This is a continuation of the blog from yesterday in which I referenced a link to a map with names of towns in the United States that changed over time. I posted the before and after name of fourteen of the 56 names on the map. Today's posting picks up from where I left off.
Fort Dallas (Miami, FL)
Fort Dallas was built in 1836 and functioned to 1842 when the Second Seminole War ended. The fort was named after US Naval Commodore Alexander Dallas who commanded the US Naval forces in the West Indies at that time. The fort was abandoned following the Civil War and the land was acquired by William J. English for a village that he called Miami.The Seminole Indians affected the settlement of this area throughout the 19th century. At the end of the 19th century more people were settling along the Miami River.
Cowford (Jacksonville, FL)
Cowford was founded in 1791 at a narrow point in the St Johns River where cows could be forded across the river. The Florida Territory was sold to the United States in 1821 and the name Jacksonville appears to have been adopted by 1822 in honor of Andrew Jackson, the military governor.
Angola (Tampa, FL)
Angola was a village built in 1812 by slaves who escaped from the United States. In 1821, the United States purchased Florida from Spain. Shortly after the purchase, the United States launched a raid on Angola and destroyed the village. In 1824, Fort Brooke was erected at the mouth of the Hillsborough River on Tampa Bay. The area was sparsely populated until about 1842 when the Seminoles were force out of the area. In 1849, the village of Tampa was incorporated.
Cleaveland (Cleveland, OH)
General Moses Cleaveland, a director of the Connecticut Land Company, was sent in 1796 to survey the company’s holdings in the Northwest Territory. His surveyors selected the name of their leader for the site on which they planned to build at city. The Village of Cleaveland was incorporated on December 23, 1814. One story is the name of the city was changed in 1831 by the publisher of the Cleveland Advertiser because “Cleaveland Advertiser” would not fit on the paper’s masthead. Another account is the name was misspelled on a surveyor’s map. The man for whom the city was named went back to Connecticut after the surveying trip and never returned to Cleveland.
Franklinton (Columbus, OH)
In 1787, Lucas Sullivant, a surveyor in the Virginia Military District, laid out a town on the west bank of the Scioto River. He named the town Franklinton after Benjamin Franklin who he greatly admired. Columbus was incorporated in 1816 and was selected as the new state’s capital over Franklinton, Dublin, Worthington and Delaware, nearby towns. In 1870, Franklinton was annexed to Columbus.
Losantiville (Cincinnati, OH)
Israel Ludlow, Matthias Denman and Robert Patterson purchased 800 acres along the Ohio River at the mouth of the Licking River. In January 1789, Ludlow platted a town. The three of them devised a name for the town that was a contrivance of their description of it; “a city that was situated across from the mouth of the Licking River.” They named the town Losantiville, where L comes from Licking, os is Latin for mouth, anti is Latin for opposite and ville is French for city. In 1790, the governor of the Northwest Territory established Hamilton County and made Losantiville its seat. The governor, Gen. St. Clair, disliked the city’s name and changed it to Cincinnati in acknowledgement of the Society of Cincinnati of which he was a member.
Corn Island (Louisville, KY)
Corn Island was an island in the Ohio River at the Falls of the Ohio on which George Rogers Clark, in 1778, helped the civilians establish a settlement. In 1779, the settlers began to cross the river and initiated a settlement on the banks of the Ohio River. In April they called it Louisville in honor to King Louis XVI whose soldiers aided the colonists in the American Revolution.
Fort Nashborough (Nashville, TN)
The area around Nashville was known by the early French settlers as French Lick. In December of 1779, James Robertson and John Donelson arrived and clear land on the Cumberland River. They built a fort that they named Fort Nashborough in honor of Revolutionary War General, Francis Nash. By April 1780, 60 families or so arrived to permanently settle near the fort. This region was part of the State of North Carolina. In 1784, the community was incorporated and renamed Nashville.
Fall Creek (Indianapolis, IN)
Prior to 1820, the Fall Creek Settlement was inhabited by fur traders. The state capital initially was at Corydon, Indiana, but iIn 1820, the Indiana legislature decided to move the state capital to a location in the middle of the state. The Fall Creek Settlement near the White River was chosen as the site for the new state capital. In 1825, the capital was moved from Corydon to Fall Creek and a new city was built, Indianapolis.
Elyton (Birmingham, AL)
Jefferson County was established on December 13, 1819 with Carrollsville as its county seat. In 1821, Elyton was founded as Ely’s Town in honor of William Ely of Connecticut who negotiated a land grant. The site of the new town had been known prior to the land grant as Frog Level. The town was made the county seat that same year. Birmingham was founded in 1871 with the annexation of three towns and named for the English city in Warwickshire. It became the county seat in 1873. Birmingham annexed Elyton in 1910.
Fort Louis (Mobile, AL)
In 1702, the French established a settlement on the Mobile River. It was the seat of government for New France or Louisiane. The fort was abandoned due to floods and rebuilt on higher ground and renamed Fort Condé. This region was the subject of dispute between the French and English for decades. The Treaty of Paris (1763) gave the English control. The British called the fort, Fort Charlotte in honor of George III's wife. A British map of 1781 shows a town or city called Mobile. During the American Revolution, Spain retook Spanish Florida and served as an ally to France. At the close of the war, England ceded the territory to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1783). The Treaty of Madrid (1795) finally ceded the disputed land to the United States with the exception of a small part in which Mobile was situated. This region did not become a part of the United States when it was captured in 1813 during the War of 1812.
