24th Congress, [ Kep. No. 121. 1 Ho. of Repk^ 
 
 2d Session. l r j . ^ 
 
 ILLINOIS CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY. 
 
 [To accompany hill W. R. No. 519.] 
 
 January 17, 1837. 
 
 Rt'pviiHecl by order of the Ilou.se of Reprt'senlatives. 
 
 In the House of Representativks, U. S., 
 
 January 17, 1837. 
 On motion of Mr Casey, 
 R' solved, That bill No. 519, being a bill to authorize the Illinois Central 
 Railroad Company to locate and consitnict a rail-road through tlje public 
 lands of the United States, and for other purposes, the petition and charter 
 of said company, tog-ether with the report accompanying said bill, be printed 
 for the use of this Houso-. 
 
 March 31, 1836. 
 Mr. <'^.sH:Y, from the Committee on Public Lands, made the following: 
 
 REPORT: 
 
 Trif Committee on Public Lands, to wliidi u-a^ referred the memorial 
 of the Illinois Central Rail-road Company, have had the same under 
 consideration, and respectfully subrnit the following report : 
 
 That by an act of the Legislature of the State of Illinois, approved ou 
 the 16th .January, 1836, a company was incorporated, and authorized, and 
 empowered to locate, construct, and finally complete a rail-road, com 
 mencing at or near the mouth of the Ohio river, in the State of Illinois, 
 thence north to a point on the Illinois river, at or near the termination ot 
 the proposed Illinois and Mit^higan canal, with the right to extend the 
 same to the town of Ci^ilena, in said State. 
 
 The character and importance of the undertaking, and the propriety of 
 the Covernment granting assistance in the prosecution and completion ol 
 the work, by secui iug for a limited time to said company the right of pre- 
 emption h) a portion of the public lands on each side of the contemplated 
 rail-road, accordmg to the prayer of the memorialists, will more fully ap- 
 pear from the following statement of facts. It will form a connecting link 
 with other works of internal improvements by rail-roads and canals and 
 great natural highways of inteicoamiunication, which will more or less 
 atfect the interests of a large portion of this Union. 
 
 Illinois is situated in the heart of the Mississippi valley, bounded on the 
 west and southwest by the great Father of Waters, on the east and south- 
 £iai( ii Rive^, priuiers. 
 
. 2 [ Rep. No. 121. ] 
 
 east by the Wabash and its parent river, the beautiful Ohio ; and on t e 
 north by an artificial line, passins^ tbron!:rli a region of inexhaustible ini- 
 neral wealth.. These liniil.: embrace a territory which nature has left with- 
 out a rival on the habitable globe, in all that atfords facilities for tl.'e acqui- 
 I sition of the essential means of human Iiappiness. At the confluence of 
 the Ohio atid i\lis5i.ssippi, it is contemplated to commence the proposed rail- 
 road, and run it north, touching at the most importai.t points in the interior 
 of the State, to the contemplated termination of the Illinois and Micliigan 
 canal: continuing north, near said third principal meridian line, totownsirip 
 42 north ; and thence it diverges to the northv/est, and terminates at Galena, 
 i!i the very heart of the mnieral region beibre mentioned. 
 
 The conmiittec acknowledge the inutlence of many weighty consider- 
 ations i'l granting the prayer of the memorialists. A reference to the map 
 of the country shows that the work will commence at a point of uninter- 
 rupted navigation, and, jiassing through a country of great fertility, fixes 
 its northern termination in a region where navigation is closed several 
 months in the year. The line of this road divides tlie western and eastern 
 boundaries of the State nearly at equal distances, and becomes more dis- 
 tant as it progresses north, until it unites with the canal connecting the 
 waters of the St. Lawrence and Mississippi, by which a continuous line of 
 communication is opened into the lakes of the north, the Canadas, and the 
 northern parts of the United States. Looking south, it connects with a 
 navigation which, by means of the Ohio, penetrates the States of Indiana, 
 Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, to the base of the AHegany 
 chain of mountains, and through the channels of the Cumberland and 
 Tennessee rivers you enter the very heart of the rich States of Alabama 
 and Tennessee ; and by tlie Upper Mississippi and IMissouri, you reach the 
 outposts of America. 
 
 Through the tributaries of the Lower Mississippi, the v.^hole southvi^est- 
 t=rn world is open to American enterprise ; and on the bosom of the parent 
 river, every nation and port known to commerce is accessible from this 
 I'egiuning point of tlie rail-road. 
 
 The route of the central rail-road passes through a country, the greater 
 part of which lias been in market for 10, 15, 20, or 25 years, which is 
 mainly ascribable to tlie fact of its remoteness from navigation and mar- 
 kets. It is well known to all observers that the first settlements of new 
 countries are almost invariably confined to the great rivers. Such is the 
 fact in relation to Illinois. Another reason whicli has contribiUed to l:eep 
 this land out of the market is, that large proportions of it are prairies of 
 oreat extent, which retards greatly the settlement of the country, and which 
 difficulty will be neru'l}^ obviated by the construction of the contemplated 
 road, and the Government be enabled to sell its unavailable land for many 
 miles contiguous to the route, and thus derive a largo revenue from an lui- 
 anticipated source, and from one which would have lain dormant, and con- 
 sequently without profit to the State or nation, for ages to come. 
 
 Regarded thus in a pecuniary point of view, in reference to the General 
 Government, the construction of the road will give vahie to immense 
 bodies of unproductive wild lands, and considerably enhance the revenues 
 of the State, by subjecting them to taxation. 
 
