ascertain and determine the amount of such loss or damage; and if the party suffering is not satisfied with the determination of the directors, the question may be submitted to referees, or the said party may bring an action against said company for loss or damage, at any court to be holden in and for the said county of Schuyler, within one year from the time of such loss or damage, and not afterwards; and if, upon the trial of said action, a greater sum shall be recovered than the amount determined upon by the directors, the party suffering shall have judgment therefor against said company, with interest thereon from the time said loss or damage happened, and costs of suit; but if no more be recovered than the amount determined by the directors as aforesaid, the said party shall become non-suit, and the company shall recover their costs: Provided, however, That no execution shall issue on any judgment against said company until after the expiration of three months from the rendition thereof.

Sec. 7. The said company may make insurance for any term not exceeding seven years; and any policy of insurance issued by said company, signed by the president and counter-signed by the secretary, shall be deemed valid and binding on said company in all cases.

Sec. 8. The directors shall settle and pay all losses within three months after they shall have been notified as aforesaid, unless they shall judge it proper within that time to rebuild the house or houses destroyed, or repair the damages sustained, which they are hereby empowered to do, in convenient time: Provided they do not lay out and expend in such building or repairs more than the sum insured on the premises. No allowance is to be made, in estimating damages in any case, for guilding, historical, or landscape painting, statue or carved work, nor are the same to be replaced if destroyed by fire.

Sec. 9. If any alteration shall be made in any house or building by the proprietor thereof, after insurance has been made thereon by said company, whereby it may be exposed to greater risk or hazard from fire that it was at the time it was insured, then and in every such case the insurance made upon such house or building shall be void, unless an additional premium and payment after such alteration be settled with and paid to the directors; but no alteration or repairs in buildings, not increasing such risk or hazard, shall in anywise affect the insurance previously made thereon.

Sec. 10. If insurance on any house or building shall be and subsist in said company and any other office, or from and by any other person or persons at the same time, the insurance made in and by said company shall be deemed and become void, unless such double insurance subsists with the consent of the directors signified by endorsement on the back of the policy, signed by the president and secretary.

Sec. 11. If it shall ever happen that the stock of said company shall not be sufficient to pay all the losses occasioned by fire, then and in such case the sufferers insured by said company shall receive, towards making good their losses, a proportionable dividend of the said whole stock according to the sums by them respectively insured.

Sec. 12. The directors shall never require assessments which shall make the funds of the company exceed three per cent. on the amount of property insured.

Sec. 13. The said Hart Fellows, James McCrosky, Josiah Parrott, John Scripps, George H. Scripps, Adams Dunlap, Rensselear Wells, William E. Withrow, O. M. Hougland, W. H. Ray, George Nelson, Micaiah Warren, Thomas Goodwin, or either two of them, may call the first meeting of the members of said company, at any suitable time and place in Rushville aforesaid, by advertisement in any newspaper printed in the county of Schuyler or adjoining counties, giving at least twenty days’ notice of the time and place and design of said meeting, for the purpose of choosing the first board of directors, of making and establishing by-laws, and of transacting any business necessary and proper to carry into effect the provisions and intentions of this act.