USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and. > Part 2
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Benton County, State of Iowa. Named for Thomas H. Benton of Missouri. The county was created by the legislature of Wisconsin, while Iowa was yet a part of Wisconsin in 1837, and was organized in 1846.
County seat, Vinton. Named for Hon. Plynn Vinton, an Iowa legislator.
Black Hawk County, State of Iowa. Named for "Black Hawk," the noted chief of Sac and Fox Indians. The county was created in 1847 and or- ganized in 1853.
County seat, Waterloo. Named for the battlefield in Belgium.
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HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE
Blue Earth County, State of Minnesota. Named for the bluish earth found in the county, the blueness is caused by the presence of copper in the soil. County seat, Mankato. Named from an Indian word meaning "blue" or, perhaps "green" earth.
Boone County, State of Illinois. Named for Daniel Boone of Kentucky.
County seat, Belvidere. Named by one of the founders from Belvidere, near Weimer in Saxe-Gotha, Germany.
Boone County, State of Iowa. Named for Captain Nathan Boone of the United States Army, who fought Indians here and captured the Des Moines Valley from them. The county was created in 1846 and organized in 1849. County seat, Boone. Named from the county. The original county seat was named Boonesboro by S. B. McCall, and was a mile or so away from the present city. It was ultimately incorporated with and is now a por- tion of the city and municipality of Boone.
Boone County, State of Nebraska. Named for Daniel Boone of Kentucky. County seat, Albion. Named from an ancient name of England.
Boyd County, State of Nebraska. Named for James E. Boyd, once governor of Nebraska.
County seat, Butte. Named from the "buttes" or small hills, near the townsite.
Brown County, State of Minnesota. Named for Joseph R. Brown, a member of the Governor's Council of Minnesota in 1855.
County seat, New Ulm, which was named by German emigrants from the city of Ulm in Germany.
Brown County, State of Nebraska. Named for two members of the legislature who reported the bill for organization of the county.
County seat, Ainsworth. Named for John E. Ainsworth, a railroad en- gineer who located and helped to build the railroad through the county.
Brown County, State of South Dakota. Named for Alfred Brown, a legislator of 1879.
County seat, Aberdeen. Named by Alexander Mitchell of Milwaukee, Wis- consin, from the city in Scotland.
Brown County, State of Wisconsin. Named for Major General Jacob Brown of the United States Army, 1821-1828.
County seat, Green Bay. Named from the bay on which it is situated. This bay was by the early French called "la grande baie." For a fuller history, see Green Bay in alphabetical list of places.
Buena Vista County, State of Iowa. The county was named from the battlefield of General Taylor in Mexico. The name means "beautiful view." The county was created in 1851 and organized in 1859.
County seat, Storm Lake. It was named from a nearby small lake. The lake was named from the fact that small as it was and is, its waters seemed disturbed by storms nearly all the time.
Buffalo County, State of Wisconsin. Named from the presence of "buffalo" (Bos or Bison Americanus, improperly called buffalo) here in an early day. County seat, Alma. Named from the battlefield in the Crimea in southern European Russia.
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HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE
Bureau County, State of Illinois. Named for Pierre de Beuro, & French trader, who had in an early day trading posts in what is now Bureau County. County seat, Princeton. Named for Daniel Prince, an early settler.
Butler County, State of Iowa. Named for W. O. Butler of Kentucky, a general in the Mexican War, and democratic candidate for vice president of the United States in 1848. The county was created in 1851 and organized in 1853.
County seat, Allison. Named for the veteran and venerable United States Senator W. B. Allison of Iowa.
Butler County, State of Nebraska. Named for David Butler, first governor of the State.
County seat, David City. Named for David Butler, first governor of the State.
Butte County, State of South Dakota. Named from the "buttes" or low hills prominent in this county.
County seat, Belle Fouche. Named from the north branch of the Cheyenne River, which the French called Belle Fourche, or "Beautiful Fork."
Brookings County, State of South Dakota. Named for the Hon. W. W. Brook- ings, a delegate to congress from the Territory of Dakota.
County seat, Brookings. Named from the county.
Calhoun County, State of Iowa. Named for John C. Calhoun of South Caro- lina. This county was first named Fox for the Fox Indians. The name was changed by the legislature in 1853. The county was organized in 1855. County seat, Rockwell City. The county seat was located in 1876 on land belonging to Colonel J. M. Rockwell and the site was named for him.
Calumet County, State of Wisconsin. The word Calumet is a corruption of the French word Chalemet, meaning "little reed, " hence "pipe of peace."
