The first settlers in the county were Ambrose A. and Asa C. Call who, in July, 1854, took claims along the Des Moines River near where Algona stands. The place was long know as “Call’s Grove.” Later in the year Malachi Clark, Levi Maxwell, William Hill and Soloman Hand, with their families, took claims on the west side of the Des Moines River about four miles below Call’s Grove. In January, 1855, W. H. Ingham and Andrew L. Seeley took claims near the river four miles above Call’s Grove. In the summer of the same year Jacob Wright, Thomas and John Robinson, W. G. Clark and others settled near where Irvington stands.
In August, 1855, the county was organized by the election of the following officers: Asa C. Call, judge; Robert Cogley, clerk; J. W. Moore, recorder and treasurer; H. F. Watson, sheriff, and Lewis H. Smith, surveyor. The county-seat was located on the claim of A. C. Call and named by his wife Algona. Mrs. Call was the first woman to settle in the county. The town of Algona was platted by A. C. Call, A. A. Call and J. W. Moore in April, 1856. The first newspaper was issued in September, 1861, by Ambrose A. Call and was named the Algona Pioneer Press. A flouring-mill was erected on the Des Moines River in 1867 by J. E. Stacy. Lewis H. Smith was the first lawyer in Algona. The first bank was established by W. H. Ingham in 1867.
In the fall of 1870 the Milwaukee Railroad was completed to Algona giving a direct line to the Mississippi River and Chicago. Algona College was established in 1872 under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal denomination.
LEE COUNTY was first established in 1836 but the boundaries were changed in 1838 and in 1839 its present boundaries were fixed by the Territorial Legislature. On the 18th of January, 1838, the county-seat was located at Fort Madison. The county lies in the extreme southeast
