The evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1907-1908, 1907-12-10
YMANDER."
Two Accounts of the Origin of a Famous
Word.

In the last number of the Voter, Editor
Henry Barrett chamberlin drops into
Massachusetts history and tells where
the gerrymander was born" His version
is as follows: THE word gerrymander
came out of Massachusetts during the
year these United States tried conclusions
with Great Britain for the second time.
The a~pportionment act of February IL,
1917. suggested the name, owing to the
fact that some of the districts were
formed into fantastic shapes. Towns were
separated and single towns were isolated
from their proper counties. AS a matter
of history 1t stands almost alone as the
rankest bit of work of the character ever
attempted in American politics. The re-
dlstrlctlng of today is equitable and sin
cere as compared herewith. There il not
a body of politicians eXtant tnat would
nave the nerve to even, suggest the propo-
sition which became a law in those DAYS.
Nathan Hale. one OF the editors OIL the
Boston Weekly Messenger, published a
map exhibiting the two Essex districts
IN the edition of his paper OF March .
and the paper stated al that time: sThe
county OF Essex has been divided into
w districts to which the ingen-
lous carvers have been unwilling To as
sign names. The district of which the
extremes are Salisbury, on the north
side of The Merrlmack river, and Chelsea
may be properly called by ,he
name which children give 10 a letter m
the alphabet, Crooked s. or one dis
trict may be denominated concaVe ana
the other convex. as one of them Ats into
The other very much as the half of a
small egg may be put into half the shell
OF a larger egg The map was displayed
by j. g. Cogswell, afterward librarian Of
the Astor Library, at a dinner al Colonel
lhoindike.s house in Summer street. Here
it was examine and discussed and some-
one remarked TINT the outer district but
needed wings TO resemble a prehistoric
monster. The suggestion was at once
acted upon by the artist Elkanah Tisdale.
Some one called for a name for the figure.
ana q guest proposed the term salamnnder.
Another guest, thought to be Mr.. Alsop,
quickly protested and suggested that as
Governor Gerry had signed the bill and
permitted 1t TO become a law II should be
named after him, hence the word gerry
U ander." So
This version differs widely from the
story of the coming of the word as told
by John tiske in civil Government in
the United States" Mr.. Fiske's account,
History of Boston," runs thus: I'm 1872.
while Gerry was Governor Of the State
the Republican Legislature re~distribtted
the districts In such wise that the shapes
Of the towns forming a single district In
Essex county gave to the district n some-
what draGonlike contour. This was in
dictated upon a map of MASSACHUSETTS,
which Benjamin Russell, an ardent FEEDER.
alist and editor of the CentineI, hung up
the desk of his Office. The celebrated
painter, Gilbert Stuart. coming into the
office one day and observing the uncouth
figure added with n pencil q head, wings
and claws and exclaimed: That will do
mander!' growled the editor, and the out
landish name. thus duly coined, soon came
into general currency '-Boston Tran
script.