Whereas, by and under an act approved, February 28, 1839, providing for the formation of the county of Williamson, from the county of Franklin, and for the location of the county seat of the said county of Franklin, the commissioners appointed by said act did proceed to locate (in conformity therewith) the county seat of the said county of Franklin at the town of Benton: And, whereas,there is no State or county road passing through said town of Benton, whereby travellers and others experience great difficulty in passing to and from said town: And whereas, from the shortness of the time which has intervened between the location of said county seat, and the meeting of the Legislature, the citizens of Franklin county have been unable to comply with the provisions of an act defining the manner of petitioning the General Assembly in relation to the location of State roads; Therefore,

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That James Eubanks, John Ewing, and William Mitchell, of Franklin county, be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners to view, mark, and locate a State Road from where the Nashville and Equality road crossesLittle Muddy river , to the town of Benton, in Franklin county; thence, to the bridge over Muddy river, on the road leading from Mount Vernon, in Jefferson county, to Golconda, in Pope county, and from thence to Galatia in Gallatin county.

Sec. 2. Said commissioners shall meet at the town of Frankfort, on the first Monday in April next, or as soon thereafter as practicable, and after being first duly sworn before some justice of the peace faithfully to discharge the duties required of them by this act, shall proceed to view, locate and mark said road between the points above designated, on the nearest and best ground, by marking trees in the timber, and putting up stakes in the prairie, having due regard to the public good, and doing as little damage to private property as the nature of the case will permit.

Sec. 3. The said commissioners, as soon as practicable, after the location as aforesaid, shall make out maps and reports

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thereof, giving the correct distance and description of the same; and shall file the same, or a copy thereof, in the clerk’s office of the county commissioner’s court of each county through which any part of said road may pass; which said reports shall be made matters of record in said offices, and the same carefully preserved.

Sec. 4. The county commissioners’ courts of the several counties through which said road passes, shall allow said commissioners and their assistants, a reasonable compensation for their services in proportion to the length of said road in the several counties through which the same shall pass, and they shall cause said road to be opened and kept in repair as other State roads are.

Sec. 5. The operation of the “act to define the manner of proceeding in petitioning the General Assembly for locating or altering State roads,” so far as it relates to the provision of this act, is hereby suspended.

Sec. 6. So much of the State road leading from Nashville to Galatia, as is now located between the beginning and terminating points of the road provided for in the provisions of this act, is hereby declared vacated: Provided, That none of the expenses of said survey be paid out of the county treasury of Gallatin county.

Approved, February 3, 1840.