Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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Sec[Section] 1 Be it enacted by the people of the State of [Illinois]represented in the General Assembly , That Scott Clark, Hendrick Miller,Samuel Sterling , Ezra Gilbert[,] and Henry A. Miller, their associates, heirs and assigns, be, and they are hereby authorized to build a bridge across Fox river at Geneva in Kane county from the foot of State street in said Geneva, to the opposite point on the east bank of Fox river where the State road from Chicago to Galena Strikes said river. Said bridge to be commenced within one year and finished within two from [and after?] the passage of this act.

Sec 2 The said [persons in?] the preceding section, shall have po[wer] in proper person or by agent to open subscriptions for the purpose of raising funds for the building of said bridge, and all subscriptions, either of money or property, shall be payable to the said Clark and his associates or to such person as they, or a majority of them, shall appoint, and shall be collectable either at law or in equity before any Court of competent jurisdiction, and shall be deemed and taken in such Court to have been made upon good and valid consideration, any law or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.

Sec 3. Whenever the said bridge shall be [finished?] it shall become the property of the county of Kane, and shall be attached to such road district as the county Commissioners’ Court of said county shall direct, and shall be kept in repair as other roads and bridges in the said county are: Provided, that the county Commissioners’ Court, may, when the said bridge is finished, refuse to accept the same, in which case the said bridge shall not be kept in repair at the public

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expense as aforesaid.

Sec. 4 If any person shall do or cause to be done, any injury to said bridge, the person or persons so offending, shall forfeit and pay to the county Commissioners’ Court of Kane county double the amount of such injury or damages; to be recovered before any Court of competent jurisdiction; the amount so recovered to be applied to the building and repairing of roads and bridges in said county.

Sec. 5. The said bridge shall forever be and remain a free bridge for the passage of all persons at all times without the payment of any toll or passage money—whatever.

Sec 6 The provisions of this act shall be extended to all subscriptions and constracts made for the purpose of erecting said bridge, which shall have been signed or entered into since ^the^ thirty first day of December, in the year of eighteen hundred and thirty-nine.

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[ certification ]
01/27/1840
Calhoun, John

Passed House Reps
Jan 27^th 1840
J Calhoun clk[clerk] H. R.

[ docketing ]
H. R.

[ docketing ]
N^o 83.

[ docketing ]
A Bill for an act to authorize Scott Clark and associates to build a free bridge across Fox river.

[ docketing ]
[01]/[16]/[1840]
Engrossed

[ docketing ]
39

[ docketing ]
01/27/1840
Passed

1On January 7, 1840, Joseph W. Churchill in the House of Representatives presented the petition of citizens of Kane County, requesting passage of an act authorizing Scott Clark and his associates to build a bridge across Fox River. The House referred the petition to a select committee. In response to the petition, Cheney Thomas of the aforesaid select committee introduced HB 115 in the House on January 9. The House passed the bill on January 27. The House informed the Senate of the bill’s passage, but the latter took no action.
Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Called Session, Begun and Held at Springfield, December 9, 1839 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1839), 133, 141, 184, 260; Journal of the Senate of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Called Session, Begun and Held at Springfield, December 9, 1839 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1839), 189.