The French Family Murders of Wabash (Part 1)

In October 1854, the French family quietly disappeared from their log cabin in Wabash, Indiana. Aaron and Sarah French, along with their five children—the youngest just 18 months old—simply vanished. In a canal town with a floating population, families came and went all the time. Nobody thought much of it. But six months later, a farmer plowing his field found something that would shake the entire community: all seven members of the French family buried in a shallow grave, their skulls crushed, their bodies stacked on top of each other like cordwood.

The Frenches had arrived in Wabash County just months earlier, settling into a rented log cabin in the frontier community of Rich Valley. They were doing what thousands of pioneer families did—trying to build a life in the West, farming borrowed land, raising chickens, relying on neighbors when times got hard. They were the kind of family you'd pass on the street and never think about twice. Which is exactly what made their murder so chilling. Someone had walked into their home, killed them one by one—infant to parent—and erased them from existence.

This is Part 1 of the French Family Murders, and it's the most disturbing case in Wabash County history. Subscribe to Hometown History for forgotten American history stories every Tuesday.

Show Notes: In This Episode:

• The French family's arrival in Wabash County's transient canal town community in 1854
• What daily life looked like for pioneer children in Rich Valley, Indiana
• The mysterious disappearance of all seven family members in October 1854
• The grim discovery of their shallow grave six months later—all murdered, skulls crushed
• The unsettling truth about their boarder, John Hubbard

Key Figures:

• Aaron French - Father, struggling farmer with declining health
• Sarah French - Mother of five young children
• John, Sarah, Louisa, Tillman, and infant daughter - The French children
• John Hubbard - The boarder who moved into the French cabin

Tags: Wabash Indiana history, French family murders, 1854 murders, pioneer era crime, Indiana true crime, canal town history, family massacre, Rich Valley Indiana, frontier murders, local history, Wabash County history, 1850s America, historical true crime, forgotten history, American frontier crime

Category: History

Chapter Markers: 0:00 - Introduction: Moving to Wabash and Discovering a Dark Secret 2:03 - The French Family Arrives in Rich Valley (1854) 6:00 - Life in a Frontier Canal Town 11:00 - Daily Life of Pioneer Children 16:00 - The Transient Population of 1850s Wabash 20:00 - Visiting the French Family Cemetery 25:00 - The Grim Discovery of Seven Bodies 29:00 - Preview: Who Was John Hubbard?

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