Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Jan.[January] 8th, 1840.

AN ACT to incorporate Shiloh College.
1

Body corporate.

Name and style.

Object.

Location.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That James Gillespie, James Bradley, John Moore, Benjamin F. Bradley, John Barrow, William Pike, Richard Bradley, Arthur Cross, William Bradley, and John B. Burke, be, and they are hereby created, a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of the “President and Trustees of Shiloh College;” and by that name and style to have perpetual succession: the said institution being designed to promote the cause of education and improvement in literature; and to be located in the county of Randolph.

Powers.

May hold land.

Common seal

By-laws

Sec. 2. The corporation hereby created shall have power to make and execute all necessary contracts for the promotion of the cause of education, and improvement of literature in said institution; and to purchase and hold such personal property as may be needful in advancing the ends of its creation; and may purchase and hold, for the use thereof, any quantity of land not exceeding eighty acres. The said corporation may sue and be sued in its corporate name; plead and be impleaded; may have a common seal, and make by-laws for its regulation, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States or of this State.

Quorum

President and other officers

Sec. 3. A majority of the trustees shall form a quorum to do business; and shallhave authority to elect a President and such other officers as may be necessary to prescribe the course of studies to be pursued; to fix the rate of tuition; to appoint a preceptor and such officers and assistants as they may consider the interest of the institution requires.

Vacancies how filled

Sec. 4. A majority of the board of trustees may fill any vacancy which may occur in the board, from death, removal, resignation, or otherwise.

To be open to all

Sec. 5. The said institution shall be open to all religious denominations; and the profession of no particular religious faith, shall be required either of officers or pupils.

Approved, January 8, 1840.

1On December 11, 1839, Senator Richard B. Servant presented a petition to the Senate, and the Senate referred the petition to a select committee. On December 18, Servant, a member of the select committee, introduced SB 10 in the Senate. On December 23, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. On December 24, the Committee on the Judiciary reported the bill with an amendment, and the Senate concurred in the amendment. On December 27, the Senate passed the bill. On January 2, 1840, the House of Representatives passed the bill. On January 8, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
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), 95, 117; Journal of the Senate of the Eleventh General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Called Session, Begun and Held in Springfield, December 9, 1839 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1839), 30, 49, 55, 61, 85, 90, 95.