History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Kossuth
KOSSUTH COUNTY was established in 1851 and named for the Hungarian patriot, Louis Kossuth. When first created it was twenty-four miles square and its northern boundary was on the north line of township ninety-seven, lying immediately south of Bancroft. In January, 1855, by act of the General Assembly, Bancroft County ceased to exist, its territory having been added to Kossuth as was also the north half of Humboldt. In February, 1857, the townships taken from Humboldt were restored to it and Kossuth was left with territory reaching from Humboldt to the Minnesota line. It lies in the fifth tier east of the Missouri River; is twenty-four miles wide and forty and one-third long, containing nine hundred seventy-seven square miles, making it the largest county in the State. The east fork of the Des Moines River flows through the county to the south and the Blue Earth River flows to the northwest.
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.