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1855The November election counts the voter turnout at 72 persons. Women, of course, did not vote. 1875 Father Joseph Anthonioz, a Jesuit priest, purchases a large tract of land in the southwest quarter of what is colloquially called Poupeville. 1877 A church building, erected by the Jesuits, is completed. 1878 On October 23, the post office is re-established northeast of the Queue Tortue settlement, closer to the church. The United States Post Office officially spells the name as Pouppeville , a village with a population of 150. 1880 The main line of the Louisiana Western Railroad nears completion. Pouppeville is by-passed and the settlement is moved farther north to meet the railway. Dr. William H. Cunningham, at the time an employee of the railway company, is considered founder of the new town. The station is named for another railroad employee, B. W. L. Rayne. Three Pouppeville merchants, J. D. Bernard, M. Arenas, and Francois Crouchet move their businesses approximately a mile north to the railroad and the Rayne station. 
1882Father Anthonioz raises the church, has it placed on large wooden wheels, and uses teams of oxen to haul the building to the new village on a site of land donated by M. Arenas. 1883 The town of Rayne is incorporated, with J. D. Bernard serving as the first mayor. Councilmen were B. H. Harmon, A. S. Chappuis, L. R. Deputy, M. Arenas, and J. F. Morris., E. C. Fremaux was the first town clerk., J. O. Bull the first town marshall. Before There Was Rayne... Romance…violent vigilantes…a settlement on the move: These phrases establish the drama that played itself out in the mid-1800s, when what is now Rayne was still part of St. Landry Parish, before the coming of the railroad, before the establishment of Acadia Parish, and before anyone even spoke the name Poupeville. First came Township 9 South Range East located along the banks of Bayou Queue de Tortue (literally, "line of turtles). This small settlement, eventually named Queue de Tortue for the bayou along which it was located, was the setting for the humble beginnings of Rayne, Louisiana, a town rich in Cajun heritage and just hopping with frogs! Bayou Queue de Tortue divides Acadia Parish and Vermilion Parish in the south and Acadia Parish and Lafayette Parish in the east. Between what is now Rayne and its east neighboring community, Duson, the bayou turns into little more than a coulee or drainage ditch. At the time, however, Acadia Parish had yet to be divided from pre-existing St. Landry Parish. Along the banks of the bayou, J. Damonville Bernard established a store, which also served as a tax- collection point and a voting precinct. In 1855, 72 people voted at the Queue Tortue poll. By 1863, there were two polls for Queue Tortue: one at Onezime Trahan, fils, and the other at J. Damonville Bernard's store. However, on September 3, 1859, along the banks of the bayou, "the battle of the spurs" took place in an effort to put an end to the vigilante groups that dispensed their own brand of justice in southwest Louisiana. The vigilante force was a small group of armed men who were sworn to secrecy. Many were prominent citizens of the area comprising the five southwest Louisiana parishes: St. martin, Lafayette, Vermillion, St. Landry, and Calcasieu. Among the vigilantes were General Alfred Mouton, a West Point graduate who served as drillmaster; Alexander Mouton, a former Louisiana governor; and Alcee Judice, a highly respected citizen. The vigilantes' unorthodox tactics of punishing those suspected of having been acquitted of a crime because of perjured witnesses or packed juries dispensed swift, certain justice of banishment, the lash, or the rope. Denounced as rebels and ordered by Governor Robert C. Wickliffe to disband, the men disobeyed and a strong anti-vigilante sentiment took hold. 
The vigilantes learned of an alleged plot by an anti-vigilante group in Queue de Tortue to murder Emile Mouton, brother of the ex-governor,
and Francois d'Aigle; to attack, pillage, and burn the village of Vermillionville (now Lafayette); and to put an end to the group. They were swift in making a
counter-defensive move. The anti-vigilante group assembled in the fortified home of Emilien Lagrange. The house faced the coulee of Queue Tortue and
was described by Alexandre Barde, a native of France and an itinerant newspaperman, as "a vast house with walls made of tree trunks, crenalated on all
four sides. It contained a store constructed in the fashion of a log cabin." Barde describes Lagrange as "a man of very bad reputation" and added that
"the widow of a Frenchman named Valette, mother of a tall and beautiful girl, had become the concubine of this man."