County seat, Chilton. Named for Chillington Hall in England, but by an error of the county clerk in recording the name, the middle syllable was omitted and that left the name as it now stands.
Carroll County, State of Iowa. Named for Charles Carroll. of Carrolton, Mary- land. This county was created in 1851 and organized in 1855.
County seat, Carroll, which was named from the county.
Cedar County, State of Iowa. Was named from the river, which was named from the presence of cedar (Arbor vitae) trees along its banks. It was or- ganized in 1837.
County seat, Tipton, which was named for General John Tipton, United States senator from Tennessee.
Cerro Gordo County, State of Iowa. Was organized in 1855 and named from the Mexican battlefield. The words mean "large (around) hill."
County seat, Mason City. John B. Long in 1851 settled here and named the settlement and a grove in which he lived, Masonic Grove, in honor of the Free Masons. In 1853, he and others laid out a town and named it Shiboleth, a well known Masonic and Scriptural word. In 1854, he bought the town site and changed its name to Masonville, for his son, Mason Long. In 1855 the name was changed to Mason City to obviate some con- fusion that had arisen over the similarity of the early name with that of another postoffice in the State.
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HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE
Cherry County, State of Nebraska. Named for Lieutenant Cherry of the United States Army.
County seat, Valentine. Named for Hon. E. K. Valentine, once member of congress from Nebraska.
Clark County, State of South Dakota. Named for Newton Clark, a legislator in 1873.
County seat, Clark. Named from the county.
Clay County, State of Iowa. Named for Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Clay, a son of Henry Clay of Kentucky, who was killed in the battle of Buena Vista in the Mexican War. The county was created in 1851.
County seat, Spencer. In 1859 George E. Spencer laid out this town and named it for himself. After the close of the War of the Rebellion, this General G. E. Spencer became United States senator from Alabama.
Clay County, State of Nebraska. Named for Henry Clay of Kentucky.
County seat, Clay Center. Named from being in the center of the county. Clay County, State of South Dakota. Named for Henry Clay of Kentucky.
County seat, Vermillion. Named from the red color of the soil, due to the presence of iron.
Clinton County, State of Iowa. Named for DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York. This county was created in 1837 and organized in 1840, with the county seat at De Witt (formerly called Vandenburg), where it remained for thirty-five years.
County seat, Clinton. Named from the county. The county seat at one time was Camanche (named for the Indian tribe). It was then moved to DeWitt (Vandenburg) and was finally moved to Clinton in 1876. The site of Clinton is what in 1855 was laid out by Joseph M. Bartlett and called New York. This site ultimately came into the possession of the Iowa Land company, which resurveyed the site and named it from the county.
Codington County, State of South Dakota. Named for Rev. R. B. Codington, a legislator of 1875.
County seat, Watertown. Named by John P. Kemp, an early settler from Watertown, New York.
Colfax County, State of Nebraska. Named for Vice President Schuyler Colfax. County seat, Schuyler. Named for the given name of Vice President Schuyler Colfax.
Columbia County, State of Wisconsin. Named from the Columbia River in Oregon, which was named by Captain Gray from the vessel he commanded when he entered that river.
County seat, Portage. Named from the Indian portage, or carrying place between the Fox and Wisconsin rivers.
Converse County, State of Wyoming. Named for A. R. Converse, once terri- torial governor of Wyoming.
County seat, Douglas. Named for United States Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois.
Cook County, State of Illinois. Named for Daniel P. Cook, member of congress. County seat, Chicago. Named perhaps for the Ojibway Indian word she- kag-ong, meaning "the place of the wild onion," and this from a root word meaning "bad smell." For a more lengthy description, see Chicago in the alphabetical list of places.
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HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE
Cottonwood County, State of Minnesota. Translation of Sioux word for the cottonwood tree (Populus heterophylla) abundant in the county.
County seat, Windom. Named for United States Senator Windom of Minnesota.
Crawford County, State of Iowa. The county was named for W. H. Crawford, secretary of the treasury in 1817-25 under President Monroe. The county was created in 1854 and organized in 1855.
County seat, Denison. This was named in 1856 for Revd. J. W. Denison, a Baptist preacher and agent of the land company that controlled the lands along the railroad through this county.
Cuming County, State of Nebraska. Named for T. B. Cuming, governor of the Territory of Nebraska in 1854-1855.
County seat, West Point. Named because when located, it was the most westerly point reached by the railroad.
Custer County, State of South Dakota. Named for General George A. Custer, who was killed by the Indians in the battle of the Little Big Horn near the Rosebud River in Wyoming in 1876.
