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diff --git a/78202-0.txt b/78202-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7678bb4 --- /dev/null +++ b/78202-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,789 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78202 *** + + + + +Transcriber’s Note + + Italic text displayed as: _italic_ + Bold text displayed as: =bold= + + + + + The Changing of + Historic Place Names + + _By_ George P. Donehoo + + Secretary of the Pennsylvania Historical + Commission and President of the + Potter County Historical Society + + [Illustration: River in the woods] + + With an Introduction and Glossary of Some Historic + Names Changed or Misspelled In Pennsylvania + + _By_ Henry W. Shoemaker + + Member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania + and Chairman of the Committee on Historical + Activity, Pennsylvania Federation of + Historical Societies + + Published under the Auspices of the Pennsylvania Alpine Club, + J. Herbert Walker, Secretary and Historian + + Altoona, Pennsylvania + + [Illustration] + + Tribune Press, 1921 + + + + +Contents + + + Prefatory Note 2 + Introduction 2 + Changing Historic Place Names 3 + A Partial List of Historic Place Names Changed or + Misspelled in Pennsylvania 8 + The Spirit of the Name-Vandal! Exit Muckelrat and + Enter Woodland Hills 13 + Changing the Face of History 13 + Pennsylvania Alpine Club 14 + + + + +“There are vicissitudes in all things.”—Terence. + + + + +Prefatory Note + + +The author wishes to state that this brief monograph is written at the +suggestion of Col. Henry W. Shoemaker, who has not only assisted in the +writing, but who also has kindly paid the expense of publication. The +article could be extended very greatly. The author thinks, however, +that enough is written to call attention to the evil of changing place +names. + + G. P. D. + + + + +Introduction + + +It is indeed a privilege, through the agency of the Pennsylvania Alpine +Club, to assist in the publication of so timely a monograph as that of +Dr. Donehoo’s, on the subject of changing historic place names. Every +month the senseless shifting is going on, newcomers wresting from the +historic past the heritage of honored names. It will be difficult a +century hence to follow the course of history in Pennsylvania; even +now it is hard to identify the places visited by early travelers like +Spangenberg, Ettwein and Col. Weiser, as innovators have changed +and re-changed even the names of the streams and mountains that +they crossed. It will be hard to trace the racial and philological +development of the State, as the haphazard system of renaming +places destroys all historic sequence of nationality and individual +tendencies. One bright spot remains. Pennsylvania has discarded +fewer of her Indian names than most other States; personal vanity or +prejudice was hardly strong enough to obliterate these—for even more +than “their names are on the waters and you cannot blot them out,” the +Indian-named mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers and streams persist +and bid fair to defy the ruthlessness of the ages. Let the constant +watchfulness of every public-spirited Pennsylvanian be directed to +“save the ancient landmarks” and keep inviolate the sturdy, distinctive +nomenclature and spelling handed down by our fore-fathers. + + HENRY W. SHOEMAKER. + + “RESTLESS OAKS,” MCELHATTAN, PA., APRIL 30, 1921. + + + + +[Illustration: United States Flag] + + + + +Changing Historic Place Names + + +The Mosaic Law contained the following: “Cursed be he that removeth his +neighbor’s landmark: and all the people shall say, Amen.” + +They did not have a Historical Society during the early development +of the Jewish Commonwealth, or Moses might have added to these wise +regulations, “Cursed be he that changeth one of the historic names of +towns and villages, and all the people shall say, Amen.” + +A place name is not only a landmark, but it is a historic landmark, +often of more real value than the landmark of an individual occupant of +the soil. Sometimes the whole history of a region can be dug up by the +careful student of the names which are given to the towns, villages, +streams and mountains in that region. Very few of the earlier place +names in Pennsylvania were given in a haphazard way. They all meant +something, and in most cases something of real historic value. + +Some of these early names are most beautiful to hear, and some are +not. But they are all of interest and historic value. Many of the most +beautiful sounding names, and