Schaeffer v. Bonham

Citations

• 95 Ill. 368
• 1880 Ill. LEXIS 188

Syllabus

<p>1. Municipal bonds issued by a town—who may be authorized to issue them without a vole of the people. Under the act of February 28, 1867, the county of Wayne, in this State, which had previously adopted township organization under the general law on that subject, became organized under a special township system, dividing the county into four supervisors’ districts, one of which, among other townships, contained the town of Lamard. In that district there were two supervisors elected, neither of whom resided in the town of Lamard, but that town had its own town clerk. The act of 1869 amendatory of the charter of the Illinois Southeastern Railroad Company, assumed to authorize townships in Wayne county which had theretofore, under the charter of the company, voted donations to the road, to issue bonds of the townships for the amount of such donations, without a vote of the people of the respective towns on that subject, the bonds to be signed by the supervisor or supervisors of the district in which the town should be situate, and countersigned by the town clerk. Accordingly, in pursuance of such supposed authority, the town of Lamard undertook to issue its bonds to the railroad company for the sum of $10,000, the amount which had been previously voted by the voters of the town as a donation to the road. The bonds were signed by the two supervisors of the district in which the town was situated, and countersigned by the town clerk. It was held, the two supervisors mentioned and the town clerk were not the corporate authorities of the town of Lamard, in the sense of the constitution of 1848, so as to be capable of being invested with authority to create a debt in behalf of the town without, a vote of the people, and therefore the bonds were issued without authority of law, and were absolutely void, even in the hands of innocent holders.</p> <p>2. It has been held that even the supervisor elected in the particular town, and the town clerk thereof, are not such corpora