Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 4.djvu/90

 prairies to Kossuth County, where with his brother, Asa C., he formed the nucleus of a settlement by erecting the first log cabin north of Fort Dodge. The two brothers founded the town of Algona, and in 1861 Ambrose established the Algona Pioneer Press, the first newspaper in that section of the State. For years these pioneers labored to secure railroads and develop their town and county, working also for the material interests and settlement of northwestern Iowa. Ambrose has acquired large interests in land and business enterprises in Algona and has expended his means freely in the improvements which have made Algona one of the most prosperous towns of northwestern Iowa. He has contributed many valuable historical articles to the literature of early times in that section of the State.  ASA C. CALL, one of the first settlers in Kossuth County, was born in Ohio in 1825. He was a graduate of Oberlin College and studied law. In 1850 he went to California remaining several years. In 1854 he, with his brother, Ambrose A., made a journey into northwestern Iowa far beyond any settlement and entered a large tract of prairie and woodland on the east fork of the Des Moines River. Here they built log cabins and began to found a settlement. They built a mill on the river bank and laid out a town which they named Algona. They secured the organization of Kossuth County, of which Algona was made the county-seat. Here, for years, the two enterprising brothers labored with great success to secure settlers and were liberal promoters of every enterprise for building up Algona. They established a newspaper, projected a college and finally secured one of the trunk lines of railroad. Asa C. was the first judge of the county, an influential Republican and in 1884 a delegate from Iowa to the National Republican Convention. The two brothers were for more than thirty years the most widely known of the pioneer settlers of northwestern Iowa and realized ample fortunes from their early investments. Asa C. died on the 6th of January, 1892.  MARTHA COONLEY CALLANAN was born in Albany County, New York, May 18, 1826. Her youthful days were spent on a farm near the Hudson River. She received a good education in the schools of Albany and in 1846 was married to James Callanan. In 1863 they removed to Iowa, locating at Des Moines. Mrs. Callanan took a deep interest in the reform movements of the times and in 1870 was one of the organizers of the State Equal Suffrage Association, which was established at a convention held in Des Moines. She was always a liberal contributor to its finances and an earnest and faithful worker in the cause. For many years she was the editor and publisher of the Woman's Standard and a constant contributor to its columns. She was a prominent member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and one of the founders and contributors of 