Appointing Commissioners

Indiana Centinel, January 29, 1820, p. 3.

On January 11, 1820, an act of the General Assembly provided for the appointment of ten individuals "to select and locate a site for the permanent seat of government of Indiana."

The act had four main sections with instructions for the commissioners:

• to locate and select a permanent site for the seat of government.
• to meet at William Conner's house (near present Noblesville) and determine the site "most eligible and advantageous."
• to appoint a clerk to "keep a fair record of their proceedings" which must be filed with the secretary of state's office and the General Assembly.
• to receive an allowance of "two dollars each, per day, for their services, and also the sum of two dollars for every twenty-five miles each may travel."

Source: Laws of Indiana, 1819-1820.