Editing Lee County, Iowa (section)

==History==
[[Fort Madison]] dates to the [[War of 1812]]. Lee County was the location of the [[Half-Breed Tract#Iowa|Half-Breed Tract]], established by treaty in 1824. Allocations of land were made to [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] descendants of European fathers and Indian mothers at this tract. Originally the land was to be held in common. Some who had an allocation lived in cities, where they hoped to make better livings.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} Lee County as a named entity was formed on December 7, 1836, under the jurisdiction of [[Wisconsin Territory]]. It would become a part of Iowa Territory when it was formed on July 4, 1838.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/WI_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|title=WI: Individual County Chronologies|website=publications.newberry.org|access-date=September 28, 2016|archive-date=April 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414132220/http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/WI_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Large-scale European-American settlement in the area began in 1839, after Congress allowed owners to sell land individually.{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} Members of [[the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] (LDS Church) under the direction of [[Brigham Young]] fled persecutions in Missouri to settle in Illinois and Iowa. [[Nauvoo, Illinois|Nauvoo]], across the border in [[Hancock County, Illinois]], became the main center of Latter-day Saints settlement, but there was also a [[stake (Latter Day Saints)|Latter Day Saints stake]] organized in Lee County under the direction of [[John Smith (uncle of Joseph Smith, Jr.)|John Smith]], the uncle of [[Joseph Smith]], land that was sold to them by [[Isaac Galland]] in 1839.

Lee has two [[county seat]]s—[[Fort Madison, Iowa|Fort Madison]] and [[Keokuk, Iowa|Keokuk]].<ref name="GR6">{{cite web|url=http://explorer.naco.org/# |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |access-date=May 21, 2018}}</ref> The latter was established in 1847 when disagreements led to a second court jurisdiction.<ref>[http://www.museumsusa.org/museums/info/1276448 North Lee County Historical Society], Museums USA, accessed August 11, 2008</ref> Lee County's population grew to about 19,000 in 1850, the first US census, to 37,000 per the 3rd census in 1870, peaking at 44,000 people in 1960. It has continuously decreased since and as of 2020, 33,555 people lived there, comparable to the years between 1860 and 1870.<ref name=census/>

===Name===
There is no consensus about the derivation of the name "Lee." It has been variously proposed that the county was named for Marsh, Delevan & Lee, of [[Albany, New York]], and the 'New York Land Company', who owned extensive interests in the [[Half-Breed Tract#Iowa|Half-Breed Tract]] in the 1830s; [[Robert E. Lee]], who surveyed the [[Des Moines Rapids]]; or [[Albert Miller Lea|Albert Lea]], who helped explore the interior of Iowa.<ref name=lee1879>{{cite book|title=The History of Lee County, Iowa|date=1879|publisher=Western Historical|location=Chicago|pages=414–415|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WVJKAAAAYAAJ}}</ref><ref>[https://pubs.lib.uiowa.edu/annals-of-iowa/article/id/13535/ Naming of Iowa Counties]. The Annals of Iowa. 36 (1962), 395-400. ISSN 0003-4827</ref>{{rp|398}}