Some history of Grandma's home town
Raub,
The Wea Plains, and
The Cattle Barons
Brian Capouch
brianc@palaver.net
Thanks!!
- Benton County Recorder's Office
- Dr. James Hoover
- Hunt and Gather Estate Sales
- Quinnell Gutwein
- the late Elmore Barce
Yesterday was the sesquicentennial
of Raub's founding!!
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Exploring Raub's creation myth
- Places and people that played major roles
- The historical context of the times
Places:
(Click for list of Tippecanoe county markers)
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Why the Wea Plains?
- Natives were already intensively farming there
- Soils are naturally well drained
- Prime farmland--just like Benton County
- Acquired via the Treaty of St. Mary's (1818)
- Our area was later, 1832 via The Treaty of Tippecanoe
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That map is INCORRECT!!
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Wrong v. Right
People:
James and Susannah Hawkins
- Very early settlers on the Wea Plains
- Established Shadeland Farm in 1829
- Quakers--part of Underground Railroad
- Co-founders of the Farmer's Institute
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Their children are well-connected to our story
- daughter Eliza married Moses Fowler
- daughter Martha married Adams Earl
- son James Jr. married Jane Sumner, Edward's daughter
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Springvale Cemetery
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Greenbush Cemetery, moved from High Gap
Jacob Raub, Sr. 1796-1849
- Went from New Jersey to Ross Co. Ohio 1820s
- Moved to Tippecanoe County 1836
- Likely founded grain business later run by his sons
- His wife Maria from the noted New York Ostrander family
- Dr. Tobias Ostrander -The Mathematical Expositor
- Dr. Edward Ostrander - First physician in Ross Co., Ohio
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Mintonye Cemetery
John Raub 1805-1849
- Little is known about his life
- Came to Indiana at the same time as his brother?
- Married Caroline Earl in Tippecanoe Co. 1837
- Died in 1849, buried in Sumner Cemetery, Earl Park
- Odd, no record he ever lived near Earl Park
- Earl Park wasn't platted until 1872
- I'm betting he was moved there--or empty marker
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Sumner Cemetery
Subsequent generations of the Raub family spread out over the area
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Area towns founded by Raub family members
South Raub
Raub
Earl Park
Chalmers
Adams Earl (1828-1895)
- Came to the Wea Plains in 1836
- Lafayette banker, grocer, trader
- Railroad executive
- Interest in packing and slaughterhouses
- Crystal Ice Co. Kankakee
- Partnered with his brother-in-law Moses Fowler
- Early importer of Hereford cattle
- Successor to his in-laws at Shadeland Farm
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Earl & Hatcher Block, Lafayette, 1865
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Earlhurst, at Fountain Grove, erected 1857
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Springvale Cemetery
Moses Fowler (1815-1889)
- Original business partner of John Purdue
- Banker, Farmer, Cattleman
- Partner in Chicago slaughterhouse
- Sold groceries and dry goods
- Railroad Founder with Earl etal.
- Founder/benefactor of town of Fowler
- Said to be richest man in Indiana
- Owned thousands of acres of Benton County
- Originally partnered with A. Earl and A. Raub
- Also owned big farm abutting Brookston
- He and his wife lived apart for many years
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Lafayette Journal & Courier File Photo
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Springvale Cemetery
Adams Danforth Raub (1840-1918)
- Father was John Raub, mentioned earlier
- Mother was Caroline Earl
- Married Nancy "Nanny" Hardesty Jones
- her sister married Senator Daniel Voorhees
- Raub's stepson John Paul Jones was prominent lawyer in Washington D.C.
- Platted both Raub (April) and Earl Park (July) in 1872
- Earl Park partners were Adams and Martha Earl
He was also an author
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Sumner Cemetery
He was one of the "Land Barons"
Prairie Land Barons
(also known as the "Cattle Kings")
- *Moses Fowler 25,000
- *Adams Earl 11,000
- Edward Sumner 36,000
- *Parnham Boswell 12,000
- Cephas Atkinson 12,000
- *Adams Raub 6,000
- Lemuel Milk 65,000
- J.M. Gaff 16,000
- *Alexander Kent 25,000
- James Goodwine 10,000
Henry L. Ellsworth
- US Midwest's Ur-Baron
- From Connecticut; Commissioner of U.S. Patents
- Wrote a famous book about this area in 1838
- His project failed, but his ideas survived
- The rest of his story is beyond today's scope
Sumner was a very relevant baron for us
Edward Culver Sumner (1811-1882)
- Born in Vermont
- Stops in Scioto Co. Ohio, Fountain Co. near Newtown
- Came to Benton County (York Township!!) in 1846
- Original homestead at "Sugar Grove" (aka Sumner's Grove)
- Eventually owned vast acreages in Benton and Iroquois counties
- His daughter married James Hawkins, Jr.
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Sumner Cemetery
Context:
Why was Benton County, with the state's richest soils, the very last to be settled?
There were some stiff impediments
- The raw prairie was inhospitable
- The groves were the first to be settled
- Drainage was poor
- No railroads
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George Ade--Saturday Evening Post
Big holdings meant fewer farmers
Grazing cattle is not an intensive land use
Tenant farmers were generally poor
The barons' estates were a problem, too
- Fowler's will froze his lands for 25 years
- Bitter fights amongst the heirs delayed land sales
- The media reflected citizens' concerns
- No farmers == No trade
- Fowler's family fights were legendary
All of this put Benton about 20 years behind
The big question: why is Raub sited where it is?
Sumner bought his original ~484-acre Benton County holding from Alex Coquillard, who later went on to found the city of South Bend
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Benton Co. deed record bok #1, P. 214
The holding was originally known as "Topenebee's Grant" or "The Indian Float," and was written into the Treaty of Tippecanoe
From Ogle's Atlas, 1909
Click for complete map
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Sumner's family still owns part
The Chicago Road 1829-ca 1865
(click image for article)
From Colton, ca. 1860
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From Gray's map of Indiana ca. 1880
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You're on the Chicago Road!!
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Asher, Adams and Higgins 1870
Raub was at the intersection of the new railroad and the successor to the old Chicago Road!!
Historic Images
Clickable image gets larger, scrollable map!
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Original Plat of Raub
Ogle's 1909 Atlas
Click for larger map
Raub's main HQ was in Earl Park
- General store
- Grain elevator (partnered with Earl)
- Drain tile factory
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Plat of Earl Park
Raub and Earl brought 2,000 people by train from Lafayette a few days after it was platted, fed them, and then sold them lots.
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Thank you!!
raub
By capouch
raub
Exploring the history of Raub, Indiana
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