The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1899-05-05
NAMES OF COUNTIES.
HE ROLL CONSTITUTES ANATloNAl
SAINTS CALENDAR.

|Y$JE NULL NQNotIlOtEOA NH llSNVA
SAINTS CALENDAR.
y Il, n Fact, the walhslla of De-
parteA American Heroes, the west
\ Minster Abbey Where Our Illus
ltrious Dead Have Their Monuments.
4 There are 0,748 counties In the United
Gtates, and tho titles by which these nu-
lnsrous divisions are known present mo-
terial enough to form the basis of a pro.
found study in the derivation Of geograph.
ical Names
Had there been given in the beginning
10 the American people the task Of agree
Ing upon nearly 5000 such names inven-
tion and choice would doubtless have been
pAralyzed by Its magnitude. The way
3his problem has solved itself during the
hast century certainly throws some side
btxhts on national characteristics, and II
The list OF names evolved is on the whole
not very inelodious one or Us good one
~ might have bacn expected considering
IN material there was to choose from 1t is
Ut batter than the beginnings made SO or
30 years ago would lead one to expect.
! For at that time, when the first great
waves Of population rolled westward and
d large part of tho counties in the midwest
were laid off and named, there seemed to
be regular poverty Of thought on the
mart of those who bestowed geographical
designations. .Jedediah Morse, a quaint
old geographer Of about the year 1910,
ihus complains of this when speaking Of
the state OF Ohio in particular: while we
are on the subject Of towns We cannot for.
bear abiding to practice OF very perplex-
Ing effects which prevails more or less in all
our new states, but particularly in Ohio.
We allude to the custom of naminga great
many towns In the same state after some
distinguished character or after older set
Elements. In the single state of Ohio
there are towns by the name Of Salem
y by the name of Greene, Jeffersons, 8
Madisons, 10 Waynes and 10 Unions, be,
sides multitude Of less frequent repeti-
Eions Indeed we confidently assert that
the names Of a majority Of the towns in
Ohio are repeated from two to dozen
times.
! The same was true Of the several newly
formed western states In naming their
counties. One after another slavishly re-
peated the county names of its nearest
neighbor, and the result is that the county
rolls Of such nearly related states as Ohio,
Indiana and Illinois are singularly alike.
There are the same Washingtons, Jetfer'
sons, Franklins, Marions and SO on down
the list and the rest of tho newer states
have followed their lead until nearly all
the great men of American history have
each given names to from dozen or SO tC
a. many as 80 counties.
During colonial times greater part OF
the county names adopted were those Of
British shires and localities and Of mem
bers of the English royal family. Thus
all of the original IS states have theil
Cumberlands, Montgomerys, Somersets
aud the like, and the whole nomenclature
of Massachusetts,, Connecticut and some
other states is composed of English geo
graphical names Virginia and Maryland
In the south adopted more extensively thar
the northern colonies the custom of nam
ing counties after princes and rulers fol
whom the Purltans ever had but little
and Queen county but King George, kine
William, Prince Edward, Prince George
Prince William and Princess Anne be
sides. In Maryland counties there arc
found thus remembered Prince George
Ind Queen Anne
! The Declaration Of Independence, how
byer at once put a stop to the adoption O.
English names for new counties The
names Of American patriots blossomet
forth everywhere as the favorites to whom
this distinction was given. Even The
beautiful native Indian names, which al
early as this period had often been bestow
cd, were now less frequently given 1t ii
only few of the original ID states and o.
their earliest successors that made much
use of this source of supply. Tho more
recent western states, although having
abundance of such material, have drawn
krom it very little. Less than 400 of tht
counties bear names Of this kind, but they
are among the most beautiful in the list
and It Ia much to be regretted that they
were not more extensively used. Certain
ny the Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chenango
Onondaga, Oswego and Saratoga Of New
York, the Lacknwanna, Susquehanpa
Hioga and Wyoming Of Pennsylvania o.
me Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Sctoto and Tus
esrawas Of Ohio are more euphonicus ant
pleasing to the oar, as well as more dis
Einctivs and thus more serviceable, thar
the monotonous repetition of Washingtons
9effersons and Lafaycttes.
i Speaking Of these Indian names, 1t il
noticeable that they are generally rough
and cultural in the northern parts of TIN
country and more liquid in the south
Thus contrast such county names from
Maine as Androscoggin and Sagadaho
with the Ahchua and Suwauee Of Florid
Or Michiliwackinac and Gogebic from
Michigan and Suohomish and klickit9
from Washington with the soft and sibilan
Tuscaloosa and Tallapoosa of Alabama
In tho central states the names are goner
ally of type equally removed from thes
extremes Of ruggcdness and softness.
" But the rcd mans names form but al
inconspicuous part in the roll Of counties
more than half of which commemorat
Americans OF national, state or even luca
reputation. In fact, this roll constitute
sort OF national saints calendar, tn
Walhala of departed American heroes, tn
Westminster abbey where the nations Il
lustrious dead have their monuments
Lord Nelson at tho battle Of Trafalgar
reported to have said something TO the CT
feet that mere goes for a peeragc or
tomb in Westminster abbey Unfortu
nately fate awarded the battle to the grca
admiral in his hour Of triumph, or rathc
. tomb In St. Paul's, which was still less
But Perry, Mt the battle Of Lake Erie
might still better have said, Here goes a
any event for name spread over ten grea
American counties, " for that is what hi
Countrymen have awarded him, a mont
ment certainly moro lasting and imposin
Than little bit of hideous marble, with
fnll quota OF cpitaphic mcndacitics. III
aianapolis Journal.
Dean Swift and the MasonD.
When the luasOns were building 1t e
most tradesmen are roguesl, | watchc
them very close. and as often as they coul
is, ,,f,, it,I, l,,,,