 The proposed central rail-road will follow, as nearly as practicable, tlie 
 'bird princ!p;',l meridian line, parsing through the seat of Government of the 
 ,':tate; and the other irincii'il towns rn the route. It will be seen by & 
 
[ Rep. No. 121. ] 3 
 
 statement diirived from the departmf^nt of the General Land Office, that 
 the lands remaining: nnsold up to a late period, confinins: the estimate to 
 the suid meridian lino, between the month of tlie Ohio and its intersection 
 of tlie llUnois, with(nit any divergence, and a scope of live miles on either 
 side thereof, amoant to 2,183,830 acres ; and that 383,133 acres have heen 
 sold, making the entire quantity of pubhc; lands on the route 2.565,(313 
 acres. Retween the point of intersection on the Illinois river, (the western 
 termination of the Illinois and Michigan cana!) and Galena, a distance by 
 estuTiate of 110 miles, tlie unsold lands within the prescribed limits of five 
 miles on each side of the route, amount to 061,120 acres. 
 
 As gigantic as the proposed project is regarded in every point of view, 
 whether for its extent, (being from 150 to 500 miles in length,) the newness 
 of the country in and through which its constrnction is contemplated, its 
 unsurpassed fertility and adaptation to agricultural pursuits, the prospective 
 utility of the road to the nation, and present advantage to the State, and being 
 entirely pr;i.cticable, it will be undertaken and finis:hed, but much more 
 speedily by the giant of the privilege prayed for. 
 
 When the Mississippi and Ohio are fast bound up in ice, troops and 
 munitions of war can be transferred, with a rapidity and despatch unknown 
 to water transportation, to the frontiers of Illinois, Wisconsin, and northern 
 Missouri, whence theycan be stretched along the lines of these frontiers in 
 •an incalculably short period of time. . 
 
 The northern termination of the road is situated in the centre of the 
 lead region. At all times and seasons this valuable article of trade can be 
 brought south, and thence to any military point or commercial mart in the 
 Union. The lead in this region is inexhaustible, and will afford a suffi- 
 ciency to supply the wants of the country botli in peace and war. Re- 
 garded as the groundwork of a system of internal improvement aboutbeing 
 commenced in Illinois, it is of paramount importance to the public interests. 
 This road will be regarded as the grand stem, from which will diverge 
 works of a similar kind, to coimect with every road or canal of importance 
 which the enterprise of the neighboring States may undertake, pointing in 
 the direction of Illinois. A branch is contemplated to St. Louis, whereby 
 an unbroken line of rail-road will be m;tde to the northwestern limits of 
 Missouri ; another to unite with the Wabash and Erie canal ; thus epening 
 to every citizen of Illinois a direct communication with the northern 
 States of the Union. In a word, branch roads, it may be confidently calcu- 
 lated, will be co:^.strncted to every important town or commercial position 
 on tke borders of the State. Considered, then, as a facility of carrying out 
 a system about undergoing the action of Congress, for tiie transportation 
 of the United States mail, it should be regarded in a most favorable light. 
 It js also in contemplation (and recent experience proves that it is only 
 necessary to conceive a v.-ork of internal improvement, to carry it into 
 etiect,) to extend the road from the mouth of the Oiiio to Nashville, in the 
 State of Tennessee, to meet the projected road from tliat city to New Or- 
 leans, and to unite with branches oi' the great Charleston project, and the 
 contemplated Baltimore and Ohio and Richmond rail-roads. 
 
 The completion of tlu'se great works would identify the intfrests uf the 
 whole valley of the Mississippi, and bring the west and the south into the 
 most intimate communion. Viewing this subject in every possible point 
 of light, as creating at its southern termiiiaiion a commercial emporium of 
 great future consequence to the commerce of the western States. u\ whicu 
 
4 - [ Rep. No. 121. ] 
 
 will concentrate the trude from the sonrce.s of the Mississippi and Missouru 
 the mineral regions of the north and southern Missouri, the manufac- 
 tures of the Ohio and tributaries, the rich products of the soutiiern country, 
 brought in exchange lor the superabundant productions of the rich soils of 
 Illinois; or as giving value to millions of acres of the public domain, which 
 are now wholly worthless and unsaleable ; or as enhancing the revenues of 
 the State, and contributing to its welfare and prosperity, in the increase of 
 its population, wealth, and intelligence, and in direct and positive benefits 
 to the people; or as creating great facilities in the conveyance of the mail, 
 the transportation of troops and munitions of war from one extreme of the. 
 country to anotlier, at all seaso)ts of the year, in one-fourth of the time 
 and at oie-half the expense now reqnircd : or its effects upon the social 
 and political relations of a large portion of the xVmerican people, or their 
 public or their private interests; it operates upon each and all in the most 
 beneficial manner. 
 
 The committee will not permit themselves to doubt the final decision of 
 the House on this subject, especially when it is recollected that a large por- 
 tion of the very land to which the right of pre-emption is asked, miless the 
 road be made, will remain tor many years, as millions of acres now are, 
 valueless and unsaleable on the hands of the Government ; and that 
 sound policy in relation to the value and sale of the immense districts of 
 lands owned by the United States, almost exclusively, through which the 
 road would pass, would be to make the grant asked lor. There can be no 
 doubt but that three times the amount that could now be realized for those 
 lands, would, on the completion of the work, be immediately reimbursed by 
 the increased value and ready sale of the adjacent lands, a large portion of 
 which, from their remoteness from highways, and other causes, are now 
 nearly, if not altogether, without value. The correspondence before alluded 
 to, with the Commissioner of the General Land Office, together with a 
 mat) of the State of Illinois, is appended to and made a part of this report. 
 
