Madison County, Illinois - Chapter 43: To Alton's Early Credit, 1912

The earliest town incorporated by the Leg¬ islature of Illinois was Kaskaskia, January 6, 1818. Cairo was a close second having been incorporated three days later on January 9th of same year. Edwardsville is third, Febru¬ ary 23, 1819; Carmi, fourth, March 24, 1818; Belleville, fifth, March 27, 1818; Alton, sixth, January 30, 1821.

These dates of incorporation mean nothing as to time of first settlement. They refer merely to the corporate existence of the towns named under act of the Legislature. For in¬ stance : Kaskaskia dates back to some year year between 1682 and 1700 but had no cor¬ porate existence until 1818, although it was the capital of the territory, while Cahokia, which was contemporaneous with Kaskaskia, has no record of ever being incorporated. Looking nearer home Upper Alton, which was laid out in 1816, a year before Alton, is not on record as being incorporated until Feb¬ ruary 18, 1837. It is a curious fact that Col. Rufus Easton, who laid out the town of Alton in 1818, is not among its incorporators.

According to the revised ordinances of Al¬ ton the town was not incorporated until 1833, but this is not correct. The first charter was issued in 1821. Alton was then a promising settlement but owing to defective land titles and consequent litigation the original settlers moved away and the town did not revive until the litigation was settled about 1830. From

1821 to 1833 the town was governed by trus¬ tees under a charter of perpetual succession. The charter is a curious document and is ap¬ pended here for its historical interest. The donation of the proprietors of the town of fifty lots for the support of the Gospel and fifty for the support of public schools will at¬ tract special attention as they were probably the first of the kind made in the State.

"An Act for the Appointment of Trustees for the Town of Alton, Approved January 30, 1821. Preamble : Whereas, the inhabitants of the town of Alton, in the county of Madi¬ son, have presented their petition to this Leg¬ islature setting forth, that the original pro¬ prietors of said town did make a donation of one hundred town lots, one-half for the sup¬ port of the Gospel, and the other half for the support of public schools in said town for ever, which said towns lots vest at present in the patentees of the tract on which said town is situated, and who are not authorized to use the said donation for the purposes intended by the donor ; and whereas the said petitioners have further prayed that the town may be in¬ corporated and trustees appointed in whom and their successors the said lots may vest for ever, to be used and applied agreeably for the purposes intended; and the objects of said petitioners appearing just and reasonable; therefore, the State of Illinois, represented in the Gen¬ eral Assembly, That jas. W. Whitney, Benja¬ min Spencer, Benj. Stedman, Augustus Lang¬ worthy, Joel Finch, Isaac Wood and Charles Geer, be and are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, to be known by the name of the 'Trustees of the Town of Alton' and by that name shall have perpetual succes¬ sion and a common seal.

"Sect. 2 - Be it further enacted, That the donation of the aforesaid one hundred town lots, shall vest in the said trustees and their successors in perpetuity, to be leased or other¬ wise managed as shall seem meet to the said trustees or a majority of them; and one-half of the proceeds thereof ' shall be annually ap¬ plied towards the support of a public school in said town, and the other half applied to the support of the Gospel.

"Sect. 3 - Be it further enacted, That there shall be one annual meeting of the said trus¬ tees on the first Monday in March in each and every year: the chairman of the board shall have the power to call special meetings, giving five days previous notice thereof ; a majority at any stated, adjourned, or special meeting shall form a board or quorum, and a majority of them shall be capable of doing and transacting all the concerns of the said school; and particularly for the entering into contracts for the erecting and repairing of any building or buildings necessary for said institution, of making and enacting by-laws and ordinances for the government of the said school not contrary to the laws and con¬ stitution of the United States or of this state; of filling vacancies in the board of trustees oc¬ casioned by death, resignation, or removal out of the place; of electing and appointing the principal instructor and other instructors of the same school, of agreeing with them for their salaries, and of removing them for mis¬ conduct or breech of laws of the institution ; of appointing committees of their own body to carry into execution all and every the reso¬ lutions of the board ; and in particular, of dele¬ gating to a special committee of their own body full power and authority to transact all and singular the said business of the said school conformably to any resolution for such purpose, until the annual meeting thereof, at which time a report of their proceedings shall be laid before the board ; of appointing a chairman and secretary out of their own body and managers and other customary and nec¬ essary officers for taking care of the estate and managing the concerns of the institution : Provided, That all vacancies shall be filled at a stated meeting of the board.

"Sect. 4 - Be it further enacted, That the said trustees shall be authorized to levy a tax. on all the town lots in said town ( the one hun¬ dred town lots aforesaid excepted; , not ex¬ ceeding seventy-five cents on each lot, per an¬ num, to be applied to the support of the teacher or teachers of the said school, and to the erection or repairing of such building or { -buildings as may be necessary for the accom¬ modation of the said school or the instructors thereof.

"Sect. 5 - Be it further enacted, That the said trustees or a majority thereof, at their annual meeting in the month of March shall be authorized to appoint a collector to col¬ lect the tax aforesaid, who shall give bond with one or more securities, in double the sum to be collected in each and every year, to be approved of by the said board of trus¬ tees, for the faithful performance of the duties of his office, and for faithfully pay¬ ing over to the treasurer of the said town of Alton all the moneys he shall collect pursuant to any tax list that shall be delivered to him by the trustees aforesaid; and as a compensation for his services the said col¬ lector shall be allowed to retain such sum an¬ nually as to the trustees shall appear to be just and reasonable.

ized to appoint annually a treasurer, whose duty it shall he to reserve and safely keep all moneys belonging to the said town; and to pay over no moneys whatsoever except upon order or warrant of the said trustees; he is to give receipts to the collector for all such mon¬ eys as he may receive of the said collector for the use of the said town, and for all other per¬ sons.

