In force, Feb. 24, 1841.
An ACT to establish the County of Okaw.
1Boundaries of the county of Okaw.
Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That all that tract of country lying within the following boundaries, to-wit: Beginning at the north-east corner of town fifteen north, range six, east of the
third principal meridian; thence west to the north-west corner of section three, town
fifteen north, range four east; thence south to the south-west corner of section fifteen,
in township fifteen north, range four east; thence west to the north-west corner of
section nineteen, of town fifteen north, range four east; thence south to the south-west
corner of township fifteen north, range four east; thence west to the north-west corner
of section three, of town fourteen north, range three east; thence south, to the south-west
corner of the north-west quarter of section ten, township thirteen, range three east;
thence east to the south-west corner of the north-west quarter of section ten, in
town thirteen, range four; thence south one half mile; thence east one mile; thence
south one mile; thence east two miles to the range line between
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ranges four and five east; thence south one mile to the south-west corner of section
nineteen, town thirteen, range five; thence, by a direct line south-eastwardly to
the south-west corner of section twenty-two, town twelve, range six east; thence east
to the range line, between ranges six and seven east; thence north to the place of
beginning, shall constitute a new county to be called Okaw.2Election of co. officers.
Term of office of co. com’rs.
Sec. 2. The legal voters residing within the aforesaid boundaries, shall meet at the usual
places of holding elections on the first Monday in September next, and proceed to elect one sheriff, one coroner, one recorder, one county surveyor,
one probate justice, one clerk of the county commissioners’ court, one treasurer, and three county commissioners. The person receiving the highest number of votes for county commissioner shall remain
in office for two years from the first Monday in August next; the person receiving
the second highest vote for commissioner shall remain in office for one year from
the first Monday in August next, and the person receiving the lowest vote for commissioner
shall remain in office until the first Monday in August next. The other county officers
shall hold their offices until the next succeeding general election, and until their
successors are elected and qualified.
To vote for county seat.
Proviso.
Sec. 3. For the purpose of permanently locating the seat of justice of said county, the legal voters thereof shall at the same time and places named in the preceding
section, proceed to vote for a place or places whereat to locate the same, and the
place receiving a majority of all the votes given, shall be the permanent seat of
justice of said county: Provided, That if more than two places shall be voted for, and no one place shall receive a
majority of all the votes given at said election, a new election shall be held within
thirty days after the first, and none other than the two places receiving the highest
number at the first election shall be voted for at such second election, and the place
receiving a majority of all the votes given at the second election shall be the permanent
seat of justice of said county.3
Returns of elections.
Certificate of election.
Sec. 4. The judges of election residing within the boundaries of the county of Okaw, shall conduct the elections provided for by this act in all respects agreeable to
the laws regulating elections, and shall make return of the poll books of their respective precincts, within five
days after the election, to Abraham H. Keller, Wm. Thomason, David Patterson, and James Elder, acting justices of the peace, and the said justices, or a majority of them, shall
meet at the house of James Camfield, within ten days after the said election; and it shall be the duty of the said justices
of the peace, to open and compare the poll books, to make out and deliver certificates to the persons elected, and to return an abstract
to the Secretary of State, in the same manner as is now required of the clerks of
county commissioners' courts in like cases.
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Donation to be made at co. seat.
Sec. 5. Should the seat of justice be located at the village of Glascow, the proprietor or proprietors shall donate not less than one half the unsold lots
in said village, and in such manner as to embrace one entire block, towards the west
side of the town plat, and on which the public buildings shall be erected, and forty
acres of land in a square form adjoining the town plat on the west side thereof, to
be selected by the county commissioners, and for which town lots and land a deed of
general warranty shall be made to the county commissioners and their successors in
office; but should the seat of justice be located on land not laid off into town lots
the owner shall donate to the county, not less than forty acres in a square form, and on which the public buildings shall
be erected.
Notice of sale of town lots.
Sec. 6. The county commissioners shall, so soon as may be, after receiving a title to
donations of land as aforesaid, proceed to lay off the same into town lots, and sell
the same, or any town lots that may be donated, either at public or at private sale
at such times and in such numbers as to them may appear for the best interest of the
county, always giving at least six weeks’ notice of any public sale; the sales may be made
on a credit, payable in equal instalments of six, twelve, and eighteen months, by
the commissioners taking bond with approved security and a mortgage on the premises
sold. The money arising from the sales of town lots, shall be appropriated to the
erection of public buildings and defraying the necessary expenses of surveying and
making sales.
County buildings.
Sec. 7. It shall be the duty of the county commissioners to erect suitable public buildings
as soon as may be after making sales of town lots, as provided for in the preceding section, and until such buildings are erected, the
said courts for said county shall be held at the house of James Camfield, unless the commissioners should otherwise direct.
County court to meet and lay off town lots.
Sec. 8. The county commissioners shall meet as a court within twenty days after their election, shall proceed to lay off their county into justices' districts, appoint a school commissioner for the county, and transact such other county business as may be deemed necessary.
