The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1850-11-07
From the Pennsylvanian.
Minnesota versus MINNESOTA.

Hiom tue eiihsyiNdnidH.
Minnesota versus MINNESOTA.
Our eru,lite friend, the North American,
in his cxcerhatiun on account of the cleo
ton, has fallen upon the Minnesota Pioneer,
and insists upon spelling the name of his
whereabouts "Minesota," to which his
youthful contemporary replies, that he s'can
show as good reason for his photography as
any Pennsy lv anan can for spelling the name
of his State Pennsylvania instead of Pen
sylvania." Now we tbink,-and we claim
to be 'rhe Pennsylvania" that our neigh
Dor is wrong, not only in his politics, but his
notions of particular orthography, and the
, Minnesota gentleman right; hut that there
may be no mistake, we give the article from
the North American of Friday last.
| Minnesota AND THE ORTHoGRApRY
THEREoF.-Onr youthful contemporary at Saint
Paul, The .Mia(n)esota Pioneer, of September
Goth, addresses TO us the following expcstulaton:
"Wili our influential contemporary the Phila-
deiphia North American, be So kind us 10 correct
its photography of the word Minnesota? The
mime. (water) is pronounced with the short;
as in pin. The photography Of the word was de-
termined by vote Of our people in the primary
Convention at Saltwater, which FIRST elected Mr..
Sibley as the Delegate Of this remainder of Wis
consin. We claim the right to settle the orthog-
raphy of the name of our Territory in this way;
besides that, show good reason for it as
any Pennsy lvanian can for spelling the name of
his State Pennsylvania instead Of Peasylyania'
! Pennsylvania is written with two ms, because
the State was named after William Penn, and not
after any member of the per family We are
ruled in our orthography Of Minnesota by the law
of analogy, and "A still higher law, which is that
/ of the land. There is no more reason why Nine
sofa should be spelt with two MS than the words
'minaret,' mineral, minister or--to tn e the
analogue of an Indian name Niinesin;' in which
a second has never been thought necessary
But more conclusive reason for the orthograyhv
which we have adopted, is the act of Congress of
March Sd, 1919, by which the Territory of Mime
sota'-so spelled, if our copy is to be relied on,
by the law itself--was brought into existance.
his is authority superior TO that of our cotem-
porary, or even of the people in the primary con-
vention at Saltwater, which first elected Mr.
Sibey as Delegate to Congress-
Now we take leave TO say, that Pennsyl-
vania was not spelled with two MS because
the State was named after William Penn,
for such is not the fact;' and if we 90 upon
'the law itself by which, the then Province,
now State, 'was brought into existence, the
Charter to Penn, Dan. 1852, } it is there
specially provided by CHARLES H., that we
have thought fit TO erect, and we do hereby
erect the aforesaid country and islands into
a Province and Seignory, and do cali it
Pensiicania, and so henceforth will have it
called.' Charter of Pena Art 8. (HAz
An. of Pa, Vol. 1, p. 90, Phiia., 1885,.
FRANKLIN. Chart. Pa, Phila. 1859. Proud
Hist Pa. Vol l, p. I797)-it is so spelled
in the venerable Charter itself, now at Har-
risburg, as our eyes have seen. In fact, it
was the orthography of almost every one,
except the PENIS
In the Articles of Agreement between the
Penns and Lord Baltimore, of the 10th OF
May, 1882, (Phila., B. Franklin, Vol. 1885,
the Province is called PENNSYLVANIA and the
name recognized under the hands and seals
of the descendants of the original grantee;
it is so termed in Cab Thomas account of
the Province, (Lond. 12mO. 1881 and in
a letter of Sec. Sunderland, dated June 9th,
1856, recently published by us, which letter
was Of no small moment to the 'Proprieta-
ry.' DR.. Franklin in his Historical. Re-
view Of Pennsylvania (Lond. 1859, did not
adopt the two n's'-and foreigners, who
looked at such writer's and documents,
adopted the photography. The 'Histoire
| Natureie, &C., de la Pennsylvania, &c. ia
mo. Paris, 1862 is a well known compila-
ton. King Charles Proclamation of April,
1852, of which MIR. Vattemare found copy
in New Orleans, and supposed that it was
the Original Charter OF the Province, till he
was shown in Proud, (Vol. /, p. 1884, that
it was a totally different and well known
paper, states the name to be PENNSYLVANIA
William Penn, it is true, affected to write
it with two ms, though he averred that the
King gave the name of the Province sin
honor of his CIV. Penn's) father not after
William PENN as our neighbor asserts, it
being his own intention TO call it 'New
WH1es;' but the under Secretary, who was
"a WelshmaD, opposed-whlch seems very
queer indeed-the calling this vast country
10y that name.
The account of the matter, and very
peculiar one ii is, is to be found in WIN.
Penn's letter to Turner, (Mem. His. So.
Pa. Vol. l, p 20l) and in CIarkson's Life,
! (Vol. /, p. 277, London, 1918, )-failing to
hrihe the Under Secretary with twenty
guineas,' 10 alter the Patent, and there
by lose his place, aud fearing lest it should
be looked upon as vanity in him that the
King had so named the Province in honor
of his father, Penn says, he 'went to The
King about it, who said it was passed, BIC.
! The history of this 'mOdesfy of William
Penn, as Clarkson terms it, is worth read
| ing. The fact too, is curious, that Penn,
| the day his patent was passed, wrote To
Turner the letter to which we refer, stating
| the fact, and writing the name of his Prov
ince PENNSYLVANIA in the teeth of the just
acquired document. In point Of fact, how
ever, till after l776, the Charter name with
with sometimes substituted for The 1, was
in general use in public Documeuss--except
the editions of the Laws, which the Penns
controlled. The paper money issued in the
Province contains many instances of this.
Thea not uncommon, NOW peculiar orthog
raphy. For example, there is before Us a
bill! ofcrcdi,, dated 1850, for 2os., IN which