Map+of+1677+Massachusetts+&+origins+of+town+names

Excerpt of Origins of town names

=Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Volume 12= By Massachusetts Historical Society

I will next proceed to state such facts as I have found relative to the reasons for naming these Colonial towns, taking the places in chronological order. //Presumed Reason for the Names of// //Towns// //in// //Massachusetts// //Colony.// 1. //Salem.// A Scriptural name.

2. //Charlestown.// Named from Charles River, a name given by Captain Smith. (Frothingham's Hist. p. 21.)

3. //Boston.// According to Dudley (Drake's Hist. p. 89), the first settlers named the place Boston, " which we intended to have done the place we first resolved on." Many of the emigrants were from Lincolnshire.

4. //Dorchester.// Blake, writing a century after the settlement, says, " Why they called it Dorchester, I never heard ; but there was some of Dorcet Shire, and some of y* Town of Dorchester, that settled here; and it is very likely it might be in Honour of y* aforesaid ReV. Mr. White, of Dorchester." 6. //Watertown.// Savage (Winthrop's Hist. i. 43) conjectures that the name was given by Saltonstall, nnd was copied from Waterton, county York. But it may well have been derived from the natural features of the place.

8. //Marblehead. "// Salem was first called Marble harbor from the quantity of that stone there, and the name rested with Marblehead." (Felt's Salem, i.O.)

9. //Ipswich.// So named " in acknowledgment of the great honor and kindness done to our people which took shipping there," says Winthrop. (Hist, i. 164.) Ipswich, Eng., is in co. Suff.

10. //Newbury.// Named from Newbury, co. Berks, Eng., where Rev. Thomas Parker, the first minister of this town, had preached. (Cotfln's Hist. p. 1.)

16. //Lynn.// Named in compliment to Rev. Samuel Whiting, first minister there, who had been a curate at Lynn Regis, co. Norfolk. (Newhall, Hist. __ p. 169.)

17. //Sudbury.// There is, in England, a Sudbury in Derby; and also another in co. Suffolk, 11 miles from Hadleigh.

18. //Hampton.// I think this is a revival of Capt. John Smith's name of South Hampton for this locality. Sec his map of 1616.

120. //Braintree.// The English town of the name is in co. Essex, and is of great antiquity, and considerable local importance. It is 11 miles from Chelmsford, England.

21. //Salisbury.// First called Colchester. At the session at which Salisbury was named, one of the deputies was Christopher Batte, who came from the city of Salisbury, co. Wilts, says Savage. Batte's cousin, Henry Byley of S., was also from the English city, and probably others. (See Register, xxiv. 78.)

22. //Haverhill.// Named for Haverhill, co. Essex, the birthplace of its first min ister, Rev. .John Ward. (Chase, Hist. p. 40.)

26. //Wobum.// Probably named for Woburn, co. Bedford, Eng., a town chiefly famous for containing Woburn Abbey, the noted seat of the Russells, Dukes of Bedford. A John Russell was one of the earliest settlers in our town, and there was also here Richard Russell, a prominent citizen of Charlestown. Either may have suggested the name.

26. //Wenham.// The first minister of this town was Rev. John Fisk, who was born, says Cotton Mather, in the parish of St. James, in the northerly corner of the county of Suflbik. Wenham, co. Suffolk, is at the extreme southern part, near Ipswich. Still, as the Fisks, of whom four brothers came hither, besides others of the name, were eminently a Suffolk family, and largely concerned in the affairs of our town, the evidence seems strong that they gave the name . 27. //Reading.// Unknown. Reading in Berkshire, Eng., was a place of consider able importance, the birthplace of Archbishop Laud. It was the scene of considerable fighting in 1642-1644.

29. //Manchester.// The famous city of this name in Lancashire has but recently risen to its present importance. In 1644-5, however, the Duke of Manchester was the chief commander of the Parliament troops ; and I am inclined to consider that Reading, Hull, and Manchester were names suggested by the events then occurring in England.

34. //Lancaster.// The capital of the county of Lancashire, and one of the most familiar names in England.

35. //Groton.// The petition for this grant was headed by Deane Winthrop, and the name was of course given by him in memory of the family possessions in the county of Suffolk, Eng.

36. //Chelmsford.// The English town is in the county of Essex, 29 miles from London, 8 from Billericay.

37. //Billerica.// Billericay, co. Essex, is a market-town 23 miles from London, of no special note. We know that at least one family, the Ruscoes, came from this place.

