AN ACT to provide for the relocation of the county seat of Tazewell, and the erection of public buildings. In force Feb. 2, 1849. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois, Election to be represented in the general assembly, That an election shall be held held. in the several precincts of the county of Tazewell on the first Saturday of April, one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine; at which election the legal voters of said county shall vote for and against the removal of the seat of justice from the town of Tremont to the town of Pekin; and if it shall be found that the legal voters of said county have voted in favor of said removal, that the seat of justice is hereby declared to be located at the town of Pekin. That said election shall be held in pursuance of the general election laws regulating the election of representatives and senators of the general assembly of the state of Illinois, at the different precincts of said county, and one column of the poll books shall be opened for the removal of said county seat from the town of Tremont to the town of Pekin, and another column against it; and the persons then entitled to vote for senators and representatives shall be entitled to vote for and against said removal. The judges and clerks of said election shall possess the same qualifications as the judges and clerks for the election of senators and representatives, and shall possess the same powers and be appointed in the same manner. Said poll books shall be certified and returned in the same form and time, and compared in the same manner as in case of the election of senators and representatives of the general assembly of the state of Illinois; Provided, unless the county com- Proviso. missioners' court otherwise appoint judges of said election, that the judges of election who served as such in said county at the last general election for senators and representatives in said county be, and they are hereby, authorised to preside in their several precincts in every manner as fully as they were empowered to do at said general election by the statute regulating the same. § 2. In the event of a majority of the legal voters of said county Court-house, casting their votes at said election in favor of the removal of the how erected. said county seat to the town of Pekin, the citizens of said town of Pekin and vicinity shall be required to erect a good and sufficient of the circuit court of said county when erected; And provided, Further proviso §3. And be it further enacted, That in the event of a majority of the legal voters of said county being in favor of the removal of said county seat to the town of Pekin, the county commissioners' court of said county shall be, and they are hereby, required, when a jail is erected in said county, to erect the same in the town of Pekin. § 4. Within thirty days after the completion of said court-house, Offices when reand the approval of the same by the said judge of the circuit court, moved. the several offices of the said county, required by law to be kept at the county seat, shall be removed to Pekin, and all courts of said county shall be holden there, and all suits pending in the circuit court in said county, at the time of the removal of said offices from Tremont to Pekin, shall, in event of said removal, be prosecuted to final judgment and execution at Pekin in said county. And the town of Pekin shall thenceforth become, in all respects whatsoever, the permanent seat of justice of said county. Commissioners § 5. And be it further enacted, That Thomson I. S. Flint, David appointed. Mark, William Maus, Thomas N. Gill, and James Harris, be, and the same are hereby, appointed commissioners, by themselves or their authorised agents, to receive contributions and subscriptions of money, work, or materials, for the purpose of erecting said court-house, and to superintend the erection thereof; and all promises in writing to pay money, work, or materials, towards the erection thereof, shall be binding in law upon all persons making the same, and said commissioners are fully authorised to collect the same by law. Election may be contested. Trustees appointed. Proviso. § 6. The election provided for in this act may be contested in the same manner as elections of county officers. § 7. Be it further enacted, That if the said seat of justice shall be removed, according to the provisions of this act, the county court of Tazewell county is hereby authorised and empowered, and it is further made the duty of said court to convey by deed in trust to Joseph Shaw, Wells Andrews, Lyman Porter, Thomas P. Rogers, and William A. Maus, said court-house, for the use of the inhabitants of the county of Tazewell, to be used and occupied exclusively for the purpose of education; Provided, a majority of the legal voters of said county voting for electors of president and vice president of the United States at the last presidential election in said county, be taken as the majority of the voters of said county. APPROVED February 2, 1849. In force Feb. 8, 1849. Name of AN ACT permanently to locate the seat of justice of Whiteside county. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois, represented in the general assembly, That in pursuance of the fifth Place selected. section of the seventh article of the constitution, the south-east quarter of the south-east quarter of section number sixteen, in township numbered twenty north, of range numbered five east of the fourth principal meridian, in the county of Whiteside, is hereby fixed as the place to which it is proposed by this act to remove the seat of justice of said county, as hereinafter provided; and the said place so fixed upon is hereby called and named Lyndon. Election to be § 2. The legal voters of the said county of Whiteside shall meet at their respective places of holding elections, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, and shall then proceed to vote according to law, as in other cases of elections, to permanently locate the seat of justice of said county, either at the said place called Lyndon, or at Sterling; which latter place is now the temporary seat of justice of said county; and whichever of the said places, so to be voted for, shall receive a majority of the legal vo held. ters of said county, given at said election, shall thereafter be the seat of justice of said county. § 3. At the March term next of the county commissioners' court Contributions, of said county, any person, capable of contracting, may make a how made. written offer or offers of land, or money, or other property, to said court, to aid in the erection of public buildings in said county, in case the place called Lyndon shall, under the provisions of this act, be selected as the permanent seat of justice of said county; which said offers shall be entered of record in said court, and shall be binding upon the person or persons who shall make the same, in case the county seat of said county shall be located at the said place called Lyndon, under the provisions of this act. And the said county may maintain a bill in equity to enforce a conveyance of the lands so offered, and may have an action of debt or assumpsit to recover all moneys and the value of such personal property as may be offered as aforesaid. § 4. The clerk of the county commissioners' court of said county Notice to be shall cause notices of the said election to be issued, and the sheriff given. of said county shall post up the same in the time and manner which may be required by law for similar notices, previous to a general election. In the notices aforesaid, the said clerk shall state also a description and the amount of all such offers of land, money, and other property, to be made for the erection of county buildings at Lyndon, under the provisions of the foregoing section. conducted. § 5. The election provided for in this act shall, in all respects, Election, how be conducted, and returns thereof made, in the manner which may be required by law in other elections. The returns of said elec- of returns. tion shall be canvassed, and abstracts thereof made, as in other cases of elections; and the clerk of the county commissioners' court shall record the said abstracts on the record books of the said county commissioners' court, there to remain as evidence of the location of the county seat; Provided, that any legal voter or voters Proviso. of said county may appeal to the circuit court of the said county from the decision of the said clerk, in making and recording the abstracts aforesaid, by giving bond to said clerk within ten days after said abstracts shall be recorded, payable to such person, with such penalty, with such security and condition, as the said clerk may reasonably require. And in case such appeal shall be taken, the said clerk shall transmit the said bonds, the said election returns, and a copy of said abstracts, to the clerk of the circuit court; and the said circuit court shall proceed to try the said appeal, in a summary way upon the merits and justice of the cause; and the only question to be tried on such appeal shall be, which of the places, called Lyndon or Sterling, received a majority of all the legal votes of said county given at said election. And in case such appeal shall be taken and duly prosecuted, the final order of the said circuit court thereon shall be evidence of the permanent location of the said seat of justice. § 6. In case the seat of justice of said county shall be located Property to be at Lyndon, then the county commissioners of said county are here- re conveyed. by authorised and required to convey by deed the court-house at Sterling, and the lot on which the same is situated, and which is used therewith, and all lands or town lots heretofore donated to said county, for the purpose of erecting said public buildings, and which property is still owned and held by said county, to the pro(D) Offices to be prietors of the said town of Sterling, to be thereafter owned by them in proportion to the amount of donations made by them respectively, for the purpose of purchasing said lot and erecting said court-house. § 7. If the seat of justice of said county shall be located at held at Lyndon. Lyndon, the circuit court, county commissioners' court, and other courts of said county, shall be held at such place at the town of Lyndon as may be selected and appointed by the county commissioners' court of said county, until a suitable court-house can be erected; and all public offices required to be kept at the seat of justice, shall be kept in said town of Lyndon, until suitable public offices can be provided. Acts repealed. § 8. The act entitled "an act declaring the town of Sterling the county seat of Whiteside county for a time, and under the conditions therein mentioned," approved February 16, 1847, is hereby repealed; and the third and fourth sections of an act entitled an "act to permanently locate the seat of justice of the county of Whiteside," approved February 28, 1843, are hereby revived and continued in force; Provided, that the act first herein recited shall not be repealed unless the said seat of justice shall be removed to Lyndon, under the provisions of this act. § 9. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. APPROVED February 8, 1849. In force April 13, 1849. Election to be held. Proviso. AN ACT to relocate the county seat of Cumberland county. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois, represented in the general assembly, That at the general election to be held on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November next, a poll-book shall be opened for the different points to be run for the county seat; Provided, however, that no place shall be voted for unless its proprietors or friends shall, at least twenty days previous to said election, execute a bond, with sufficient security, designating the quantity of land patented by the general government, and free from legal incumbrance, setting forth the metes and bounds of said land, or the number and location of town lots, or the amount of money, work and labor, or materials to be used in erecting the county buildings which the friends of any point may propose to give; which said bond shall be subject to the approval of the county court, and be filed therein; and at said election a column shall be opened for each point whose friends shall have executed a bond as aforesaid, and all persons qualified at the time of holding said election to vote for a member of the goneral assembly, shall be entitled to vote for the relocation of said seat of justice, and the point, if any, receiving the majority of the legal votes at said election, shall be taken to be the point agreed upon by the inhabitants of said Cumberland county. When the votes of said election are compared by the proper officers, if it shall appear that neither one of the points voted for shall have received a majority of all the votes cast, then it shall be the duty of the county court of said Cumberland county to appoint a day, within three months thereafter, for holding another election, and shall post up written notices thereof in one of the most public places in each precinct in said county, at least thirty days previous to the day so fixed upon for said election; and a column shall be opened at each election precinct for the two points. having received the highest number of votes at said first election, and the point receiving the highest number of votes at said second election shall be taken to be the point agreed upon by the citizens of said county for the location of the county seat of said county; which fact shall be certified to by the speaker of the house of representatives at the next session of the legislature, describing said point so agreed upon by the inhabitants of said county, by the clerk of the county court of said county; which certificate shall be full evidence of the fact, and which certificate shall be laid before the said house of representatives, and the point so selected shall be established and be and remain the permanent county seat for said Cumberland county, in such manner as may be provided for by a law to be passed by the legislature at their next session, and not otherwise. § 2. The conveyance of the town of De Kalb by the county com Conveyance lemissioners of said Cumberland county to James Gill, is hereby de- galised. clared good and valid, and to vest the title thereof in the said Gill. APPROVED February 8, 1849. AN ACT to make certain additions from the county of Mercer to the county of In force Febru Rock Island. ary 8, 1849. SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the people of the state of Illinois, represented in the general assembly, That an election shall be held Election to be in the counties of Mercer and Rock Island, at the usual places of held. holding the same, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November next. In the county of Mercer, for the purpose of voting for or against townships fifteen north, ranges one and two west, of the fourth principal meridian, being added to the county of Rock Island; and in the county of Rock Island, to vote for or against receiving said territory as a part of said county. The elections to be holden as aforesaid shall be conducted, notices thereof given, and returns made in the same manner as is now provided for, or may hereafter be, in case of election of senators and representatives, and the same rights of contest allowed. certificate. § 2. It shall be the duty of the clerk of the county of Mercer, as Clerk to make soon as the result of said election shall be ascertained, to make a certificate thereof, under the seal of said court, and transmit the same to the clerk of the Rock Island county court, and the clerk of the county court of Rock Island shall make out and transmit to the clerk of the county of Mercer a certificate of the result of the election in said county, which certificate shall be entered on the records of each of said courts, respectively, at the next terms thereof, after receiving the same. § 3. Upon ascertaining the result of the elections, held as afore- Territory transsaid, if it shall appear that a majority of all the voters in the coun- ferred. |