Parkerville (Jackson, MS)
The area in which Jackson is situated was, in 1792, known as Parkerville. However, Louis LeFleur settled in the area and it was then called as LeFleur’s Bluff. In 1821, The Mississippi legislature authorized the area to become the capital of the state. The capital was named in honor of General Andrew Jackson’s victory at the Battle of New Orleans.
La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans, LA)
The city was founded in 1718 by the French and was named in honor of Philip II, Duke of Orléans. In 1722, it was made the capital of French Louisiana. Napoleon sold Louisiana to the United States in April 1803. The name of the city was definite article, La, was dropped and the name Americanized to New Orleans.
Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit (Detroit, MI)
In 1698 Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac traveled from French North America to France to persuade the Comte de Ponchartrain of the value of establishing a settlement and fort on the Detroit River. Cadillac was successful and began the construction of the fort in 1701. The fort was named in honor of Count Ponchartrain. In 1760, the British took control of the fort and shortened the name to Fort Detroit.
San Antonio Coming Up. To be Continued...
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
What If San Antonio, Texas Was Called Yanaguana Part 1
My husband several months ago sent me an email message with a link to a map with names of towns that were not on a 2011 map of the United States. A few of the names like Nieuw Amsterdam and Fort Goede Hoop I recognized but many of the other names on the map were not familiar. Daniel Geduld created the map that identified previous names for 56 of larger cities in the United States.
I embarked on a quest to learn more about each of the cities/town named on this map. At times, finding any information about some of the locations was a challenge. Although I spent more time on this project than I expected, I read about some very interesting people and places. There are 56 names on the map. I decided to cover the cities/towns 14 at a time. The names below are the first fourteen.
Fort Goede Hoop (Hartford, CT)
Fort Huys de Goede Hoop was established as the northeastern fortification and trading center of the Dutch West India Company in 1633. A group of Englishmen from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 set up a community across the Park River from the fort and called it Hartford. In 1654, the fort was turned over to New England and the fort was subsumed by the town of Hartford.
Nieuw Amsterdam (New York, NY)
Nieuw Amsterdam is known as the Manhattan Borough of the City of New York. The town was established in 1629. In the Fall of 1664, the British took control of Nieuw Amsterdam and named the city, New York in honor of the Duke of York. The Dutch briefly regained control of the area and called the city New Orange in honor of the House of Orange, the Dutch royal family. This name lasted from August 1673 to November 1674 when New York was returned to British control by treaty.
Beaver Creek (Buffalo, NY)
Beaver Creek has been known by the name of Buffalo, New York for well over 100 years. The city is on the Buffalo River and derives its name from the River. Buffalo Creek becomes Buffalo River near the city of Buffalo where the Cayuga and Cazenovia Creeks merge with it. No one really knows how Buffalo Creek derived its name. This name is mentioned by John Montresor four times in his journal of 1764. One story is that it is an Anglicization of the French phrase Beau Fleuve meaning beautiful river. Others claim that an English interpreter incorrectly translated the Indian word for beaver. Because there were so many beaver in the area in the 17th and 18th centuries, some believe that Buffalo Creek was really Beaver Creek. There are many theories but not much evidence to support any of them.
Trimountaine (Boston, MA)
The first European explorers called this area Trimountaine because of the three hills on the peninsula. Governor John Winthrop arrived here in the summer of 1630. On September 17, 1630, he named the new town Boston after the town in Lincolnshire, England. Two of three hills were leveled. Beacon Hill only remains.
Milford (Newark, NJ)
Unhappy with the merger of the New Haven Colony with the Connecticut Colony, several people from the towns of Branford and Milford left in the Fall of 1966 and settled in New Jersey at what it now Newark. The leader, Robert Treat, named the town, Milford after the town from which he left. Rev. Abraham Pierson of Branford was the first minister of the Congregational Church in Milford. Later the town was renamed Newark in honor of Rev. Pierson who entered the ministry at Newark-on-the-Trent in England.
Shackamaxon (Philadelphia, PA)
Shackamaxon of Shakamaxon was a Lenape or Delaware Indian village on the Delaware River. In 1681, William Penn was granted a charter for the Pennsylvania Colony and looked for a suitable location for the capital of his colony. He purchased the site from the Lenape Indians to avoid any confrontations with the natives. He named the city Philadelphia from the Greek words philos and adelphos that mean love or friendship and brotherhood.
Pittsborough (Pittsburgh, PA)
General John Forbes was responsible for the construction of Fort Pitt named after the elder William Pitt. Forbes named the settlement between the forks of the Ohio River, Pittsborough. In 1769 a survey was made of the land between the forks. In this survey the area was called the Manor of Pittsburgh.
Fort Christina (Wilmington, DE)
The fort was built in 1638 by the Swedes. Control of the fort fell into the hands of the Dutch in 1655 and was renamed Fort Altena. In 1664, the British gained control. In 1739, King George II granted a borough charter to the settlement and the name was changed to Wilmington. It is presumed that it was in honor of Spencer Compton, the 1st Earl of Wilmington. It may be so, but I haven’t anything that made him stand out as a special person after whom a city would be named.
Georgetown (Washington, D. C.)
George Gordon and George Beall owned land that included the site that was to become Georgetown. The Maryland legislature purchased sixty acres from the two Georges in 1751 and established Georgetown. The town became a port from which goods from Maryland could be shipped. Why the town was called Georgetown is not clear. The town may have been named for Gordon and Beall. However, King George II was on the throne of England and Maryland was a province of England, so others believe that it was named to honor King George. It was not until 1871 that Georgetown was subsumed by the city of Washington.
