USA > Illinois > Cook County > Chicago > A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and. > Part 8
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Deadwood, Lawrence County, South Dakota, was named from "Deadwood Gulch," and that was named from the fact that the gulch was filled with dead timber when prospectors for gold first entered it. At an early day the location was called "Miles City," for Gen. Miles of the United States army, who was supposed to have chased Indians in the vicinity.
Deckers, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, was named for the Decker family, who owned property and were early settlers here.
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Deep River, Poweshiek County, Iowa, was named from the river and that was named for its great and unusual depth. The name is a transliteration of the Indian word sap-pom-ah, meaning "deep stream, " "deep water, " "deep place in stream."
Deerbrook, Langlade County, Wisconsin, is a fanciful name that was made for the place, and is based on a legend that deer were occasionally seen here while they were drinking from the brook that runs by the place.
Dimmick, LaSalle County, Illinois, was named for "Squire" J. Dimmick, an old settler and large land owner in the vicinity.
Divide, Vilas County, Wisconsin, was so named because it is located on the divide (elevated ridge of land) between two branches of the west branch of the Flambeau River.
Deerfield, Dane County, Wisconsin, was named from the township, and that was so named because, when the township was first opened for settlers, deer were very plentiful and were in the habit of feeding here.
Deering, Cook County, Illinois, is merely a station within the city of Chicago, and was named for William Deering, who established an agricultural implement factory here before the city of Chicago was extended to this station.
DeKalb, DeKalb County, Illinois, was named in honor of Baron DeKalb, one of the Revolutionary heroes.
Delaughery, Menominee County, Michigan, was named for P. Delaughery, who had kilns and made much charcoal here for use in the iron furnaces of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Delmar, Clinton County, Iowa. This name was made by using the initials of certain six women who accompanied an excursion train that opened the railroad from Clinton, Iowa, to this point. For a similar case see LeMars, in the alphabetical list in this book of the towns traversed by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha road.
Deloit, Crawford County, Iowa, was platted by the Western Town Lot Com- pany, in 1899, and was named Beloit from the city in Wisconsin. As another location had adopted this name, it was changed by using the initial "D" in the place of "B," and, thus the present name was made.
Dempster, Hamlin County, South Dakota, was named for William Dempster, of Chicago, one of the original owners of the town site. It was platted by the Winona and St. Peter Railroad Company in 1884.
Dempster Street, Cook County, Illinois, is merely a station within the city of Evanston. The station was named from the street it is on. The street was named for Dr. John Dempster, first president of Garrett Biblical institute.
Denison, Crawford County, Iowa, was named by the Rev. J. W. Denison, a Baptist preacher who organized the Providence Western Land Company, and who platted this town in 1856, and named it for himself.
Denmark, Brown County, Wisconsin, was named in honor of the European home of the many Danes who are settled in this vicinity.
DePere, Brown County, Wisconsin, was named from the name of "the rapids" in the Fox River at this place. The river was named in memory of the murder of French missionaries by the Indians, viz .: Rapides des Peres- "The Rapids of the Fathers." The town was at first called West DePere; but in 1890 the present form was adopted.
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DeSmet, Kingsbury County, South Dakota, was named in honor of Father Peter John DeSmet, S. J., "The Apostle of the Indians." He was a Belgian and spent his life in civilizing, Christianizing and educating the Indians of the Upper Missouri River valley and in the Rocky mountains. The town was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1880.
Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa, was named from a fort that was here in an early day and that was named from the river, which was named from the Indian word Mi-kon-ang, meaning "road." The French spoke the word as if it were spelled Moingona. The French also called the river Des Moins, of the "small river," to distinguish it from the Mississippi or " the great river." Finally the name became associated with the Trappist monks and the river by a spurious etymology was called 'la riviere des moines"_"the river of the monks." The town was first platted by A. D. Jones and called Fort Des Moines. In 1857 it was made the capital of the state and given its present official name.
