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The U.S. Congress approved an act that separated
Illinois from the Indiana Territory on February
3, 1809. It stipulated that the administration
of the new territory would remain "in
all respects similar" to the government
created by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787
(U.S. Stat. at Large, II, 514). The President of the United States appointed
a Governor and three territorial judges,
who acted as a unicameral legislature named
the Council of Revision. All legislation
written by the Council was subject to congressional
disapproval.
As chief executive the Governor also was
empowered to act as commander-in-chief of
the militia and was authorized to appoint
militia officers below the rank of general
and civil officers for counties and townships.
Acting as the Governor's appointee the Adjutant
General preserved militia records, attended
public military reviews, transmitted gubernatorial
orders to military units, and reported to
the Governor on the condition of equipment.
The Secretary of the Territory, also appointed
by the President, was to keep and preserve
all laws and other public records and documents
created by the Governor in his executive
role. The Secretary assumed the duties of
the Governor whenever he left the Territory
or upon his removal, resignation, or death
(U.S. Stat. at Large, I, 50). Under legislation adopted from the Indiana
Territory the Secretary kept a file of surety
bonds posted by county officials. Results
of county censuses taken by sheriffs and
election returns also were required to be
filed with the Secretary (Francis S. Philbrick,
ed., The Laws of Indiana Territory, 1801-1809, in Theodore Calvin Pease, ed., Collections of the Illinois State Historical
Library, XXI [Springfield, 1930], 152, 199, 571).
By 1812 the population of Illinois was great
enough to qualify it as a territory of the
second grade. According to the terms of the
Northwest Ordinance the Governor called an
election of representatives to form a House
of Representatives. This House in turn selected
ten of its members as nominees to the Legislative
Council, the upper chamber of the new territorial
legislature. The U.S. Congress selected five
of the nominees as actual Legislative Council
members (Theodore Calvin Pease, ed., The Laws of the Northwest Territory, 1788-1800, in Collections of the Illinois State Historical
Library, XVII [Springfield, 1925], 125-127). Together
the House of Representatives and the Legislative
Council replaced the Council of Revision
as the territorial General Assembly. Provisions
also were made in 1812 for a territorial
Auditor of Public Accounts and a Treasurer.
Throughout the territorial period the duties
of the Governor and the Secretary expanded.
In 1811 the Governor was authorized to remit
fines and grant pardons and reprieves in
all cases except impeachment (Terr. L. 1811,
p. 29). As Superintendent of Indian Affairs
the Governor also was allowed in 1814 to
grant licenses to trade with the Kaskaskia
Indians (Terr. L. 1814, p. 43). During 1812
the General Assembly ordered the Secretary
to accept and file Randolph County records
dating before July 13, 1781 so that they
would "be safely kept by him as other
Public archives & records of his office"
(Terr. L. 1812, p. 46). Although the General
Assembly repealed this law when the capital
was moved from Kaskaskia to Vandalia the
1812 act set a precedent for the Secretary
to care for local as well as state records.
At the direction of the General Assembly
the Secretary also preserved census returns
and compiled lists of officials who took
their oaths of office before the Governor.
In the same year the General Assembly provided
that all documents connected with its proceedings
be deposited with the Secretary (Terr. L.
1814, pp. 46, 100).
In 1818 a population census, taken at the
direction of the Governor, verified that
Illinois met the minimum population requirement
for statehood. On this basis the U.S. Congress
authorized Illinois to adopt a constitution
and form a state government on April 18,
1818. Accordingly a convention at Kaskaskia
approved an ordinance on August 26, 1818
that accepted the terms of statehood as laid
out by the U.S. Congress. Illinois entered
the union as the twenty-first state on December
3, 1818 (U.S. Stat. at Large, III, 536).
For territorial records incorporated into
the files of the Secretary of State, Auditor
of Public Accounts, and the Adjutant General
see RS 103.041, RS 103.068, RS 103.069, RS
103.073 through RS 103.076, RS 105.003 through
RS 105.005, RS 105.012, and RS 301.002.
Territorial Governor
100.001
CORRESPONDENCE.
March 10, 1809-August 19, 1813; August 8,
9, 1814; January 5, 17, 1816. 2 vols. Partial
index.
Correspondence with private citizens and
government officials generally concerns the
Governor's civil and military responsibilities.
