 The first settler of Lafe was Mr. Herman Toelken, a German immigrant who had been living in New Haven, Missouri, and was seeking new opportunities in an unsettled area.Toelken began cutting railroad ties for the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern (later Missouri Pacific) railroad in order to save enough money to purchase land and send for his family.When Mr. Toelken was settled he began advertising in a Minneapolis German newspaper seeking other German Lutherans to come to the area.