Notice of time and place of election.
Sec. 9. It shall be the duty of the justices of the peace named in this act, to give at least twenty days’ public notice of the time and places of holding the
election provided for in this act, by posting up notices in at least six public places
in said county.
School fund to be paid over to com’r of Okaw.
Sec. 10. The school funds belonging to the several townships in said county, together with all interest arising from said monies, and now in the hands of the
school commissioners of Shelby and Macon counties, and all notes and mortgages appertaining to the same, shall be paid and delivered over to the school commissioner of said county of Okaw, as soon
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as the county shall be organized and a school commissioner appointed and qualified
according to law.
Time of holding circuit courts.
Okaw in 8th circuit.
Sec. 11. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the county commissioners’ court, as soon as may be after the election of county officers, to inform the judge of
the eighth judicial circuit,4 that the county is organized, and the said judge shall appoint a clerk, and fix the time for holding the circuit court, and said county shall form a part of the eighth judicial circuit, and shall vote for senators and representatives for the General Assembly with the counties of Shelby and Macon, the same as if no division of said counties had taken place, and the clerk of the
county commissioners’ court shall return abstracts of said elections to the clerks of the county commissioners’ courts of Shelby and Macon counties until otherwise provided by law.
Proportion of court house debt of Macon co. how paid.
Sec. 12. The county commissioners’ court of the county of Okaw, shall, at their first term, appoint one or more suitable persons to meet with the
county commissioners of Macon county, at their June term, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and ascertain the proportion of the court house debt of Macon county, which, the inhabitants taken from Macon and forming a part of Okaw county have agreed by their petition to pay, and in the apportionment and payment of the
said money the commissioners of Macon and Okaw counties shall be governed in all respects according to the provisions of the eleventh
section of the act entitled “An act for the formation of Piatt county.”
Sec. 13. The money to be paid by the counties of Piatt and Okaw to the county commissioners of Macon county, shall be raised by additional assessment on the inhabitants within the boundaries
taken from the county of Macon, so that the inhabitants taken from De Witt and Shelby counties, and forming a part of the counties of Piatt and Okaw, shall not be required to pay any portion of the said indebtedness to the county
of Macon, any law to the contrary notwithstanding.
Votes for and against formation of co. of Okaw.
Sec. 14. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the county commissioners' court of Shelby county to enter of record the highest number of votes given on the first Monday in August
next in said county, and if a majority of all the votes given, shall be given against the formation of
the county of Okaw, then the provisions of this act shall not take effect, otherwise to remain in full
force.5
Approved, February 24, 1841.
1Robert F. Barnett presented a petition from the citizens of Shelby County to the House of Representatives on January 28, 1841, requesting a division of the county and the House referred it
to the Committee on Counties. Milton Carpenter introduced HB 159 on February 2 and the House referred it to a select committee. The committee reported
back on February 9 and recommended several amendments, to which the House concurred.
The House passed the bill on February 13. The Senate referred the bill to a select committee on February 19. The committee reported back
on February 22 and recommended an amendment adding the 14th section, to which the
Senate concurred and passed the bill. The House passed the amended bill on February
23. The Council of Revision approved the bill the next day and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 290, 313, 351, 367, 389, 464, 473, 489, 492, 496; Illinois Senate
Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 319, 341, 357, 368.
2Between statehood in 1818 and 1867, the Illinois General Assembly authorized the creation
of 104 Illinois counties. During Lincoln’s four terms in the Illinois House of Representatives,
the General Assembly authorized 38 counties. The General Assembly allowed voters
in the affected county or counties to accept or reject the creation of the new county
in only twelve of those cases. In four instances, including this one, a majority
of voters rejected the creation of the new county. The Illinois Constitution of 1848
made such referenda mandatory in the creation of new counties.
Michael D. Sublett, Paper Counties: The Illinois Experience, 1825-1867 (New York: Peter Lang, 1990), 12-14, 22; Ill. Const. (1848), art. VII.
3For the 38 counties authorized by the General Assembly during Lincoln’s four terms
in the Illinois House of Representatives, the General Assembly appointed commissioners
to designate the county seat in 23 instances, allowed the voters of the new county
to select the county seat in 11 instances, and designated the county seat directly
in the remaining 4 instances.
Sublett, Paper Counties, 14-18.
5The Senate passed an amendment on February 22, 1841, adding the 14th section.
Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 368.
Shelby County voters rejected the creation of Okaw County in the referendum in August
1841. In January 1843, a House select committee reported a new bill for the creation
of Okaw County from portions of Macon and Shelby counties. The Senate concurred in
the bill but amended the name of the new county to Moultrie. Voters did not have
an opportunity to approve or reject the new county, and its boundaries were very similar
to the 1841 proposal for Okaw County.
“An Act for the formation of the county of Moultrie,” 16 February 1843, Laws of the State of Illinois (1843), 83-85; Sublett, Paper Counties, 50-55.
Printed Document, 4 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Twelfth General Assembly (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1841), 80-83, GA Session 12-2,