Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 23, 1841.

An ACT to establish a ferry across the Illinois River.
1

Location.

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That William L. May, his heirs and assigns, be and they are hereby authorized to establish a ferry at the outlet of Lake Peoria, and to run the same from both sides of said outlet, either from any public highway or from any lands or lots of ground which are or may be owned by them.2

Accommodations.

Restrictions.

Sec. 2. The said William L. May, his heirs and assigns, shall at all times keep a sufficient number of boats, hands, oars and poles, to afford at all times a safe and speedy transportation of all travellers and other persons who may desire to cross said river, with their horses, wagons, carriages and other property, and the said ferry shall at all times be subject to all the rules and regulations which now are or may hereafter be provided by law to regulate ferries in this State.3

Sole right for 15 years.

Sec. 3. In consideration of the obligations hereinafter imposed, the said William L. May, his heirs and assigns, shall have the sole right of ferrying, and receiving tolls therefor, at the said outlet, for and during the term of fifteen years from and after the first day of May, A.D., one thousand eight hundred and forty-one.

Rates of Tolls

Proviso

Sec. 4. The said William L. May, his heirs and assigns, shall be authorized to receive for and during the said term of fifteen years, the following tolls, viz:4 man six and one-fourth cents; man and horse twelve and a half cents; gig, buggy, sulkey, or one horse wagon, twenty-five cents; carriage with springs, with two horses, twenty-five cents; wagon with two horses or oxen, twenty-five cents5; and for each additional horse or ox to wagon six and a fourth cents; four horse coach sixty-two and a half cents; each horse, jack, jennet or mule

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loose, not in harness, six and a fourth cents; cattle per head, when the number does not exceed ten, four cents; when the number exceeds ten head, three cents; sheep and goats per head, one cent and a half; fat hogs for slaughter per head, two cents; stock hogs per head, one cent and a half; one hundred pounds goods, wares and merchandize, six and a fourth cents; which rates of toll shall be kept up at the landing on each side of the river, in large letters and figures, for the information and inspection of all persons:6 Provided, That when by reason of high water the said William L. May shall have to ferry the distance of a half a mile or more, he shall be authorized to charge and receive double the rates of ferriage hereinbefore allowed.7

License may be revoked.

Sec. 5. The license and privilege hereby granted shall be liable to be revoked by information in the nature of a quo warranto, to be filed in the circuit courts either of Tazewell or Peoria counties, if the said William L. May, his heirs and assigns, shall knowingly and wilfully fail to comply with the provisions of this act.

Annual payment to Tazewell county.

Sec. 6. For the privileges herein granted, the said William L. May, his heirs and assigns, shall annually on the first day of November in each and every year, pay into the county treasury of Tazewell county the sum of three hundred dollars the first year, and each year thereafter the sum of two hundred dollars, which money shall be expended from time to time, without delay, by the county commissioners' court of Tazewell county to the best advantage, in improving and constructing a good road from the south side of said river out to the highlands, making in all, for the fifteen years, thirty-one hundred dollars8; and if the said May, his heirs or assigns, shall fail to pay the above amount for the space of one month after the same shall become due, the license hereby granted may be revoked as aforesaid.

No other ferry to be established.

Sec. 7. The county commissioners' courts of the counties of Peoria and Tazewell are hereby inhibited from granting any license to keep a ferry at the said outlet of Lake Peoria during the existence of this grant; but nothing in this act shall be so construed as to prejudice any rights already obtained.

Proviso.

May be repealed.

Sec. 8. This act to take effect from and after its passage: Provided, This act may be repealed, amended, or modified by any subsequent Legislature, whenever the public good may require it.9

Bond.

Bond to be filed.

Half mile post

Double ferriage.

Sec. 9. The said William L. May shall on or before the first day of May next, enter into bond with one or more securities, in the penal sum of five hundred dollars, for the faithful performance of the conditions of this act, which bond shall be made payable to the county commissioners of Tazewell county and their successors in office, and shall be approved of by the clerk of the county commissioners' court, and filed in his office, to be sued on by any person aggrieved, in the name of said commissioners; and it shall be the duty

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of the county commissioners of Tazewell county to cause to be planted by the road side half a mile from the west bank of said outlet, a durable and permanent post, which post shall operate as a guide to show when double ferriage may be charged.10

Approved, February 23, 1841.