Fort Charles (Richmond, VA)
Fort Charles was built on the James River at the falls about 1646. Two years later, the fort was moved to the south side of the James River in what was Manchester, VA. In 1910, Manchester became part of Richmond. Manchester was originally known as Manatosh and then Rocky Ridge. In reality, Richmond was never called Manchester.
Fort Lee (Charleston. WV)
Colonel George Clendenin purchased land at the confluence of the Kanawha and Elk Rivers. In 1788 he built a fort to protect the settlers who were moving into the area. He named the fort for General Richard Henry (Light Horse Harry) Lee who became a governor of Virginia. It is believed that he called the area outside the fort Charles Town after his father. Charles Town in eastern West Virginia was named for George Washington’s brother. To avoid confusion, the name of the town at Fort Lee was changed in 1794 to Charleston.
Bloomsbury (Raleigh, NC)
Bloomsbury was the county seat of the newly established Wake County (1771). Raleigh was chosen as the site of the state capital in 1788 and the county seat of Wake County in 1972. Bloomsbury was absorbed by the new town.
Charles Town (Charleston, SC)
This city was called Charles Towne or Charles Town until the American Revolution. It was named after King Charles II of England. At the conclusion of the war, the name of the city was changed to Charleston to distance its connection to the British royalty.
Terminus (Atlanta, GA)
This was the terminus of the Western and Atlantic Railroad that was built in 1837. The settlement here was named Terminus. But it was also informally called Thrasherville after a merchant, John Thrasher. When enough families (30) had settled here, the town was renamed Marthasville. A railroad engineer thought that the name of the town should be Atlantica-Pacifica after the railroad. His name prevailed but was shortened to Atlanta.
To be continued...
I embarked on a quest to learn more about each of the cities/town named on this map. At times, finding any information about some of the locations was a challenge. Although I spent more time on this project than I expected, I read about some very interesting people and places. There are 56 names on the map. I decided to cover the cities/towns 14 at a time. The names below are the first fourteen.
Fort Goede Hoop (Hartford, CT)
Fort Huys de Goede Hoop was established as the northeastern fortification and trading center of the Dutch West India Company in 1633. A group of Englishmen from the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1637 set up a community across the Park River from the fort and called it Hartford. In 1654, the fort was turned over to New England and the fort was subsumed by the town of Hartford.
Nieuw Amsterdam (New York, NY)
Nieuw Amsterdam is known as the Manhattan Borough of the City of New York. The town was established in 1629. In the Fall of 1664, the British took control of Nieuw Amsterdam and named the city, New York in honor of the Duke of York. The Dutch briefly regained control of the area and called the city New Orange in honor of the House of Orange, the Dutch royal family. This name lasted from August 1673 to November 1674 when New York was returned to British control by treaty.
Beaver Creek (Buffalo, NY)
Beaver Creek has been known by the name of Buffalo, New York for well over 100 years. The city is on the Buffalo River and derives its name from the River. Buffalo Creek becomes Buffalo River near the city of Buffalo where the Cayuga and Cazenovia Creeks merge with it. No one really knows how Buffalo Creek derived its name. This name is mentioned by John Montresor four times in his journal of 1764. One story is that it is an Anglicization of the French phrase Beau Fleuve meaning beautiful river. Others claim that an English interpreter incorrectly translated the Indian word for beaver. Because there were so many beaver in the area in the 17th and 18th centuries, some believe that Buffalo Creek was really Beaver Creek. There are many theories but not much evidence to support any of them.
Trimountaine (Boston, MA)
The first European explorers called this area Trimountaine because of the three hills on the peninsula. Governor John Winthrop arrived here in the summer of 1630. On September 17, 1630, he named the new town Boston after the town in Lincolnshire, England. Two of three hills were leveled. Beacon Hill only remains.
Milford (Newark, NJ)
Unhappy with the merger of the New Haven Colony with the Connecticut Colony, several people from the towns of Branford and Milford left in the Fall of 1966 and settled in New Jersey at what it now Newark. The leader, Robert Treat, named the town, Milford after the town from which he left. Rev. Abraham Pierson of Branford was the first minister of the Congregational Church in Milford. Later the town was renamed Newark in honor of Rev. Pierson who entered the ministry at Newark-on-the-Trent in England.
Shackamaxon (Philadelphia, PA)
Shackamaxon of Shakamaxon was a Lenape or Delaware Indian village on the Delaware River. In 1681, William Penn was granted a charter for the Pennsylvania Colony and looked for a suitable location for the capital of his colony. He purchased the site from the Lenape Indians to avoid any confrontations with the natives. He named the city Philadelphia from the Greek words philos and adelphos that mean love or friendship and brotherhood.
Pittsborough (Pittsburgh, PA)
General John Forbes was responsible for the construction of Fort Pitt named after the elder William Pitt. Forbes named the settlement between the forks of the Ohio River, Pittsborough. In 1769 a survey was made of the land between the forks. In this survey the area was called the Manor of Pittsburgh.
Fort Christina (Wilmington, DE)
The fort was built in 1638 by the Swedes. Control of the fort fell into the hands of the Dutch in 1655 and was renamed Fort Altena. In 1664, the British gained control. In 1739, King George II granted a borough charter to the settlement and the name was changed to Wilmington. It is presumed that it was in honor of Spencer Compton, the 1st Earl of Wilmington. It may be so, but I haven’t anything that made him stand out as a special person after whom a city would be named.
Georgetown (Washington, D. C.)