On September 3, the vigilantes converged on the Lagrange household with a cannon in tow. The mere sight of the cannon sent many anti-vigilantes into the thickets along the bayou. Those who remained surrendered their weapons. Inside the house was a vast store of ammunition and weapons of every variety. The vigilantes took 200 anti-vigilantes prisoner. Approximately 120 anti-vigilantes were released on their promise never to again disturb the peace of the region. The remaining 80 or so prisoners were bound and lashed until they swore to leave Louisiana, never to return. The settlement was identified as Queue Tortue as late as 1882 when an article appeared in noted by the editor of the Opelousas Courier on January 7 that he had met "Mr. Numa Chachere of Rayne station, Queue Tortue." The name of the settlement was popularized in a folk song with the lyrics, "Allons a la Queue Tortue / C'est pour vivre sur le pain perdu." Queue Tortue becomes Poupeville While many people were going to Queue Tortue for the life of pain perdu, others were traveling to the bayou settlement to visit the general store of merchant Jules Poupeville. The expression, "Je vais au magazin de Poupeville" (I am going to Poupeville's store) brought the name Poupeville into prominence. Eventually, it became synonymous with Queue Tortue. Jules Poupeville, a native of France, was one of the settlements original merchants. He moved from France to Louisiana at an undetermined time, setting up his residence and a store on public land. In 1854, he sold the movables on the property to Jean Remy Vion, including two houses (one occupied as the store and the other as a residence). 
The exact location of Poupeville and its store was undetermined as late as 1871, when the editor of the Opelousas Courier, accustomed to identifying
the village as Queue de Tortue, seemed uncertain of Poupeville's location: "We learn that a man by the name of Louis Anding was shot and killed at a ball
near Poupeville, in the western part of this parish, on the night of the 23rd inst. There is no clue as to who perpetrated the deed, nor were we able to learn
the particulars of the affair."
In 1872, Father Joseph Anthonioz was put in charge of the settlement of Queue Tortue. Records at St. Joseph's Catholic Church show that the first marriage and the first baptism took place on the same date, January 18, 1872. The child baptized was Valerien Dupuis, son of Alexandre Dupuis and Ordalise Blanchard. The marriage was between Louis Theogene Richard and Celeste Trahant. In 1875, Father Anthonioz bought 162.25 acres of land from the U.S. government in the southwest quarter of Section 27, Township 9 South Range 2 East. A church was erected by the Jesuits, completed in early 1877 on the purchased property. The post office was re-estaablished near the church on October 23, 1878 in the northeast section of Section 33, Township 9 South Range 2 East, two miles north of Bayou Queue de Tortue. The United States Post Office officially named the station Pouppeville, a corruption of the spelling of the merchant's name (Poupeville) that had been formerly used to refer to the area in a colloquial manner. Another Move, Another Name In 1880, The main line of the Louisiana Western Railroad neared completion. Pouppeville was by-passed and the settlement was moved farther north to meet the railway. Dr. William H. Cunningham, at the time an employee of the railway company, is considered founder of the new town. The station was named for another railroad employee, B. W. L. Rayne. Three Pouppeville merchants, J. D. Bernard, M. Arenas, and Francois Crouchet moved their businesses approximately a mile north to the railroad and the Rayne station. 
In 1882, Father Anthonioz raised the church, placed on large wooden wheels, and used teams of oxen to haul the building to the new village on a site of
land donated by M.Arenas. Finally, in 1883, the town of Rayne was incorporated, with J. D. Bernard serving as the first mayor. Councilmen were B. H.
Harmon, A. S. Chappuis, L. R. Deputy, M. Arenas, and J. F. Morris. E. C. Fremeaux was the first town clerk and J. O. Bull the first town marshall.
The Frog Capital of the World had leapt upon the United States and Louisiana maps.
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