The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1871-11-24
Names OF the States.

Ndu1eS vi tuc StutcSs
A correspondent inquiries why the
States are called by their present names,
and what their derivation and mean
ing:
MAINE-So called from the province
of Maine, in France, in compliment to
Queen Henrietta. of England, who, it
has been said, owned that province.
This is the commonly received opinion.
New HAMPsHIRE-Named by John
Mason, in 1859 (who with another OBJ
tanned the grant from the crown), from
Hampshire county, in England. The
former name of the domain was
Laconia.
VERMoNT-From the French verd mont,
or green mountain, indicative Of the
mountainous nature of the State. The
name was first officially recognized Jan.
Is. l777.
MAssACnUsETTs-Ind name, signi-
flying "the country about the great
hills"
RHODE IsLAND-This name was adopt
ed in l644 from the Island of Rhodes,
in the Mediterranean, because of its
resemblance to that island.
CONNECTICUT-ThIs is the English
orthograph of the Indian word Quon-eh-
ta-cut, which signifies "the long river"
New YoRK-Named by the Duke of
York, under color of title given him by
the English crown in 1864.
New JERsEY-So called in honor of
Sir George Carteret, who was Governor
of the Island Of Jersey, in the British
Channel
PENNsYLvANIA-From William Penn,
the founder of the colony, meaning
"Penn's woods"
DELAwARE-In honor of Thomas
West, Lord delaware, who visited the
bay and died there in 1910.
MARYLAND-After Henrietta Maria,
Queen of Charles l., of England
VIRGINIA-So called in honor OF
Queen Elizabeth, the "virgin queen"
in whose reign Rir Walter Raleigh
made the first attempt to COLOMBO that
region.
NORTH and South CAROLINA were or.
iginally in one tract, called "Carolana"
after Charles TX, Of France, in 1904.
Subsequently, in 1868, the name was
altered to Carolina.
GEoRGIA-So called in honor OF
George H., of England, WHO established
a colony in that region in 1892.
FLoRlDA-Ponce de Leon, who dis
covered this portion of North America
in 1872 named it Floriday in commemo
ration of the day he landed there,
which was the Pasquas de Flores of the
! Spaniards, or 4" Feast Of Flowers" other.
wise known as Easter Sunday.
ALABAMA-Formerly portion OF
Mississippi Territory, admitted into the
Union as a State in 1919. The name is
of Indian origin, signifying "Here we
rest"
MIssIssIpPI-Formerly a portion OF
the province of Louisiana. So named
in 1900 from the great river on the
western line. The term is of Indian
origin, meaning long river"
LoUIsIANA-From Louis XIV. OF
France, who for some time prior to 1863
owned the territory.
ARKANsAs-From Kansas" the
Indian word for smoky water" with the
French prefix arc" bow.
TENNEssEE-Indian for :" the river OF
the big bend" i. e., the Mississippi,
which is its western boundry.
KENTUCKY-Indian for " at the head
of the river"
OHIo-From the Indian, meaning
beautiful Previously applied to the
river, which traverses "a greater part OF
its borders.
MIcHIGAN-Previously applied to the
lake, the Indian name for fish weir.
So-called from the fancied resemblance
of the lake to a fsh-trap.
INDIANA-So-called in 1902 from the
American Indians.
ILLINoIs-From the Indian "illini,"
men, and the French sufiix "ois," to-
gether signifying tribe Of men,"
WIscoNsIN-Indian term for ''wild
rushing channel"
MIssoURI-Named in 1921 from the
great branch of the Mississippi which
flows through it. Indian term, meaning
muddy"
IowA-From the Indian, signifying
the drowsy ones
MINNEsoTA--lndian for cloudy wa
ter"
CALIFoRNIA-The name given by
Cortes the discover Of that region. He
probably obtained it from an old Span
ish romance, in which an imaginary
island of that name is described Us
Astounding in gold.
OREGoN-According to some from the
Indian oregon, "river of the west
Others consider it derived from the
Spanish oregano," wild marjoram
which grows abundantly on the Pacific
coast.
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