George Gordon and George Beall owned land that included the site that was to become Georgetown. The Maryland legislature purchased sixty acres from the two Georges in 1751 and established Georgetown. The town became a port from which goods from Maryland could be shipped. Why the town was called Georgetown is not clear. The town may have been named for Gordon and Beall. However, King George II was on the throne of England and Maryland was a province of England, so others believe that it was named to honor King George. It was not until 1871 that Georgetown was subsumed by the city of Washington.
Fort Charles (Richmond, VA)
Fort Charles was built on the James River at the falls about 1646. Two years later, the fort was moved to the south side of the James River in what was Manchester, VA. In 1910, Manchester became part of Richmond. Manchester was originally known as Manatosh and then Rocky Ridge. In reality, Richmond was never called Manchester.
Fort Lee (Charleston. WV)
Colonel George Clendenin purchased land at the confluence of the Kanawha and Elk Rivers. In 1788 he built a fort to protect the settlers who were moving into the area. He named the fort for General Richard Henry (Light Horse Harry) Lee who became a governor of Virginia. It is believed that he called the area outside the fort Charles Town after his father. Charles Town in eastern West Virginia was named for George Washington’s brother. To avoid confusion, the name of the town at Fort Lee was changed in 1794 to Charleston.
Bloomsbury (Raleigh, NC)
Bloomsbury was the county seat of the newly established Wake County (1771). Raleigh was chosen as the site of the state capital in 1788 and the county seat of Wake County in 1972. Bloomsbury was absorbed by the new town.
Charles Town (Charleston, SC)
This city was called Charles Towne or Charles Town until the American Revolution. It was named after King Charles II of England. At the conclusion of the war, the name of the city was changed to Charleston to distance its connection to the British royalty.
Terminus (Atlanta, GA)
This was the terminus of the Western and Atlantic Railroad that was built in 1837. The settlement here was named Terminus. But it was also informally called Thrasherville after a merchant, John Thrasher. When enough families (30) had settled here, the town was renamed Marthasville. A railroad engineer thought that the name of the town should be Atlantica-Pacifica after the railroad. His name prevailed but was shortened to Atlanta.
To be continued...
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Writer's Bump
It is really odd when something that was so familiar to me is totally unknown by adults that are the age of my children. This phenomenon is becoming more common place for me lately.
It first started before my children became adults with the slide rule. My daughter was either in 5th or 6th grade when her teacher assigned the class to come to school with an artifact of the 20th Century. I thought that I had the perfect artifact, a hand-cranked cast iron coffee grinder painted in black with gold leafing. She refused to take it to school because frankly it was too heavy.
My husband and I struggled with finding a lighter weight example when it occurred to us that no one was using slide rules. I was a volunteer at UCLA and I suddenly realized that the huge slide rules that were hung in physics and chemistry lecture halls were not there. I don't know when they were removed, but probably with the pencil sharpeners that were in hallways and classrooms.
I knew where my old slide rule was. When I tried to show my daughter how to use it, I couldn't move it. It had been so many years since I last used it that it was stuck. A little WD-40 proved useful and allowed us the show our daughter how we used this device.
It was bad enough when adults with whom I worked had no idea who some of the rock stars of my youth were, but today was yet another awakening when I met with a doctor.
The middle finger of my right hand has been hurting for several days. Last night, I awoke with a throbbing pain in that finger. The top portion of the finger was swollen, hurt like h... and was hot and red. I was not able to get an appointment with my regular doctor so took an appointment with anyone who could see me today.
The doctor I saw today is a very young woman. I suspect that she has been practicing for only a couple of years. This is not a statement of her competency but of her age.
She looked at my finger and did see that I had swelling and the finger was hotter than the others. The side of my finger by the index finger was very painful to the touch and definitely was swollen. She was a little concerned about the area below the nail and above the first knuckle because it looked swollen to her as well.
I told her that it was my writer's bump. She looked at me as if I were a bit odd. She had not idea what a writer's bump was. So I told her that anyone who was my age, was older or was 5 to 10 years younger than me had a writer's bump. We had an interesting conversation about the writer's bump and why my generation has/had them.
She is of a generation who has had personal computers with applications for composing documents, letters, etc. with spell-checkers and auto-correction features. I even make extensive use of these tools because there are days that my fingers seem to do what they want and you can't read what I wrote.
I have transcribed records of events that were handwritten a hundred or more years ago and the writing in many cases was very difficult to read. About 1920 some records were typed so transcribing records became so much easier even though correction ribbons and write out didn't exist at that time.
Some bemoan the fact the "younger" generation is not learning penmanship, but what is the purpose of writing? To communicate! My writer's bump often hurt after writing pages and pages of a report for class assignment.
I, for one, am glad that writer's bump seems to be a thing of the past.
It first started before my children became adults with the slide rule. My daughter was either in 5th or 6th grade when her teacher assigned the class to come to school with an artifact of the 20th Century. I thought that I had the perfect artifact, a hand-cranked cast iron coffee grinder painted in black with gold leafing. She refused to take it to school because frankly it was too heavy.
My husband and I struggled with finding a lighter weight example when it occurred to us that no one was using slide rules. I was a volunteer at UCLA and I suddenly realized that the huge slide rules that were hung in physics and chemistry lecture halls were not there. I don't know when they were removed, but probably with the pencil sharpeners that were in hallways and classrooms.
I knew where my old slide rule was. When I tried to show my daughter how to use it, I couldn't move it. It had been so many years since I last used it that it was stuck. A little WD-40 proved useful and allowed us the show our daughter how we used this device.
It was bad enough when adults with whom I worked had no idea who some of the rock stars of my youth were, but today was yet another awakening when I met with a doctor.
