CHAPTER I.
GEOGRAPHY, TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOLOGY.

Perry County is situated in the southeastern part of the State of Ohio, is bounded on the north by Licking and Muskingum, on the east by Muskingum and Morgan, on the south by Athens and Hocking, and on the west by Hocking and Fairfield.  Its area is four hundred square miles.  It is of irregular shape, and is longest from north-west to south-east. 
     The divide, separating the waters which flow into the Hocking, from those that flow into the Muskingum, reaches the long way through the county, coming in at the north, in Thorn township, west of Thornville, and going out at the south, in Bearfield township, near Porterville.  The highest parts of this divide, are about 500 feet above the level of Lake Erie; and about 1000 higher than the Atlantic ocean.  About one-third of the county is drained into the Muskingum, and the remaining two-thirds into the Hocking.  The Moxahala, (more commonly called Jonathan's Creek,) and its tributaries drain that portion of the county whose waters flow into the Muskingum; and Rush Creek, Monday "Creek, Sunday Creek and their tributaries, that portion, of the waters which flows" into the Hocking.  The Moxahala, or Jonathans' Creek, has a principal north and south branch, the sources of which are comparatively far apart. The head-waters of the north branch are in the neighborhood of Thornville; those of the south branch are several miles southeast of New Lexington.  The north and south branches of the Moxahala do not, in fact, unite within the limits of the county, but several miles over the line in Muskingum.  Rush Creek also has two main branches, (known as north and south,) which, like those of the Moxahala, have their source in different parts of the county.  The head waters of the the north branch are in the western part of Thorn township; those of the south branch are near Rehoboth, nearly twenty miles distant.  The north and south branches of Rush Creek do not come together in the limits oi' Perry, but near Bremen, in Fairfield county.  Monday Creek has its chief sources in the neighborhood of Bristol, Maxville and Middletown, and Sunday creek consisting of three principal branches, in the vicinity of Whipstown, Oakfield and Thompsonville.  All these creeks have numerous tributaries, and the natural drainage system of the county is one of the best in the State.
     The description of the divide, and what has been said about the water courses and drainage, has already indicated, in a great measure,

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