Typical discussions of the former concern
law enforcement, local politics, and expenses
of the territorial government. Letters handled
by the Governor as commander-in-chief of
the militia cover the period from June 18,
1811 to September 12, 1812. These letters,
many of which were written by traders, primarily
report information about Indian affairs,
especially hostile activities such as murders
in Chicago during 1812. Letters mention nearly
all Indian tribes living in the Illinois
Territory during the early nineteenth century,
particularly the Potawatomis, Ottawas, Delawares,
Shawnees, Cherokees, Osages, and Kickapoos.
Other military topics in the correspondence
include the War of 1812, construction of
a chain of forts, cooperation with the militia
of the Michigan Territory, and the Fort Wayne
Expedition. Also preserved in the series
are copies of military orders issued by the
Governor and receipts for weapons that he
had sent to militia units. Most outgoing
letters concerning military matters were
sent to the U.S. Secretary of War; other
letters were addressed to such officials
as Illinois militia officers, the U.S. President,
the Indiana Governor, the Secretary of the
U.S. Treasury, and the principal chiefs of
the Kickapoo and Potawatomi tribes. Some
incoming correspondence is addressed to the
Secretary of the Territory. The series also
contains circulars sent to Shadrach Bond
when he was both territorial Governor and
territorial delegate to the U.S. House of
Representatives. The U.S. Secretary of State
and the President signed these circulars
which announced a special session of Congress.
Some of these letters have been published
by Clarence Edwin Carter, ed., The Territory of Illinois, 1809-1814, in The Territorial Papers of the United States, XVI (Washington, D.C., 1948).
Secretary of the Territory
100.002
EXECUTIVE RECORDS.
May 17,1809-December 3, 1818. 1 cu. ft. No
index.
Documents filed by the Governor with the
territorial Secretary concern the Governor's
official actions in regard to territorial
administration, local governments, law enforcement,
the militia, and Indians. Administrative
records include resignations, removals, and
appointments of territorial officials; proclamations
to hold elections; statements that the Governor
had issued election certificates, particularly
to members of the General Assembly and to
congressional delegates for the territory;
proclamations to divide counties; applications
for licenses; certificates of officials who
administered oaths of office; itemized cost
tallies from the General Assembly for buying
firewood and stationery or for repairing
the Kaskaskia courthouse; gubernatorial orders
proroguing the General Assembly; and authorizations
from the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury to
pay federal funds to the territorial Secretary
for taking an industrial census.
Documents in the series that relate to the
Governor's responsibilities for local governments
include resignations, removals, and appointments
of county officials, both executive and judicial;
copies of commissions issued to justices
of the peace, together with certified statements
from authorities who administered the oaths;
petitions to the Governor (e.g., for remission
of fines, for removal of appointees); name
and title lists of local officials in Pope,
Monroe, Crawford, Union, and Jackson Counties;
and affidavits concerning cases before local
courts. Records in the series that illustrate
the Governor's law enforcement duties are
legal depositions (i.e., confessions of crimes,
statements from witnesses), affidavits from
witnesses and copies of charges in cases
filed with the General Assembly because they
involved public officials, bills signed by
the Governor, and copies of affidavits sent
to justices of the peace for the apprehension
of persons charged with crimes.
Material pertaining to the militia includes
resignations; copies of commissions; name
lists of promoted officers; gubernatorial
special orders, such as to muster the St.
Clair County militia in Cahokia; pleas from
enlisted men for permission to elect their
officers; letters from officials in the U.S.
Saline (Gallatin Saline) transmitting the
names of officers who won militia elections
and explaining the circumstances of the elections;
resolutions of the St. Clair Society of True
Americans; names of troopers deployed on
the Indiana and Missouri frontiers; copies
of the Governor's letters discussing such
matters as the appointment of military surgeons
during the War of 1812; and a narrative about
the Pope County regiment containing a name
list of its officers and including their
commission dates and ranks.
Material relating to Indian affairs includes
letters from settlers concerning Indian threats
and the lack of protection provided by the
militia or by territorial officials; copies
of licenses for trading with the Indians,
in particular the Sauk and Fox; proclamations
that forbade the sale of liquor to Indians;
a message from the Potawatomi chief to the
Governor asking that the presents agreed
upon by treaty be sent to Fort Clark; and
a translated speech delivered by the Potawatomi
chief during a council held at Peoria in
which he compared Indian life under French
and American rules.
100.003
EXECUTIVE REGISTER.
April 25, 1809-September 9, 1818. 2 vols.
and 1 partial vol. Index, 1 partial vol.
