Linn county was organized in 1838 and the first election for county officers was held August, 1839. The legislative board of the county, or what corresponds to our present board of supervisors, was composed of three members called a board of commissioners. The following persons served on the board of commissioners:
- Samuel C. Stewart, Peter McRoberts, Luman M. Strong, 1839.
- E. T. Lewis, B. McGonigle, S. C. Stewart, 1842.
- E. T. Lewis, Oliver Day, B. McGonigle, 1843.
- Oliver Day, E. T. Lewis, W. B. Davis, 1844.
- W. B. Davis, Andrew Safely, 1846.
- Andrew Safely, Benjamin Waterhouse, Samuel Hendrickson, 1847.
- S. Hendrickson, Andrew Safely, Johnson Hill, 1850.
- A. Safely, Johnson Hill, Wm. A. Thomas, 1851.
The above system continued until the first code was enacted in 1851 which abolished the board of commissioners and provided for the election of one officer to be called "county judge" who performed the duties of our present board of supervisors and in addition was probate judge and presided over what was called a "county court." The old election books now preserved in the county auditor's office show the following persons to have been elected to this office:
- Norman W. Isbell, elected August, 1851.
- James M. Berry, elected August, 1854.
- Daniel Lothian, elected August, 1857, three terms.
- Johnston Elliott, elected October, 1863, two terms.
- A. B. Dumont, elected October, 1867, one term.
Isbell resigned June 12, 1854, and Joseph B. Young, prosecuting attorney, acted as county judge until the next election when James M. Berry was elected to fill the vacancy.
The legislative duties of the county judge were vested by the Eighth General Assembly in a board of supervisors consisting of one member from each township or two in those townships having over 4,000 inhabitants. The first board sat January 7, 1861. The clerk of the district court was ex-officio clerk of the board of supervisors. The Twelfth General Assembly abolished the office of county judge altogether and vesting the judicial duties in the district court created the office of county auditor to assume the ones not already vested in the supervisors and clerk of the district court. The first auditor's term began the first Monday of January, 1869.
Bertram—Perry Oxley, 1861-1867 and 1870; Wm. G Darr, 1868-1869.
Brown—Wm. Carbee, 1861-1862; Hosea White, 1863-1866; T. M. Giffen, 1867-1868; J. F. Gritman, 1869-1870.
Boulder—Jos. Whitney, 1861-1862 and 1869-1870; Earhart Burke, 1863, resigned and term completed by John B. McQueen; J. B. McQueen, 1864; Neeley Parsons, 1865-1867; Wm. Wagner, 1868.
Buffalo—Jos. Story, 1861-1862; E. M. Crow, 1863-1870.