County seat, Custer. Named from the county.
Dane County, State of Wisconsin. Named for Nathan Dane, a judge and mem- ber of congress from Massachusetts, and the author of the ordinance of 1787 for the North West Territory.
County seat, Madison. Named for President James Madison.
Dawes County, State of Nebraska. Named for James W. Dawes, former gov- ernor of the State.
County seat, Chadron. Named from a stream that was named for a French- Indian "squaw-man" who lived on its banks.
DeKalb County, State of Illinois. Named for Baron DeKalb of the American Revolution, who was killed in the battle of Camden, South Carolina.
County seat, Sycamore. Named from the abundance of "Sycamore" (Platanus occidentalis) trees that grew here when the town was laid out. Delta County, State of Michigan. Named because of its triangular shape. County seat, Escanaba. Named from an Indian word that means "flat rock." See Escanaba in alphabetical list of places in this book.
Deuel County, State of South Dakota. Named for Jacob. Deuel, a territorial legislator of 1862.
County seat, Clear Lake. Named from Clear Lake and is merely a descriptive name.
Dickey County, State of North Dakota. Named for George Dickey, a member of the North Dakota legislature.
County seat, Ellendale. Named for the wife of S. S. Merrill, the general manager of a Wisconsin railroad.
Dickinson County, State of Michigan. Named for Don M. Dickinson, post- master general under President Cleveland.
County seat, Iron Mountain. Named on account of many iron mines in the vicinity.
Dodge County, State of Minnesota. Named for General Henry Dodge, governor > of and United States senator from Wisconsin.
County seat, Mantorville. The first settlers in this county were three
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HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE
brothers, Peter, Riley and Frank Mantor. They settled on the site of this town in 1853. When the county seat was laid out, it was named for these brothers.
Dodge County, State of Nebraska. Named for Augustus Caesar Dodge, United States senator from Iowa.
County seat, Fremont. Named for General John C. Fremont, the explorer, who visited the location in an early day. See Fremont in alphabetical list of places in this book.
Dodge County, State of Wisconsin. Named for General Henry Dodge, governor of, and United States senator from Wisconsin.
County seat, Juneau. Named from Solomon Juneau, the French founder of the city of Milwaukee.
Douglas County, State of Nebraska. Named for Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois. County seat, Omaha. Omaha is an Indian word and is the name of an Indian tribe and means "up stream," as "upstream people."
DuPage County, State of Illinois. Named for the French Indian Du (or De) Page, a trader and trapper on the DuPage River before 1800.
County seat, Wheaton. Named for Warren L. Wheaton, a nearby farmer. Emmet County, State of Iowa. Named for Robert Emmet the Irish patriot. The county was created in 1851 and organized in 1859.
County seat, Estherville. Named for Mrs. Esther Ridley, the wife of one of its founders and the first treasurer of the county.
Fall River County, State of South Dakota. Named from the river of the same name. It is the literal translation of its Indian name.
County seat, Hot Springs. Named for the celebrated hot springs that abound at this place.
Faribault County, State of Minnesota. Named for John Baptiste Faribault, a French trader amongst the Sioux Indians.
County seat, Blue Earth City. Named from the presence of blue earth from copper mixed with the soil.
Faulk County, State of South Dakota. Named for Andrew J. Faulk, the third governor of Dakota. Territory.
County seat, Faull ton. Named for Governor Andrew J. Faulk of South Dakota.
Fillmore County, State of South Dakota. Named for Millard Fillmore, ex- President of the United States.
County seat, Preston. Was named by John C. Fremont, "the pathfinder" for a governor of South Carolina who had befriended Fremont. Fremont and Niccolet explored this region in 1838-9.
Fillmore County, State of Nebraska. Named for Millard Fillmore, ex-presi- dent of the United States.
County seat, Geneva. Was named in 1871 by Miss Emma McCaully, daughter of Colonel J. A. McCaully, who owned the farm on which the county seat was established, and named it from Geneva in New York, that was named from Geneva in Switzerland.
Florence County, State of Wisconsin. Named by H. D. Fisher for Mrs. Flor- ence Hulst, wife of Dr. N. P. Hulst of Milwaukee.
County seat, Florence. Named from the county.
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HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE
Floyd County, State of Iowa. Named for William Floyd of New York, who was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
County seat, Charles City. Named for Kelly St. Charles, a son of the first settler in the county. The first name of the place was St. Charles, but it was soon changed to its present form.
Fond du Lac County, State of Wisconsin. Named from its situation (end of lake) on Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin.
