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DOCUMENT NUMBER 12

Published in Private Laws, February 21, 1861, p. 24, also in Central Illinois Gazette, (Champaign) May 1, 1861.

AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE URBANA AND
CHAMPAIGN INSTITUTE.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That B. F. Harris, William Park, J. T. Everett, John Insley, J. S. Wright, John Penfield, J. W. Sim, Jr., C. F. Columbia and Henry Nelson, and such other persons as are, or may hereafter be associated with them, and their successors, are hereby constituted a body corporate by the name of the Urbana and Champaign Institute, for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a Seminary of Learning, comprehending an agricultural, or other departments, as the public may demand, situated between the cities of Urbana and Champaign, in the county of Champaign, and State of Illinois, for males and females, with power to sue and be sued, to take and to hold real estate and other property, by purchase, gift, grant, devise or otherwise; to lease, convey and dispose of the same for the effecting and furtherance of the purposes aforesaid, with power to confer degrees and give diplomas, such as are common in such institutions, and to use a common seal.

SEC. 2. The estate, property and financial concerns of said corporation shall be managed and transacted by a Board of nine Trustees, to be elected by the stockholders herein after mentioned.

SEC. 3. The persons named in the first section of this act shall constitute the first board of trustees, and shall be divided by lot into three classes. The time of service of the first class shall expire on the last Tuesday in June, A. D. 1862, and that of the second class in one, and that of the third class in two years thereafter.

SEC. 4. There shall be a board of visitors, who shall jointly with the trustees appoint the teachers and officers, arrange the course of instruction and determine the general manner of conducting said institution. Said board of visitors shall be consti

tuted as follows, to-wit: the Governor, Secretary of State and Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Illinois; the Presidents of the State Agricultural and Horticultural Societies, and such visitors from each of any organized religious denomination within the limits of the congregational district in which the said Institution is located, as may be appointed by their Conference, Synod, Association or Convention, Provided, that no more than three visitors shall be appointed by the same denomination.

SEC. 5. On the last Wednesday of June, 1862, and on the same day of each year thereafter, there shall be an election of three Trustees, who shall hold their office for three years. All vacancies in the Board of Trustees then existing shall also be filled. Such election shall be by ballot, and by a majority of stockholders present.

SEC. 6. The real estate in the Seminary plat, as now laid out into lots and recorded in the Recorder's office of Champaign county and State of Illinois, shall represent the capital stock of said corporation. Said capital stock may be increased to Two Hundred Thousand Dollars, in shares of one hundred dollars each.

SEC. 7. Any person holding a contract or deed, for one or more shares of said capital stock, shall be a member of this corporation, and entitled to one vote for every share of stock by him thus held, upon which all installments have been paid, required by contract. Stockholders shall be also entitled to such dividends on their stock as the Trustees may from time to time declare thereon.

SEC. 8. The Trustees shall choose their own officers, and make their own by-laws, and may fill any vacancies in their body, by appointment of qualified persons until the next election.

SEC. 9. The Trustees at each annual election shall make and submit a report to the stockholders, of the state of the Institution and its finances, with an inventory of its property, and declare such dividends from the net proceeds and profits of its receipts, or business as the state of the finances of said Institution may warrant: Provided, that no such dividend shall ever be declared or made when its payment would embarrass the finances

or efficiency of the Institution.

SEC. 10. The real estate in said Seminary plat, so long as it represents the capital stock of said corporation, and until conveyed to said stockholders and all the property of the said corporation, both real and personal, shall forever be and remain free from taxation.

SEC. 11. This act is hereby declared to be a public act, and shall be in force from and after its passage.

Approved February 21, 1861.

RICHARD YATES, Governor.
SHELBY M. CULLOM,

Speaker House of Representat'vs.

FRANCIS A. HOFFMAN,

Speaker of the Senate.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
State of Illinois.

SS.

I, O. M. Hatch, Secretary of State of the State of Illinois, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true copy of an Enrolled Law, now on file in my office.—

L. S. in witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of State at the city of Springfield, this 18th day of April, A. D. 1861.

O. M. HATCH, Secretary of State.

DOCUMENT NUMBER 13

Prairie Farmer, June 20, 1863.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION

(Sixth)

Pursuant to a call issued by prominent agriculturists in different parts of the State, The friends of agriculture assembled in convention at the rooms of the State Agricultural Society, in Springfield, June 9th, for the purpose of considering the best method for the legislature to dispose of the lands and script donated by the national government for the establishment of agricultural colleges in the state.

The meeting organized at 2 o'clock P. M., of said day, under the following officers;

President James N. Brown, of Sangamon County

Vice Presidents-Hon. Cyrus Edwards, of Madison County Hon. L. W. Lawrence, of Boon County

Secretaries W. W. Corbett, of Cook County, Thos. Quick of Washington County.

At the suggestion of the President, John P. Reynolds, Secretary of the State Agricultural Society, read the call for the convention and the act of congress donating lands for the establishment of colleges in the different states.

On motion of Prof. J. B. Turner, of Morgan county, the President appointed a committee of three to draft resolutions appropriately expressing the feelings of the convention concerning the death of Dr. John A. Kennicott. Prof. J. B. Turner, Rev. J. C. Burroughs, Jno. P. Reynolds, were appointed such committee, who reported the following resolutions:

Resolved, that in the death of Dr. John A. Kennicott, the members of this convention who have been personally associated with him, especially in labors pertaining to the agricultural interests of the state, have lost a friend whose worth they will ever respect, and whose memory they will affectionately cherish.

Resolved, That for his early and long continued labors in behalf of the agriculture of the State, his large and enlightened views respecting the developments of our agricultural resources, expressed on every proper occasion, through the columns of the Prairie Farmer, and in meetings of the friends of agriculture, of which he has been for many years an earnest promoter, and for his generous sacrifices in diffusing agricultural intelligence, and in promoting intercourse cooperation and organization among farmers and friends of agriculture in the State, Dr. Kennicott deserves the lasting gratitude of all who have at heart the interests of our beloved State, especially of its agriculture.

Resolved, That this convention extend to the widow and family of Dr. Kennicott the assurance of our sincere sympathy in their deep bereavement.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished the press for publication, and that the Secretary transmit a copy thereof to the family of Dr. Kennicott.

Prof. J. B. Turner,

Rev. J. C. Burroughs, Committee
John P. Reynolds,

The business for which the meeting was called being now fairly before the convention, G. I. Bergen, Esq., of Knox county, introduced the following resolution:

Resolved, That it is the sense of this meeting that the interests of agriculture can best be promoted by locating two agricultural colleges within the State.

This resolution was afterwards amended, on motion of Dr. English, of Madison county, by the addition of the words "in accordance with the bill now pending before the Senate."

A strong and earnest discussion of this resolution, and questions connected with it, then followed, which occupied the attention of the convention during the afternoon and evening; which was participated in by Messrs. Bergen of Knox, Turner of Morgan, Roots of Perry, English and Edwards of Madison, Burroughs of Cook, Thomas of Jackson, Quick of Washington, Lawrence of Boone, and other members of the convention.

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