In force, Feb.[February] 26, 1839.
AN ACT to authorize Nathaniel C. Wilcox and his associates to establish a ferry across the Mississippi river, at the most convenient point opposite the town of Bloomington.
1Persons authorized to establish ferry
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Nathaniel G. Wilcox and his associates be, and they are hereby, authorized to establish and keep a ferry
for ten years across the Mississippi river, at the most convenient point opposite the town of Bloomington, in the county of Rock Island, in the State of Illinois.
Good boats to be provided.
Sec. 2. The said Wilcox and his associates shall cause said ferry to be furnished with a good steam or other
boat sufficient for the speedy and safe transportation of all passengers, their teams,
horses, cattle, and effects. Said boat shall be furnished with men of suitable strength
and skill to manage the same.
Rates of toll.
Sec. 3. The said Wilcox and his associates shall receive such rates for crossing at said ferry as are now
allowed them by the county commissioners’ court of Rock Island county; and in the management and regulations of said ferry, the said Wilcox and his associates shall be governed by the requisitions of the act, entitled “An
act to provide for the establishment of ferries, toll-bridges, and turnpike roads,”
approved February 12, 1837. This act is to take effect from and after the date of
its passage.2
Approved, February 26, 1839.
1On February 16, 1839, Representative James Craig of the Committee on the Judiciary introduced HB 311 in the House of Representatives. On February 22, the House passed the bill. On February 25, the Senate passed the bill. On February 26, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 420, 435, 483, 515, 517, 531; Illinois Senate Journal. 1838. 11th G. A., 1st sess., 386, 413, 418.
2It does not appear this ferry was ever operational. A different ferry owned by three
other men, began operating out of Bloomington in 1838 and remained the only ferry there until 1842.
Irving B. Richman, History of Muscatine County, Iowa (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1911), 85.
Printed Document, 1 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Eleventh General Assembly (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1839), 202, GA Session: 11-1,