Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1898-06-23
NEW YORK STATE NAMES
Three Groups, Monarchical. Patri-
otto and Indian.
The Singular Coincidence Which oc-
CURED I'm Naming Counties-Oid
Dutch Names Are Preserved
I'm the List.


than so years. Notwithstanding the
states enormous gain in population.
and under the limitations prescribed by
the amended state constitution there
are likely to be no more than 60 for
many years to come.
In the naming of New York counties
no uniform plan was followed. but by
what is probably more a coincidence
than a design the 60 counties may be
geographically divided into groups.
each with different set of names.
There is the southern or metropolitan
group Of counties, original Knicker
booker settlements, which have mon
archical names; there are the eastern
and Pennsylvania border counties. hav-
ing patriotic American names. and
there is the western and central group
of counties, having Indian names.
South of the Poughkeepsie bridge. on
both sides of the Hudson. are what may
be called the Knickerbocker counties.
though they bear no trace. in county
names al least, of their Dutch colonial
ton. From a point beginning at Lake
Champlain and proceeding due south.
west 10 Hornellsville. near the Pennsyl-
vauia border, are the so-called Yankee
counties. settled by New EngIanders
and their descendants, and having gen.
orally patriotic names. and the western
and central group having Indian names.
Kings county, of course. is survival
of monarchical nomenclature in re-
public and so is Queens. Dukes anc
Duchess would supplement the two nat
urally. did it not happen that when
these names were bestowed officially
the Massachusetts, islands were a part
of the province OF New York, and hence
Dukes county is in Massachusetts and
Duchess (spelled Dutchess) in New
York. Richmond county is called after
the duke of Richmond. Orange after the
prince of Orange, New York after the
duke of York. and Ulster after the earl
CT Ulster, one of the secondary royal
titles of England. Westchester is an
English name, and Suffolk is named
after Suffolk county, England. This
list exhausts the number of those coun.
ties having monarchical or English
names.
Beginning on the Vermont border, in
the second or patriotic group. are Wash
ington county, Warren. Clinton, Frank
lin. Hamilton, Montgomery, Greene.
Fulton. Broome, Tompkins, Schuyler
and Steuben. And to these are to be
added jefferson. Monroe, Madison,
Yates, Wayne and Herkimer. Absent
from the list-an unusual thing in an
American state having SO many coun-
ties as New York-are the names OF
Jackson, Adams, Hancock and Jay.
though John Jay was conspicuous
New Yorker and Jackson's memory has
always been held in high esteem in New
York. One New York county. and one
only. has patriotic designation not
that of an Northumberland OF
which Hudson is the chief town and OF
which Martin Van Buren, and Samuel
]. Tilden were natives. There is no
Hudson county, N. T., though Hudson
was New York's discoverer. New Jer-
sey is more appreciative of Hudson's
fame. 1t has Hudson county-Jersey
City. chief town.
Indian names of the interior and west
ern and southern tier counties of New
York are euphonious and appropriate:
Oneida. Onondaga. Niagara. Seneca.
Chautauqua. Wyoming. Oswego. On
taro. Allegany. Erie. Cayuga, Tioga,
Cattaraugus and Otsego. These Indian
names have been distinctive mark of
New York. but the usage has not ex-
tended so far as TO include the chief
towns of these counties. Utica, SYRIA
cuse. Rome. Carthage, Medina and Mar
athon are classical names. Lyons and
Dunkirk are French. Auburn and
jamestown are English. Clyde is Scotch
and Buffalo. Painted Post. Households.
Hornellsville. Suspension Bridge. Penn
Yam and 0leau are unconventional in
the extreme.
The general rule in names in New
York state is subject. of course, to some
exceptions arising from the subdivision
of counties. Schenectady and Schoharic
preserve old Dutch names. Orleans has
a French name. Delaware is English
and Sullivan-isn't. Greene county
bears the name of patriotic general.
but its two chief towns are Dutch and
classical espectively-Catskill and
Athens. Important as is the Adiron-
dacl region to New York, there is no
Adirondack county and Ia somewhat
unusual thing) there is but one of the
60 counties having the name of a saint
st. Lawrence county, a designation Of
FFench-Canadian origin, no doubt. The
absence of Dutch county names is not
easily explained in New York. where
the Dutch took so active part in the
administration of public affairs. but
there is an Amsterdam montgomery
county,. and there will always bet is
fervently hoped by many-a Coney
Island, even if New Utrecht has been abb
sorbed and Flushing threatened. The
Dutch gave New York something bet
ter than names.-N. Y. Sun.