Des Plaines, Cook County, Illinois. This place was named from the nearby river. The river was named Au Plaine by the early French traders and trap- pers, thereby intending to show it was a river of the "plains" or "prairie," rather than of the mountains. The lower part of the river was used by Marquette, Joliet and other missionaries and explorers and is mentioned by them in their "Relations" and reports. In some of these reports it is called "Des Pleine" or the river from the plain or prairie. Ultimately the name came to be spelled as is now done, Des Plaines, and that has caused some writers to assert that the name came from trees called "plaine" by the French. No such tree ever grew along this river, Bo it is very unlikely the name of that tree was thought about when the river was first named by white men. The tree referred to is doubtless the "Plane" of Europe. The "Plane tree" we have here is the Buttonwood or Buttonball (Platanus occidentalis), and does not grow on the river, or did it ever grow there as far as can be learned. The French name of the "Plane tree" is spelled "plaine" or "platanus" and never "pleine," as they spelled the name of the river. The word "Platanus" is Greek and came down to the French and to us through the Latin. It means flat.
Devil's Lake, Sauk County, Wisconsin, was named from the lake which was named by Peter Folsom, an early explorer and surveyor, in 1842, because it was set in a deep basis that he thought had neither inlet nor outlet, and that resembled the crator of a volcano. The whole surroundings being so wierd and unusual he determined to give it a name that would be as unearthly as the place appeared to be.
DeWitt, Clinton County, Iowa, was named in honor of John DeWitt, the cele- brated Dutch general-its first name was Vandenburg.
Difin, Alger County, Michigan. This name was selected from a postoffice directory, and no history of it can be found. It was adopted because there was none other like it in the state and because it would be easy to telegraph. Dike, Grundy County, Iowa, was incorporated in 1900, and named by and for C. T. Dyke, who had large landed interests here.
Dillmans, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, was named for a nearby farmer. Dishno, Marquette County, Michigan, is a transliteration of the name of Pierre
Dishman, for whom it was named. He was a pioneer Frenchman of this locality.
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Diorite, Marquette County, Michigan, was named for the crystalline, Plutonie rock named Diorite (commonly known as green stone), which is very abund- ant here and lies next to the iron ore.
Dixon, Lee County, Illinois, was named from a ferry in Rock River. This was named by and for John Dixon, an early, honored and noted settler in the valley of Rock River.
Dodge, Dodge County, Nebraska, was platted by the Pioneer Town Site Com- pany in 1886, and was named for George A. Dodge, an early settler here.
Dodge Center, Dodge County, Minnesota, was named by D. C. Fairbank on account of its location being at the supposed center of Dodge County. The county was named for Gen. Henry Dodge, governor of Wisconsin Territory. Dodgeville, Iowa County, Wisconsin, was named for Gen. Henry Dodge, an early and much respected settler, and governor of the Territory of Wiscon- sin. In a very early day this place was called "Minersville" because of the lead mines nearby. The name was changed to honor Gen. Dodge.
Doland, Spink County, South Dakota, was named for F. H. Doland, of Chicago, Ill., who once owned the ground where the station is located. It was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1882.
Dolliver, Emmett County, Iowa, was named for Hon. J. P. Dolliver, a prominent lawyer and politician of Northern Iowa. The town was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1899.
Dotson, Brown County, Minnesota, was laid out under the name of Bedford from the town in Middlesex County, Mass., by the Western Town Lot Company in 1899. The railroad station is called Dotson and the postoffice Bedford.
Doty, Olmsted County, Minnesota, was named by G. W. Van Dusen of Rochester, Minn., the owner of the farm on which the station is located, for ex-Gov. Doty of Wisconsin.
Dougherty, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, was named for a nearby farmer.
Douglas, Convery County, Wyoming, was platted by the Pioneer Town Site Company in 1886 and was named for Senator Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois.
Donglass, Olmsted County, Minnesota, was named for Harrison Douglass, who owned the original town site. Before this name was adopted, the village postoffice was called Center Grove.
Dousman, Waukesha County, Wisconsin, was named for Col. John Dousman, an early and influental citizen of Wisconsin.
Dover, Olmsted County, Minnesota. The first name was Dover Center, as the location was supposed to be at the center of Dover Township. The "Con- ter" was dropped by general consent of the early settlers, and the abbre- viated name became its fixed name.
Dow City, Crawford County, Iowa, was named for Judge S. E. Dow, a promi- nent citizen of the county, who once owned the land on which the town site was platted. At first the town was called "Dowville," but afterwards was changed to its present form.
Drexel, Langlade County, Wisconsin, was named for A. J. Drexel, the noted banker of Philadelphia.
Dryads, Menominee County, Michigan. The name was selected from a work on ancient mythology.
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Dudley, Lyon County, Minnesota, was platted by the Western Town Lot Com- pany in 1902, and was named from Dudley in Massachusetts, which was named for two brothers, Paul and William Dudley, who were among the first proprietors.
