Papers Of Abraham Lincoln

In force Feb.[February] 20, 1841.

An ACT to incorporate the Peoria Marine and Fire Insurance Company.
1

Name & style

Powers and privileges

Sec.[Section] 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That Isaac Underhill, Francis Voris, William Frisby, Andrew Gray and Charles Kettelle, be, and they and all persons who may hereafter become members, are hereby incorporated as a body politic and corporate by the name and style of the “Peoria Marine and Fire Insurance Company,” and said company shall possess all the powers, privileges, rights, and immunities that are granted to the Mount Carmel marine and fire insurance company by the act incorporating said company, approved, March second, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven, and shall be organized and conducted according to the provisions of said act of incorporation so far as the same are or can be applicable to this company.

Capital stock

Sec. 2. The capital stock shall be fifty thousand dollars and may be increased to one hundred thousand, in the discretion of a majority of the directors of said company, to be divided into shares of one hundred dollars.

Time of opening books

Sec. 3. The said commissioners, or a majority of them, shall open one or more subscription books for said stock on the first Monday in May next, or so soon thereafter as practicable and convenient, at the court house in the town of Peoria, and if the books for subscriptions to stock shall not be opened on the said first Monday in May, ten days’ notice shall be given by a majority of said commissioners of the time and place of opening the same.

First election

Sec. 4. The first election of directors under this act shall be held at such time and place in the town of Peoria as a majority of the said commissioners shall direct, or in default of such

<Page 2>
direction, then it shall be competent for the subscribers to fix upon the time of said election at the court house in said town of Peoria by a majority of shares subscribed.2

Approved, February 20, 1841.

1William J. Phelps introduced HB 136 to the House of Representatives on January 25, 1841, and the House referred it to the Committee on Banks and Corporations. The committee reported back on February 5 and recommended an amendment, which the House rejected by a vote of 37 yeas and 44 nays, Abraham Lincoln voting nay. The House then passed an amendment adding the 5th section. The House passed the bill on February 11. The Senate passed an amendment on February 15 removing the 5th section and then passed the bill. The House passed the amended bill on February 17. The Council of Revision approved the bill on February 20 and the act became law.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Twelfth General Assemble (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 279, 333-34, 356, 368, 412, 420, 451, 456, 460; Journal of the Senate of the Twelfth General Assembly (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 294, 306, 320.

2The House of Representatives passed an amendment on February 5, 1841, adding a 5th section reserving the right to alter, amend, or repeal the act but the Senate removed it on February 15.
Journal of the House of Representatives of the Twelfth General Assemble (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 333-34; Journal of the Senate of the Twelfth General Assembly (Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1840), 320.