Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force, Feb.[February] 19, 1841.

An ACT to locate and establish a State Road from the town of Peoria, in Peoria county, to the town of Fairview, in Fulton county.
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Com’rs[Commissioners] to locate road.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Daniel Groenendyke, of Fulton county, and John McFadden and Thomas Ramsey, of Peoria county, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark and locate a State road2 from Peoria, in Peoria county, to Fairview, in Fulton county, commencing at Peoria and running through the Harkee and McFadden settlements to the line of Fulton county at or near the house of George Griggs, thence across the corner of Fulton county, on the most eligible ground, to the south line of townships eight north, five east3, thence by the house of Joseph Hunt, Whitman's mill, and the house of Thomas Lane, to the west line of Peoria county, thence by Bond’s

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farm, in Fulton county, on the most direct and eligible route, to Fairview, having reference in the location of said road, to the nearness of the route, the eligibility of the ground, and doing as little injury to private property as the public good will permit.

Time & place of meeting.

Sec. 2. The said commissioners, or any two of them, shall meet at the court house in Peoria on the first Monday in April next, or some day thereafter, and before entering upon the duties assigned them by this act, shall take an oath before some justice of the peace of said county, faithfully to discharge the duties required of them by this act, and shall proceed to view, mark and locate said road four rods wide, on the nearest and most eligible ground.

Report to be filed.

Sec. 3. Upon such location being made, the said commissioners, or any two of them, shall make a report of the same to the county commissioners’ courts of Peoria and Fulton counties, and said courts shall cause said road, or so much thereof as lies within their respective counties, to be opened and kept in repair, and said road is hereby declared to be a State road.

Pay of com’rs

Sec. 4. The commissioners hereby appointed shall be paid a fair compensation for the time they may be necessarily employed in locating said road, to be allowed by the county commissioners’ courts of Peoria and Fulton counties; two-thirds to be paid out of the county treasury of Peoria county, and one-third out of the county treasury of Fulton county. This act to take effect from and after its passage.

Approved, February 19, 1841.4

1David Markley introduced SB 199 in the Senate on February 13, 1841, and the Senate passed the bill. The House of Representatives passed the bill on February 17. The Council of Revision approved the bill on February 19 and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 404, 420; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 313-14, 335, 350, 355-56.

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.

3Located in the southwest corner of Peoria County. Land measurement from the fourth principal meridian.

4Earlier in the session, the Senate had rejected HB 26, which had identical text to SB 199.