, 1870-05-03
MICHIGAN.
Origin Of Names OF Counties
EJun. tLx ptt5pis Tribune,

kToh* ths Uf1To7s 1f7o1nE
Mr. ". s. George, Of lansing, has recently
devoted acme tinns to the inyestigaticn of tho
early history OF the State and to The collection
OF pamphlet, manuscript. and atber authoyi-
des bearing thereon As partial result Of hax
antiquarian reseaIches, he kas published in
the Lansing Rspubliean An interesting account,
Of the origin q the names Of cur counties.
We give herewith : summary OF the state
ments it makcs- Anegau takes its title from
an Indian Tribe in the Alleghanies. tic sylIablo
gan signlying lake. Antrim is named from
the northeast county OF Ireland; Barry. from
Postmaster General William r. Barry: Rav,
from its bordering on Saginaw Bay; Benxic,
11om no93s tt,xr corruption ~ Of n r. French
John ~ Berien, Attorney General under
Jackson; Branch, from John Branch. Jack-
sons Secretary Of the Navy; CaIhnun, from
John c. Calhoun; Casa, from Lews Cass7
CLINTON, from De Witt Cinton;. Ch.risyoix.
traveller, who explored Csnada and msde
voyage down the Misslaappi; Che
toygan, from ChaLsregan, sisn!fyinp r.
place Of Gre; Chippewa, from ths In
dian tribe OF that. name Dessa, from,
Eaton, from John q. Eaton. Jackaon1s Ssere-
ta1y OF War, Emmett; from Robert Emmett
/ Geneaee, from the county Of that uaue in
New York; Grand Traverse, from the Ag1and
traverss" whicn salots hid formerly to make
who cossted round the bay Of that name:
Gratiot, from Fort Gr7tiot; Hills1ale. fru,n.
tho rolling character Of its>soil;- HouShtoa.
from Douglass HouEhton Huron; from til,
Indian tribe; 1onia, from provinces Of anciaut
Greece 1osco, from Bo1t Of Indian name
devised by Hon f. R. Scoolc1afs, and signify,
ing Water Of Light )" Isabella, from tho
Spanish Queen Jackson. from Anllrow Jack
son Kalamazoo, from the Inlian name II
c4lamazo, signifymg mirage; Kent, fron.
Chancellor Kent Eeween1W, from An In.liau
name deneting portage; 1enawee, from
the Shawnee Iendwai,, "men;" Liv-
ingston, from Edward Livingston. Secretary
OF State under: Jackson; Mackinac, from the
Indian Niehini1ndekinong, the place Of Great
Turtles; Maeomb, from General Alexander
Maco1b; Manistes, from the hiliau nn1ue
Of the river, denoting isian;lA at its mouth
Manitou, from the Indian name of tho Deity;
4a1qnstts, from Father Marquette: Masonr
from Stevens r. Mason, our first Governor:
Aenominee. from, the Indian tribe Of that
name IN Wisconsin; Midland, from its cen
tral position in the lower peninsula; Monroe,
from President Monroe; Moutcalu1, from the
French hero OF Quebec i; Muskegon, from the
from the oak openings; oceana, from its Va
tery location; Osceols, from the Seminole Chief;
Ontonagon, trom the Indian word Nupt1 nor
! gan, aignifying "hunting rireT;" Ottawa, from
the tribe af Indians: Saginaw, from the In
dian words, Sac-e-sa0ng, or Sac town; Sanilae
Ii NOCEIl1lfT E1uI&Wz66tG EUule3 AfQH1 IUe liz
dian word meaning ast1aight running" allud-
ing probably 10 the courae Of the river from
Owosso to st, Charles; st. Clair was so called
from General Arthur st. C1air; ST. Joseph
from the husband Of the Virgin Mary; Tns-
cola, from a name devised by Schoolcraft; Van
Buren,, from President Martin Van Buren,;
Waahteuew, from the Int1ihn WHshtenoug, sig
nifying *' On the r5ger:7 Wayne, from Gener-
al Anthony Wayne, 1ud Wexford, fom coun-
ty in Ireland For the names Of = namber Of
our couuties,-au1onE them Alpena, Lapeer,
Necoata, and NewaYgo,-Mr- George has fail
ed to find any explanation, and to his article IL
appended notsy from which We take the fol-
lowing:
stIn 1870, probably through III. schoolcraft's
influence, batch OF new counties then organ
ICED received nsmes OF Indian aeElvat.on by
act Of the Legislature. Several Of these names
surviss, as Cheboygan, Lselanaw, 1anistee,
Mecoa.a, Newaygos ogenAw, ossoda, and
BY act Of the 1eglslaerre IN 1873, and
euphoniOus i not so original names
were generally substituted Thrs: AMI
mackee was AtaKad to Alpena; Arschum,
to Lake; Chenoquet, to Montmorency kauta-
waubet. to Wenoul;, Megissee, TO Antrim;
Mikenauk, to Roacommon; Newegon, to Al
coma; Gotipekago, to Mason Okkutldo, to
Qtsego : fanotin, to Iosco Raykakee, to
Clare Beshkankn, to Charlevoix; Shawono,
to Crawford Tonadagans, to Emmett; W.
basaee, to ka1Eask1
ut h noticeable that about q dozan counties
were nsmcd from cabinet and other promi-
nant oficars du1ng the Jackson .allministra-
ton. In fare, every oab1nea officer between
1899 and 1871 was thus honored- Tbs Terri
tory waa then so strongly Democratic that it
natnr ally fell into this partisan nasn-worahip-"