Decatur is a city in Root and Washington townships, Adams County, Indiana, United States.

They arrived as a result of the end of the Black Hawk War as well as the completion of the Erie Canal.

These were "Yankee" settlers, that is to say they were descended from the English Puritans who settled New England in the colonial era.

They were primarily members of the Congregational Church though due to the Second Great Awakening many of them had converted to Methodism and some had become Baptists before coming to what is now Decatur.

When the New England settlers arrived in what is now Decatur there was nothing but a dense virgin forest and wild prairie.

[7][8] It was named for Stephen Decatur, Jr., one of the captains of the original six frigates of the US navy.

[11] In a New York Times article published on July 14, 1902, the headline read, "Negro Driven Away," and it recounted the story of the violent mob attacks which drove away African Americans from Decatur during the summer of 1902.

The last line from the article explicitly concluded, "The anti-negroites declare that as Decatur is now cleared of Negroes they will keep it so, and the importation of any more will undoubtedly result in serious trouble.

"[11] A month before the last Black person was reportedly forced out of Decatur, the Indianapolis Freeman reported that 50 men began driving the Black people out because they "were determined that colored people should not live in the town.

"[12] Eventually African Americans began slowly settling in town; however, due to the sundown policies that persisted throughout much of the 1900s, the current demographics still indicate a low percentage of Black residents.

The majority of residents work in manufacturing (37.4%), education, social services and health care (14.2%) and retail (13.6%).