 The committee report a bill in conformity with the prayer of the memo- 
 rialists. 
 
 Hou.sk ok Representatives, 
 
 March 25. 183G. 
 Sir : The memorial of the Illinois Central Rail-road Company, incor- 
 porated by c-'U act of the Legislature of the State of Illinois, for the purpose 
 of «-.<)iistructing a rail-road from a point at or near the mouth of the Ohio 
 river, to the termination of the proposed Illinois and Michigan canal, on 
 the liliiiois river, witli the right to extend the same to the town of Galena, 
 in said State, praying for the right of pre-em[)tion to a portion of the public 
 lands through which said rail-road may b3 located, has been referred to 
 the Committee on Public liands of th" House of Kepresentativ^cs. In 
 order to enable the committee to judge of the propriety of reporting- a bill 
 in accordance with the prayer of .said meujorial, will you have the good- 
 ne>s, at your ( arlicst convenience, to furnish the committee with a state- 
 ment, showing the quantity of land that has been disposed of by the Gov- 
 emmenr, aiui the ipiantity still wwued by the United States, within five 
 miles in width, on each side of the third principal meridian line in the State 
 of Illinois, from a point on the Ohio river where said third principal 
 
[ Rep. No. 121. ] 5 
 
 nieridinn lino intersects the same, north, to a point on the lUinois river 
 where said line crosses said river; and also the quantity of land tliat has 
 ])een disposed of by the Government, and the cpiuntify still owned by the 
 Un' ted States, within five miles in width, on each side of a straight line, east 
 from the hist point aforesaid, to the town of Galena, in said .State of IJJiiiois. 
 1 have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 z. c:asey 
 
 E. A. Brown, Ks(j. 
 
 Commissionc)- nf tlip General Ldiui Offirf:. 
 
 Gkneral f_iANu Office. 
 
 March 26, 183(3. 
 
 Sir : In your letter of the 25th instant, you request to be furnished with 
 n statement showing the quantity of land disposed of by the Government, 
 and the quantity still owned by the United States, within five miles in 
 width, on each side of the third principal meridian line in the State of 
 Illinois, from a point on the Oiuo river where said third principal meridian 
 line intersects the same, north, to a point on the Illinois river where said 
 line crosses said river; and, also, 
 
 The quantity of land that has been disposed of by the Government, and 
 the quantity still owned by the United States, within five miles in width, 
 on each side of a straight line east from the last point aforesaid, to the 
 town of Galena, in the said State of Illinois. 
 
 Prom t!ie verbal explanation which I had yesterday the honor to make, 
 you aie av.''aTe of the dilliculties in the way of preparing such statements 
 as you require, by reason of the heavy arrears of sales remaining to be 
 registered in the tract books of this office. 
 
 Under tliese circumstances of official embarrassment, 1 am enabled only- 
 Jo estimate^ as nearly as practicable, the particulars you desire ; and the 
 tbllowing are the results : 
 
 l''irst. — Total quantity of five sections on each side of 
 the tliird principal meridian from the Ohio river to the 
 river Illinois, estimated . . . . 1.861.013 acres. 
 
 Sold and otherwise disposed of by the United Stales - 340,253 '• 
 
 Vacant - - 1,521,360 " 
 
 Second. — Estimated distance of the line from the Illinois 
 
 river to Galena, 110 miles, ten sections to a mile - 704,000 " 
 
 JS.ild, estimated - - - - - 42,880 " 
 
 Vacant - - 661.120 '• 
 
 Transmitted herewith is a map of the route described in your com- 
 munication. 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 Sir, vour obedient servant. 
 
 ETHAN A BROWN. 
 Hon. Zadok Casey, 
 
 of the Comr/tittee on Public Lands, H. R. 
 
6 • [ Rep. No. 121. ] 
 
 xMEMORIAL 
 
 To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the Utiited 
 
 States : 
 
 " The Illinois Central Rail-road Company," incorporated ny an act of 
 the Legislature of the State of Illinois, for the purpose of constructing a 
 rail-road from the month of the Ohio river to the termination of the pro- 
 posed Illinois and jjiciiigan canal, on the Ilunois river, witli the right to 
 extend the same to the town of Galena, in said State, respectfnlly desire to 
 subnjit to the Nstional Legislature some of their views of the character 
 and importance of the undertaking, and the propriety of the Government's 
 granting assi;,tancc in the prosecution and coinpletion of the work, by se- 
 curing for a limited time to yonr mcn-iorialists the right of pre-emption to 
 a portion of the public domain on each side of the contemplated road, and 
 by making to them a grant of lands. 
 
 Commencing in the southernmost .::tre;i, it;; of Illinois, at the confluence 
 of the Ohio and Mississippi, two majestic rivers, which and their tributa- 
 ries water a large and important portion of the United States, a point al- 
 ways accessible to boats of the largest dimeiisions from the lower sections 
 of the latter river, whose navigation is seldom or never obstructed so far 
 down as this place by low water or ice, stationary or floating; passing 
 through the centre of the Stale to its northern boundary, and extending 
 through a territory of great iertihty, blessed with a climate mild and salu- 
 brious, afibrding the means of bringing to the extensive prairies of this 
 fiiie territory tlie coal, and vv^ocd, and materials valuable for buildings alid 
 fences, and so abuiulant in some parts of the country, particularly in the 
 southern part of the Stale, tfiis rail-road cannot foil, to be a work equal in 
 importance to the whole nation, and to any tiling of the kind yet devised, 
 and vastly more important to this State than any wliich can le projected. 
 
