Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb. [February] 26, 1841.

An ACT for the sale of certain lots therein named.
1

A. S. Steele on filing bond may sell real estate of O. M. Ross, dec’d

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Ambrose S. Steele, upon filing a bond with the judge of probate of Fulton county, with good and sufficient securities to be approved by said court, in the sum of fifty thousand dollars for the faith-

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ful performance of the conditions of this act, may sell and dispose of at public sale, all real estate and town lots, situate, lying and being in the towns of Havana and Moscow, in the county of Mason, belonging to the estate of Ossian M. Ross, deceased.

Consent of adm’rx of estate obtained before sale

Sec. 2. Before any of said lots shall be sold as aforesaid, it shall be necessary to obtain the consent of the executrix and executor of said estate, the guardian of the minor heirs, and the heirs at law of said estate, who are over twenty-one years of age, in writing, and file the same in the office of the judge of probate in and for the county of Fulton.

Notice of sale

Sec. 3. The sale of said lots shall, in all cases, be by public sale, held in the town in which the lots are situated, proposed to be sold; and no sale shall be had under the provisions of this act, unless public notice of the time, place and terms of said sale, shall have been published in some newspaper printed nearest said town, and also by putting up not less than three public notices in the vicinity of said town, at least four weeks previous to said sale.

Statement of sale to be filed

Sec. 4. The said Ambrose S. Steele is hereby authorized and required, on the first Monday in the month of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, and on the first Monday in January every year thereafter, (or so long as there are any monies or assets in his hands, accruing from the sale of said lots,) to make out in writing a full and perfect statement of all his acts in the premises in relation to the sale of said lots, and file the same in the office of the judge of probate in and for the county of Fulton.

Payments to heirs

Payment to guardian of minor heirs

Sec. 5. The judge of probate of the county of Fulton, upon the statement being filed in his office as aforesaid, shall make an estimate of what amount is due to each of the heirs at law of the said Ossian M. Ross, deceased, arising from the sales of said lots as aforesaid; and the said Ambrose S. Steele shall, upon said estimate being made by the judge of probate as aforesaid, pay over to each of said heirs who are over twenty one years of age, the sum so estimated to be due, and shall pay over to the guardian of the minor heirs of said estate the sums severally and respectively due them agreeable to the estimate made by the judge of probate as aforesaid. This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved, February 26, 1841.

1Lewis W. Ross introduced HB 276 in the House of Representatives on February 15, 1841. The House referred the bill to the Committee on Finance, on which sat Abraham Lincoln. The Committee on Finance reported back the bill on February 17, recommending its passage, and the House concurred. On February 24, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary reported back the bill on February 26, recommending its passage. The Senate concurred without amendment. On February 26, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law. Draft text of a bill entitled "A Bill for the Benefit of the Heirs of Osian M. Ross, Deceased," exists in the Illinois State Archives, folder 188. The House Journal has no record of the bill's introduction.
Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, At Their Second Session, At Their Second Session, Begun and Held in the City of Springfield, December 7, 1840 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 405, 421, 523, 528, 530, 550; Journal of the Senate of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, At Their Second Session, At Their Second Session, Begun and Held in the City of Springfield, December 7, 1840 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 335, 396, 410-11.