The middle finger of my right hand has been hurting for several days. Last night, I awoke with a throbbing pain in that finger. The top portion of the finger was swollen, hurt like h... and was hot and red. I was not able to get an appointment with my regular doctor so took an appointment with anyone who could see me today.
The doctor I saw today is a very young woman. I suspect that she has been practicing for only a couple of years. This is not a statement of her competency but of her age.
She looked at my finger and did see that I had swelling and the finger was hotter than the others. The side of my finger by the index finger was very painful to the touch and definitely was swollen. She was a little concerned about the area below the nail and above the first knuckle because it looked swollen to her as well.
I told her that it was my writer's bump. She looked at me as if I were a bit odd. She had not idea what a writer's bump was. So I told her that anyone who was my age, was older or was 5 to 10 years younger than me had a writer's bump. We had an interesting conversation about the writer's bump and why my generation has/had them.
She is of a generation who has had personal computers with applications for composing documents, letters, etc. with spell-checkers and auto-correction features. I even make extensive use of these tools because there are days that my fingers seem to do what they want and you can't read what I wrote.
I have transcribed records of events that were handwritten a hundred or more years ago and the writing in many cases was very difficult to read. About 1920 some records were typed so transcribing records became so much easier even though correction ribbons and write out didn't exist at that time.
Some bemoan the fact the "younger" generation is not learning penmanship, but what is the purpose of writing? To communicate! My writer's bump often hurt after writing pages and pages of a report for class assignment.
I, for one, am glad that writer's bump seems to be a thing of the past.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Thomas Brackett Reed, Speaker of the House of Representatives
My husband had been listening to a program that talked about a very powerful Speaker of the House that almost no one knew, Thomas Brackett Reed. Mr. Reed was the Speaker of the House from 1889 to 1891 and then again from 1895 to 1899. He was a Republican.
As my husband was reading me information about Mr. Reed, I realized that Thomas Reed was politically active when a distant cousin of mine switched political parties. Henry Moore Teller was one of the two Senators elected when in 1876 Colorado achieved statehood. Henry Teller became the leader of the Silver Republican Party. But switched parties in 1896 when the Republicans would not support a bi-metal currency standard.
Being a history junkie, I wanted to learn more about Mr. Reed as he was also politically active during the time that another cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, was actively involved in politics. Thomas Reed was facing many of the stalling tactics that I witnessed over the years by the political party not in the majority at any given time.
The Democrat House members who were in the minority at the time were able to make the House of Representatives ineffectual by using loop holes in the rules of the House. Thomas Reed stood up against the the errant Democrats and created rules of procedure that became known as the Reed's Rules.
What really surpised me was the Democratic Party viewed themselves as against big government. Speaker Reed was able to give the Speaker of the House far greater powers than any of his predecessors held. Later he rued the fact that he had contributed to the expanse of government control.
When I was in high school, I thought that the message that the Republican Party promoted was small government. Something seems to have changed with the Republican Party. The party is looking much like it did a little over 100 years ago.
It is sad to see the fragmentation of the Republican Party. But this may be meant to be another chapter in the evolution of the Whigs, Republicans, et. al.
As my husband was reading me information about Mr. Reed, I realized that Thomas Reed was politically active when a distant cousin of mine switched political parties. Henry Moore Teller was one of the two Senators elected when in 1876 Colorado achieved statehood. Henry Teller became the leader of the Silver Republican Party. But switched parties in 1896 when the Republicans would not support a bi-metal currency standard.
Being a history junkie, I wanted to learn more about Mr. Reed as he was also politically active during the time that another cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, was actively involved in politics. Thomas Reed was facing many of the stalling tactics that I witnessed over the years by the political party not in the majority at any given time.
The Democrat House members who were in the minority at the time were able to make the House of Representatives ineffectual by using loop holes in the rules of the House. Thomas Reed stood up against the the errant Democrats and created rules of procedure that became known as the Reed's Rules.
What really surpised me was the Democratic Party viewed themselves as against big government. Speaker Reed was able to give the Speaker of the House far greater powers than any of his predecessors held. Later he rued the fact that he had contributed to the expanse of government control.
When I was in high school, I thought that the message that the Republican Party promoted was small government. Something seems to have changed with the Republican Party. The party is looking much like it did a little over 100 years ago.
It is sad to see the fragmentation of the Republican Party. But this may be meant to be another chapter in the evolution of the Whigs, Republicans, et. al.
Friday, May 27, 2011
The German Palatines and Kocherthal's Golden Book
As I was writing my post of February 17, 2011, I thought for my next post I would write something about the German Palatine settlements in New York and Pennsylvania. But this "Golden Book" that was mentioned in the Who Do You Think You Are? episode has troubled me. So instead I took some time to learn more about the Golden Book.
I came across a book published in 2004 entitled "Becoming German: The 1709 Palatine Migration to New York' by Philip Otterness, published in 2004. As I read the book, I was troubled by some of the passages concerning Rev. Joshua Kocherthal and the assertion that he was the author of the Golden Book and its various editions. So many things simply do not make sense to me.
To get to the bottom of things, I read everything that I could find on the Palatine region during the time of this exodus. I also looked for information regarding the Carolina and Pennsylvania Colonies and about Queen Anne and the political and economic climate during her reign. As I began to put the pieces of the puzzle together, I realized that Rev. Kocherthal's original booklet was a pawn in a much bigger game.
In several instances I read that Rev. Kocherthal had never been to British America. However, in 1706, he authored a brochure entitled, "Ausführlich-und umständlicher Bericht von der berühmten landschafft Carolina in dem engelländischen America gelegen." This roughly translate to "a detailed and complete report concerning land in Carolina in English America." In it he described the Province of Carolina in glowing terms. Since he'd never been to the Carolinas, I assumed that he must have encountered someone who had been there or read a description of the place.