names of historic value, have disappeared +entirely from the map of the state. Wyoming is an illustration of the +disappearance of an old, beautiful and historic name. Many people think +that the name “Wyoming” belongs to the state to which it migrated from +the beautiful vale of Pennsylvania, where it was made historic for all +time. + +Some of the earliest place names now are applied to towns and +topographical features far removed from the place which gave them +birth. Shamokin is an illustration of this change. This name is one of +the very oldest on the Susquehanna River, and it was used during the +entire period of settlement, as well as during the period of Indian +occupancy, when the Vice-Gerent of the Iroquois Confederacy made it +the Indian capitol of Pennsylvania. All of the early travelers and all +of the official documents relating to Indian affairs use this name for +the present Sunbury. The name Shamokin has been given to a town which +is in no way connected with the historic town from which this name was +taken. In order to avoid confusion, a historical writer now has to +always refer to the old, historic place in this manner: “Shamokin (now +Sunbury).” The same rule has to apply to the other historic village of +Wyoming. When this place is mentioned, the statement must be made as +“Wyoming (now Wilkes-Barre).” Probably the greatest crime of all is +that which was committed by some classical school teacher in the change +which was made from Tioga to Athens. The author in other publications +has referred to the trail of the massacre of Indian place names by +these classic school teachers from New England. It was one of the sad +results of the Connecticut Settlement of Pennsylvania and Western New +York. The Indian names were slaughtered without pity. The Scotch-Irish +in Pennsylvania killed the Indians, but spared the names which the +Indians had given to the rivers and mountains in the region in which +they had lived. The New England school teacher slaughtered the names. +Follow the trail of these classical scholars from Athens up into New +York and you find a veritable trail of blood of historic and beautiful +Indian names. + +Imagine, if you please, the following names within the historic habitat +of the mighty Iroquois: Cato, Ovid, Camillus, Rome, Utica, Troy, +Syracuse, Marathon, Ithaca, Geneva, Sempronius, Aurelius, Marcellus, +Scipioville, Aurora, Romulus, Junius—and so on _ad nauseam_, there is +hardly any limit to the list. The beautiful lake region of New York +seems to have been the “Gettysburg” of the New England teacher, where +the “high tide” of classical slaughter was done. By direct trail he +reached the headwaters of the Susquehanna, where he killed Tioga in +cold blood, and then erected “Athens.” About this time the tide of +Scotch-Irish and German “Pennamites” swept up the Susquehanna River +and ended the advance of the classical scholar and prevented the +continuation of the slaughter along the Susquehanna River. + +I have always been thankful that this classic invasion of Pennsylvania +soil did not come into the State by the way of the Allegheny River. Had +it done so, the Ohio, or La Belle Riviere, might probably have been +re-baptized the “Styx,” and the old twin towns at the headwaters of +this stream called Romulus and Remus. + +A “name” means something. It stands for the person or place. To the +Israelite the name of the Deity was so sacred and awful that it was +not pronounced at all. One of the Commandments relates to the taking +of “the name in vain.” We Americans are losing our spirit of reverence +for almost everything. Names of places are changed without a feeling of +loss. Sometimes these changes are due to the errors of clerks or map +makers. There are so many illustrations of this method of change that +only a few can be mentioned. Carter Camp, in Potter County, has been +substituted for Cartee Camp—the name of a historic family, of which +General Cartee was a member. One can easily see how this change was +made by a copyist glancing at the name Cartee and then writing the more +familiar “Carter.” Another illustration of the same sort of error is +found in the name “Queen’s Run,” which should be Quinn’s Run—named for +a famous early settler and Indian lighter who settled above Lock Haven, +on the West Branch. + +Col. Henry W. Shoemaker calls my attention to a few other changes of +this sort. The Cattleman River should be “Casselman,” being named for +a famous family of pioneers which settled in Western Pennsylvania. One +of the townships in Clinton County is now named “Gallagher” instead +of “Gallauher,” in honor of Judge Abraham Gallauher. The recent maps +of Pennsylvania are literally filled with such clerical errors, which +finally have the authority of the United States Government to back them +up, in the Geological Survey Maps and naming of Post Offices. These +errors could all be avoided by having the proofs of maps and other +official documents submitted to the County Historical Societies before +final publication. + +Other changes of names are intentional, as in the case of the many +names, such as Athens, for Tioga Point; Sunbury, for Shamokin; +Wilkes-Barre, for Wyoming. These changes were made so long ago that +the more recent name has become historic. But changes are being made +which have no historic significance whatever. One of the worst, which +the author often thinks about because he remembers the place by its +old name, is that of the large and growing town of Coraopolis, below +Pittsburg, which formerly had the historic name of Vance Fort—which +means something of the romantic period when the early settlers on +the Ohio had to fly to Vance’s Fort for protection from the Indians. +“Coraopolis” means nothing whatever. There are “opolis” without number +in the United States. There was only one Vance Fort. The change of +Venango to Franklin is another illustration of giving up an early and +historic name. + +Another change which Col. Shoemaker tells me of is the suggested change +of Shousetown to Glenwillard. The Shouse family was one of the early +pioneer families on the upper Ohio in the days when the male members of +the family defended the frontiers of civilization. There are “glens” +of every possible style and degree of fashion in the State, but there +is only one Shousetown, or Shouse Ferry. Somehow, whenever a certain +type of people move into a locality, it seems to be about the first +thing which these modern pioneers think of, is that of changing a name, +which does not have an up-to-date sound, to “glen”-something-or-other. +Instead of cutting down trees, they cut down names. My very good friend +Gifford Pinchot is a perfect friend of “forestry conservation,” so is +my other friend, Col. Henry W. Shoemaker—more power to both of them +in their good work! Let us all start a movement for the “preservation +and conservation of the historic place names of Pennsylvania.” Some +of these names are not as “pretty” as they might be, but they mean +something, and they are historic. I know that Mary is a rather +old-fashioned name for a girl, when compared with Gladys or Ethyl—but +somehow the name means more. It has the historic light of ages +playing about it. One thinks of deep-blue Syrian skies and the lakes +of Killarney, and a lot of other things, when it is mentioned. So, +Shousetown has a sort of crude sound when compared with “Glenwillard.” +But if you think of the sturdy frontiersman who ferried across the +Ohio in the early days, the name becomes romantic. So also with the +other names. If you know why they were given, you will realize why they +should stay. + +Another matter which calls for the attention of Historical Societies +is that of giving names to places which never had a name. These names +should have some meaning, either in local or state history. Oftentimes +new towns are given names which bear no relation to anything in local +or State history. Such names as “Mexico,” “Arroyo,” “Vera Cruz,” etc., +have no relation whatever to anything local or State. Many of these +names are intrusive. They have historical significance elsewhere, but +not here. + +In view of these very brief remarks about Pennsylvania place names, +the author would suggest to the various Historical Societies in the +State the passage of an Act of Assembly forbidding the giving of names +to any place, or the changing of any place name, without the authority +of either the Historical Commission or of some other historical body, +such as the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The author understands +that many European countries and some of our own States already have +such laws. A person has the right to call his own country place or +farm by whatever name he wishes. But State names of places become the +property of the State, and become a part of the State’s archives. Such +a law would prevent the ignorant vandalism which has been so much in +evidence in the past, in blotting out historic names, and it would also +prevent the thoughtless and, oftentimes, utterly ridiculous bestowal of +names. + +There are hundreds of appropriate and beautiful historic names in early +Pennsylvania history, among which are many really significant Indian +names, which have never been given to any places or topographical +features. These names, rather than meaningless ones, could be given +to new towns and villages, and even to country places. Now is the +fitting time for the Historical Societies of the State to commence a +movement having in view the results mentioned in this article. Nearly +every county in the State now has a Historical Society, or has such a +society under way. This work can be made a most valuable part of the +activity of such societies. The change of historic place names may seem +a small matter, but it is not. Equally offensive is the mis-spelling of +historic names, for it adds a studied indifference to the illustrious +names or events in history, which no patriotic American should pass +over lightly. We must hold to our historic place names as the tangible +links in the chain of our historical development. + +[Illustration: Female American Indian] + + + + +A Partial List of Historic Place Names Changed or Misspelled in +Pennsylvania + +(Compiled by Henry W. Shoemaker) + + + =Old Name= =New Name= + =or Spelling= + + Louisbourg { Even the State Capitol was not } Harris’ Ferry, + { spared! } Harrisburg + + Wyoming Wilkes-Barre + + { “The Place of the Horns,” } + Shamokin { where the deer performed } Sunbury + { their mewing. } + + Ohe-yu { “The Beautiful River—La Belle } Allegheny River + { Riviere” } + + Cartee Camp { New Bergen, + { “Carter” Camp + + { Sturdy Indian fighters, } + Shousetown { ancestors of Hon. Jouett } Glenwillard + { Shouse, lived here. } + + Muckelrat { How perfectly flat and innocuous } Woodland Hills + { the new name! } + + White’s Eddy Ritchie + + Young Woman’s { Here Mary Wolford, beautiful } + Town { pioneer girl, was drowned } North Bend + { escaping from Indians. } + + Eyersburg Bloomsburg + + Longstown New Berlin + + Stroupstown Freeburg + + { How inane the new name, } + Swinefordstown { compared to the old! Middle } Middleberg + { of what? } + + { Why this was changed is a } + Christunn { puzzle, as new name has little } Middle Creek + { special significance } + + { There are no less than thirty } + { other places called “Mifflin” } + Youngmanstown { in State, and Youngmanstown } Mifflinburg + { had a delicious West } + { Country, Irish flavor! } + + Muhlenberg Newton Hamilton + + Messimersville Sheridan + + Dengler’s Mount Penn + + { Stony Run really means nothing } + Wessnersville { definite; State is full of } Stony Run + { them. } + + Quinn’s Run Queen’s Run + + Suedberg Suedburg + + Reidersville Newport + + Peter’s Camp Blossburg + + Parkinson’s Ferry { Monongahela City + { Monongahela + + { This atrocity is gradually } + Casselman River { getting on all maps, even some } Castleman River + { of those of State Forestry } + { Department. } + + Casselman Castleman + + Shireman’s Creek Sherman’s Creek + + Zerby Sober + + Gallauher } + (Township), } Another victim of “Sinn Fein” Gallagher + Clinton County } + + Tioga Point Athens + + Vance Fort Coraopolis + + Venango Franklin + + Shoemakertown Ogontz + + Kreamersville { A quaint old town re-baptized } Smullton + { to please a local politician. } + + Hamburg } Mackeyville + (Clinton Co.) } + + { “H,” in these days of simplified } + { spelling, and after having } + { been laid aside for nearly } + { a century, tacked on by } + { P. R. R. in 1902 to suit a } + { resident Vice-President born } + Pittsburg { in Edinburgh, pronounced } Pittsburgh + { Edinborough; which itself is } + { philologically incorrect, the } + { original name of the “Athens } + { of the North” having been } + { Edwins-burg, an early } + { settlement of Angles, not } + { Celts. } + + Brunerstown Somerset + + Bloody Run { Here immortal hero blood was } Everett + { shed. Why change it? } + + Bismarck { A victim of war hysteria and } Quentin + { over-zealous “patriotism.” } + + Fort Hunter Rockville + + Siegfried Northampton + + Allenville (Name changed twice) { Northampton + { Allentown + + { Hard to trace pioneer localities } + Heidelberg { since these old names are } Schaefferstown + { nearly all gone. } + + Derry { With its old church, cruelly } Hershey + { wiped off the map. } + + { In Penn’s Valley, Centre County. } + High Head { There are no less than } + (Mountain) { 100 other mountains and } Round Top + { hills in State called “Round } + { Top.” } + + Old Eagle Strafford + + { A stalwart Indian fighter’s } + { name obliterated to make } + Stucktown { way for a stockholder in a } McClure + { new railroad through the } + { town. } + + Dunnsburg