Executive register entries note in chronological
order gubernatorial acts such as titles of
laws passed and signed by the Governor and
the territorial judges in their legislative
capacity; memoranda of the Governor's orders;
resignations (including names and dates)
received from territorial or county officials
and militia officers; proclamations; record
of dates that the Governor entered or left
the territory; notations of passports issued
by the Governor; and requests for extraditions
sent to him from governors of other territories,
usually Orléans. Also included are proclamations
by the President and a record of his appointment
of the territorial Governor and Secretary.
These volumes contain the names of many territorial
officials.
The EXECUTIVE REGISTER has been transcribed
and indexed by Clarence Edwin Carter, ed.,
The Territory of Illinois, 1814-1818, in The Territorial Papers of the United States, XVII (Washington, D.C., 1950), 617-673.
100.004
EXTRADITION PAPERS.
July 1809-August 1809. 0.1 cu. ft. No index.
File contains official requests for the return
of fugitives from justice. The documents
were issued by state governments to the Illinois
Governor who occasionally added information
about the circumstances of the crime. The
requisitions, signed by governors, list the
fugitives' names, criminal charges, and places
crimes occurred. Other requisitions are from
the Secretary of the Territory to the St.
Clair County sheriff.
100.005
ENROLLED ACTS OF THE TERRITORIAL COUNCIL
OF REVISION.
June 13, 1809-June 26, 1811. 0.25 cu. ft.
Calendar.
Enrolled acts are copies of original acts
passed by the Council of Revision (i.e.,
territorial Governor and judges) and filed
with the Secretary of the Territory. These
acts constitute the official record of the
laws of Illinois while a territory of the
first grade. Original acts were lost but
these copies were reconstructed from published
versions that appeared in contemporary St.
Louis newspapers.
Acts passed by the territorial Council of
Revision have been reprinted by Francis S.
Philbrick, ed., The Laws of Illinois Territory, 1809-1818, in Jay Monaghan, ed., Collections of the Illinois State Historical
Library, XXV (Springfield, 1950), 5-47.
100.006
ENROLLED ACTS OF THE TERRITORIAL GENERAL
ASSEMBLY.
December 13, 1812-January 26, 1818. 0.75
cu. ft. No index.
File contains public and private acts passed
by the General Assembly (i.e., Legislative
Council and House of Representatives) and
filed with the Secretary of the Territory.
These acts constitute the official record
of the laws of Illinois while a territory
of the second grade. Acts were signed by
the Speaker of the House, President of the
Legislative Council, and the Governor. Also
included are joint resolutions of the General
Assembly regarding such matters as depositing
the journals of both chambers with the Secretary
of the Territory.
Acts passed by the territorial General Assembly
have been reprinted by Francis S. Philbrick,
ed., The Laws of Illinois Territory, 1809-1818, in Jay Monaghan, ed., Collections of the Illinois State Historical
Library, XXV, (Springfield, 1950), 51-363.
100.007
RECORD OF BILLS AND ACTS.
November 26, 1812-December 3, 1818. 1 partial
vol. Index.
Volume contains a title list of bills and
acts proposed to or passed by the territorial
House of Representatives and the Legislative
Council. Noted in the volume are acts not
approved which were returned to the chamber
of origin.
100.008
TERRITORIAL CENSUSES.
1810; 1818. 2 microfilm rolls and 1 vol.
Index.
The surviving portion of the 1810 territorial
census is for Randolph County alone which
at the time of the enumeration composed the
southern quarter of what now is the state
of Illinois. Entries include name of town,
village, or other geographical subdivision;
name of head of household; numbers of free
white males aged 0-9, 10-15, 16-25, 26-44,
and 45 and upwards; numbers of free white
females by the same age divisions; number
of other free persons, except Indians, not
taxed; and the number of slaves. Entries
were recapitulated and endorsed by the census
taker.
The 1818 population census of the Illinois
Territory was compiled in each county by
census commissioners appointed by the territorial
Governor to establish the minimum population
requirement for achieving statehood. Each
county return includes name of county and
for each household name of head of household,
numbers of free white males twenty-one years
of age or older, other white inhabitants,
free Negroes and mulattoes, and servants
and slaves. Also included are total number
of inhabitants of each county, signature
of census commissioner certifying census,
and date certified. Returns are included
for the following counties:
Bond
Crawford
Franklin
Gallatin
Jackson
Johnson
Madison
Monroe
Pope
Randolph
St. Clair
Union
Washington
White
Censuses were reprinted by Margaret Cross
Norton, ed., Illinois Census Returns: 1810, 1818, in Theodore Calvin Pease, ed., Collections of the Illinois State Historical
Library, XXIV, (Springfield, 1935).
Territorial Council of Revision
100.009
MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL MEETINGS.