In 1681, William Penn was granted a royal charter of his Pennsylvania Colony. Prior to 1681, Penn had visited the Rhine region several times. In that same year, Penn wrote and published in England "Some account of the Province of Pennsylvania in America" in which he offered to sell 100 acres for two English pounds and a low yearly rental. Before the close of 1681, the book was translated in Amsterdam and distributed in the upper Rhine region. William Penn advertised his colony repeatedly. He published books that were distributed in Germany in 1700, 1702 and 1704.
The Library of Congress has a collection called the John Archdale Papers 1690-1706. John Archdale was one of the Lord Proprietors of Carolina. The collection includes several letters to and from Mr. Archdale. One such letter informed John Archdale that map maker, Richard Blome's book "English America" by 1697 had been translated into German.
In 1705, John Archdale was arranging for the Carolina settlement by the High German Company of Thuringia. The company proposed that the Lord Proprietors bring a first group of settlers to Carolina and after this group was safely settled, publish a description of the conveniences and advantageous conditions that these settlers enjoyed. The company also suggested that the Lord Proprietors provide transportation to Carolina from England. The settler would have to repay the company.
At this same time Queen Anne of England championed Protestantism. She married Prince Georg of Denmark, a Lutheran with German ancestry. She was open to receiving persecuted Protestants. The more that I read, the more convinced am I that Rev. Kocherthal's brochure was written based on stories or things that he read from the advertisements printed in German by William Penn, the Lord Proprietors of Carolina and their representatives. Combined with Queen Anne's reputation for helping persecuted Protestants, I saw Rev. Kocherthal's brochure as a proposal to his flock as to how they might remove themselves from hardship.
Queen Anne as well as rulers in Europe believed that enlarging one's population meant wealth and security. So when Kocherthal and his followers applied to Mr. Davenant, a British representative in Frankfort, for passes to England, Mr. Davenant denied the request. He then asked for guidance in the matter from England. As this would be a delicate diplomatic issue, he was told that the queen's desire to help the poor people and settling them in the plantations would be for the public good, but she could not endorse any encouragement given to the people to leave nor give passes without the Elector's (of the Palatinate) consent.
Rev. Kocherthal and his followers did end up in London by 1708. He was able to convince Queen Anne to send him and his followers to America, grant them land and provide a stipend to help them settle. Only she planned to send them to the West Indies. She changed her mind at Kockerthal's objection that the West Indies was too hot. They were sent to New York and not to the Carolina colony. By the time that they sailed, it was approaching winter. In 1709, Kocherthal returned to London to appeal to the queen for more money.
It was at this point that I grew suspicious that Kocherthal had published in Germany a book with Queen Anne's picture and with gold letters on the title page. He did not end up in the Carolina Colony. His people were running out of money because they arrived in winter and had no opportunity to plant crops for the next season. So it made no sense to me that he would publish such a book.
Kocherthal came to London in 1709 to find thousands of immigrants. The first of the immigrants appear to have come from the area near which Kocherthal and his followers left. I am not surprised as I am certain that the story of Kocherthal and his followers sent to America and given land by Queen Anne was told. Also on March 3, 1709, the English passed a bill to naturalize foreign Protestants. The English had established charities to help persecuted Protestants.
A large number of Germans arrived in England between May and November in 1709 causing a strain on the England and it's economy. The English poor were angry that these poor Germans were being supported. On January 15, 1710, a inquiry committee was appointed to investigate who was encouraging Germans to come to England. On April 14, 1711, the committee submitted a report that said that the Golden Book enticed many of the Palatines interviewed because of the ravages of the land caused by the French and the harsh winter of 1708-1709.
Some day, we may learn who published that Golden Book that enticed so many German Palatines to England. But I do not believe that Rev. Kocherthal had anything to do with the Golden Book with an image of Queen Anne and gold leaf on the cover.
I came across a book published in 2004 entitled "Becoming German: The 1709 Palatine Migration to New York' by Philip Otterness, published in 2004. As I read the book, I was troubled by some of the passages concerning Rev. Joshua Kocherthal and the assertion that he was the author of the Golden Book and its various editions. So many things simply do not make sense to me.
To get to the bottom of things, I read everything that I could find on the Palatine region during the time of this exodus. I also looked for information regarding the Carolina and Pennsylvania Colonies and about Queen Anne and the political and economic climate during her reign. As I began to put the pieces of the puzzle together, I realized that Rev. Kocherthal's original booklet was a pawn in a much bigger game.
In several instances I read that Rev. Kocherthal had never been to British America. However, in 1706, he authored a brochure entitled, "Ausführlich-und umständlicher Bericht von der berühmten landschafft Carolina in dem engelländischen America gelegen." This roughly translate to "a detailed and complete report concerning land in Carolina in English America." In it he described the Province of Carolina in glowing terms. Since he'd never been to the Carolinas, I assumed that he must have encountered someone who had been there or read a description of the place.
In 1681, William Penn was granted a royal charter of his Pennsylvania Colony. Prior to 1681, Penn had visited the Rhine region several times. In that same year, Penn wrote and published in England "Some account of the Province of Pennsylvania in America" in which he offered to sell 100 acres for two English pounds and a low yearly rental. Before the close of 1681, the book was translated in Amsterdam and distributed in the upper Rhine region. William Penn advertised his colony repeatedly. He published books that were distributed in Germany in 1700, 1702 and 1704.