County seat, Fond du Lac. Named from the county. The town is situated on Lake Winnebago.
Forest County, State of Wisconsin. Named because of the forest with which it was covered when named.
County seat, Crandon. Named for Frank P. Crandon, an officer of the Chicago and North Western Railway company.
Fremont County, State of Wyoming. Named in honor of General John C. Fremont, the great explorer.
County seat, Lander. This was named for General F. W. Lander of the United States Army.
Gogebic County, State of Michigan. Named from the Indian word a-go-je-bic, meaning "rocky," or from go-ge-bing, meaning "dividing lake."
County seat, Bessemer. Named for the inventor of the Bessemer process for reducing iron ore.
Goodhue County, State of Minnesota. Named for Thomas M. Goodhue, the first journalist of the Territory and who in 1849 founded "The Pioneer" newspaper of St. Paul.
County seat, Red Wing. Named for the Indian chief, "Red Wing."
Grant County, State of Wisconsin. Named for a trapper and Indian trader who lived in this county before the State of Wisconsin was set aside from the Territory.
County seat, Lancaster. Named from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Green County, State of Iowa. Named for General Nathaniel Greene, the great Revolutionary soldier. The county was created in 1851 and organized in 1854.
County seat, Jefferson. It was laid out in 1854 and named for President Thomas Jefferson.
Green Lake County, State of Wisconsin. Named from the waters of the lake, which have a very green cast.
County seat, Dartford. Named by and for J. N. Dart, its first settler. Mr. Dart also named Montello the county seat of Marquette County.
Gregory County, State of South Dakota. Named for J. S. Gregory, a legislator of this state.
County seat, Fairfax. Was named for Lord Fairfax of English-Virginia history. He was the son of Lord Culpepper. They gave their names to counties in Virginia.
Grundy County, State of Iowa. Named for Felix Grundy, United States sen- ator from Tennessee. The county was created in 1851 and organized in 1854.
County seat, Grundy Center. Named from the county and from the central location of the town in the county.
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HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE
Hamilton County, State of Iowa. Named for W. W. Hamilton, president of the Iowa senate in 1857. It had been first called Risley, and then Webster. County seat, Webster City. Named for Daniel Webster of Massachusetts. Hamilton County, State of Nebraska. Named for Alexander Hamilton, the great American statesman.
County seat, Aurora. Named from the Latin word, meaning "morning," "dawn" or "east."
Hamlin County, State of South Dakota. The county was created January 8, 1873 and organized in July, 1878, and named for Hannibal Hamlin of Maine.
County seat, Castlewood. In an early day, J. S. Keator of Davenport, Iowa, had the title to some fifteen thousand acres of land in this vicinity. A daughter of Mr. Keator, who was a reader of Thackeray's novels, in "The Virginians" found the name Castlewood, as the Virginia home of Henry Esmond. She suggested the county seat should be given the name of Castlewood, and the Winona and St. Peter Railroad company, that laid out the town site, accepted the suggestion and Castlewood became the name of the town site and county seat. (See Castlewood in the alphabetical list for further facts as.to this name).
Hand County, State of South Dakota. Was named for George A. Hand, secre- tary of the Territory in 1880.
County seat, Miller. Named for its founder, Henry Miller.
Hardin County, State of Iowa. Named for General John J. Hardin of Illinois, who was killed in the Mexican War. The county was established in 1851 and organized in 1853.
County seat, Eldorado. Named from Eldorado, California, and that was named from the Spanish word meaning "the gilded." The county was established in 1853.
Harrison County, State of Iowa. Named for President W. H. Harrison; the county was created in 1851 and organized in 1853.
County seat, Logan. Was named by E. B. Talcott, of the Galena and Chicago Union railroad, for General John A. Logan of Illinois. The place was originally called Boyer Falls, from the falls (rapids) in the nearby river, but the name was changed on the completion of the railroad to this point.
Holt County, State of Nebraska. Named for Joseph Holt of Kentucky, of President Lincoln's cabinet.
County seat, O'Neill. Named for General John O'Neill, the Irish patriot, who was an early settler here and who laid out the original town site and made it a total abstinence place.
Hughes County, State of South Dakota. Named for Alexander Hughes, a legislator of 1873.
County seat, Pierre. Named from "Fort Pierre Choteau" (commonly called Fort Pierre) that lay on the opposite side of the Missouri River. That was named for Pierre Choteau, Jr., of St. Louis, of the American Fur Co., that had a trading post there. See Fort Pierre in the alphabetical list of places in this book.
