Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Mar.[March] 1, 1839.

AN ACT to relocate the seat of justice of Livingston county.
1

Vote for or against removal of co.[county] seat

Permanent location.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That at the election to be held in the several precincts within the county of Livingston, on the first Monday in August next, it shall be lawful for the qualified voters of the said county to vote for or against the removal of the county seat from Pontiac; and if it shall appear

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from the returns of the said election that two-thirds of all the votes given shall be in favor of a removal of the county seat, and also that a majority2 of all the votes given at the said election shall be in favor of any other place within said county, then said county seat shall be removed; and the place receiving the number of votes required by this act shall be and remain forever the permanent seat of justice for the said county of Livingston.3

Sec. 2. Donations of land or claims may be offered at least twenty days previous to the day of election, in the following manner, to wit: Any person or persons offering donations or land or claims shall file, with the clerk of the county commissioners’ court of said county, a good and sufficient bond, to be accepted by the county commissioners’ court, in term time or in vacation, binding himself or themselves to donate or relinquish to the said county of Livingston any quantity of land not less than fifty acres, the Government price of which shall be paid by the donor, in such manner as the county commissioners may require.4

Special entries of record

Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the county commissioners’ court to cause special entries to be made of record of the result of said elections, and file and preserve said returns or pollbooks for inspection; to lay off into lots and dispose of said donation to the best advantage for the interest of the county, the proceeds of which shall be applied to the erection of a court house and other public buildings, which shall be erected without unnecessary delay.

Books and papers to be removed.

Sec. 4. In case the seat of justice shall be removed, all the books, papers, and records, belonging or pertaining to the county of Livingston, shall be removed to the place selected within three months thereafter, and the courts shall be holden there, and process returned accordingly.

Co. seat may be located on U. S. land.

Sec. 5. That nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to prevent the said county seat from being located on lands belonging to the Government of the United States, and on which no pre-emption right exists. This act to be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, March 1, 1839.

1On December 24, 1838, John Moore in the House of Representatives presented a petition of citizens of Livingston County, requesting the relocation of the county seat. The House referred the petition to the Committee on Counties, of which Abraham Lincoln was a member. In response to this petition, Moore of the Committee on Counties introduced HB 84 in the House on December 31. The House passed the bill on January 4, 1839. On February 5, the Senate referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 7 with amendments, in which the Senate concurred. The Senate passed the bill as amended. On February 14, the House rejected the first of the Senate amendments, but concurred with the second. On February 26, the Senate referred the bill to another select committee. The select committee reported back the bill on February 27, recommending that the Senate recede from its amendment, to which the Senate concurred. On March 1, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 138, 148, 164, 166, 362, 405, 539, 568, 575; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 138, 155-56, 279, 290, 337, 428, 435, 475.

2The Senate amended the bill from requiring two-thirds to requiring a majority of all voters to agree on another location.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 337.

3At the election in August 1839, 81 voters chose to move the county seat, and 56 voters opposed moving the county seat. Seventy-eight voters favored a point several miles up the Vermilion River. However, because the necessary two-thirds of all voters did not favor removal, the attempt failed, and the county seat remained at Pontiac.
The History of Livingston County, Illinois (Chicago: William Le Baron Jr. & Co., 1878), 255-56.

4Daniel Rockwood, Stephen S. Hubbard, and James Weed offered fifty acres of land a few miles up the Vermilion River from Pontiac, and the county commissioners’ court accepted the bond for the donation. This site attracted a majority of votes for a new county seat.
History of Livingston County, 256; Illinois Historical Records Survey Project, Inventory of the County Archives of Illinois, Livingston County (Pontiac) No. 53 (Chicago, 1940), 18.