Immediately after such articles of association shall have been filed, the clerk of the district court of the county in which the proposed district is located, and in case the drainage district be composed of territory situated in different counties, the clerk of the district court of the county in which the greater portion of the land and of the proposed district shall be situated, shall issue a summons, as provided by law, returnable at the next term of the district court, directed to the several owners of real estate in the proposed district who may be averred to be benefited thereby but have not signed the articles of association, which shall be served as summons in civil cases. In case any owner or owners of real estate in the proposed district are unknown, or are nonresidents, they shall be notified in the same manner as nonresident defendants are by law notified in actions in the district courts of this state, setting forth in such notice that the articles of association have been filed, the purpose thereof, that the real estate of such owner or owners situated in the district, fully describing the same, will be affected thereby and rendered liable to taxation or assessment for the purposes of draining such district, and that application will be made to have the district declared a drainage district for the purposes of draining and reclaiming the same.