Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 27, 1841.

An ACT to amend an act, entitled “An act in relation to the State Bank of Illinois,” approved, January thirty-first, one thousand eight hundred and forty.
1

Act requiring Branch Bank at Chicago removed, repealed.

Branch restored.

Sec .[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That so much of an act, entitled “An act in relation to the State Bank of Illinois,” approved, January thirty-first, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and forty, as requires that the directors of the parent Bank shall within six months from the passage of said act, remove from Chicago the branch located at that place, and establish the same at such other place as the bank may deem proper,” be and the same is hereby repealed, and the said bank is hereby authorized to relocate said branch at Chicago. 2

Approved, February 27, 1841.

1On December 14, 1840, Albert G. Leary in the House of Representatives presented the petition of citizens of Chicago, regarding the Chicago branch of the State Bank of Illinois. The House referred the petition to a select committee. In response to this petition, Leary of the aforesaid select committee introduced HB 42 in the House on December 17. On January 18, 1841, the House rejected an amendment to strike out “Chicago” and insert “Lacon” by a vote of 29 yeas to 58 nays, with Abraham Lincoln not voting. The House passed the bill by a vote of 54 yeas to 30 nays, with Lincoln not voting. On January 20, the Senate tabled the bill and proposed amendments. On February 27, the Senate took up the bill and passed it. On February 27, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 113, 128, 192, 203, 240-41, 559, 561; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 178, 181, 185, 441.

2Section five of the 1840 act specified removal of the branch from Chicago. On January 18, 1841, the House of Representatives rejected an amendment proposing to strike out “Chicago” and insert in lieu thereof “Lacon.” Albert G. Leary in introducing HB 42 argued that his constituents needed and desired a branch of the State Bank of Illinois because of the lack of adequate banking facilities in Chicago. Ebenezer Peck, who also represented Cook County, denied that his constituents desired the branch, blaming the Whigs for the closure of the branch years earlier and expressing disdain for the State Bank of Illinois and banks in general, no doubt responding to the perceived role of the State Bank and banks in general in the Panic of 1837.
Illinois State Register (Springfield, IL), 29 January 1841, 2:6; Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 240.