This county was explored by J. N. Nicollet and John C. Fremont, and Nicollet mapped it as early as 1839.
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HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE
Humboldt County, State of Iowa. Named for Baron Alexander von Humboldt, the German traveler. The county was created in 1851, but was not or- ganized. It was re-created in 1857 and organized in the same year.
County seat, Dakota City. Was named for the Dakota Indians.
Hyde County, State of South Dakota. Named for James Hyde, a member of the legislature in 1873.
County seat, Highmore. Was so named from the fact that it stood on the highest ground between the James and Missouri Rivers.
Ida County, State of Iowa. Named from Mount Ida in Greece. The county was created in 1851, and the name was suggested by Eliphalet Price.
County seat, Ida Grove. Named from the county and grove of timber near the town site. This conjunction was suggested by Mrs. J. H. Moor- head, the wife of the first settler. The town was laid out by S. H. Hobbs in 1871.
Iowa County, State of Wisconsin. The county was named from the river and this was named from the Algonquin name of an Indian tribe that lived on the river. The word means "sleepy" or "drowsy ones."
County seat, Dodgeville. Named for General Henry Dodge, governor of Wisconsin Territory.
Iron County, State of Michigan. So named on account of the large quantity of iron ore that is found here.
County seat, Crystal Falls. This name was first applied to the falls in Paint River, by Richard Corman, a timber "cruiser" who saw the foliage that overhung the falls densely covered with ice crystals after a very heavy sleet storm. When the town site-near the falls-was established, it was named from these falls.
Iron County, State of Wisconsin. Was so named on account of finding iron ore in the county.
County seat, Hurley. Was named for M. A. Hurley of Wausau, Wisconsin. Jackson County, State of Iowa. Named for President Andrew Jackson. The county was created in 1837 and organized in 1838.
County seat, Maquoketa. It was named from the river, on the south bank of the south fork on which it is located. The word comes from the Sac Indian and means "bear river." The original name given to the place was Springfield. This was given it by J. E. Goodenow in 1838, and who had emigrated from New York state.
Jefferson County, State of Wisconsin. Named for President Thomas Jefferson. County seat, Jefferson. Named from the county.
Jo Daviess County, State of Illinois. Named for Colonel Joseph H. Davies of Kentucky, who was killed in the Battle of Tippecanoe.
County seat, Galena. It was named in 1819 by S. C. Muir, an early settler, from the presence of great beds of lead or Galena ore at this place. The early French called the place La Feve, the "bean," from the profusion of a sort of bean they found growing there. From this La Feve, the river, on which the town is located, is by "corruption" called Fever River.
Jones County, State of Iowa. Was established in 1857, and named for General George W. Jones, delegate to congress for the Territory of Iowa, and after the admission of the State to the Union, United States senator from Iowa.
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HISTORY OF THE PLACE NAMES OF THE NORTH WESTERN LINE
County seat, Anamosa. This is a corruption of the name of an Indian woman, whose father was named Nas-imus and who was distinguished in the Blackhawk War. The word Anamosa refers to "puppies" or "young foxes before their eyes are opened." In 1841 when the town was first platted, it was called Lexington from the battlefield of the Revolution. The county seat was located in 1847.
Juneau County, State of Wisconsin. Named for Solomon Juneau, the founder of the city of Milwaukee.
County seat, Mauston. Named for General M. M. Maughs, the former owner of the original village.
Kane County, State of Illinois. Named for Elias K. Kane, United States sen- ator from Illinois, 1824-1835.
County seat, Geneva. Was named from the city in New York State and that was named from Geneva, Switzerland.
Kenosha County, State of Wisconsin. Was named from an Indian word mean. ing "pickerel," "fish" or "pike."
County seat, Kenosha. Named from the county.
Keokuk County, State of Iowa. Named for Ke-o-kuk a Sac Indian chief. The word means "running fox" or "watchful fox." The county was first created in 1837, and re-created in 1843 and organized in 1844.
County seat, Sigourney. This was named in honor of Mrs. L. H. Sigourney, the American poetess, by the commissioners who selected the site.
Kingsbury County, State of South Dakota. Named for C. W. Kingsbury, an early legislator of the Territory.
County seat, DeSmeto. Was named to honor the memory of Father P. J. DeSmet, S. J., the "Apostle of the Indians."
Knox County, State of Nebraska. Named for the Revolutionary General Knox. It was originally called L'Eau que Court County, but was changed by the . legislature at the request of David Quimby, a legislative representative. County seat, Niobrara. Named from an Indian word meaning "running water." The name was first applied to the river, and then was transferred to the town site.
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