the benefits was the residents being able to vote locally rather than traveling twenty miles to Peterson, the County Seat and only incorporated town in Clay County. In October 1866, Spencer Grove resident Romanzo Coates was elected as Superintendent of Clay County Common Schools; he established the first schoolhouse on the upper level of his cabin and appointed his wife as the first schoolteacher. In 1868, the US Postal Service authorized a Post Office to be established at Spencer Grove: the authorization came with the caveat that there already was a "Spencer Grove" in Iowa, so they needed to change the name; the residents opted to drop "Grove" and henceforth the name of the town was simply "Spencer". Romanzo Coates, already the Superintendent of Schools, was also made the town's first Postmaster, with his cabin used as the first Post Office. In 1869, Garrett Marcellus moved to Spencer and established a mill on the Little Sioux River about one mile downstream. This was Spencer's first real business outside of the goods being sold out of J.W. Masten's cabin. Several businesses soon followed: Peeso & Burgin's General Store and Tuttle & Smith both opened in 1870, as did a wagon shop, butcher shop and a blacksmith. The plat for the Town of Spencer was filed on May 8, 1871 and approved by Judge Snyder of Iowa's 4th District Court. This marks the official founding of Spencer, Iowa. That year also saw the addition of several more businesses, including a hotel and hardware store. By this time, the population around Spencer had surpassed that of Peterson, the County Seat located in the far southeastern corner of the county. A petition was passed to move the seat to the more centrally located Spencer; the motion passed 359–200 and in October 1871, the seat of government for Clay County was moved from Peterson to Spencer. At the time, Spencer lacked any building suitable for a courthouse, so residents pooled money and talent to build a two-story, 20x40 building on Main Street. This was subsequently purchased by the County for $1333 and used as the courthouse. Between June and September 1878, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul Railway built a line west from Algona to Spencer. The line was completed in mid-September and regular service began on September 15. Along with the rail road came telegraph service, the poles having been constructed alongside the tracks.