Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Feb.[February] 16, 1839.

AN ACT concerning the public revenue of the county of Knox.
1

Laws repealed.

Duty of sh’ff[sheriff].

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That so much of the several revenue laws of this State as requires the State Treasurer to pay the county commissioners of Knox county, for the use of said county, any sum or sums of money, be, and the same is hereby, repealed;2 and hereafter the sheriff of the county of Knox shall pay into the county treasury the amount of the tax collected by him on lands lying within the said county, at the same time, and in the same manner, as is provided by law for all the counties in this State, except the counties on the military bounty tract. This act to be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, February 16, 1839.

1On January 3, 1839, Wyatt B. Stapp introduced HB 101 in the House of Representatives, and the bill was referred to the Committee on Finance, of which Abraham Lincoln was a member. On January 5, the Committee on Finance reported the bill without amendment. On January 15, the House passed the bill. On February 12, the Senate passed the bill. On February 16, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 158, 170, 193, 214, 393, 414, 425; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 176, 179, 279, 298, 318, 337.

2Being repealed were those sections of the revenue laws related to counties formed out of the Illinois Military Tract. In 1826, the General Assembly passed a law authorizing the annual payment of $225 for the counties of Calhoun, Pike, Adams, Schuyler, Fulton, and Peoria, to be paid in lieu of any tax arising on the lands in these counties. In 1827, the General Assembly raised the annual amount to $275. In 1829, the General Assembly further supplemented the 1827 law by appropriating $75 annually in addition to the $275 awarded the previous two years. It also stipulated that any county formed upon the Military Tract in the future would be entitled to the same sum. Formerly organized in 1830 after being under the administrative jurisdiction of Fulton County, Knox County fell under the latter provision.
“An Act relating to the Revenue of Calhoun, Pike, Adams, Schuyler, Fulton, and Peoria Counties, 27 January 1826, Laws of the State of Illinois (1826), 89-90; “An Act to Provide for Raising a Revenue,” 1 March 1827, The Revised Code of Laws, of Illinois (1827), 333; “An Act Supplemental to an Act, Entitled ‘An Act to Provide for Raising a Revenue,’” 19 January 1829, The Revised Cold of Laws, of Illinois (1829), 120.