Duck Creek, Brown County, Wisconsin, was named from a nearby creek. That was named by the early trappers, because of the great numbers of ducks that nested on its banks every spring.
Dundas, Calumet County, Wisconsin. The place was named by the Jones broth- ers, from Dundas Island, on the east coast of Africa, that had been visited by one of them.
Dundee, Kane County, Illinois, was named in 1857 by a Scotchman from Dundee in Scotland.
Dunham, Gogebic County, Michigan, was named for the manager, John Dunham, of the Ashland Iron and Steel Company, that owned large tracts of land in this vicinity.
Dunlap, Harrison County, Iowa, was named in honor of George L. Dunlap, then a prominent railroad manager of Illinois and Wisconsin. The town was platted in 1867.
Dumont, Butler County, Iowa, was named for John M. Dumont, a well known mine owner of Colorado.
Dwight, Butler County, Nebraska, was platted by the Pioneer Town Site Com- pany in 1887, and was named by Henry Glover from Dwight, Ill., whence he had emigrated. (That place was named for Henry A. Dwight, Junior, a benefactor of the town.) Earlier it was called "Lone Star" from Texas. Eagle Grove, Wright County, Iowa, was so named because of the finding in an early day of the nests of many eagles in the grove in which the town was located. It was platted as Eagle Grove Junction by the Western Town Lot Company in 1881. The station name was changed by the elimi- nation of the word "Junction."
Eagle Lake, Blue Earth County, Minnesota, was named by the railroad company from a nearby lake, and that was named on account of the early land surveyors finding the nests of many "Bald-headed" eagles around the lake. Its earliest name was Speir and was named for Speir in Germany by J. Beirlis, an emigrant therefrom.
Eagle River, Vilas County, Wisconsin, was platted by the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway in 1885, and was named from the nearby river; the river was named from a lake that the river ran from, and that was named from the many bald-headed eagles that lived around the lake.
Earlville, LaSalle County, Illinois, was named by C. H. Sutphen, the original owner of the town site, from Earlville, N. Y., which was named for Jonas Earl, a canal commissioner of the state. At one time the Illinois place was called "Earl," but it is claimed that that never was its corporate or lawful cognomen.
Early, Sac County, Iowa, was named for Judge D. C. Early, an early settler and prominent citizen of Sac City, Iowa.
East Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, was named because of its relative situation as to Elgin-which see.
East Pierre, Hughes County, South Dakota, was named by town lot speculators, because of its situation as to Pierre-which see.
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East Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois. This is the part of the city of Rockford on the east side of Rock River. For derivation of name, etc., etc., see Rockford.
Edgar, Marathon County, Wisconsin, was platted by the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway in 1891, and was named for William Edgar, who was interested in lands in the vicinity, and owned a sawmill near Wausau, Wis- consin.
Edison Park, Cook County, Illinois, was once called Canfield and was named for an early settler. It was afterwards called Roseneath, a fanciful manufac- tured name, that was supposed to assert the place was buried in roses. The present name was given it in honor of Thomas A. Edison, the electrician.
Eden, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin. A popular legend has it that it was named with reference to the Garden of Eden, because of the beauty and fertility of the country surrounding the station and village. The fact seems to be that it was named for John Eden, an early settler.
Edmund, Iowa County, Wisconsin, was named for Edmund Baker, the original owner of the land on which the station and village lie.
Eland Junction, Shawano County, Wisconsin. Was platted by the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railroad Company in 1888. It was named for "the Eland," a variety of Antelope discovered by David Livingston in Central Africa. The place was named by E. H. Rummely, an officer of the railroad that platted the village.
Elba, Oconto County, Wisconsin, was named from the Island in the Mediter- ranean.
Elberon, Tama County, Iowa, was named from the suburb Elberon, near Long Branch, N. J.
The name of the New Jersey place is an elision on the name of L. B. Brown who was one of the founders of the place. The word was manufactured for this place and is not Indian as is generally asserted and believed.
Elburn, Kane County, Illinois. The original name was Kane, and was named for Gen. Thomas L. Kane, of Pennsylvania. The name was then changed to Blackberry, on account of the great growth of that fruit in the vicinity, and held that name for many years. Elburn was finally selected by the citi- zens as the name of the village, and then the railroad company changed the name of the station to correspond with that of the village. The name Elburn was manufactured for the place.
