HISTORY OF CLAY COUNTY  3

    That part of the area of the state of Indiana as now constituted,
known as Clay county, comprising an extent of 360 square miles, lies
between the thirty-ninth and fortieth parallels of north latitude, the inter-
mediate line of 39* 30’ crossing the county six miles from the north line,
along the north boundary line of Jackson and Posey townships, through
the city of Brazil, and that of 39* 15’ intersecting Harrison and Lewis
townships about mid-way. The meridian of 10 degrees of longitude west
from Washington, which corresponds with that of 87 degrees west from
Greenwich, crosses the extreme east side of the county, intersecting only
Washington township, touching closely on the west border-line of the
town of Bowling Green. The north line of the county is 140 miles south
of Lake Michigan, the east line 115 miles west of the Ohio border-line,
the south line 90 miles north of the Ohio river, and the west line 15 miles
from the Illinois-Indiana border-line, which locates the county within the
southwest quarter of the state.
    In the system of United States surveys a strip of land extending
north and south and lying between two meridian lines six miles apart is
known as a Range. So, too, a strip of the same width extending east
and west lying between two parallel lines is known as a Town. Ranges
are numbered in regular order, beginning with one (1), both east and
west from a principal meridian, as range one (1) east, range one (1)
west, etc. Towns are numbered correspondingly, beginning at a base
line, as town one (1) north, town one (1) south, etc. The lines which
define or mark out these divisions intersect each other at right angles,
forming squares of thirty-six miles, or sections, which areas, or squares,
are designated as congressional townships. Under the government sur-
veys all the lands of Clay county are comprised within towns nine (9),
ten (10), eleven (11), twelve (12) and thirteen (13) north, and within
ranges five (5), six (6) and seven (7) west. In town nine (9) are
sixty sections, in town ten (10) sixty, in town eleven (11) ninety-six, in
town twelve (12) eighty-four and in town thirteen (13) sixty; in range
five (5) are thirty-six sections, in range six (6) one hundred and fifty-
six, in range seven (7) one hundred and sixty-eight. The line between
towns eight (8) and nine (9) is the south line of the county, and that
between towns thirteen (13) and fourteen (14) the north line; so, range
line number five (5) is the line between Putnam and Clay counties, from
the northwest corner of Cass township to the southeast corner of Parke
county, a length of nine miles, and range line number seven (7) the line
between Clay and. Vigo, a length of eighteen miles, and between Clay
and Sullivan counties, a length of six miles.

    The border lines of the county as defined in the act of organization
have never undergone any changes. The length of the county is thirty
miles, the width from ten to sixteen miles, average width twelve miles,
making a total of 360 square miles, or 230,400 acres. The aggregate
extent of border line, which describes ten right angles, is ninety-two
miles. All the counties bordering on Clay, six in number, antedate it in
organization. On the north lies Parke, organized in 1821; on the east
Putnam and Owen, in 1822 and i8i8, respectively; on the south, Greene,
in 1821, and on the west, Sullivan and Vigo, in 1817 and 1818, respec-
tively. Comparatively, of the ninety-two counties of the state, sixty-six
are of greater area, twenty-two of less, and two others are the same as
that of Clay. The territory of Clay county is, practically, just the one