44. //Beverly.// This is the <span class="gstxt_hlt">name of a large town in the East Riding of York. In 1671, according to Stone's History, pp. 16-18, Roger Conant and thirty-tour others petitioned to have the <span class="gstxt_hlt">name changed, "because, we being but a small place, it hath caused on us a constant nickname of //Beggarly."// He adds, " I being the first that had house in Salem (and neither had any hand in naming either that or any other town), and myself, with those that were then with me, being all front the western part of England, desire this western <span class="gstxt_hlt">name of Budleigh, a market-town in Devonshire, and near unto the sea, as we are here in this place, and where myself was born." He also says that " no order was given, or consent by the people to their agent, for any <span class="gstxt_hlt">name, until we were sure of being a town granted, in the first place." The request was refused.

45. //Westfield.// Barber says that it was first proposed to call this town Stream field, because situated between two streams; but it was afterwards named from its site as the most westerly plantation.

49. //Dunstable.// In England we have Dunstable, co. Bedford, a considerable market-town. The history of the town states (p. 16), that the <span class="gstxt_hlt">name was in honor of Mary, wife of Edward Tyng, whose son was one of the petitioners for the grant. This I doubt, since no one seems to know her maiden <span class="gstxt_hlt">name or birthplace. But I do find that Robert Long, of Charlestown, came from Dunstable, co. Bedford, in 1635. with a large family. Among his children was Zachariah Long, whose <span class="gstxt_hlt">name is also on the petition. This makes a very direct connection. It must be added, that Rev. William Symmes of Charlestown had been rector of Dunstable before his removal, and others of his flock may have followed him here.

66. //Worcester.// A county in England. The battle of Worcester was Cromwell's " crowning mercy," and tradition states that the <span class="gstxt_hlt">name was chosen here as a defiance to the king. • There is now an Enfield in Hampshire county, formed in 1816. Holland (Hist. W. Mass. ii. 201) savs the <span class="gstxt_hlt">name was in honor of Robert Field. This is doubtless an error; and it was a revival of the old <span class="gstxt_hlt">name, still existing also in Connecticut.

//In Plymouth County.// 1*. //Plymouth.// Morton's Memorial says (p. 42) that it was so called on Smith's map, and was also so called because " Plimouth in O. E. was the last town they left in their native country, and for that they received many kindnesses from some Christians there."

2*. //Scituate.// An Indian <span class="gstxt_hlt">name.

3*. //Duxbury.// Named in compliment to the Standishes of Duxbury Hall; to which family Miles Standish probably claimed relationship. 4*. //Sandwich.// A seaport in Kent. 5*. //Yarmouth.// A seaport in Norfolk. 6*. //Barnstable.// A seaport in Devonshire, on the south side of the Bristol Channel.

7*. //Taunton.// Named by the chief founder, Miss Elizabeth Poole, whose family had long lived at Taunton, co. Somerset. 8*. //Marshfidd.// Probably named from its site. It was first called Rexham, or Hexhame, which may refer to Wrexham, a town in co. Denbigh, North Wales.

15*. //Monomoy.// An Indian <span class="gstxt_hlt">name.

[]

William Hubbard's "A Map of New-England," 1677

 * ====William Hubbard's "Map of New-England," appears to have been commissioned by Hubbard for his volume //The History of the Indian Wars in New England// that was published in London and Boston in 1677. It is described by Samuel G. Drake, editor of Hubbard's //Indian Wars// (1865), as "the curious Woodcut Map."==== ||


 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Activity 4 Locating Deerfield, Massachusetts on 1677 Map of Massachusetts & **
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> Origins of Names of Cities and Towns **

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">1. Bring up 1677 map for discussion and observation of town names that are recognizable today. Locate Deerfield, Massachusetts

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">on North east section of the map.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">2. Read the Historical Societies research on town and city name origins. Discuss the transference of British Isle names to North America, homage to ministers,and prominent families.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Assessment

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> 1. The Pocumtucks did not believe in land ownership. When the English settlers named the land they occupied, how did this change the way they

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"> felt about that land?

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">2. Think about examples in your life when you tell or show someone where you're from. Is the town name on a sports team you play on? Do you hear adults or kids compare their town to other towns? What does it mean to you to be a part of this town? What public buildings ( other than your school) have you been in <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">in Chelmsford?