1Abraham Lincoln introduced HB 70 to the House of Representatives on December 29, 1840. The House referred it to the Committee on State Roads on January 4, 1841. The committee reported back the bill on February 1 with several amendments, which prompted a lengthy debate in which Lincoln participated. The House passed an amendment on February 1, adding the proviso to section 8. The House then approved the committee’s amendments. The House rejected an additional amendment removing the word “sole” from the 3rd section by a vote of 29 yeas and 50 nays, Lincoln voting nay. The House rejected another amendment striking the 7th section by a vote of 28 yeas and 52 nays, Lincoln voting nay. The House rejected a final amendment to the 1st section by a vote of 21 yeas and 53 nays, Lincoln voting nay, before voting to order a third reading by a vote of 52 yeas and 24 nays, Lincoln voting yea. The House passed an amendment on February 10 by adding the 9th section. The House rejected another amendment replacing “county treasury of Peoria county” with “state treasury” on February 10 by a vote of 16 yeas and 59 nays, Lincoln voting nay. The House then passed the bill by a vote of 48 yeas and 32 nays, Lincoln voting yea. The Senate referred it to the Committee on Incorporations on February 12. The committee reported back on February 16 and recommended an amendment, and the Senate voted to lay the bill and the amendment on the table. The next day, the Senate took up the bill and amendment again, and after considering several amendments to the amendment, passed an amendment to the committee’s amendment. The Senate passed the bill on February 18 by a vote of 27 yeas and 9 nays. The House passed the amended bill on February 20. The Council of Revision approved the bill on February 23, and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 161, 182, 308-9, 320, 359-60, 443, 454, 461, 466, 494; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 290, 305, 323, 325-26, 332-34, 339;Illinois State Register (Springfield, IL), 12 February 1841, 4:4; Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 5 February 1841, 2:5.

2Providing passage over the Illinois River at the southwestern end of Peoria Lake, where the river channel narrows and the town of Peoria developed, was a profitable business after an influx of settlers to the area in the mid-1830s. Either a ferry or a bridge could reap substantial profits, and competing interests led to litigation and legislation. In 1835, the Illinois General Assembly incorporated the Peoria Bridge Company, and allowed them four years to build a bridge. Two years later, the General Assembly authorized the town of Peoria to obtain a loan to build the bridge and extended the deadline for completion by two years. Also in 1835, the Peoria County Commissioners’ Court granted Henry W. Cleveland a license to operate the first steam ferry across the Illinois River at Peoria. Aquila Wren purchased the ferry in 1837, but Robert Moore and James Moore also obtained a license to run a ferry there. In 1840, the Illinois General Assembly gave William L. May, who had purchased the Bigelow and Underhill ferry, license to operate a ferry at Peoria for fifteen years. Through this act a year later, the General Assembly reissued May’s license, giving him “sole” right to operate a ferry at that point and forbidding the county commissioners’ courts of Peoria and Tazewell counties from granting any more licenses to competing ferries. May had to sue several rivals in the early 1840s to protect his ferriage rights. In 1845, the General Assembly gave William L. May and his associates a charter to build a bridge over the Illinois River at Peoria. Workers completed construction of the bridge in 1848, but ice carried it away in the spring of 1849. The corporation rebuilt the bridge, and it reopened in October 1849.
Newton Bateman, Paul Selby, and David McCulloch, eds., Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Peoria County, 2 vols. (Chicago: Munsell Publishing Company, 1902), 2:265-66; An Act to Incorporate the Peoria Bridge Company (1835); An Act to Amend an Act, entitled "An Act to Extend the Corporate Powers of the Town of Peoria," Approved February 21, 1837 (1837); An Act to Establish a Ferry across the Illinois River (1840); Moore & Beach v. May (1841), May v. Moore et al. (1842), May v. Greene & Loose (1844), Martha L. Benner and Cullom Davis et al., eds., The Law Practice of Abraham Lincoln, 2d edition (Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 2009); “An Act to authorize the construction of a toll bridge across the Illinois river,” 3 March 1845, Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Fourteenth General Assembly, at Their Regular Session (1845), 237-38.

3The General Assembly passed a general law governing ferries in February 1827 and slightly revised it in January 1833.
“Ferries,” The Revised Laws of Illinois (Vandalia: Greiner & Sherman, 1833), 302-11.

4The general law governing ferries authorized and required county commissioners’ courts to fix rates for ferries.
“Ferries,” The Revised Laws of Illinois (Vandalia: Greiner & Sherman, 1833), 305.

5On February 1, 1841, the House of Representatives adopted an amendment that struck out the words “thirty-seven and a half” and inserted the word “twenty-five.”
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 308.

6On February 1, 1841, the House of Representatives adopted an amendment that added the rates of toll.

7On February 1, 1841, the House of Representatives adopted an amendment that added this proviso.

8On February 1, 1841, the House of Representatives adopted an amendment that added the words beginning “pay into” and ending “thirty-one hundred dollars.” It also adopted an amendment that struck out the word “Peoria” wherever it occurred and inserted the word “Tazewell.”

9The House of Representatives passed an amendment on February 1, 1841, adding the proviso to the 8th section.

10The House of Representatives passed an amendment on February 10, 1841, adding the 9th section. The Senate passed an amendment on February 17, further amending the same section.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 359; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 333.