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!!
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)
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
That map is INCORRECT!!
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
-
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
Springvale Cemetery
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
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
Sumner Cemetery
Subsequent generations of the Raub family spread out over the area
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
Earl & Hatcher Block, Lafayette, 1865
Earlhurst, at Fountain Grove, erected 1857
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
Lafayette Journal & Courier File Photo
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
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.
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
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
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
Sumner's family still owns part
The Chicago Road 1829-ca 1865
(click image for article)
From Colton, ca. 1860
From Gray's map of Indiana ca. 1880
You're on the Chicago Road!!
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!
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
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.
