The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1871-12-22
Names OF the States.

A correspondent inquiries why TN,
States are called by their present
names, and what their derivation ana
meaning.
MAINE-SO called from the pro
vince of Maine in France, in com
pliment to Queen Henrietta, of Eng
land, who, it has been said, owned
that province. This is the commonly
received opinion.
New II HAMPSHERE-Nam by John
Mason, i'm 1889 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 UeTd
| mont, or green mountain, indicative
| of the mountainous nature of the
State. The name was first officially
/ recognized Jan. Is, l777.
! CHUSETTS-Indian name,
| signifying "the country about the
| great hills
| RHODE IsLAND-This name was
adopted in 164i from the Island of
Rhodes, i'm the Mediterranean, be-
| cause of its resemblance to that is
/ land.
| CONNECTICUT-This is the English
orthograph of the Indian word Quon-
eh-ta-cut, which signifies "the long
| river
NEW YOBK-Named by the Duke
of York, under the color of title given
him by the English crown in 1864.
| New JERsEY-SO called in honor
of Sir George Carteret, who was Gov
| ernOr of the Island of jersey, in the
British Channel.
PENNSYLvANIA-F William
/ Penn, the founder of the colony,
meaning 'Penn's woods"
DELAWABE-In honor of Thomas
West, Lord de-la-Ware, who visited
| the bay and died there in 1910.
! NJ MARYLAND-After Henrietta Ma
ria, Queen of Charles l., of England.
NIRGINIA-SO called in honor of
| Queen Elizabeth, the virgin queCn.n
in whose reign Sir Walter Raleigh
made the first attempt to coloniZe
that region.
NORTH and SOUTH CAROLINA were
originally in one tract, called Caro-
lama" after Charles IN, of France, i'm
1901 subsequently, i'll 1868, the name
was altered to Carolina.
GEORGIA-So c,.lIed in honor of
George H., of England, who estab-
li~hed colony in that region in I7}}22.
FLORInA-POnce de Leon, who dis
covered this part of North America in
I5I2 named il F'lOriday in commemO-
ration of the day he landed there,
| which was the PaSquas de Flores of
the SpaniaTds, or Feast of Flowers
otherwise known as Easter Sunday
ALAEANA-FOrmerly a portion of
Mississippi Territory, admitted into
the Union as a State in 1919. The
name is of Indian origin, signifyin9
Here we rest
MISsISsIPPI-FOrmerly a portion
of the province of Louisiana. so
named i'm 1900 from the great river
on the western line. The term is of
Indian origin, meaning "lOng river
IOUisIANA-FrOm Louis NV, 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 are bow.
NESSEE-Indian for "the river
of the big bend, y i. .,'the Mississippi,
which is its western boundry.
kENTUCKY-Indian for lat the
head of the river"
OHIO-FrOm the Indian, meaning
beautiful" Previously applied to
the river, which traverses a greater
part of its borders.
MiCHGAN-PreviOusly applied to
the lake, the Indian name fol- a fish
weir. SO-called from the fancied re-
scmbiance of the lake to fiSh-trap.
1NDLANA-SO-called in 1902 from
the American Indisn.
iLLINoIS-frupl the indian "illini,"
men, .Hd The French sUffix lois" to-
gether siguifying tribe of men,
WIsCONSIN-Indian term for a
"wild-rushing channel"
MISSoURI-Named in lS2i from the
great branch of the Mississippi which
flows thFaagn it, Indian term, mean-
ing muddy
IOwA-from the Indian, signifying
''the drOwsy Ones.n
MINNESOTA-Indian for CLOUDY |
water.u
CALIFORNIA-TLa name given by |
COrteS. the di-COverer of that region. !
Ho probably obtained it from an old |
Spanish romance, in which an inn
aginary island of that name is describ- |
ed as abOunding in gold.
OREGON--AetOFtiug tosome from the |
Indian oregon, "river of the west"
Others consider il derived from the !
Spanish "oreganO," wild marjOram,
which grows abundantly ON the PaCi- |
fic coast.