How Steuben came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Steuben.
The area that became Steuben Township was first settled in 1827. The township was officially created in March 1834 from a section of Pine Township ("all of Pine Township south and west of Redwood Creek") and was the seventh township to be formed. The township was named in honor of Baron Von Steuben, a Prussian soldier who fought for the Americans in the Revolutionary War.
The first settlements were in the more wooded areas near the river; it was only later that settlers realized the value of the prairie land for farming. The township grew rapidly in the 1830s and 1840s. In 1870, the population was 1068, and in 1882 the estimated taxable value in the Steuben Township was $770,905, higher than any of the other townships at that time.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
2007
