History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Plymouth
PLYMOUTH COUNTY lies on the Big Sioux River in the third tier south of the Minnesota line and is one of the largest counties in the State containing eight hundred sixty square miles. It was created by act of the Legislature in 1851 and named for the Plymouth Colony of the Massachusetts Puritans. It was attached to Wahkaw County in 1853. The Little Sioux and Floyd rivers flow through a portion of the county. In the summer of 1856 J. B. Pinckney, David Mills, Isaac T. Martin, J. McGill, Bratton Vidito, John Hopkins, James Dormichy and Mr. Galletin took claims in the valley of the Big Sioux River and built cabins. In July they laid out a town which they named Westfield. The same year A. C. Sheets, James B. Curry, E. S. Hungerford, Joel Phillips and Coryden Hall took claims on the Floyd River. The county was organized on the 12th of October, 1858, by the election of the following officers: William Van Linda, judge; Isaac T. Martin, recorder and treasurer; A. C. Sheets, clerk; David M. Mills, sheriff, and A. E. Rea, superintendent of schools. The place first recognized as the county-seat was the village of Melbourne on the Floyd River where the first court was held by Judge A. W. Hubbard of Sioux City. Here the first school was taught by William Van Linda. Westfield, the competitor of Melbourne for the county-seat, was abandoned in 1860 on account of a settlement of half-breed Indians on lands in the vicinity upon which their scrip was located. The plat upon which Le Mars was laid out was first owned by Jerry Ladd, Mr. Marvin and B. F. Betsworth. The town was platted the summer of 1869, soon after the completion of the Iowa Falls and Sioux City Railroad to that point. John I. Blair, who built the road, visited the place with officials of the company and a party of ladies. It was agreed to form the name of the new town by using the initial letter of the Christian names of the party which were arranged by them to spell Le Mars. The ladies were Mrs. Adeline M. Swain, Mrs. Galusha Parsons, Mrs. W. W. Walker, Mrs. John Weare, Mrs. W. R. Smith and Mrs. John Cleghorn. The letters when arranged would make the names Selmar, or Le Mars, and the ladies decided by ballot in favor of Le Mars, which thus became the name of the town.
Among the firs to open business houses in Le Mars were Blodgett and Foster, J. W. Young, John Gordon, Orson Bennett and C. H. Bennett. On the 3d of February, 1871, J. C. Buchanan established the first newspaper, called the Le Mars Sentinel. At the general election in 1871 Le Mars was made the county-seat.