Whereas it appears by a memorial of the county commissioners’ court of Henry county, that during the month of May, 1839, the public buildings erected at the town of Richmond, the county seat of said county, were entirely destroyed by fire, and there is now only a temporary building, entirely insufficient for the accommodation of the circuit and county commissioners’ courts: And whereas, a convention of the citizens of said county was held at Geneseo, in said county, on the ninth day of July, 1839, it was voted, that it is expedient to have the county seat removed from its present location, and also that the county commissioners’ be authorized to remove their place of holding courts, to some place within the county, where they could be comfortably accommodated, until suitable buildings could be erected at the county seat: And whereas, according to the expressed wish of the people of the county, and for the reasons foregoing, the county commissioners’ courts have, since the last mentioned period, been held at the village of Geneseo, the nearest settlement to the county seat—Therefore,

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the official acts of the county commissioners’ court of Henry county be and the same are hereby legalized, and shall, to all intents and purposes, be considered as valid as if transacted at the county seat of said county.

Sec. 2. The county commissioners’ court, and likewise the circuit court of said county, are authorized and required to hold their respective terms of courts at the said village of Geneseo, until suitable buildings for the transaction of business shall be erected at the county seat now established, or hereafter to be established, by law, in said county; and all their official acts and business transacted at the said village of Geneseo, shall be as valid as if transacted at Richmond, the present county seat of said county.

Sec. 3. All the official acts of the public officers of said county, which by law were required to be transacted at the county seat thereof, and which have been transacted at the said village of Geneseo, or at any other place in said county, which have been transacted according to law, excepting that they have not been transacted at the place required by law, are hereby rendered equally as valid as if transacted at the county seat of said county. The several public officers of said county are hereby authorized and permitted to reside at their respective places of residence, for the term of one year from the first day of January, 1840, and until suitable buildings for the transaction of the official business shall be provided at the county seat now established or hereafter to be established by law, in said county.

Sec. 4. That Alexander Turnbull, of Warren county, Milsey (Miles) W. Conway, of Rock Island county, and Harmon Brown of Knox County, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to re-locate and re-establish the seat of justice of Henry county, and give it a name; said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at the town of Geneseo, in said county; who after being first duly sworn before some justice of the peace of said county, faithfully to locate the seat of justice thereof, without partiality, favor, or affection, taking into consideration the present, and prospect of future population, shall proceed accordingly to fix upon a place for the permanent seat of justice of said county.

Sec. 5. When said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall have agreed upon a place for the seat aforesaid, they shall make a report in writing, under their hands and seals, describing the quarter, or fractional quarter section, township, and range, upon which they have located the same, together with the name they may have given it, to the county commissioners’ court of said county of Henry, who shall at the next term of said court thereafter, cause the said report to be entered on the records of said court; and the place so selected by said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall remain the permanent seat of justice of Henry county, and shall be known and called by such name as may be given to it by said commissioners.

Sec. 6. The county commissioners’ court of said county shall allow said commissioners such reasonable compensation per day for their services as they may deem just, out of the county treasury of said county.

Sec. 7. Should said commissioners locate said seat of justice on land belonging to an individual or individuals, they shall ask and obtain a donation of any number of acres not less than forty, and also select and describe said donation in their repor,t with reasonable certainty, by metes and bounds: Provided, That should the proprietor or proprietors neglect or refuse to make the donation herein provided for, the said commissioners shall then be required to locate said seat of justice on the nearest eligible situation on public land; and it shall be the duty of said commissioners, previous to locating said seat of justice on the land belonging to any individual or individuals, to take a deed in fee simple to said county of Henry, for such land as may be donated as aforesaid: And provided further, That if the said commissioners shall locate said seat of justice on the public land, the county commissioners’ court shall be, and they are hereby authorized and required to purchase any quantity of land not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres including said town site, in the name and for the use of said county of Henry; which land, or such part thereof as the county commissioners’ court may order and direct, shall be laid off into town lots, in such manner, and sold for the use and benefit of said county, at such time

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and place as the county commissioners’ court thereof may order and direct: Provided, however, That so much of the proceeds of the sale of said lots as may be required to erect public buildings for the use of said county, shall be applied exclusively for that purpose: Provided, further, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to authorize the commissioners appointed under this act to locate the county seat of said county of Henry, on the lands of any individual or individuals, unless it be ascertained first, by said commissioners, that no suitable location can be made on public land.

Sec. 8. That if the commissioners appointed under this act shall deem it to the interest of said county to locate the seat of justice of said county, within the limits of any town plat owned by any individual or individuals, they shall be authorized to receive donations of lots in such town, or other real estate donated: Provided, That the value of such town lots or other real estate donated, according to the provisions of the foregoing section, shall not be of less value than two thousand dollars.

Sec. 9. The commissioners appointed under this act shall meet at the place designated in the fourth section of this act, on the first day of June next, or within six months thereafter, and proceed to the discharge of their duties.

Approved, February 1, 1840.