Indiana's African American Settlements

Beginning as early as 1817 Indiana saw an influx of African American settlers from the southern United States. These groups of primarily free blacks formed communities in a number of Indiana counties, often settling near white Quakers who were tolerant of them as neighbors. Probably the largest numbers of African Americans who settled in Indiana during the 19th century were from North Carolina, but Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee also contributed significantly to Indiana's black population during this time. The growth of black settlements was strongest from the 1830s through the 1870s. Residents established their own schools and churches, usually of the Baptist or African Methodist Episcopal denominations. Most of the early residents were farmers or blacksmiths, and some of the farmers accumulated significant amounts of land. African American settlements across the state were not isolated; residents moved from one to another and interacted with individuals from other black communities. Most of the race-segregated agrarian communities had all but disappeared by 1920. After this time, descendants of the earliest settlers of Indiana's African American communities remained in the state, but had blended into the population as a whole.

This database is part of an ongoing larger study of Indiana's African American settlements from their earliest days through about 1930. It was compiled by Dawne Slater-Putt, CG and is presented here as a joint project of the Allen County Public Library's Genealogy Center and the Indiana Genealogical Society. It includes each person's name, approximate year of birth, date of death if known, and the names of the townships and counties with which the individual was associated. Women are cross-referenced under their maiden names, if known. Names will continue to be added to this database, so check back often for more information.

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County:	All Adams Allen Bartholomew Benton Blackford Boone Brown Carroll Cass Clark Clay Clinton Crawford Daviess Dearborn Decatur De Kalb Delaware Dubois Elkhart Fayette Floyd Fountain Franklin Fulton Gibson Grant Greene Hamilton Hancock Harrison Hendricks Henry Howard Huntington Jackson Jasper Jay Jefferson Jennings Johnson Knox Kosciusko Lagrange Lake La Porte Lawrence Madison Marion Marshall Martin Miami Monroe Montgomery Morgan Newton Noble Ohio Orange Owen Parke Perry Pike Porter Posey Pulaski Putnam Randolph Ripley Rush St. Joseph Scott Shelby Spencer Starke Steuben Sullivan Switzerland Tippecanoe Tipton Union Vanderburgh Vermillion Vigo Wabash Warren Warrick Washington Wayne Wells White Whitley