Dunnstown + + Lewis’ Lake { Why this sentimental, slushy } “Eaglesmere” + { new name? } + + Strasburg Shrewsbury + (York County) + + Greersburg Darlington + + Exetertown (Name changed twice) { Exeter + { Lorane + + Saltzburg Saltsburg + + Anderson’s Ferry Marietta + + Dekanoagah Bainbridge + + Kloster (Cloister) Ephrata + + Wright’s Ferry Wrightsville + + Tiadaghton Pine Creek + + Karoondinha { John Penn’s Creek + { Penn’s Creek + + Standing Stone Huntingdon + Town + + Reinholds Blainsport + + Petersburg { Changed, as another town of } Duncannon + { same name in State. } + + { The name of old Reuben } + Stover’s { Stoyer, pioneer and hunter, } Livonia + { deserved to be thus } + { perpetuated. Why Livonia? } + + Weirickstettle { Penn’s Creek P.O. + { Centreville + + { Changed owing to there being } + Millersburg, { another Millersburg in State, } Bethel + (Berks County) { but new name of no local } + { significance. } + + { “All Wants,” meaning “Land } + { of Plenty.” A very distinctive } + Allemingle { cognomen. New name } Albany + { of no local significance } + { whatever. } + + Riviere Le Boeuf “River of Buffaloes” French Creek + + { Changed by railroad. Indian } + Sinnemahoning { name Sinne-Mahoning, or } Sinnamahoning + { “Stony Lick.” } + + { Another railroad infliction. Old } + Nippeno { name “Nippeno,” from } Nippono + { Nippe-nuse, an Indian Chief } + { of the locality. } + + Manayunk Schuylkill + + Jaysburg { Changed so as to be the “soul } Newberry + { mate” of Sunbury. } + + Jacobsburg Woodward + + { A sturdy pioneer sounding } + The Forks { name. Changed by railroad } Coburn + { land agents to please an } + { influential citizen of county. } + + Panther Run { An abbreviation which destroys } Panther + { most of the local significance.} + + Hightown White Deer + + Littlestown Bradford + + Rattlesnake { Changed to “honor” a railroad } Whetham + { contractor. } + + { Changed on account of being } + Susquehanna { other town of same name in } Nisbet + { State. } + + { On former domain of Queen } + Riansares { Maria Christina of Spain. } Penny Hill + (Mountain) { Named for her husband, the } + { Duke of Riansares. } + + Stavertown Glen + + Burgettstown Langeloth + + Reastown { Raystown, + { Bedford + + Coryell’s Ferry New Hope + + Quiggleville Lycoming + + Geulich, Gulick + (Township) + Clearfield + County + + { Another railroad blunder in } + Benezet { spelling. Named for Anthony } Benezette + { Benezet, Quaker Abolitionist. } + + Chatham’s Run, Charlton + (Hamlet) + + Barclay Wyside + + { Here was a big camp of Irish } + Paddy’s Run { railroad laborers when Sunbury } East Renovo + { and Erie Railroad was } + { built about 1864. } + + Saltzman East Ferney + + { Named by early Scotch-Irish } + Swatragh, { pioneers for a brook in } Swatara + (Stream) { Derry, Ireland—Sewataro, } + { Swetarrow. } + + Powl’s Creek { Pronounced Pole’s Creek. } Powell’s Creek + { Spelling should conform. } + + Matawanna McVeytown + + { Named for early tribe of } + Mingoville { redmen. New name given by } Hecla Park + { owners of a picnic park. } + + + { A regrettable abbreviation of } + Hartley Hall { Major-General Thomas } Hartleton + { Hartley’s name. } + + Oak Grove { Changed because other town } Avis + { of same name in State. } + + { An unaccountable substitution } + Derrstown { of first name of Lewis Derr, } Lewisburg + { pioneer, for his last name. } + + + Stitestown { Named for the first settler in } Lebanon + { locality. } + + { An obstinate blunder creeping } + Paxtang { like a canker into history, } Paxton + { as original name was Peshtank! } + + Funkstown { Altodale + { Mont Alto + + Obold Mount Pleasant + + Rumberger DuBois + + Morgan’s Gap Bull Run Gap + + Great Shawanese Ganoga Lake + Lake + + Woodruffstown { Blockhouse + { Liberty + + Watsonburg Watsontown + + Upland An early Swedish settlement Chester + + Boyersville Mazeppa + + Green Castle Greencastle + + Adamsburg Beaver Springs + + Moose’s Pond Mose’s Pond + + Chinkalacamoose “Meeting place of the Moose” Clearfield + + Straus Schuyler + + Zermatt Holstein + + Germantown { North + Junction { Philadelphia + + { Changed by Railroad Company, } + { which had another station } + Georgetown { of same name. New name } Dalmatia + { sounds nice, but of no local } + { significance. } + + Kishekokelas Kishacoquillas + + Jamesburg Oriole + + Swartztown Milton + + Cameronia Montandon + + + + +The Spirit of the Name-Vandal! + +Exit Muckelrat and Enter Woodland Hills + + +Muckelrat is gone forever, the “Village of Woodland Hills” takes its +place and every citizen holds his head erect these days and smiles a +happy smile. + +The territory comprising the one-time Muckelrat includes that part of +Wilkins Township, hounded by Braddock road, Filmore road, Glasgow road, +Fairview avenue and Ridge avenue. + +The formal announcement of this change was made in a communication to +The Sun today, signed “Citizens of Woodland Hills.”