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Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois represented in the General assembly.
That the county commissioners court of Lawrence county be and it is hereby authorized to take and have full controll and superintendance of that portion of the Great Western Mail rout2 in said county, and it shall cause the same to be kept in repair as other state roads are required
to be, and may cause toll gates to be erected thereon, and fix and determine on the
rate of tolls to be collected for travelling over said road, or over such portions thereof as shall be finished, or in such a
state of forwardness, from time to time as in the opinion of said court shall justify the same,
Sec. 2. The said court by an order thereof may appoint from time to time such number of agents for the purpose
of collecting tolls on said road as may be proper.
Sec. 3. The monies arising from tolls collected as aforesaid after deducting the necessary
expenses attending the collection thereof, shall be expended under the direction of
the county commissioners of said county or such agents as said court may appoint for that purpose, towards the completion of said road and keeping the
same in repair.
Sec. 4. The said court is hereby authorized to appropriate any amount of monies belonging to said county that it may deem proper towards the completion of said road and to reimburse the
same to said county with ten percent interest per annum thereon out of monies which may be collected for tolls on said road.
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Sec. 5. The provisions of this act are hereby extended to the county of Clay, and the county commissioners of Clay county shall exercise power and authority to carry the same into effect, as to that part
of said road in said county.
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refused 3rd
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Engrossed
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1Peter Green introduced HB 262 in the House of Representatives on February 15, 1841. The House referred the bill to the Committee on Internal Improvements.
The Committee on Internal Improvements reported back the bill on February 19, recommending
its passage. The House referred the bill to a select committee. The select committee
reported back the bill on February 22, recommending its rejection. The House refused
to order the bill engrossed for a third reading.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 403, 438, 457.
2Section six of the 1837 internal improvement act appropriated $250,000 for a mail route from Vincennes, Indiana, to St. Louis, Missouri. Pursuant to the provisions of the act, the Board of Commissioners of Public Works
commenced surveys on the Great Western Mail Route, which surveyors completed by the
fall of 1837. In August 1837, Illinois entered into contracts with private firms to construct portions of the route, and
construction commenced. By December 1838, the Board of Commissioners on Public Works
had expended $94, 932.07 on the road, and by December 1840, the amount spent had increased
to $244,547,43.
John H. Krenkel, Illinois Internal Improvements 1818-1848 (Cedar Rapids, IA: Torch, 1958), 80, 82, 130.
Handwritten Document, 4 page(s), Folder 186, HB 262, GA Session 12-2,
Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL) ,