A few Days after the State Legislature began its regular session, November 5, 1798, the subject of forming a number of new counties was brought before the House. Henry Rhoads was then representing Logan County. Through his efforts the act establishing a new county out of parts of Christian and Logan was passed. It was he who proposed and procured the name of Muhlenberg for the new county. This act, passed at the first session of the Seventh General Assembly, creating Muhlenberg, reads as follows:

An act for the erection of a new County, out of the Counties of Logan and Christian. Approved, December 14th, 1798.

1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that from and after the fifteenth day of May next, all that part of the counties of Logan and Christian included in the following bounds, to wit: Beginning at the mouth of Mud river, running up said river with its meanders within three miles of the mouth of Wolf Lick fork on a straight line; from thence with a straight line to the Christian county line, six miles below Benjamin Hardin's; from thence on a straight line so as to strike Pond river, two miles below Joel Downing's; from thence down Pond river with the meanders to the mouth; from thence up Green river to the beginning, shall be one distinet county, and called and known by the name of Muhlenberg. But the said county of Muhlenberg shall not be entitled to a separate representation until the number of free male inhabitants therein contained above the age of twenty-one years, shall entitle them to one representative, agreeable to the ratio that shall hereafter be established by law. After said division shall take place, the courts of the said county shall be held on the fourth Tuesday in every month, except those in which the courts of quarter sessions are hereby directed to be held. And the court of quarter sessions shall be held in the months of March, May, July and October, in such manner as is provided by law in respect to other counties in this state.

2. The justices named in the commission of the peace for said county of Muhlenberg, shall meet at the house of John Dennis, in the said county, on the first court day after the division shall take place, and having taken the oaths prescribed by law, and a sheriff being legally qualified to act, the court shall proceed to appoint and qualify their clerk, and fix on a place for the seat of justice for the said county, and proceed to erect the public buildings at such place. Provided always, that the permanent seat of justice shall not be fixed, nor a clerk be appointed (except pro tempore), unless a majority of the justices of the court concur therein, but shall be postponed until such majority can be had.

3. It shall be lawful for the sheriffs of the counties of Logan and Christian to make distress for any public dues or officers' fees unpaid by the inhabitants thereof at the time such division shall take place, and they shall be accountable in like manner as if this act had not passed.

The courts of the counties of Logan and Christian shall have jurisdietion in all actions and suits depending therein at the time of said division. and they shall try and determine the same, issue process, and award execution thereon.Soction of J. Russell's "Map of the State of Kentucky with Adjoining Territories," published in 1794, showing extent of the original Logan County from 1762 to 1796. Among the orrors on this old map is the location of "Howards Sattlements," which were on Gasper River and not on Mud (or Muddy) River as here indicated.Section of Munnel's Map of Kentucky, published in 1836, thowing outline of Muhlenberg and adjoining counties up to 1856, when McLean County was formed

The line that, before the formation of Muhlenberg, separated Logan from Christian and lay within the bounds of what became Muhlenberg, is described in the act creating Christian County as follows: "Beginning on Green river, eight miles below the mouth of Muddy river1; thence a straight line to one mile west of Benjamin Hardin's." In other words, this former dividing line ran in a southwesterly direction from a point on Green River eight miles below the mouth of Mud River to a point in the neighborhood of what later became the northwest corner of Todd County. That being the fact, about three fourths of the original area of Muhlenberg County, or about two thirds of the present area, was taken from Christian, and the remainder--the southeastern part of Muhlenberg--was taken from Logan County.Map of Muhienberg County compiled from six atlas sheets issued by the United States Geological Survey (1907-1912)

I judge that after the southern line had been surveyed it was discovered that certain lands originally intended to fall within the bounds of Muhlenberg were, according to the "calls for running the county line," not included in the new county. At any rate, on December 4, 1800, the Legislature passed "An act to amend and explain an act, entitled 'an act for the division of Christian county,' " which I here quote in full:

Whereas, it is represented to the present General Assembly that the act passed in December, 1798, for the division of Christian county is imperfect, and wants amending:

Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, that so much of the act as calls for running the county line from six miles below Benjamin Hardin's, to strike Pond river two miles below Joel Downing's, be and the same is hereby repealed; and the line shall run from said six mile tree to Job Downing's on Pond river, so as to include said Downing's dwelling house in Muhlenberg. This act shall commence and be in force from and after its passage.

An act to establish the county of McLean was approved by the Legislature on January 28, 1854, and set "the second Monday in May, 1854," as the time for the beginning of the new county. Muhlenberg, Ohio, and Daviess counties furnished the territory. Muhlenberg's part (about thirty-five square miles) was all the land that lay between Green and Pond rivers north of the line described thus in the acts of 1854: "... the mouth of the Thoroughfare branch; thence up the Thoroughfare branch to the mouth of Big creek; thence up Big creek to a point where the road from Rumsey to Greenville crosses the same; thence a straight line to the head of the island on Pond river, at the Horseshoe bend." 2

In 1890 a change was made in a part of the southeastern boundary of the county. An act passed April 30, 1888, provided for the appointment of commissioners "for the purpose of establishing the lines between Muhlenberg and Butler counties." An act approved May 22, 1890, briefly states: "That Mud river be, and the same is, made the line between Butler and Muhlenberg counties." This act added to Muhlenberg a triangular strip of land covering a few square miles touching on Mud River below the mouth of Wolf Lick Fork. It incidentally ended the occasionally disputed question as to which county the land really lay in, and therefore also settled the discussion as to which county governed it in the sale of liquor. It is said that this strip was, up to 1890, invariably "wet," regardless of whether Muhlenberg or Butler were "dry."