—PITTSBURG SUN, 1921. + + + + +Changing the Face of History + + +There is another aspect of the ruthless spirit of the day which holds +nothing of the past sacred and secure. That is the modernization of +Civil War memorials. Most of these erected thirty years ago, instead of +showing the rugged, long-haired, bearded, loosely clad soldier of Civil +War times represented the “Civil War” warrior to look like the trim +National Guardsman of the Nineties, with short hair, curled mustache, +and tight-fitting uniform. Those erected recently, take, for example, +the Bucktail monument at Driftwood, and the Union League Club Regiment +monument at Philadelphia, represent the Civil War soldier as short +haired and clean shaven. The typical Civil War soldier was neither of +these, even if a few shaved their whole faces once in six weeks. All +let their hair stay long; that was part of the tradition of the war, +while most of the boys allowed their beards to grow and have never +shaved them off to this day. The short-haired, clean-shaved Civil War +soldier never existed outside of the careless imagination of modern +sculptors, and in only a single monument at Gettysburg Battlefield is +the real soldier of the period depicted, that sole exception being in +the bronze figure on the monument of the Fifth Minnesota Regiment. +Even Violet Oakley has fallen into the popular error with her Lincoln +and Meade murals in the Senate Chamber at Harrisburg, but she goes +most artists one better by giving her clean-shaven soldier boys “Dutch +cuts,” from which their locks were as free as their cheeks were of the +razor. Why can’t real Civil War soldiers be put on these monuments, +and not faces and costumes typical of 1915-1921—a crime in the eyes of +historic exactitude. The Civil War soldier, South as well as North, +was a Poilu, and the razor applied by sculptors half a century later +has stripped him of one of his principal claims to individuality. As +the noted French author, Maurice Barres, remarked, in speaking of the +hairy French soldiers of the World War, “Their beards have been part +of the war, and of our courage.” The bearded Civil War soldier bespoke +his period, and told the story of camp and campaign, and any attempt +to change him now makes the memorials historically ineffective. This +is a phase of monument construction for our able State Art Commission +to consider in co-operation with Dr. Donehoo’s Historical Commission. +Clean-shaved Civil War soldiers are as historically out of place as if +the typical American “Doughboy” of the World War were put on a pedestal +with Lord Rocksavage side-whiskers or Lord Fauntleroy tresses. Let us +be correct and exact in every detail, if we are to build for the ages +to come! + + H. W. S. + + * * * * * + + + + +Pennsylvania Alpine Club + +[Illustration: P.A.C.] + +THE CREED: To protect, study and preserve, wherever possible, the +history, folk lore, folk songs and proverbs of our mountain people. +To preserve historic place names and their rightful spelling, Indian +traditions and Indian names. To secure the Pennsylvania Mountains a +wider popularity and appreciation. To work for pure air, pure water, +pure manhood and womanhood against the inroads of the modern complex, +urban civilization. To save the ancient landmarks, such as old forts +and other pioneer structures and memorials, and historic and noteworthy +trees and groves. To create a sentiment for the education and moral +encouragement of the Pennsylvania mountain children, neglected in favor +of the children of the Kentucky and Tennessee mountains. To stand at +all times for the American Flag and Pennsylvania Beautiful. + +For the establishment of new Chapters and membership, apply to J. +Herbert Walker, Secretary and Historian, Box 328, Scranton Pa. Program +of Spring and Fall Outings on Application. + + _=Finis=_ + + + + + Transcriber’s Notes + + pg 4 changed: into New York and you find a vertiable + to: into New York and you find a veritable + + pg 8 changed: How perfectly flat and inocuous + to: How perfectly flat and innocuous + + pg 12 changed: Named for early tribe of red-men. + to: Named for early tribe of redmen. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78202 *** |