Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1894-09-05
WHENCE THEY COME.
How the States Got the Names Which
They Now Bear.


They Now Bear.
The origin of the names of different
States is an interesting story. Natur-
ally, the thirteen which first comprised
the Federal Union were called after
foreign personages or localities
1t was in 1869 that the Plymouth
company conveyed a certain portion of
American territory to Capt. John Mason
by patent. The patentee was Governor
of Portsmouth, in Hampshire England,
80 the new colony came to be New
Hampshire. Rhode Island was named
still earlier, in 1864, believe, for the
island of Rhodes, in the Mediterranean,
possibly because the latitudes and eli
mates do not differ widely; or it may
be because the ancient isle is nearly
the same size as the island portion of
its namesake. Earlier yet, the Caro-
linas were so called by the French set
tiers in honor of Carolus TX. of France.
Another colony which received its
name in the sixteenth century was Vir-
ginia, which, as everyone knows, was
the namesake of Elizabeth, the virgin
Queen of England. and had Sir Walter
Raleigh for its sponsor. Originally,
the great territory of Virginia extended
from the Atlantic ocean to the Missis-
sippi river, and has since been divided
into five large States. Indians called
the great river Connecticut, and the
new white settlers simply transferred
it to their united settlements. Massa-
chusetts, on the other hand, was the
name of tribe of Indians which had
its wigwams in the vicinity of Boston.
These Indians are supposed to have de-
rived their appellation from the blue
hills over which they roamed.
New York has been known by vari-
GUS names, but its present title was
bestowed in honor of the Duke of
York, to whom the territory was grant
ed by England. Pennsylvania was
christened in 1851 after William Penn.
Delaware is said to get its name from
Lord de !a War;, who is supposed to
have been buried in the bay. This,
however, seems to be more legendary
al Ia. ~. al
other hand, that the tribe of Indians
which roamed over this territory were
called Delawares At one time Della
ware and New Jersey were known as
New Sweden, hut in 1864 the latter was
rechristened out of compliment to Sir
George Cartaret, one of the original
English proprietoIs of that territory,
because he had defended the island of
Jersey against the Long Parliament in
the English civil war.
Georgia was so called in honor of
George III. Maryland was named for
Henrietta Maria, Charles the First's
Queen, while Vermont had no separate
title until the declaration of independ-
ence, when the people named their
State from verd and mont, words typi.
cal of the beautiful noun talns of which
the State is justly proud.
While Maine was not admitted to the
union until 1920, the territory bole its
present name as early as 1858. Queen
Henrietta, of England, had the honor
of having it called after her possessions
in France. Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio,
Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Ark
ansas, Wisconsin and Illinois were
called after rivers. The Indian word,
Tennessee, is said to signify a curved
spoon; Mississippi, a river formed of
many; Illinois, the river of men, while
Missouri was the name of branch of
the Dakotas.
Louisiana took its name from Louis
XVI, of France, Indiana, from the
original inhabitants of this country
the Dakotas, Kansas, Omaha, Utah
and Iowa from tribes of Indians. 1t
was on Easter Sunday-in Spanish
Pascua Florida-that Ponce de Leon
discovered Florida. Texas was also
named by Spaniards when they drove
out the French in 1890.