Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Mar.[March] 2, 1839.

AN ACT to define the term of office of the Commissioners of Public Works.
1

Term of office.

Duty of Commissioner going out of office.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly,2 That the term of office of the Commissioners of Public Works shall expire on the day of the first meeting of the newly elected Board of Commissioners; to be holden, according to law, on or as soon as convenient before the first Monday in April in each biennial year.3 And it shall be the duty of the Commissioners going out of office, forthwith to hand over to their successors in office all books, papers, drawings and other documents relating to their said office; and, as soon as convenient thereafter, to hand over all the property of the State which may have come to their possession by virtue of said office, together with a true and correct inventory thereof.4

Approved, March 2, 1839.

1On February 20, 1839, Edward Smith of the Committee on Internal Improvements introduced HB 280, originally titled “A Bill to Amend ‘An Act to Establish and Maintain a General System of Internal Improvement,’” in the House of Representatives. The House referred the bill back the Committee on Internal Improvements. The Committee on Internal Improvements reported back the bill on February 28 with an amendment, in which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as amended, amending the title so as to read, “A Bill to Define the Term of Office of the Commissioners of Public Works.” On March 1, the Senate passed the bill. On March 2, the Council of Revision approved the bill, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 459, 550, 552, 557, 578, 588, 596; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 457, 478, 495.

2On February 28, 1839, the House of Representatives amended the bill by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting substitute language. The original bill called for the repeal of section eighteen, sub-section seven, of the internal improvement act and its replacement with provision for a railroad from the termination of the Illinois and Michigan Canal to Oquawka.

3Section four of the internal improvement act created a seven-person board of public works to promote, maintain, supervise, and direct the system of internal improvements.

4On March 1 and 2, 1837, the General Assembly held elections for the first Board of Public Works, selecting Murray McConnel, William Kinney, Elijah Willard, Milton K. Alexander, Joel Wright, James W. Stephenson, and Ebenezer Peck to the board. The term of office for these commissioners was to expire on March 1, 1839, and on February 19, the General Assembly held elections for a new board. Willard, Alexander, and Peck won re-election, and were joined on the board by new members Jesse B. Thomas Jr., John Hogan, Hart Fellows, and John Dixon.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 445-50; John H. Krenkel, Illinois Internal Improvements 1818-1848 (Cedar Rapids, IA: Torch, 1958), 79.