The Library of Congress has a collection called the John Archdale Papers 1690-1706. John Archdale was one of the Lord Proprietors of Carolina. The collection includes several letters to and from Mr. Archdale. One such letter informed John Archdale that map maker, Richard Blome's book "English America" by 1697 had been translated into German.
In 1705, John Archdale was arranging for the Carolina settlement by the High German Company of Thuringia. The company proposed that the Lord Proprietors bring a first group of settlers to Carolina and after this group was safely settled, publish a description of the conveniences and advantageous conditions that these settlers enjoyed. The company also suggested that the Lord Proprietors provide transportation to Carolina from England. The settler would have to repay the company.
At this same time Queen Anne of England championed Protestantism. She married Prince Georg of Denmark, a Lutheran with German ancestry. She was open to receiving persecuted Protestants. The more that I read, the more convinced am I that Rev. Kocherthal's brochure was written based on stories or things that he read from the advertisements printed in German by William Penn, the Lord Proprietors of Carolina and their representatives. Combined with Queen Anne's reputation for helping persecuted Protestants, I saw Rev. Kocherthal's brochure as a proposal to his flock as to how they might remove themselves from hardship.
Queen Anne as well as rulers in Europe believed that enlarging one's population meant wealth and security. So when Kocherthal and his followers applied to Mr. Davenant, a British representative in Frankfort, for passes to England, Mr. Davenant denied the request. He then asked for guidance in the matter from England. As this would be a delicate diplomatic issue, he was told that the queen's desire to help the poor people and settling them in the plantations would be for the public good, but she could not endorse any encouragement given to the people to leave nor give passes without the Elector's (of the Palatinate) consent.
Rev. Kocherthal and his followers did end up in London by 1708. He was able to convince Queen Anne to send him and his followers to America, grant them land and provide a stipend to help them settle. Only she planned to send them to the West Indies. She changed her mind at Kockerthal's objection that the West Indies was too hot. They were sent to New York and not to the Carolina colony. By the time that they sailed, it was approaching winter. In 1709, Kocherthal returned to London to appeal to the queen for more money.
It was at this point that I grew suspicious that Kocherthal had published in Germany a book with Queen Anne's picture and with gold letters on the title page. He did not end up in the Carolina Colony. His people were running out of money because they arrived in winter and had no opportunity to plant crops for the next season. So it made no sense to me that he would publish such a book.
Kocherthal came to London in 1709 to find thousands of immigrants. The first of the immigrants appear to have come from the area near which Kocherthal and his followers left. I am not surprised as I am certain that the story of Kocherthal and his followers sent to America and given land by Queen Anne was told. Also on March 3, 1709, the English passed a bill to naturalize foreign Protestants. The English had established charities to help persecuted Protestants.
A large number of Germans arrived in England between May and November in 1709 causing a strain on the England and it's economy. The English poor were angry that these poor Germans were being supported. On January 15, 1710, a inquiry committee was appointed to investigate who was encouraging Germans to come to England. On April 14, 1711, the committee submitted a report that said that the Golden Book enticed many of the Palatines interviewed because of the ravages of the land caused by the French and the harsh winter of 1708-1709.
Some day, we may learn who published that Golden Book that enticed so many German Palatines to England. But I do not believe that Rev. Kocherthal had anything to do with the Golden Book with an image of Queen Anne and gold leaf on the cover.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Researching Ones Family Can Reveal Some Surprises
More and more information is becoming available on the Internet that can you in your family history or family tree project. There are times that the information that you think is accurate conflicts with something that you may find on the Internet.
Often the conflict arises from misinformation that you have or that someone else has posted. However, at times the conflict arises for other reasons.
I subscribe to several online services that give me access to images of birth, marriage and death records, censuses, tax rolls, directories, plat maps, etc. I recently came across an entry in a Philadelphia city directory that didn't fit with what I thought that I knew about this individual.
In the 1885 Philadelphia directory, I found a listing for an Angeline Stotenbur. She was identified as the widow of Abram and was a boarder. I was confused because according to cemetery records, she was buried with Abram. She died in 1888 and he died in 1891.
I could not find Abram (or Abraham) and Angeline together in any census after 1860. Then, I accidently found an entry at Findagrave.com for Susan Tallman wife of a gentleman named Abraham Stotenbur of Schuyler County, New York. Susan was buried near her father in Chautauqua County, New York after she died in 1895.
As far as I can tell, Abram/Abraham never left the Town of Montour in Schuyler County, New York. I found him referenced many times over his lifetime in a book entitled, "Early History &c. Village of Havana, N. Y." In this same book I found a reference to Susan Stotenbur.
Based with this information, I was able to find Abraham in the 1870 census in Havana, NY. He was living with a female named Susy Stotenbur.
Angeline was enumerated in Schuyler County, NY with her husband Abraham Stotenbur in the 1860 census. However ten years later, Abraham Stotenbur was enumerated with Susy.
When Angeline died, she was buried in the Montour Cemetery in Havana, Schuyler County, New York. Susan Tallman and Abram/Abraham Stotenbur had no children together. Since he was buried near his first wife and Susan was buried with her family, I suspect that decision as to where to bury Angeline Baker and her husband Abraham Stotenbur was made by his children and not by his 2nd wife.
It would seem that Angeline never married again and that she refered to herself as a widow rather than as divorced. I may have found her in the 1870 census using her maiden name but still identified as a widow. Since I am not convinced that I found her, I am still looking for her in the 1870 and also in 1880 census.
Often the conflict arises from misinformation that you have or that someone else has posted. However, at times the conflict arises for other reasons.
