Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 3.djvu/474

 many families arrived and in the summer of 1845 the preliminary steps were taken to organize the county government. In 1844 an election had been held at Clark’s Point, two miles northwest of where Albia stands, at which W. G. Clark was chosen justice of the peace. During the same year Mr. Clark laid out a town at Clark’s Point named Clarksville. The first election for county officers was held here in August, 1845, at which the following were chosen: W. G. Clark, probate judge; James Hilton, clerk; T. Templeton, treasurer; John Clark, sheriff, and J. M. McMullen, M. H. Clark and J. S. Bradley, county commissioners. The election was held at John Clark’s log cabin where the first term of the District Court was also held in 1845. On the 19th of January, 1846, an election was held to decide upon a permanent county-seat which resulted in favor of Princeton.

On the 1st of August, 1846, the name of the county was changed to Monroe and the county of Kishkekosh ceased to exist. 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.