In force Feb.[February] 19, 1841.
An ACT in relation to free negroes and mulattoes.
1Evidence may be recorded.
Proviso
Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That every black or mulatto person, being a native of this State, and residing within the same, may at any time enter his or her names, together with the names of his or her family,
with the clerk of the circuit court of the county in which he or she may re-
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side, together with the evidence of his or her freedom, which shall be entered on
record by said clerk, together with a description of all such persons; and thereafter
the clerks’ certificate of such record shall be prima facia evidence of his or her freedom, afford the holder the same protection, and have the
same effect in law, as is given to certificates granted in pursuance of the fourth
section of the act entitled “An act respecting free negroes, mulattoes, servants and
slaves,” approved, March thirtieth, one thousand eight hundred and nineteen:2 Provided, nevertheless, That nothing herein contained shall be construed to bar the lawful claim of any person
or persons to any such negro or mulatto.3Approved, February 19, 1841.
1Lyman Trumbull introduced HB 72 in the House of Representatives on December 29, 1840. The House passed the bill on January 18, 1841. The Senate referred it to the Committee on the Judiciary on January 20. The committee reported
back the bill on February 2 with an amendment, in which the Senate concurred. The
Senate passed the bill as amended on February 4. The House passed the amended bill
on February 13. The Council of Revision approved the bill on February 19 and the act became law.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 161, 181, 191, 239-40, 331, 390, 438, 442, 443; Illinois Senate
Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 176, 180-181, 184, 230, 240, 319.
3Upon introducing HB 72 in the House of Representatives, Lyman Trumbull explained that the bill was necessary to enable free blacks and mulattos to obtain
protection, possibly against slave hunters coming into Illinois from the South.
Illinois State Register (Springfield, IL), 8 January 1841, 2:2.
Printed Document, 2 page(s), Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Twelfth General Assembly (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1841), 189-90, GA Session 12-2,