Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Jan. 31, 1841.

AN ACT to build a Bridge across Macoupin creek, in Greene county.
1

Com.[Commissioners] to build bridge

Location

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That it shall be the duty of the county commissioners’ court of Greene county, to cause to be erected across the Macoupin creek in said county, at the point where the road leading from Carrolton to Kane (which may be located by A. Hinton, William Coulton, sen. and Mr. Paine, reviewers appointed by said court to view, mark and locate said road,) crosses said creek, a good and substantial bridge, free of charge for the accommodation of the public.

Agent, &c.

Model

Cost

Times of payment

To give bond

Sec. 2. William Carlin, of said county, is hereby appointed agent to carry into effect the first section of this act, whose duty it shall be to contract with some responsible per-

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son or persons immediately to build a bridge across the Macoupin creek as aforesaid. The bridge shall be as near as practicable, built after the model of the bridge across “Wood river” in “Madison county,” the cost of which shall not exceed ten thousand dollars, and shall be completed within twelve months from the date of the contract, and shall be paid for in the following instalments, to-wit: one-fourth in six months, one-fourth in twelve months from the date of the contract, and the balance in two equal instalments in six and twelve months after the completion of said bridge. It is further made the duty of said agent to take bond with good and sufficient security for the faithful performance of the contract, and with a penalty sufficient to secure the completion of the work.

Fund to build bridge

Sec. 3. It shall be the duty of the county commissioners to cause to be collected, in any manner they may think best, a sufficient sum out of the internal improvement fund2 which was donated to said county by an act entitled “An act to establish and maintain a general system of internal improvements,”3 to carry into effect the first section of this act; and a sum sufficient to construct said bridge is hereby appropriated out of said fund.

Agent being disqualified, com’rs court may appoint.

Compensation of agent.

Sec. 4. If the agent appointed under the second section of this act shall refuse to act, die, resign or remove, it shall be the duty of the county commissioners to appoint another person immediately, who shall forthwith enter upon the duties of his office. The agent appointed by this act, or by the court, under the provisions of this act, shall receive for his services such compensation as the county commissioners may think reasonable and just. This act to take effect from and after its passage.Approved, January 31, 1841.

1John Allen introduced SB 106 to the Senate on January 12, 1841. The Senate passed the bill on January 15. The House of Representatives passed the bill on January 20. The Council of Revision approved the bill on January 31 and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 235, 251; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 156, 163, 168, 185, 186, 192.

2Section twenty of the internal improvement act created a fund to finance construction of the public works envisioned in the act.

3Section eighteen, sub-section fifteen, of the act appropriated $200,000 to counties through which no railroad or canal was provided at the expense of the State. This money was to be distributed proportionally based on the most recent census. The money was to be used to improve roads, build bridges, and construct other necessary public works. By December 1838, the fund commissioners had distributed $145,510 to sixteen counties. There appears to be some discrepancy on the amount distributed. Krenkel and the Sangamo Journal cite the total as $144,700, but a tabulation of the figures printed in the Sangamo Journal results in $145,510. Greene County had received $30,205. The County Commissioners Court loaned out a portion of this money, but devoted other portions to building bridges across Apple Creek and Macoupin Creek, improving roads between Carrollton and Whitehall, and other public works.
John H. Krenkel, Illinois Internal Improvements 1818-1848 (Cedar Rapids, IA: Torch, 1958), 83-84; Sangamo Journal 12 January 1839, 2:1; History of Greene County, Illinois (Chicago: Donnelley, Gassette, and Loyd, 1879), 294.