 The county was organized by the state legislature from parts of Crawford, Marion, Hardin and Hancock counties on February 3, 1845.According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.As of the census of 2000, there were 22,908 people, 8,882 households, and 6,270 families living in the county.