Whitaker History

The first settlement in Ray Township was southwest of what is now Whitaker. It was one mile north of White River on Butler Creek, near Vickrey Road and south of State Road 67. As early as 1820 or 1821, the families of James McKinney, Solomon Tucker, and Thomas Thompson are recorded as having lived there.

     Abner Alexander bought the first tract of land in the area on February 16th, 1821. It was in the southwest quarter of Section 22, near the county line, west of town. William Anderson bought land, just east Whitaker, in Section 23 on March 9th, 1821.

     In 1853, the New Albany and Salem Company projected the construction of a railroad from Indianapolis, Indiana to Vincennes, Indiana. Work on the line was abandoned before completion. The "1857 Scare," (an economic crisis), may have been the cause. The road had been graded and some of the culverts and bridges were done. New Albany and Salem lost all interests in the railroad during the Civil War.

     General Ambrose Burnside was a Civil War General. He was also the namesake of the term "Sideburns". This is a style of beard which is uncut to mid jaw line in front of the ears. General Burnside gained control of the abandoned railroad project and organized the Indianapolis and Vincennes Railroad after the war. He completed the line, which provided passenger and freight services to Whitaker twice a day for many years.

Old Store
     On July 11, 1883, Whitaker had a Post Office, sawmill and a general store. The first Postmaster may have been John Whitaker, the storekeeper. By 1888, Henry Haase was postmaster and in 1900 the following was written of Whitaker, Indiana in the I.&V.R.R. audit. Some of the information crosses township lines. Whitakers and Lingles are listed in Ashland Township records. See the Wakeland, Indiana Web page.

The "People's Guide and Directory," of Morgan County recorded the following list of persons living in or near Whitaker, Indiana in 1874.

ALEXANDER, H.B., farmer, born in Indiana, 1839.

CRACRAFT, RUBEN, farmer and mechanic, born in Indiana, 1823.

DALLINS, S.F., farmer, born in Kentucky, 1849.

GOSS, ELISHA, farmer, born in Indiana, 1825.

HODGE, H., farmer, born in Indiana, 1845.

HAASE, J.J., farmer, born in Indiana, 1831.

HAASE, H.H., farmer, born in Indiana, 1839.

LINGLE, WILLIAM, farmer, born in Indiana, 1849.

STIERWALT, KENER, farmer, born in North Carolina, 1847.

STIERWALT, KENNER, farmer, born in Indiana, 1849.

TACKETT, WILLIAM, farmer, born in Kentucky, 1820.

WHITAKER, E.D., farmer, born in Indiana, 1834.

Web Page Designed and Created by Ron Riggan for SCICAN Corporation - May 1998.

All photographs and graphics by Ron Riggan. Text written and researched by Marsha Riggan.