In force Feb.[February] 27, 1841.
An ACT to provide for settlers on lands purchased by the State.
1When persons entitled to deed
Proviso
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That any person who actually resided on, or had made permanent improvements on any lands heretofore purchased by the board
of commissioners of public works,2 by authority of the 31st section of an act entitled “An act to establish and maintain a general system of internal improvement,[”] approved, February twenty-seventh, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, and
who had made such improvements, and resided on or occupied such improvements three
months before, and at the time of such purchase, and who had not given their consent
to the purchase of the State, shall be entitled to a deed for the same upon the conditions hereinafter mentioned
for any legal subdivision of said lands, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres.
Provided, That the State reserve the right of way for any railroad or other road she may construct hereafter
over such lands.3
Proof of claim
Amount per acre
Fund com’r[Commissioner] to give receipt
Auditor to issue deed
Sec. 2. Any person having the right to avail himself or herself of the provisions of this
act, shall go before the clerk of the circuit court or county court, or any justice of
the peace of the county, in which said land may be situated,
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and make proof of his or her claim, according to the full intent and meaning of the
provisions contained in the foregoing section, which proof shall be taken under oath,
and shall be certified at length by the officer taking the same. The applicant shall
present the same to the Fund commissioner,4 and if upon examination of the same he shall be of opinion that said lands so applied
for were purchased contrary to the true intent and meaning of the thirty-first section
of the act in relation to internal improvement, approved, February twenty-seventh, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, and
shall so decide, it shall then be lawful for such applicant to pay over to the Fund commissioner the
sum of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for as much as he shall establish
his claim to, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres, together with interest at
the rate of six per cent. per annum to be computed from the time of purchase by the State to the time of payment herein mentioned: and it shall moreover be the duty of said Fund commissioner to give such applicant
a receipt for the same, specifying therein the quantity of land, and an accurate description
of the tract or tracts of land so paid for; and it shall moreover be the duty of the Auditor of public accounts upon the presentation
of such receipt to execute a good and sufficient deed for the land so described, to
the person entitled to the same.
Certificates no transferable
Sec. 3. This act shall be construed liberally to favor the settler on any lands bought
by the State, contrary to the provisions of the act hereinbefore alluded to, but no right herein provided to be protected, shall be assignable or otherwise transferable
before the making of the deed by the Auditor: Provided, This act shall remain in force for one year and no longer.5
Approved, February 27, 1841.
1On December 1, 1840, the Senate adopted a resolution instructing the Committee of Finance to investigate the wisdom
of reporting a bill giving settlers pre-emption rights if their lands were affected
by the internal improvement laws. In response to this resolution, William J. Gatewood from the Committee on Finance introduced SB 82 in the Senate on January 4, 1841. On February 4, the Senate amended the bill by
adding a proviso to the third section. The Senate passed the bill as amended. On
February 16, the House of Representatives amended the bill by adding a proviso to the first section. The House ordered the
bill to a third reading by a vote of 68 yeas to 14 nays, with Abraham Lincoln voting yea. The House passed the bill as amended on February 17. The Senate concurred
in the House amendment on February 27. On February 27, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 331, 390, 410-11, 422, 552; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 35, 133, 154, 233, 237-38, 335, 437, 443, 454.
2Section four of the internal improvement act created a seven-person board of public works to promote, maintain, supervise, and
direct the system of internal improvements.
3On February 16, 1841, the House of Representatives added the proviso. Section thirty-one of the internal improvement act had authorized the Board of Public Works to enter and purchase any property belong
to the federal government that was within five miles of a anticipated route of any
public work. A proviso required the board to get the consent of settlers residing
on said land before entering said land.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 410.
4Section one of the internal improvement act created a three-person board of fund commissioners to negotiate loans, buy and sell
bonds, deposit and withdraw money, and administer the various fiscal aspects of the
internal improvement program
Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Twelfth General Assembly (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1841), 191-92, GA Session 12-2,