The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1884-12-04
HORSEHEADS, n. Y.
The Origin of the Name of New York
Town.

The Origin of the Name of New York
Town.
When the first white settler entered
the Chemung Valley, about 100 years
ago. they found the skulls of hundreds
of horses piled in mounds ON the spot
where this village now stands. Ac-
cording to the tradition these skulls
had belonged to horses in the army of
General Sullivan when he made his his
torical raid upon the hostile Indian
tribes, in l779. On the return march
of the victorious army from the Gen
esee country a portion of the troops en-
camped here. As he intended to 90
down the Chemung with his forces on
RATS, General Sullivan ordered the kill
ing of all the superfluous horses. Wild
animals devoured their carcasses, and
subsequently, the skulls were heaped up
by the Indians where the first settlers
found them. On account of this incl
dent the settlement received the name
of horseheads In 1887 the village was
Incorporated, and the name was chang
ed by the Legislature to Fairport,
against the wishes of most of the peo-
regularly to have the original name re-
stored. This was done in 1S45. No
stranger ever comes here whose first
question is not:
why is this place called Horse
heads?'
Citizens are always lying in wait for
strangers, and as soon as the invariable
question comes it is their one delight
and recreation to tell the story, with
much detail, about General Sullivan
and the horse-skull mounds. In fact,
competition in retailing the story has
come to be so close among enterprising
Horseheads people that the one that
gets the ear of strangers first and most
frequently is looked up to with envy
by his fellow-townsmen. The wide
awake citizen has even reduced tho
thing to so exact a science that he does
not wait until the stranger asks the en-
tire question. The man who alights
from the cars here and begins his first
utterance with why or What or
.Will you," need speak no further, for
the citizen, lying in wait, launches the
story of Sullivan and the horse skulls
at him at once. The man who is now
iOOhcu upOI dS tilt SllldIttSl OIS III tuS
place is distinguished citizen who sat
up for the 3 a. M. train the other night.
Two strangers alighted. They were so
sleepy they did not stop to ask why the
place was called Horseheads. The
wide awake-citizen collared them.
II see you want to hear the story
about Sullivan and the horse heads"
he said. GIVE me your valise; III
tell you the story as we walk over to
the hotel.'
1t may be well supposed that the
fact that a strong effort is now being
made to have the name of the village
changed has raised howl of indigna-
ton mere. 1t seems a capitalist from
another place wants to become interest
ed in manufacturing on an extensive
scale in Horseheads. He visited the
place day or two ago to look over the
prospect and talk with Horseheads
capitalist. After walking about the
streets for a while, and being unable to
find the man for whom he was looking,
he stepped into a saloon to ask where
the man lived. There were four citi-
zens in the place. The visitor APP
preached the man behind the bar, say
inc:
'NVill you kindly tell me-
That was as far as he got. The four
citizon5 were on their feet and on all
sides OF him in less than a second. They
all addressed him:
in September, 1879, General Sulli-
van, on his return from chasing the In
dians in the Genesee country encamped
on this very spot"
Then followed the story of the horses
and their skulls. The capitalist was
spccchless with surprise.
Il hey got it all mixed up said the
saIooH-keeper. Order your drink sent
to the back room, and I'll come in
and II tell you the story slow and
straight.
The visiting capitalist hurried out.
Meeting a boy on the street, he said:
My son, can you tell me-
80. yes" said the boy. 'In Sep
tember, 1879, General Sullivan
The visitor dashed wildly down the
street and met the man he had come to
see. This citizen explained the state
of affairs to him. Then he declared he
wouldn't put dollar Of his money in
HorSeheads unless the name was chang
ed. Some of them want his money and
are working hard to induce the people
to petition the Legislature to change
the name. Patriotic citizens, however,
are outraged at the suggestion. As
one walks along the streets he sees
groups of residents discussing the sub
ject.
ut is sacrileger' some of them ex-
claim
Here, where General Sullivan camp
ed in September, 1879, after-."
Then if he doesn't pass on he will
hear the rest of it. The movers in fa-
vor of a new name want the town call
ed North Elmira. ra.-HorseheGdS, N. 7
Cor. N. Y. San.