Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1905-10-19
The ORIGIN OF NAMES
There Is Considerable in Yankee
Nomenclature.
Of Nanes-Many Were
Formed by the Addition Of "son" to
Christian Nnmes-Large Number
Are Taken from Place Family
First Occupied.

ut has always been my bclief,'s said
the kindly faced octogenarian school.
master, clasping the elusive Miss Bonita,
whose eyes were fixed upon a predatory
butterfly, a shade more closely on his
Knee, that the faculties which We do not
keep In use are taken from us. An arm
or leg. bound up and deprived Of natural
exercise. soon loses all power to act. So
also will our mental equipment. AS we
grow older and are set aside from ac-
tive participation in the worlds affairs
the mind unemployed or conferred en-
tircly on introspection, loses its grip and
finally gives out even before the waning
physical powers cease to perform their
functions. ] suppose | have always been
a man OF hobbies. and while a Pegasus
or that stripe is not always to be COM
mended for one in the days of his
strength. 1t often serves a useful pur-
pose when the time comes that the grass
hopper shows signs of becoming n bur
dcn.'
I'm these last quiet years I have taken
great pleasure and interest in looking
back over tho long roll call of the many
people ! have known tracing the origin
of their ancestral names and verifying
my deductions by the inherited charac-
t%eristics of the descendants"
The speaker was Lewis Paddock, for
merly of Auburn. n. V, but for the last
three years a resident Of Brooklyn. y. Y,
where IA number of his old pupils. also
residents of this borough, bear him in
high-hearted memory" 10 quote one of
them. the Rev. Crandall North, d. D.,
OF Astoria, as the instructor OF their
far away youth, the we'll nigh incom-
parable s~choolmnster. old Number One
Districts Arnold of Rugby"
ut was hc," says DR.. North, who
challenged our admiration in youth by
the sheer strength OF his genius as in
structor. by the lofty purity of his moral
teaching and example. by the gentle dig
nifty Of his personal bearing. by the
straishtout manliness of his character
and by the wizard-like art in discipline
with which ne often compelled his pupils
love at the end Of The f~errule."
Among his other Auburn antc-bellum
scholars here, arc William c. Reddy and
Major George D. Russell of the Thirteenth
Regiment. A classmate Of Roscoe conk-
ling and DIR. Die ~(cletion) Lewis in the
old Auburn academy, the first to take
the initial steps in the Introduction OF
free schools and school libraries In cen.
trail New York. a staunch aboltionist
and personal friend Of William n. Sew
ard. secretary OF state: n witness Of tho
celebrated Freeman trial where Seward
won his first legal spurs. and later. the
largest real estate operator in Auburn.
whose extensive building operations have
resulted in i~ncaleulable advantage 10
that city's growth and development. Mr..
Paddock's long activities and intimate
acquaintance with men OF action, have
furnished him with a we'll nigh mex
haustible fund Of delightful "Reminiscences.
Returning to the subject of names Mr..
Paddock declares that an appropriate am
swer to the Immortal Bard's query,
Whats in n name" woNld be the YAM
kee reply, considerable"
Give him your name, and If it be of
Anglo-SaXon or Anglo-Norman derivation
he will Immediately tell you through his
own process of ratiocination. who were
your forbears, where their habitation,
whether originally of town or country.
what their vocation of their mental or
physical pcculiarities and generally he
hits it.
Descriptive surnames added to the spe-
cial Christian or baptisnal name of an
individual. such as Simon the I-eper,"
"Icnas the Lawyer "Elvmas the Sor-
cercr," saul of Tarsus,' 'Elhanan. the
son of Dodo,' 'Asahcl. the brother of
Joab," have been in use from time i'm
memorial; but these specific names. sig
nifying locality. craft. occupation. des-
cent, etc. only began to be used in
England as family names between 1850
and 1880. In 1903 they We're inscribed in
the record Of excheuuer called "Domcs-
day Book" corrupted later to "Dooms-
day" This book was made by order of
William the Conqueror, following the |
precedent of King Alfred, who registered
the estates of the kingdom. Surnames
introduced by the Normans came from
manifold sources. Many were formed
by the addition of tho word SON to the |
fathers Christian name. as Johnson, |
Jackson. Wilson or Williamson. Dickin-
son or Dixon. Samuelson, Alanson. Rob |
ertson. Robinson. Carlson. Harrison. Ben
son, Nickson. Clarkson. Peterson. Rich
ardson, Stevenson. Adamson. Thomson
and a host OF others. This addition OF
''son'' is ommon to many languages.
Every Armenian name-and the Armon-
ians come from the same Aryan stock
ends in IAN which means 'son Of"
This also is a characteristic of many Of
the Swedish and Norwegian names.
Other sufiixes added to the root or family
Eamc. denoting continuance of-that is. |
dcscendants-are ~"ettc." ing and FER"
while ard not only indicates continu-
ance, but similarity. Leonard, like a lion.
having no fear. GODDARD, n complimentary
title indicating god-like qualities. Rul-
lard. aggressive. like "A bull. Van as a
prefix shows Holland extraction. Nc,
Scotch or Scotch-Irish: O.. Irish, and lie.
French. In this connection an English.
man crossing over into Ireland quite ma
turally receives tho name England or
English: while, vic" versa. an Irishman
having gone to France or England is soon
known as Ireland or Irish. The French
and Welch or Welsh families In like man
ner nave taken their names from some
forbear who cmigratcd from one coun-
try 10 another, as also Holland" Dutch
err" GERMAN"
A large proportion of names are taken
from the place the family occupied in its
primeval condition. When the children of
the woods. forests. hills and wales began
to come into the tons or hams where
civilization first conferred and industries
began, the workers and jewellers in urbs,
to distinguish one from the other, speci-
fed them as Hills and Underhills; Woods