Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Feb. [February]18, 1841.

An ACT to incorporate the Philomathean Society of Mount Carmel, Illinois.
1

Name & style

Sec. [Section]1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That the officers and members of the Philomathean society of Mount Carmel, Illinois, and their successors be, and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name and style aforesaid, and invested with all the rights, privileges, liabilities and immunities incident to a corporate body.

Objects of association.

Sec. 2. The objects of said society are, and shall be, to promote and encourage literature and the mental and moral culture of its members. And they are authorized and empowered to adopt and execute such measures, to effect said objects, as may be deemed most expedient.

By-laws and rules.

Sec. 3. The said corporation shall have power to establish and change by-laws, and to prescribe rules and regulations for the admission and dismission of its members, and their government and election of their officers, and their duties, and the management of its property and affairs.

Miners to be admitted.

Proviso.

Sec. 4. Minors shall be admitted members of the society, and such honorary members may be elected as the society may think fit; Provided, That three regular members over

<Page 2>
twenty-one years of age, be elected in accordance with the laws of the society, as trustees of the same; which said trustees shall be sworn in by a justice of the peace, and when so qualified shall constitute a board, through which said society shall act in relation to the community generally.

Annual income not to exceed $3,000

Sec. 5. The annual income of the real and personal estate, which the said corporation may hold, shall not exceed three thousand dollars.

Powers reserved to Legislature.

Sec. 6. The legislature may at any time modify, alter or repeal this act or any of its provisions, should the corporation abuse any of its privileges hereby granted.

Approved, February 18, 1841.

1On December 17, 1840, Rigdon B. Slocumb introduced SB 55 in the Illinois Senate. ON December 21, the Senate referred the bill to the Commitee on the Judiciary. On December 28, the Senate passed the bill. On February 16, 1841, the Illinois House of Representatives passed the bill. On February 18, the Illinois Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Tenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 5, 1836 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1836), 162, 252, 380, 409.; Journal of the Senate of the Tenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their First Session, Begun and Held in the Town of Vandalia, December 5, 1836 (Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1836), 87, 101, 109, 119, 329-30, 337-38, 341.