Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

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Sec[Section] 1^st be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois Represented in the general Assembly

that Jacob maberry Charles Hucheson of the County of Hamelton

of gallaton County be and they are hearby appointed Commisioneres to view[,] mark[,] and Locate A State Road2 from M^cLanesboro in Hamelton County by way of the New Bridge on bear Creek3 to Shawneytown in gallaton County

Sec 2^nd that Said Commissioners or A majority of them Shall meet at at the house of Robert Willson’s in Hamelton County on the Second mondy in Apriel next or in three mounths thanafter and after being duly Sworn by some Justice of the peace Shall proceed to locate Said Road Commencing at the house of said Wilson

Sec 3^rd that Said Commissioners Shall make out a Separate Report of So much of the location of Said Road as lies in Each of Said Counties and file the Same with the Clerk of the County Commissioners Court of the proper County

Sec 4^th that Said Commissioners Shall have Such Compensation out of the Treasuries of Said Counties as Shall be Just and Reasonable Each County to pay in propotion to the time Spent in Each County in the location of Said Road

Sec 5^th that Said Road when So located Shall be oppened and kept in Repar as other State Roads are

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David Kinsaul of Gallatin County viewer for said County of so much of a road extend from M^cCleansboro to Shawneetown as ^is in 2^d County^ but said Road is not to be extended from M^c [or?] further than to Bear Creek bridge and the road from this Bridge ^[&tc?] to Shaw^ is to be declared a State Road

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A Bill for An act to Locate A State Road from M^cLanesboro to Shawneytown

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[12]/[22]/[1840]
ord[ordered] 2

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[12]/[30]/[1840]
S.[State] Roads

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1On December 14, 1840, Milton Carpenter in the House of Representatives presented the petition of citizens of Gallatin County, regarding a state road. The House referred the petition to a select committee. In response to this petition, Carpenter of the aforesaid select committee introduced HB 50 in the House on December 22. On December 30, the House referred the bill to the Committee on State Roads. The Committee on State Roads did not report back the bill. The House incorporated provisions of the bill into HB 284.
Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, At Their Second Session, Begun and Held in the City of Springfield, December 7, 1840 (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 113, 145, 167.

2State roads were those public roads established or designated by the General Assembly and usually crossed county lines. Only the General Assembly could establish, alter, or abandon state roads, until 1840 and 1841, when the General Assembly gave counties the authority to alter or to abandon state roads upon petition by a majority of voters in the area of the change.
An Act concerning Public Roads, sec. 9; An Act Authorizing Commissioners’ Courts to Alter, Change, and Relocate State Roads; An Act concerning Public Roads.

3Bear Creek was a stream in Hamilton County starting in the vicinity of McLeansboro and running southeast toward Gallatin County.