Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Feb.[February] 27, 1841.

An ACT regulating the Sale of Property.
1

Property when levied on by execution.

Endorsement.

Sale how made.

Proviso.

Plaintiff may elect.

Exception.

Further proviso.

Sale of mortgaged property.

Judgments prior to May, 1841.

Judgments on contracts.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That when any execution shall be issued out of any of the courts of this State, whether of record or not, and shall be levied on any real or personal property, or both, it shall be the duty of the officer levying such execution, to summon three housholders of the proper county, one of whom shall be chosen by such officer, one by the plaintiff, and one by the defendant in the execution or in default of the parties making such choice, the officer shall choose for them; which householders, after being duly sworn by such officer so to do, shall fairly and impartially value the property upon which such execution is levied, having reference to its cash value2, and they shall endorse the valuation thereof upon the execution, or upon a piece of paper thereunto attached, signed by them, and when such property shall be offered for sale, it shall not be struck off, unless two-thirds of the amount of such valuation shall be bid therefor: Provided, always, That the plaintiff in any execution issued from any court of record of this State, may elect on what property he will have the same levied, except the land on which the defendant resides, and his personal property, which shall be last taken in execution. And in all other executions issued from any of the courts of this State, not being courts of record, the plaintiff in execution may elect on what personal property he will have the same levied, excepting and reserving, however, to the defendant in execution, in all cases, such an amount and quantity of property as is now exempt from execution by the laws of this State: And provided further, That all sales of mortgaged property shall be made according to the provisions of this act, whether the foreclosure of said mortgage be by judgment at law or decree in chancery. The provisions of this act shall extend to all judgments rendered prior to the first day of May, eighteen hundred and forty one, and to all judgments that may be rendered on any contract or cause of action accruing prior to

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the first day of May, eighteen hundred and forty-one, and not to any other judgments than as before specified.

Property levied on may be divided.

Sec. 2. When any property shall be levied on and appraised in the manner required by this act, and the same shall be susceptible of a division, no greater quantity thereof than will be sufficient to pay the amount of the execution or executions thereon levied, together with the proper costs, at two-thirds of the valuation thereof, shall be offered for sale by the officer in whose hands such execution or executions may have been placed for collection.

Duty of Sec’y[Secretary] of State.

Sec. 3. This act shall be in force from and after its passage; and the Secretary of State is hereby required to have a thousand copies thereof printed immediately after its approval, and transmit them to the clerks of the county commissioners' courts of the several counties in this State for distribution among the proper officers thereof.

Approved, February 27, 1841.

1David Markley introduced SB 111 in the Senate on January 14, 1841. The Senate referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary reported back the bill on January 28 with amendments. The Senate refused to table the bill and proposed amendments by a vote of 11 yeas to 25 nays. The Senate also refused to indefinitely postpone consideration by a vote of 14 yeas to 21 nays. The Senate rejected the proposed amendments by a vote of 0 yeas to 35 nays, re-committing the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary reported back the bill on February 2 with an amendment, in which the Senate concurred by a vote of 21 yeas to 13 nays. The Senate refused to re-commit the bill with instructions to the Committee on the Judiciary by a vote of 11 yeas to 22 nays. The Senate refused to table the bill as amended by a vote of 15 yeas to 18 nays. The Senate refused to amend the bill by striking out all after the enacting clause and inserting a substitute by a vote of 4 yeas to 29 nays. The Senate rejected an amendment to add a proviso to the last section by a vote of 13 yeas to 20 nays. The Senate amended the bill by inserting after the word “property” in the first section the words “having reference to its cash value.” The Senate ordered the bill as amended engrossed for a third reading by a vote of 17 yeas to 16 nays. The Senate subsequently re-considered this vote, again referring the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary reported back the bill on February 3 with an amendment. The Senate rejected two amendments to the proposed amendment by votes of 13 yeas to 20 nays, and 13 yeas to 22 nays, respectively. The Senate concurred with the Committee on the Judiciary’s amendment by a vote of 20 yeas to 16 nays. The Senate ordered the bill as amended engrossed for the third reading by a vote of 20 yeas to 16 nays. On February 4, the Senate refused to table the bill by a vote of 16 yeas to 19 nays, passing the bill as previously amended by a vote of 20 yeas to 16 nays. On February 12, the House of Representatives refused to dispense with the rules of the House and read the bill a second time by a vote of 46 yeas to 36 nays, with two-thirds of the votes required to dispense with the rules and Abraham Lincoln voting nay. On February 16, the House refused to refer the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary by a vote of 27 yeas to 43 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House referred the bill to a select committee of representatives from each of the state's nine judicial circuits, which included Lincoln. The select committee reported back the bill on February 22 with amendments, in which the House concurred. The House tabled a proposed substitute by a vote of 58 yeas to 17 nays, with Lincoln not voting. On February 23, the House refused to table the bill and a proposed amendment regarding the State Bank of Illinois by a vote of 32 yeas to 46 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House rejected the proposed amendment by a vote of 31 yeas to 42 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House ordered the bill to a third reading by a vote of 45 yeas to 31 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House again rejected to table the bill by a vote of 34 yeas to 41 nays, with Lincoln voting yea. The House rejected the bill by a vote of 38 yeas to 38 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House subsequently re-considered that vote by a vote of 44 yeas to 35 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. The House then passed the bill by a vote of 44 yeas to 35 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. On February 25, the Senate referred the bill, House amendments, and proposed Senate amendments to the Committee of the Whole and made them the special order of the day for February 26. The Committee of the Whole reported back the bill on February 26 with amendments, in which the Senate concurred by a vote of 22 yeas to 17 nays. The Senate concurred with the House amendments as amended by a vote of 23 yeas to 14 nays. On February 26, the House concurred with the Senate amendments to its amendment by a vote of 40 yeas to 31 nays, with Lincoln voting nay. On February 27, the Council of Revision approved the bill and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 2nd sess., 331, 378-79, 411, 458, 468-69, 472, 473-74, 475, 528, 529; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 2nd sess., 162, 215-16, 228-30, 230, 232-33, 238, 379, 408-409, 409-10, 415, 417, 421, 429, 444; An Act Dividing the State into Judicial Circuits.

2On February 2, 1841, the Senate added the words “having reference to its cash value.”
Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 2nd sess., 230.