Racoon Village (named place)

The first “Raccoon Village” was a “reservation” named after a Miami chieftain named White Raccoon who apparently had a small settlement in this area. The Treaty of 1826 reserved “ten sections at the White Raccoon’s village” for the use of the Miami. The 1834 Treaty ceded control over all of this land to the Americans. The 10 sections appear on early maps of Huntington, Whitley, and Allen Counties in Jackson (Huntington), Jefferson (Whitley), and Aboite (Allen) townships. These 10 sections were given the name of “Raccoon’s Reservation” or “Raccoon’s Village Reservation;” the second occurrence of the name. The third place by that name was a small white settlement on the Wabash & Erie Canal (U.S. 24 closely follows the route of the canal in this area) which had a canal landing that was heavily used by local farmers. It is said that when most of the Miami were forcibly relocated to Kansas that many of them were loaded on the canal at this point to begin their journey. (Others would most likely have started at the Forks of the Wabash, or even the village of Huntington. A small remnant of about 1100 individuals were allowed to stay on the “reservations” that had been designated for their families.)

Bash’s 1914 history of the county has this to say about Raccoon Village. Note that it omits the Whitley County piece and doesn’t mention either the earlier “reservation” which had the same boundaries or the Miami chieftain.

“While the Wabash & Erie Canal was under construction in the early [18]30s, the State of Indiana gave a strip of ground twenty-four rods in width along the northwest side of the canal for a town. It was stipulated that each lot should contain two acres, laid off at right angles to the canal. Seventy-two lots were laid off, half of which were in Allen County and the other half in Huntington, hence that part of the village in the latter county was in the northeast corner of Jackson Township. A number of lots were sold and the purchasers built upon them, but after the canal traffic ceased the town gradually died for want of adequate support. In June, 1897, Thomas Ruggles, then county surveyor of Huntington County, obtained the original plat from the state and reestablished the lines between the lots. Very few people in the county have any recollection of Raccoon Village, which took its name from an Indian village in the vicinity.”

The 1907 Whitley County history reports that perhaps 50 Miami still lived in Raccoon Village when they were forced to relocate to Kansas. It also says the canal access point was important enough for Whitley county to build a road running from Columbia City to Raccoon Village. The road was abandoned after railroad access was established to the former. The 1881 history gives this description of the European-American settlement and relates a funny legend.

“Raccoon Village is prominently identified with the history of the township, and here deserves more than a passing notice. Its history under the Indian occupation will be found elsewhere, and to the older citizens of that part of the country it is associated with many pleasing memories. It was located in the southeast corner of the township, on the north bank of the Wabash Canal, and originally consisted of a brick house with two rooms and a number of log cabins, all erected by the Government for the occupation of the Indians. The place was named after the chief, Raccoon, who occupied the brick house referred to, and who, it is said, now quietly sleeps on the top of the neighboring hill, over-looking the spot where he once held kingly sway. After the advent of the whites, the land was sold, the brick house passing into the hands of Jesse Vermilyea. By him it was rented to different parties, Thomas McGlaughlin being an occupant in 1843. It was built squarely on the county line, one room being in Whitley and the other in Allen County. A legend, having a mythical flavor, but worthy of note, runs to the effect that once, about forty years ago, a Justice of the Peace, holding a commission in Allen County, commenced a marriage ceremony in the west room. During the progress of the ceremony, it was observed that he had no jurisdiction there, so the party adjourned to the east room, in Allen County, where the matrimonial knot was legally tied. When the canal was built, this place became a landing, to which the farmers hauled their produce for shipment, and spring usually found immense piles of logs and wood here, ready for transportation.”

Finally, a news article during the 125^th anniversary celebration for Whitley County, gives the same building a secret room used for the Underground Railroad.

1. Ghost Towns of Huntington County. 1971. Doris Chambers, p6-9.
2. History of Huntington County, Indiana: A Narrative Account. 1914. Frank Sumner Bash. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co., p101, 163.
3. Royce, Charles C, and Cyrus Thomas. Indian land cessions in the United States, Sheet 20 (Plate CXXVII). 1899. Online Text. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3701em.gct00002
4. A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 – 1875. U.S. Serial Set, Number 4015, 56th Congress, 1st Session, Pages 716 – 717, 752-753. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwss-ilc.html
5. Map of the state of Indiana compiled from the United States surveys by S. D. King, Washington City; exhibiting the sections & fractional sections; the situation & boundaries of counties; the location of cities villages & post offices canals, rail roads and other internal improvements, carefully laid down. 1852. S. D. King. New York. https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4090.rr002090/
6. Contemporary Map Showing Outline of Raccoon’s Village Reservation at https://www.acrevalue.com/plat-map/IN/?lat=41.01254&lng=-85.315763&zoom=13
7. History of Whitley County, Indiana. 1907. Samuel P. Kaler, p66, 70, 345.
8. Counties of Whitley and Noble, Indiana: historical and biographical, illustrated. 1882. Weston Arthur Goodspeed and Charles Blanchard. Chicago, Illinois: F.A. Battey, p211-212.
9. “Review Whitley County History; Observing 125^th Anniversary. Jefferson Township.” 25 Apr 1963. The Commercial-Mail [Columbia City, Indiana], page 8. Accessed on Newspapers.com.