Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

An act for the relief of James M^cKee
1
Sec[Section] 1 Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois represented in the General Assembly.2 That James M^cKee is hereby authorized to institute a suit in the Circuit Court of Will County against the Commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, for the recovery of damages alleged to have been sustained by the said James M^cKee by the action of the said Commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan Canal 3

Sec 2 This act to take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

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02/06/1841
Calhoun, John

Passed House Reps.
Feby 6^th 1841
J Calhoun clk [clerk]H. Reps

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N^o 80 House

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A Bill for an act for the relief of James M^cKee

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[01]/[15]/[1841]
2

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Jud[Judiciary]

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[02]/[15]/[1841]
Refused to read 3d

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[01]/[30]/[1841]
Engrossed

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17

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[02]/[06]/[1841]
passed

1On December 10, 1840, Richard Murphy in the House of Representatives presented the petition of James McKee, requesting indemnity for damages sustained by him in the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. The House referred this petition to the Committee on Canals and Canal Lands, of which Abraham Lincoln was a member. The Committee on Canals and Canal Lands reported back the petition on December 31 without recommendation. Richard Murphy introduced HB 111 in the House of Representatives on January 15, 1841. The House referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary reported back the bill on January 29 with a substitute, in which the House concurred. The House passed the bill as substituted on February 6. On February 8, the Senate referred the bill to the Committee on the Judiciary. The Committee on the Judiciary reported back the bill on February 15, recommending passage, but the Senate refused to read the bill a third time by a vote of 7 yeas to 31 nays.
Illinois House Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 97, 170, 230, 296, 299, 344, 412; Illinois Senate Journal. 1840. 12th G. A., 252, 255, 320.

2The text following the enacting clause was probably a substitute to the original bill adopted by the House of Representatives on January 29, 1841.

3James McKee owned and operated a mill on the Des Plaines River at Cass and Jefferson Streets in Joliet. The commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan Canal took part of McKee’s land to construct the canal, and also caused damage to the mill and other property by building another dam near the mill. In March 1841, McKee sued the commissioners for damages in the Will County Circuit Court, and the Court ruled for the plaintiff, awarding him $17,655 in damages.
Marianne Wolf, Images of America: Joliet (Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 2006), 7; The People of the State of Illinois, on the Relation of the Hon. Charles S. Deneen, Governor, and Hon. William H. Stead, Attorney General, Plaintiffs in Error vs. The Economy Light and Power Company, 234 U.S. 497 (1914); The People of the State of Illinois, on the Relation of the Hon. Charles S. Deneen, Governor, and Hon. William H. Stead, Attorney General, Plaintiffs in Error vs. The Economy Light and Power Company, Transcript of Record. Supreme Court of the United States. October Term, 1913 No. 179 (Washington, DC: Judd and Detweiler, 1913), 1537-545.