"Sect. 7 - He it further enacted, That the said trustees and their successors, by the name and style aforesaid, shall be capable in law to purchase, receive and hold, to them and their successors, any lands, tenements, goods, and chattels of whatsoever kind the same may be, either given, devised, or pur¬ chased, or leased for the use of the said school, and may sell and dispose of same as shall seem most conducive to the interest of said institution; and shall he persons in law capable of suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, in all courts and places whatever ; and shall be authorized to fill all offices provided for by this law, but which are to expire at first annual election after the pas¬ sage of this law.

"Sect. 8 - He it further enacted, I hat the several persons herein named be, and they are hereby appointed, trustees in the town of Al¬ ton, in the county aforesaid, to continue in office until the election of their successors as is herein provided, and who shall within twenty days after their election assemble and choose their chairman and other officers. They shall settle their rules, and keep a jour¬ nal of their proceedings, and enter the yeas and nays on a question, resolve, 01 oi (finance, at the request of a member, and their delibera¬ tions shall be public.

"Sect. 9 - He it further enacted, That the said trustees shall have the power and authoiity to pass by-laws and ordinances to prevent horse racing in the streets and lanes of the said town, and to prevent drunkenness and disorderly conduct, to prevent and extinguish fires, to cause the streets to be cleared, cleansed and repaired by the inhabitants thereof, and to impose reasonable and appro¬ priate penalties for the breaches of their or¬ dinances, recoverable before any justice of the peace of the county, and to pass such gen¬ eral regulations for the better government of the said town as they shall deem necessary. Provided, That nothing therein contained shall be inconsistent with the law and constitu¬ tion of this state or of the United States; and it shall be the duty of the chairman of the board of trustees to cause the said laws and ordinances to be published in three of the most public places in the said town, for the information of the citizens and all concerned: and it shall be his further duty to cause the said by-laws and ordinances to he car¬ ried into effect : he shall remain in office for the term for which he was chosen a trus¬ tee, but in case of his absence at the meeting of the board, the board may appoint a chair¬ man pro tempore: that on the death, resigna¬ tion, or removal of any one or more of the trustees, the vacancy or vacancies shall be filled by the remaining trustees, who shall ap¬ point a successor or successors to continue in office until the next election; and in case there should not be an election at the time appointed by this act, the trustees in office shall continue in office until their successors shall be chosen at the next general election.

"Sect. io - He it further enacted, That the limits of the said town or incorporation shall include all that part of section seven (7) in town five north of range nine west of the third principal meridian, lying and being south of a tract in said section commonly called the 1 lodges tract, of two hundred and fifty-five acres; and all free white male inhab¬ itants of the age of twenty-one years and up¬ wards, who shall have resided for six months immediately preceding the election within the limits of said town or incorporation, as afore¬ said, shall be, and they are hereby authorized to elect seven trustees annually on the first Monday of September in each and every year; who shall serve for the term of one year, ex¬ cept as aforesaid. And it shall be the duty of some one of the constables residing in or near the said town, who shall be designated by the said trustees to give twenty days' previous notice, in three of the most public places in the town, that such election will be holden at such public place in said town as such con¬ stable shall designate; and it shall also be the duty of said constable to superintend and con¬ duct the same ; and he may employ a clerk to assist him in keeping the poll, for which ser¬ vices compensation shall be made by the said trustees ; and it shall be the further duty of the said constable, within ten days after such election shall have been holden, to make com¬ plete return of the number of votes given, and make a certificate of the persons elected, and deliver such certificate to the chairman of the board of trustees.

"Sect, n - Be it further enacted, That it shall be and is hereby made the duty of the collector to be appointed by virtue of this act, to make personal application to the person or persons charged with the tax on the list of the assessment, if they shall be residents of said town, before he shall expose to sale or sell any lot or lots, to make the amount of the tax due from the owner or owners of such lots; and if the said tax be not paid in one month after such application, or in case any of the owners of such town lots, be non-residents of such town, in either case, if the tax be not paid, it shall be the duty of the said col¬ lector to give thirty days previous notice in three public places of said town, to make sale of the said lots to the highest bidder, or so much thereof as will be necessary to pay the said tax or taxes due thereon, and shall give to the purchaser or purchasers thereof a cer¬ tificate of the fact of sale as aforesaid, which shall vest the title in such purchaser or pur¬ chasers to whom the same may be sold, unless the same shall be redeemed by the owner by paying to the purchaser or purchasers, within twelve months after such sale, the amount of the purchase money with fifteen per centum thereon.

"Sect 12 - Be it further enacted, That every child of a suitable age, living within the limits of said town, of whatever description, shall at all times have a right, on conforming to the discipline and regulations of said school, to be taught and instructed in all such arts and sci¬ ences as shall be taught in said school; and no child shall be excluded from the said school, except as aforesaid, on any pretense whatever.

"Sect. 13 - Be it further enacted, That the chairman of the said board of trustees of the said town shall be, and he is hereby author¬ ized to commence suits in his own name, as such trustee, against any person who may have been an officer of said board, and who retains money belonging to the same in his hands, and against every person committing a breach or breaches of the ordinances of said trustees, for the penalty or penalties thereby incurred, which suits may be commenced and prosecuted to final judgment and execution before any justice of the peace in the county of Madison, subject to an appeal as to other cases.

"Sect. 14 - Be it further enacted, That this act shall be taken and deemed to be a public act, and as such shall be considered benignly and favorably, in all courts and places, for every beneficial purpose therein mentioned ; and the same shall take efifect and be in force after its passage."