CHAPTER XII. 



TAZEWELL, McLEAN, LOGAN AND MASON COUNTIES. 



These four counties, which I describe together in the present chapter, are 

 situated contiguously to each other in the central part of the State, and toge- 

 ther, comprise a very irregularly shaped area, of nearly three thousand square 

 miles. The respective areas and boundaries of the several counties, are as fol- 

 lows: 



Tazewell county comprises an area of about six hundred and thirty-five 

 square miles, and is bounded, on the north, by Woodford county , on the east, 

 by McLean county ; on the south, by Logan and Mason counties ; and on the 

 west, by the Illinois river. McLean county contains an area of a little more 

 than thirty-two townships, or about eleven hundred and sixty-one square 

 miles, and is bounded, on the north, by Woodford and Livingston counties ; 

 on the east, by Ford and Champaign counties; on the south, by Piatt, DeWitt, 

 and Logan counties ; and by Tazewell county on the west. Logan county lies 

 immediately south of Tazewell and McLean counties ; on the east, it is bound- 

 ed by DeWitt and Macon counties ; on the south, by Sangamon county ; and 

 on the west, by Mason and Menard counties. It comprises an area of a little 

 more than seventeen townships, or about six hundred and eighteen square 

 miles. Mason county lies south of Tazewell, and east of Logan county; its 

 remaining boundaries are Cass and Menard counties on the south, and the Illi- 

 nois river on the west ; its area is abont five hundred and eighteen square miles. 



The surface of the country over the greater portion of this district, including 

 McLean, Logan, the greater part of Tazewell, and the eastern part of Mason 

 county, is a high, undulating prairie, with here and there groves and belts of 

 timber. The soil is generally a rich brown mold, varying somewhat in differ- 

 ent localities, in the proportion of clay, etc., which it contains, some portions 

 being more argillaceous than others. In the timber, however, which occupies 

 scarcely more than one-fifth or one-sixth of the entire surface, and in the 

 broken country along some of the principal streams, the soil is of a somewhat 

 different character, the lighter colored and more argillaceous subsoil appearing 

 at or nearer to the surface. 