June 13, 1809-November 25, 1812. 1 partial
vol. Index.
Volume contains the minutes of meetings of
the Governor and the territorial judges acting
in their legislative capacity. Minutes list
the dates that they met, names of members
present, and titles of laws or resolutions
considered.
Territorial General Assembly
100.010
JOURNALS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
November 25, 1812-December 26, 1812; November
8, 1813; November 14, 1814-December 24, 1814;
December 4, 1815-January 11, 1816; December
2, 1816-January 14, 1817; December 1, 1817-January
12, 1818. 0.25 cu. ft. No index.
Journals of the Legislative Council for the
First General Assembly (first and second
sessions), the Second General Assembly (first
and second sessions), and the Third General
Assembly (first and second sessions) list
the names of members of the Legislative Council
and their counties, members of legislative
committees, and appointed or elected General
Assembly officers. Also recorded in the journals
are approvals of bills initiated by the House
of Representatives; impeachment votes; presentations
of citizen petitions, usually concerning
contested elections; authorizations for territorial
officials to draw appropriated funds from
the Treasury; reports received from committees;
and the introduction of, readings of, and
votes on bills or resolutions. Noted in the
journals are messages received from the Governor
usually stating that he had signed or disapproved
bills. The journals do not contain discussions
of the bills; they simply calendar the actions
taken on them.
The journal of the first session of the First
General Assembly has been published by Edmund
J. James, ed., The Territorial Records of Illinois in Publications of the Illinois State Historical
Library, no. 3 (Springfield, 1901), 62-85. A printed
copy of the journal of the second session
of the Third General Assembly, published
in Kaskaskia in 1817, also is held by the
Illinois State Archives.
100.011
JOURNALS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
November 25, 1812-December 26, 1812; November
14, 1814-December 24, 1814; December 4, 1815-January
11, 1816. 0.25 cu. ft. No index.
Journals of the territorial House of Representatives
for the First General Assembly (first session)
and the Second General Assembly (first and
second sessions) record the selection of
legislative officers; appointments to committees;
names of members who attended each session;
messages received from the Legislative Council;
addresses to joint sessions by the Governor,
usually verbatim transcripts; rules or resolutions
adopted; presentations of bills and stages
of their readings; committee actions; title
lists of prepared bills; passages of bills;
and revenues received by the territorial
Treasurer in 1814 and 1815, together with
an account of funds paid by the territorial
Auditor of Public Accounts. The journals
contain little or no discussion of the bills
under consideration.
The journal of the first session of the First
General Assembly has been published by Edmund
J. James, ed., The Territorial Records of Illinois in Publications of the Illinois State Historical
Library, no. 3 (Springfield, 1901), 86-125. A printed
copy of the journal of the second session
of the Third General Assembly, published
in Kaskaskia in 1817, also is held by the
Illinois State Archives.
100.012
LEGISLATIVE RECORDS.
November 14, 1813-January 14, 1817. 0.25
cu. ft. Partial calendar.
File includes bills, acts, resolutions, and
memorials approved by the territorial legislature
during its First General Assembly (second
session), Second General Assembly (first
and second sessions), and Third General Assembly
(first session). This series contains also
vetoed bills; petitions from citizens; resignations
of county officials; invoices for purchases
by the General Assembly; lists of grievances
compiled by the St. Clair County grand jury;
notices that members of the House of Representatives
had been expelled; reports from legislative
committees, the territorial Auditor of Public
Accounts, and the territorial Treasurer;
messages from the Governor or from the Secretary
of the Territory when he was acting Governor;
and the Governor's attestations that he had
administered oaths of office to members of
the House. Also found in this series are
letters to the Speaker of the House concerning
territorial finance; and letters from the
territorial Secretary informing the Speaker
that the Governor had signed or vetoed certain
bills. Laws filed in this series are dated
and signed by the Speaker of the House, the
President of the Legislative Council, and
the Governor. The series also contains a
two-page copy of the House journal for January
1, 1816 and a bill concerning slavery that
was vetoed by the Governor on December 27,
1817.
Territorial Adjutant General
100.013
MILITIA MUSTER ROLL.
February 27, 1813-March 17, 1813. 0.1 cu.
ft. No index.
Muster roll was prepared by the field and
staff officers of the 3d Infantry Regiment
of the Illinois militia which was sent on
an expedition during the War of 1812. Included
are names and ranks of officers, dates of
appointments and expirations of service,
and remarks (e.g., horse lost).
These records are available at the Illinois
State Archives, Office of the Secretary of
State.
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