 Your memoiialisls deem it highly important in a national point of view, 
 because they regard it as a principal link in the chain of comnuuiication 
 which is now in preparation to bind together in close and firm union the 
 soutlieastern and norllnvestern States. The day, it is confidently believed, 
 is not far distant, Vv'hen the rail-road now in ])rogress from the city of 
 Charleston, in South Carolina, and profjosed to be extended by Nashville, 
 in Tennessee, to Cincinnati, as well as the New Orleans rail -road, whicli 
 will soon be made to Nashville, whence it can easily be extended the smrJl 
 distance, and the niost valuable part of the wht'e route of either road 
 from tlie last mentioned place to the confluence of those majestic rivers. 
 and where the '• Illinois Central Kail-rond" is to commence ; thus opening 
 a direct, speedy, and safe communication from the norlhwest to a city in 
 the southeast part of the United States, possessing one of the best and 
 safest harbors in the world, and justly the boast and pride of the south. 
 
 This road, thus completed and traversing North and South Carolina, Al- 
 abama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois, and 
 extending diagonally from one corner of the nation to the other, will facili- 
 tate the excliangc oi' the mineral riches, and wheat, and other products of 
 the northwest, for the cotton, sugar, coftbe, rice, and oilier agricultural 
 wealth of the southern States and West Indies, as well as for the goods im- 
 ported from abroad. It will serve to bring directly to the west, in payment 
 for the leadj beef, pork, wheat, and other products of western industry, the 
 
[ Eep. No. lai. 1 7 
 
 wealth of the south, to be employed in making improvements where they 
 are most needed and subject to use; and, if possible, render more beautiful 
 the lovely plains of the west. It will introduce to an intimate acquaintance, 
 and 'nnd in ties of friendship as well as of interest, the planters of tbe south 
 and the farmers, their fellow-citizens, of the -'far west/' Their intercourse 
 being so easy and immediate as it then will be, and promoting in so emi- 
 nent a degree, as it will, the interests of all concerned, cannot but increase ; 
 and the bands of Union, thus formed, will grow forever stronger and more 
 indisso'uble. 
 
 Tjie great space between the ends of this immense highway of nations 
 will be dhninishcd, as it were, to a j.oint : and the inhabitants of States 
 now far di-;tant, and utter strangers, and, pt^rhaps, in some degree regarding 
 each other with eyes of jealousy and suspicion, will, by this means, be brought 
 into near neighborhood and ultimate acquaintance ; nay, into friendship 
 secured by strong ties of interest. 
 
 Your memorialists having taken a cursory viev\^ of the advantages of this 
 magnificent work, growing out of the relations of the States to each' other 
 through which it is to be made, and of others adjacent to them, (not with 
 any intention of enumerating the one-half, much less of discussmg their 
 inestimable importance, which, in many respects, is believed to be self-evident,) 
 beg leave to advert for a moment to it as a safeguard of the Government, 
 and a means of carrying on, with incr^-'ased facility, its operations. 
 
 Your memorial'sts will not dwell on the greater security and iiicreased 
 speed with which the mail can be transported in a rail -road car to and from 
 the remotest parts of our widely extended country : though this, of itself, it 
 is believed, -(tibrds a sutficient reason wiry the C4ovcrnraent would act wise- 
 ly by extending a helping hand to accomplish a work in this respect so 
 desirable. But, when it is considered that so soon as this road shall have 
 been completed from the city of Charleston, in South Carolina, to Galena, 
 on the upper Mississippi, the troops, munitions of war, and military stores, 
 and supplies of the United States, can be trjuisported from the extreme 
 southeast on the Atlantic, to the extreme northwest on the Mississippi, v/ith 
 a speed and security so much greater than would be practicable without its 
 aid; reasons from this quarter flow in apace with powerful conviction in 
 the mind of every patriot and statesman, why the General Government 
 sliould exert an active energy, and bestow with a liberal hand, towards the 
 completion of this great work. 
 
 Suppose, however, it should be thouglit your memorialists entertain mis- 
 taken views of the national importance of this undertaking in wliich they 
 are euijaged ; that it is not to be so valuable as they deein it, in carrying 
 on trade and commerce befvvreen the distant and dissimilar parts of our 
 common country, in subserving their mutual and respective interests, and 
 in binding them together in the bands of lasting friendship ; that, as a se- 
 cin-ity and protection to the Government itself, and as the means of trans- 
 porting the mail and the troops, military stores, supplies, and munitions of 
 war, it is overrated; still it is to be considered that a great portion of the 
 route of the proposed road in this State is to pass tlirough an extended and 
 almost uninterrupted prairie, which, though fertile, is destitute, in a great 
 me?.sure, of the fuel and timber necessary to its cultivation and habitation ; 
 and that, without the aid of such road, it c;mnot. for many years to come, 
 be prolhably occupied, and will not afford sufficient induccmeiU to its set- 
 tlement; and in all human probability. l"or a long time, if ever, only portio: s 
 of it, small in comparison with the whole, will find a purchaser, owing 
 
S [ Rep. No. 121. ] 
 
 to Its distance from timber ond the inconvenience of procuting fuel 
 aiid materials for bnildintrs and fences; and that by this road Jho.soUiings 
 will he abundantly and easily supplied from the numerous coal banks'it 
 will pass ov.er, and the dense forests in the southern part of the State ; and 
 that the sales of public lands long in market, and long but for this to re- 
 main so. will be accelerated and greatly increased in amount. This latter 
 consideration, growing out of the proprietory interest of the United States 
 in the soil, affords, it is thought, a strong reason why the Government 
 should, even if its view and action were to be confined to the increase and 
 raising of a revenue, assist efficiently in the prorecution of this work, by 
 making to your memorialists a liberal donation in lands, and by securing to 
 (hem for a reasonable time a pre-emption right to the whole." or a portion 
 of the public lands within a given distance, on each side of this rail-road. 
 