I subscribe to several online services that give me access to images of birth, marriage and death records, censuses, tax rolls, directories, plat maps, etc. I recently came across an entry in a Philadelphia city directory that didn't fit with what I thought that I knew about this individual.
In the 1885 Philadelphia directory, I found a listing for an Angeline Stotenbur. She was identified as the widow of Abram and was a boarder. I was confused because according to cemetery records, she was buried with Abram. She died in 1888 and he died in 1891.
I could not find Abram (or Abraham) and Angeline together in any census after 1860. Then, I accidently found an entry at Findagrave.com for Susan Tallman wife of a gentleman named Abraham Stotenbur of Schuyler County, New York. Susan was buried near her father in Chautauqua County, New York after she died in 1895.
As far as I can tell, Abram/Abraham never left the Town of Montour in Schuyler County, New York. I found him referenced many times over his lifetime in a book entitled, "Early History &c. Village of Havana, N. Y." In this same book I found a reference to Susan Stotenbur.
Based with this information, I was able to find Abraham in the 1870 census in Havana, NY. He was living with a female named Susy Stotenbur.
Angeline was enumerated in Schuyler County, NY with her husband Abraham Stotenbur in the 1860 census. However ten years later, Abraham Stotenbur was enumerated with Susy.
When Angeline died, she was buried in the Montour Cemetery in Havana, Schuyler County, New York. Susan Tallman and Abram/Abraham Stotenbur had no children together. Since he was buried near his first wife and Susan was buried with her family, I suspect that decision as to where to bury Angeline Baker and her husband Abraham Stotenbur was made by his children and not by his 2nd wife.
It would seem that Angeline never married again and that she refered to herself as a widow rather than as divorced. I may have found her in the 1870 census using her maiden name but still identified as a widow. Since I am not convinced that I found her, I am still looking for her in the 1870 and also in 1880 census.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
More on the German Palatines in America
Yesterday, I posted an entry about the German Palatine settlement in North Carolina in 1710. Although Tim McGraw's ancestor, Jost Hite, was an early settler in Virginia, he was not part of the North Carolina settlers mentioned yesterday. He like my ancestors were part of the 3,000 or so Palatines sent to New York in January, 1710.
In the fall of 1708, Rev. Joshua Kocherthal and 53 German Palatines sailed on the English ship Globe with newly appointed governor of the Province of New York, John Lovelace. The Lutheran minister had appealed to Queen Anne to send him and his followers to America and provide a grant of land to which she agreed.
The group arrived at the site of the land grant on January 1, 1709. It was located at the confluence of the Quassaick Creek and the Hudson River and was named Neuburg. The current name of the area is Newburgh in Orange County, New York. Later that year, Rev. Kocherthal returned to London to seek additional aid from Queen Anne.
To his surprise, he found thousands of Palatine refugees. Although, Rev. Kocherthal was successful in obtaining additional aid from the queen for the people he left in Newburgh, he was not nearly as successful in securing the same for the 3,000 refugees that were sent to New York on 1710.
There was the promise of land grants but the terms were not nearly so generous. Before any land grant was given, the refugee had to pay back the cost of his/her passage to New York. Thus, those who had survived the voyage became indentured servants. This included children.
Of the 3,000 who left England, 470 died at sea and 250 more died while quarantined on Nutters Island in New York City. Governor Lovelace had also died and his replacement was General Robert Hunter.
Governor Hunter was not as kind to this group of German Palatines as his predecessor was to the families that arrived with Rev. Kocherthal in 1708.
To be continued...
Source:
Lou D. MacWethy. The Book of Names Especially Relating to the Early Palatines and the First Settlers in the Mohawk Valley. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2007.
Sanford H. Cobb. The Story of the Palatines An Episode in Colonial History. New York & London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897.
I. Daniel Rupp. A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776. Philadelphia: Leary, Stuart & Co., 1898.
In the fall of 1708, Rev. Joshua Kocherthal and 53 German Palatines sailed on the English ship Globe with newly appointed governor of the Province of New York, John Lovelace. The Lutheran minister had appealed to Queen Anne to send him and his followers to America and provide a grant of land to which she agreed.
The group arrived at the site of the land grant on January 1, 1709. It was located at the confluence of the Quassaick Creek and the Hudson River and was named Neuburg. The current name of the area is Newburgh in Orange County, New York. Later that year, Rev. Kocherthal returned to London to seek additional aid from Queen Anne.
To his surprise, he found thousands of Palatine refugees. Although, Rev. Kocherthal was successful in obtaining additional aid from the queen for the people he left in Newburgh, he was not nearly as successful in securing the same for the 3,000 refugees that were sent to New York on 1710.
There was the promise of land grants but the terms were not nearly so generous. Before any land grant was given, the refugee had to pay back the cost of his/her passage to New York. Thus, those who had survived the voyage became indentured servants. This included children.
Of the 3,000 who left England, 470 died at sea and 250 more died while quarantined on Nutters Island in New York City. Governor Lovelace had also died and his replacement was General Robert Hunter.
Governor Hunter was not as kind to this group of German Palatines as his predecessor was to the families that arrived with Rev. Kocherthal in 1708.
To be continued...
Source:
Lou D. MacWethy. The Book of Names Especially Relating to the Early Palatines and the First Settlers in the Mohawk Valley. Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2007.
Sanford H. Cobb. The Story of the Palatines An Episode in Colonial History. New York & London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897.
I. Daniel Rupp. A Collection of Upwards of Thirty Thousand Names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and Other Immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727 to 1776. Philadelphia: Leary, Stuart & Co., 1898.
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