In force, Feb.[February] 1, 1840.
AN ACT to locate the county seat of Stark, and to extend the limits of said county.
1
Com’rs[Commissioners] to locate co.[county] seat of Stark
Time & place of meeting
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Cyrus Walker, of McDonough county, D. G. Salsbury of Bureau county, and William Fenn, of Marshall county, are hereby appointed commissioners to locate the seat of justice in and for the county of Stark. Said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall meet at the house of Wm. H. Henderson, in said county, on the first Monday in April next, or as soon thereafter as may be convenient. And after being duly sworn by some justice of the peace of said county, faithfully to perform the duties required of them by this act, shall proceed to locate the county seat of said county, having due regard to the present and future population of said county, the eligibility of the site, and the general good of the whole people of said county, as near the geographical centre of said county as may be agreeable to the provisions of this act.2
Title to lands
Sec. 2. Said commissioners shall, by donation or purchase, procure a clear and indefeasible title, with general warranty deed, to at least forty acres of land, upon which the public buildings shall be erected, and said county seat lo-
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cated. Said deed shall be made to and in the name of the county commissioners of Stark county, and their successors in office, for the use and benefit of said county of Stark.
Lands to be laid off into lots and sold
Public buildings
Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the county commissioners aforesaid, immediately after said county seat shall be located, to cause to be surveyed into lots, upon such plan as may be agreed on by them, the lands upon which the location has been made; to proceed to advertise and sell the same, at such time and on such terms as they may deem most advisable for the good of the county; and the proceeds of said sale, or so much thereof as may be sufficient, shall be faithfully applied to the erection of a court-house and jail for said county of Stark.
Pay of commissioners
Sec. 4. The county commissioners’ court of the county of Stark shall appropriate, out of the county treasury, the sum of three dollars per day to each of the commissioners for the number of days they may be employed in locating the county seat and travelling to and from the county aforesaid.
Part of Henry attached to Stark, conditionally
Proviso.
Time of election for division
Sec. 5. That all that part of Henry county within the following boundary, shall be attached to and form a part of the county of Stark, to wit: Beginning at the South east corner of the corner of Henry, running north with the line dividing ranges five and six, to the northeast corner of section twenty-four, in township fifteen north, of range five east, of the fourth principal meridian, thence west with the sectional lines to the northwest corner of section twenty-two, in range four east, thence south along the sectional line, dividing townships thirteen and fourteen north, thence east with said line to the beginning, it being nine miles square, out of the south east corner of said county: Provided, That an election shall be held in said county of Henry, at the usual places of holding elections, on the first Monday of March next, to vote for or against a division of said county; and if it shall appear that a majority of the legal voters of said county of Henry, are in favor of the territory above described, being attached to, and hereafter forming a part of, the county of Stark, it shall be considered part of said county of Stark; but if a majority of the legal voters of said county of Henry are opposed to the division of said county, then the territory described in the foregoing part of this section shall remain and continue a part of Henry county. The election shall be conducted, notice given, and returns made, in the same manner as now required by law for all special or general elections.3
Proviso
Where county seat shall not be located
And it is further provided, That should the vote of Henry county be against attaching the nine miles square to the county of Stark, then the county seat of Stark shall not be located, and this act shall be considered void and of no effect.4
Approved, February 1, 1840.
1William H. Henderson introduced HB 87 to the House of Representatives on December 31, 1839, and the House referred it to the Committee on Counties, of which Abraham Lincoln was a member. The committee reported back on January 16, 1840, without recommending an amendment, but a House member moved to strike the fifth section regarding the inclusion of a portion of Henry County in Stark County, to which the House voted no by a vote of 31 yeas and 47 nays. The same member then proposed an amendment requiring a referendum in Henry County, to which the House concurred by a vote of 42 yeas and 39 nays. The House passed an additional amendment on January 24 and passed the bill. The Senate passed the bill on January 31. The Council of Revision approved the bill on February 1, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1839. 11th G. A., special sess., 109, 184-85, 217, 241-42, 319, 327, 329; Illinois Senate Journal. 1839. 11th G. A., special sess., 173, 226-27.
2The original act creating Stark County specified that the county seat be named Toulon but did not specify its location.
3The House of Representatives passed an amendment on January 16, 1840, adding this proviso.
Illinois House Journal. 1839. 11th G. A., special sess., 185.
4The House of Representatives passed an amendment on January 24, adding this final proviso. Voters in Henry County rejected the addition of part of their county to Stark County, thus voiding the other provisions of this act, including the locating of Toulon. An 1841 act appointed three commissioners to designate the location of the town.
Sublett, Paper Counties, 38; Illinois House Journal. 1839. 11th G. A., special sess., 241.

Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Eleventh General Assembly, at their Special Session (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 62-63, GA Session: 11-S,