 The advantage of the proposed road to the present interests and future 
 prosperity and wealth of Illinois — a thing, m the opinion of your memorial- 
 ists.notto be overlooked by the National Legislature— besides the benefits it 
 will enjoy in common with the otiier States through which it is to pass, in. 
 the increased value of her land and its products, in the facilities it will 
 afford to the central and healtliy parts of the State for conveying away to 
 market those products speedily and safely, and for obtaining from abroad 
 I he necessary snpplies of articles of foreign growth or fobrication ; in bring- 
 ing into notice and cultivation, and subjecting to taxation, a large quantity of 
 lands wljich otherwise may, and doubtless will, long remain as ihej^ now 
 are. the wild and uncultivatedproperty ofthe public, and in other various and 
 inaiierous ways too obvious to require specification,will not. because it cannot, 
 be questioned, is above all estimate, and, being apparent, needs not to be urged. 
 Tiie point where the road will commence in this State, as before stated, is 
 one to which boats ofthe largest size come at all seasons of the year, and 
 one to which a rail road from the city of Cliarleston, in South Carolina, will 
 doubtless soon be made. It extends thence through the centre ofthis State, near 
 tbe third principal meridian, to the termination of the Illinois and Michigan 
 canal on the Illinois river, now to be actively prosecuted a distance of up- 
 A'/ards of three hundred miles, and from thence to Galena, upwards of one 
 hundred and twenty miles further : moking, in all, a distance from its com- 
 mencement to its termination at the town of Galena, of between four and 
 five hundred miles ; and if completed, as is contemplated and confidently 
 expected, it will redound to (he. lasting prosperity, and secure the future in- 
 dependence ofthis State: and will, for ages to come, be its boast and its 
 y:lory, and it will become a monument reared to tbe enterprise and industry 
 of those who accomplish the work, and is worthy the patronage of a great, 
 powerful, and enligl;tened nation. 
 
 In conclusion, your memorialists, for the foregoing reasons, and for many 
 more, which the subject itself will suggest to the wisdom and foresight of 
 Congress, pray that such a donation in lands, as the importance of the sub- 
 ject may indicate as reasonable and proper, may be made to said company; 
 and that a pre-emption right. to the whole, or a portion ofthe public lands 
 iyin^- immediately on the route of said road, v/itiiin a distance to be specified 
 on e:»c!i side thereof, may be secured to them for a reasonable time, within 
 which it mav be practicable to complete the same. 
 
 A. M. JENKINS, 
 
 President of the Illinois Cendal Rail-Road Co. 
 D. B. IIOLBROOK, 
 
 Treasurer of the Illinois Central Rail-Road Co. 
 
[ Rep. No. 121. ] 9 
 
 AN ACT to inrnrporiiie the Illinni- r.^iifcil Rail-road Cunipany. January. lH3f>. 
 
 .Sr-;c'i'iON 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Jllinois. repre- 
 sented in the General Assemblij, That Williuni Wilson. Alexander M. .Fen- 
 kins, David .1. Baker, .folin 8. Hacker, lT(Miry Eddy, Wilson Able, Elijah 
 Williams, Joel Manninn;, Richard (i. Murphy, Pierre Menard, Miles A. (Jil- 
 bert, Francis Swanwick. .lohn Ileynolds, Alfred Cowles, Harry Wilton, 
 Sidney Breese, John V). Wood, Charles Prentice, John Dcrrnent, William 
 R Thornton. William Williamson, Jolm V. Henry, M. S. Covill, Lovell 
 Kimbah, John M. Krum, 1). B. Holbrook, Simon M. Hubbard, James 
 HiigliCv^, Albert CJ. Snyder. Wm. (1. Reddick, G. S. Hubbcird, Daniel W^ann, 
 .Tohn Taylor, I'jlijah lies, Tliomas Mather, John Todd, A. G. Henry, James 
 Thompson, Gabriel Jone.-^', William Adair, Robert Iv. Mclianghlin, Henry 
 Smith, William Linn. Jesse C. tjockwood, Abraham Irvin, Daniel Marshall, 
 Daniel F^'jeld, George H. Hannah, Samuel S. Chapman, .Tohn Dunn, Wil- 
 liam W. Roman, layman Adams, James Mitchell. William Welsh, Nathan 
 Horner, Tliomas B. Afflick, and Porter Clay, their associates, successors, 
 and assigns, be, and they are hereby, made a body politic and corporate, under 
 the name of the •■ Iij.inois Ckntrai. R ail-road Compaxv," and by that 
 name shall be, and are hereby made capable, in law and equity, to sue and be 
 sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, in any court or place 
 whatsoever : to make, have, and use a common seal, and the same to renew 
 and alter at pleasure ; and by that name and style be capable in law of pur- 
 chasing, liolding. and conveying away real and personal estate, for thepur- 
 ()ose.s and uses of said corporation ; and Miall he, and are hereby, vested with 
 all the powers, privilesfes, and immunities, AAHiich are, or may be necessary 
 to carry into eifect the purposes and objects of this act, as hereinafter set 
 for'h ; and the said corporation are hereby authorized and empowered to lo- 
 cate, construct, and linallv complete a rail-road, commencing at or near the 
 mouth of the Ohio river, and thence north to a point on the Ulinois river, at 
 or near the termination of the Illinois and Michigan canal, in such manner 
 and form as they shall deem to be most expedient; aiad, for this purpose, 
 said company are liereby authorized to lay out their road, not exceeding 
 eight rods wide, through its whole length ; and for the purpose of cuttings, 
 embankments, and procuring stone or gravel, may take as much more land, 
 as may be necessary tor the proper construction and security of said road: 
 Provided, koircver, That all damages that maybe occasioned to any person 
 or corporation, by the taking of such land or materials for the purposes 
 aforesaid, shall be paid for by said company, in the manner hereinafter pro- 
 vided. 
 
 Se<t. 2. The capital stock of said company shall consist of twenty-five 
 thousand shares, of one hundred dollars each ; and the immediate govern- 
 ment and direction of the affairs of said company shall be vested in a board 
 of not less than five directors, who shall be chosen by the members of the cor- 
 poration, in the manner hereinafter provided, and shall hold their offices 
 until others shall lie duly elected and qualified to take their places as direct- 
 ors ; and the said directors, a majority of whom shall form a quorum tor 
 the transaction of business, shall elect one of their number to be president 
 of the board, who shall also be president of the company : and shall have 
 authority to choose a clerk, who shall bo sworn to the faithful discharge of 
 his duty 5 and a treasurer, who shall give bonds to the corporation, witli 
 
10 [ Rep. No. 121. ] 
 
 sureties, to the satisfaction of the directors, in a sum not less than twenty 
 tJiousand dollars, for the faithful discharge of his trust. 
 
 Sect. 3. The president and directors for the time being are hereby 
 authorized and empowered, by themselves, or their agents, to exercise all the 
 powers herein granted to the company for the purpose of locating, con- 
 structing, and completing said rail-road, and for the transportation of per- 
 sons, goods, and merchandise, and all such other powers and authority for 
 the management of the atfairs of the company, not heretofore granted, as 
 may be necessary and proper to carry into effect the objects of this com- 
 pany ; to purchase and hold lands, materials, engines, cars, and other neces- 
 sary tilings, in tlie name of the company, for the use of the road, and for 
 the transportation of persons, goods, and merchandise; to make such equal 
 assessments, froai time to time, on all the shares in said corporation, as they 
 may deem expedient and necessary in the execution and- progress of the 
 work, and direct the same to be paid to the treasurer of the company, and 
 the treasurer shall give notice of all such assessments ; and in case any sub- 
 scriber shall neglect to pay his assessment for the space of thirty days after 
 due notice by the treasurer of said company, the directors may order the 
 treasurer to sell such share or shares at public auction, after giving due 
 notice thereof, to the highest bidder, and the same shall be transferred to 
 the purchaser, and such delinquent subscriber shall be held accountable 
 to the company for the balance, if his share or shares shall sell for less than 
 the assessment due thereon, with interest and costs of sale, and shall be en- 
 titled to the overplus, if his share or shares shall sell for more than the as- 
 sessment due, with interest and costs t)f sale: Pi'ovided^ however, That no 
 assessment shall be laid upon any shares in said company, of a greater 
 amount in the whole than one hundred dollars on a share. 
 
 Sect. 4. The said company shall have power to make, ordain, and estab- 
 lish all such by-laws, rules, and regulations, and ordinnnces, as they may 
 deem expedient and necessary to accomplish the designs and purposes, 
 and to carry into effect the provisions of this act, and ior the transfer and 
 assignment of its stock, and the conveyance of property, and the well-order- 
 ing, regulating, and securing of the interests and affairs of the company : 
 Proi)idcd, The same be not repugnant to the constitution and laws of this 
 State, or of the United States. 
 
 Sect. 5. A toll is hereby granted and established for the sole benefit 
 of said company, upon all passengers and property of all descriptions, which 
 may be conveyed or transported upon said road, at such rates per mile as 
 may bo agreed upon and establislied, from time to time, by the directors of 
 said company. The transportation of persons and property, the construc- 
 tion of wheels, the form of cars and carriao;es, the weight of loads, and all 
 other matters ;ind things in relation to the use of said road, shall be in con- 
 formity to such rules, regulations, and provisions, as the directors shall, 
 from time to time, prescribe and direct: Provided, however, That if, at the 
 expiration often years from and after the completion of said road, the nett 
 income or receipts from tolls, taking the ten years aforesaid as the basis of 
 calculation, shall have amounted to more than 12 per cent, per annum upon 
 the cost of the road, the Legislature may take measures to alter and reduce 
 the rate of tolls, in such manner as to take off the overplus for the next ten 
 years — calculating the amount of transportation upon the road to be tlie 
 same as the ten preceding years ; and at the expiration of every ten years 
 thereafter, the same proceeding niay be luul : Pynvidcd,fi(rthfT,Tb^t\\\i^. 
 
[ Rep. No. 1^1. ] 1 1 
 
 Legislaturo shall not at any time so rednce the tolls as to produce less tlian 
 12 per ceutum upon the cost of the said rail-road, without the consent of the 
 said company ; and no otlicr rail-road than the one hereby t^ranted shall, 
 within fifty years from tiie passage of this act, be authorized to be made, lead- 
 ing from the Oiiio river, or Mississippi river, commencing below the mouth 
 of the Illinois river, to anv place within ten miles of the northerly termi- 
 nation of the rail-road hereby established : Provided, That the said rail-road 
 shall be com-ncnced in five years, and completed v/itliin twenty years from 
 the passage of this act. 
 
 Sec-j'. 6. The directors of the said company, for the time being, are 
 hereby authorized to erect toll-houses, establish gates, appoint toll-gatherers, 
 and demand toll upon the road, when complete, and upon such parts thereof 
 as shall from time to time be completed. 
 
 Sect. 7. The said company shall be holden to pay all damages that 
 may arise to any person or persons, corporation or corporations, by taking 
 their land for said rail -road, when it cannot be obtained by voluntary agree- 
 ment, to be estimated and recovered in the manner provided by law for the 
 recovery of damages happening bv laying out highways. 
 
 Sect. S. When the lands or 'other property, or estate of any feme co- 
 vert, infant, or person non compos mentis shall be necessary for the con- 
 struction of said rail-road, the husband of such feme covert, and the guar- 
 dian of such infant, or person no)i compos mentis may release all damages 
 for any lands or estate taken and appropriated as aforesaid, as they might do 
 if the same were holden by them in their own right respectively. 
 
 Sect. 9. If any person shall v/ilfuily, maliciously, or wantonly, and 
 contrary to law, oi3Struct the passage of any carriage on said rail-road, or 
 in any way spoil, injure, or destroy said rail-road, in any part thereof, or 
 any thing !x4onging thereto, or anyanaterial or instruments to be employed 
 m the construction, or for the use of said railroad, he, she, or they, or any 
 person or persons assisting, aiding, or abetting in such trespass, shall for- 
 feit and pay to said company, for every such "ofll'uce, treble ^uch damages 
 as shall be proved before the justice, court, or jury, before whom the trial 
 shall be had, to be sued for and recovered before any justice, or any court 
 proper to try the same, by the treasurer of the corporation, or other officer 
 whom they may direct, to the use of said company: and such offender or 
 otlenders shall be liable to indictment by the grand jury for the county within 
 which such trespass sliall have been conmiitled, for any olfence or offences 
 contrary to the above provisions; and on the conviction thereof, before any 
 court competent to try the same, shall pay a fine not exceeding one hun- 
 dred nor less thaii thirty dollars, to the use of the people of the State of 
 Illinois, or may be inij.risoned for a term not exceeding one year, at the 
 discretion oi the court before whom the conviction may be had. 
 
 Sect. 10. Th" annual meeting of the members of said company shall 
 be holden on the second Monday in December, in each year, at Yandalia, 
 or such other place as the directors for the time being may appoint, at 
 which meeting the directors shall be chosen by ballot, each proprietor being 
 entitled to as many votes as he holds shares ; and any two of the individ- 
 uals named in tlie first section of this act are hereby authorized to call the 
 first meeting of said company, by giving notice in some public nev/spaper 
 published at the place where such meeting is to be held, of tiie time, place, 
 und purpose of such meetincf, at least ten days before the time mentioned 
 in sucli notice. 
 
12 r Rep. No. vn. ] 
 
 Sect. 11. If the said rail-road, in the course thereof, shall cross any 
 river, canal, turnpike, or other hio:lnvay, the said rail-road shall he so con- 
 structed, as not to impede or obstruct the safe and convenient use of such 
 river, canal, turnpike, or other hi^diway. And said company, hereby cre- 
 ated, may construct a lateral rail-road from Belleville, tin-ough Lebanon, 
 in St. Clair county, to the nearest practical point of said Central Rail-road, 
 which lateral rail road may be made and constructed in the same manner, 
 and the work progress in the proportion of the work done or. the main 
 central rail-road, until the same is completed, to be subject to the same rules 
 and regulations when completed, tliat the main road is by this act. 
 
 Sect. 12. It shall be lawful for the Legislature of this State, at any 
 time during th(^ continuance of the charter of the said rail -road, after the ex- 
 piration of twenty-five years from the openiiig lor use of the rail-road herein 
 provided to be made, to purchase of the said company the said rail-road, 
 and all the franchise, rights, and privileges of the said company, by paying 
 them therefor the amount expended in making said rail road: and in case, 
 at the time of purchase, the said company shall not have received a nett 
 income equal to twelve per cent, per annum, on the said expenditures, from 
 the time of the payment thereof by the stockholders, by payinii; the company 
 such additional simi as, together with the tolls which they sliall have received 
 from the said rail-road, will be equal to a nett profit of twelve per cent, per 
 annrnn on the cost of said rail-road, from the date of the payment thereof 
 by the stockholders of the said corporation, to the time of such, purchase. 
 
 Sect. 13. The said company are hereby authoriz-^d to extend the said 
 rail-road herein provided for, from the Illinois river to Galena, in this State : 
 Hrovided. The roiUe proposed to be taken shall he surveyed and located 
 within four years from July next, and the whole rail-road completed within 
 the tune limited in the fifth section of this act. 
 
 Sect. 14. It shall be lawful for said company to hicrease their capital 
 stock to an c\mount sufiicient to extend and complete the rail-road authorized 
 by this act, whenever the company shall deem it expedient, by a vote of the 
 stockholders at a meeting specially notified for the purpose, to be assessed 
 to the same amount as the shares which are already created : Provided, 
 That the additional number of shares so to be created shall not exceed ten 
 thousand ; and \hv proprietors of the shares already created, for the lime 
 being, shall have the option of subscribing to said additional shares, in pro- 
 })ortion to the amount which they may hold, respectively, of the said ori- 
 ginal shares. 
 
 Sect. 15. In case the State shall purchase the rail road authorized to 
 be constructed by this act, the limitation provided in the fifth .section of this 
 act shall cease, and he of no effect. 
 
 Sect. 16. It shall be the duty of said rail-road company, from year 
 to year, to make re})ort to the Legislature of their receipts and expenditures 
 on said rait -road, and branches authorized to be constructed under the 
 provisions of this act. 
 
 Se( T. 17. It shall be the duty of said company to reserve of said cap- 
 ital stock to the amount of five hundred thousand dollars, to be dispo.sed of 
 m this Slate: which stock, so reserved, the president and directors of said 
 company shall, within four months after the said company shall have been 
 organized, oficr for sale, by causing books to be opened at the .several places 
 hereinafter named, and under the direction of the following commissioners, 
 namely: at Ottowa, under the direction of Lovel Kimball ; at IJloomington, 
 
[ Rep. No. 121. J KJ 
 
 under the direction of M. L. Covall ; at Sprintrtield, under the direction of 
 William (Carpenter; at Jacksonville, under tlie direction of Jojui Henry; at 
 Decatur, under the directi«)n ot Isaac Puo;|i ; at Slielbyville, under the 
 direction of Joseph Oliver; at Hillsborough, under the direction of Chris 
 tian B. Block bu rjjer : at Vandalia, under the direction ot James Black; 
 at Greenville, under the direction of James Bradford ; 'at Carlyle under 
 the direction of Joshua T. Bradley; at Salem, under the direction of 
 Mark Tully; at Mount Vernon, under the direction of Harvey B. Pace; 
 at McLeansborough, under the direction of Milton Carpenter; at JNew 
 Nashville, under the direction of John U.Wood; at Frankfort, under 
 the direction of Johnson Wren ; at Equality, under the direction of Daniel 
 Wood; at Darwin, under the direction of Uri Manly; at Alton, under th»- 
 direction oi J. A. Townsend ; and at Belleville, under the direction of John 
 D. Hughes ; and the said commissioners, at tlie places above named, shall 
 receive subscriptions for said stock, which books shall be kept open for the 
 space of at least sixty days, or until the whole of said stock, so ottered ii)r 
 sale, is taken ; and whenever, and as soon as twenty-five thousand dollars 
 thereof shall have been subscribed, at any ono of the before-mentioned places, 
 the books at such places shall thereupon be closed : one dollar on each 
 share so subscribed shall be paid by the subscriber at the time of subscri- 
 bing; and no peison shall during the first thirty days after the opening of 
 the books as aforesaid, be allowedi to subscribe for more than five shares in 
 his or her own name ; and any and so much of said stock so offered for sale a« 
 said places as aforesaid, as shall remain unsubscribed after sixty days from 
 the time of opening said books, may be disposed of in such manner and at 
 such time as the said president and directors of the company shall deem 
 proper; public notice of the time and place when and where said book.*; 
 shall be opened tor the purposes aforesaid shall be given in three or more 
 newspapers of general circulation published in this State; and vacancies 
 occasioned by death, or refusal to serve, of the above-named connnissioners, 
 shall be filled by the president and directors of .said company. 
 
 Sect. IS. Tliis act of incorporation shall continue in Ibrce for the term 
 of sixty years from and after the passage thereof, shall be deemed and taken 
 to be a public act, and be in force from and after its passage. 
 
 JAMES SEMPLE, 
 •S/JecrAer of the House of Rep/'eseniaiives. 
 
 A. M. JENKINS, 
 
 >Spcakc7- of ike Senate. 
 A]»proved, I'ith Januarv, IS3G. 
 
 JOSEPFI DUNCAN. 
 
 St-\te of Ili.inoi.s, } 
 Devnrtment of S/aic. S 
 
 I, Alexander P. Field, Secretary of State of the State of Illinois, do 
 he-eby certify, that the foregoing act is a true and perfect copy of the 
 enrolled bill on file in my olfice. 
 
 In testimony wherriof, Thave hereunto signed my name and affixed the 
 [l. 8.1 seal of State, at Vandalia, the 18th Januarv, 1836. 
 
 A. P. FIELD, 
 
 >Sccreiary of Sia^'e. 
 
14 [ Rep. No. 121. ] 
 
 At ameetinafof the board of directors at Alton. February 13, 1836, it 
 was 
 
 Voted, That tbe president and treasurer of this company be authorized 
 10 proceed to Wabi)in2:ton city, for tlie purpose of procunng snch aid from 
 the General Government, by way of donations of land, or pre-emption rights 
 thereto, as may further the objects of this company : and that they have 
 power to make such contracts with the General Government, or any au- 
 thorized officer or department thereof, in relation to carrying the mail, 
 transporting the troops, munitions of war, and property of the United 
 States, as they may deem it advisable and most beneficial for this company. 
 
 Voted, That the memorial prepared by this company be presented to 
 Congress by the president and treasurer, and (hat they use all the means 
 in their power to effect the objects contemplated therein. 
 
 This certifies that A. M. .Tenkins is president, and D. B. Holbrook trea- 
 surer of the Illinois Central Rail-road Company. 
 
 MILES A. GILBERT, 
 Cleik of the lUinois Central Rail-road Company. 
 

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