Elcho, Langlade County, Wisconsin, was named by B. F. Door, the pioneer sur- veyor in this vicinity, from a place in Scotland that is pronounced as this town's name is spelled.
Elderon, Marathon County, Wisconsin. This is a name made from "Elder" (Sambucus Canadensis) added to the letters "on." This name was con- structed and used here, because much elder grew nearby when the place was named.
Eldorado, Clay County, Nebraska, was named from the county in California in which gold was discovered. The name is from the Spanish meaning "the gilded."
Eldorado, Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, was named by John O. Henning from the county in California, in which in an early day he had dug gold. The word is from the Spanish and means "the gilded." The town was
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platted under the name of Eldon by the Pioneer Town Site Company in 1888, but the postoffice department in Washington objected to the name, and it was changed to its present form.
Eldora, Hardin County, Iowa, was laid out and named in 1851 and was made the county seat in 1853. The name came from the Spanish meaning "the gilded." It was named by Mrs. Lois B. Edgington, who found the name in a book.
Eldora Junction, Hardin County, Iowa, was named by Judge W. S. Porter on account of its location being near his home in Eldora, Iowa.
Eddy, Lake County, Illinois, was named in memory of Charles G. Eddy, for years an officer of the railroad.
Eleanor, Butler County, Iowa, was named by T. J. Hanlon for Mrs. Eleanor McDonald. The postoffice is named Oplington.
Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, was named by James T. Gifford, the original owner of the town site, from the old hymn tune "Elgin."
Elgin, Wabasha County, Minnesota, was named from the place in Scotland. Elgin, Antelope County, Nebraska, was laid out by the Pioneer Town Site Com- pany in 1887, and named from a nearby postoffice which was named from Elgin, Illinois.
Eli, Cherry County, Nebraska, was named for Daniel Webster Hitchcock whose nickname was "Get there, Eli," who worked for the locating engineer of the road. When the town was permanently named the last part of the nickname alone was used.
Elkton, Brookings County, South Dakota, was named from Elkton, Md., the early home of one of the officers of the Chicago and North Western Rail- way. It was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1880.
Ellsworth, Hamilton County, Iowa, was named to honor the memory of Col. Elmer E. Ellsworth of the Chicago Zouaves, who was murdered in Virginia in the early days of the War of the Rebellion. The town was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1880.
Elmhurst, DuPage County, Illinois. The original name was Cottage Hill. In 1870 the name was, on the suggestion of Thomas B. Bryan, changed to Elm- hurst from the word Elm and the German hoorst, meaning a "place or grove of Elm trees."
Elmhurst, Langlade County, Wisconsin, was named from Elmhurst, DuPage County, Illinois.
Elmo, Grant County, Wisconsin. The original name was Junction. It was changed to Elmo by M. Y. Johnson from the novel, St. Elmo.
Elmore, Faribault County, Minnesota. The place was named by Marvin Hughitt in honor of Andrew E. Elmore, "The Sage of Mucwanago," an old settler of Waukesha and Brown counties, Wis. Mr. Elmore was one of "the makers of Wisconsin" and influential in the state conventions and legis- latures for many years and until his death in 1906.
Elm Creek, Fall River County, South Dakota, was named from the nearby creok, That was named from the Elm trees that bordered it in an early day.
Elmwood, Pierce County, Wisconsin. This name was suggested by the Elm (Ulnus Americana) trees that abound here.
Elrod, Clark County, South Dakota. The original name was Ida, but that became obsolete and Elrod was adopted. It was named by L. Kinzey for S. H. Elrod, a friend of the owner of the original town site.
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Elroy, Juneau County, Wisconsin, was named "Ell Roy" by J. M. Britnall in 1858, to distinguish it from "LeRoy," a village in the vicinity. When the railroad reached this place the present name was adopted as an elision of its original cognomen. It is believed Mr. Britnall adopted the name from some place in Scotland, as he always claimed the name was Scotch.
Elva, DeKalb County, Illinois, was named for a daughter of Joseph F. Gliddin, the original owner of the land now occupied by the station and village.
Embarrass, Waupaca County, Wisconsin. The name is French and was attached to a nearby stream. The word means "obstructed" and was applied to the river because it was found full of logs that obstructed canoe navigation. The name was applied to the town from the river.
Emmett, Holt County, Nebraska. This place was named for Robert Emmet, the Irish patriot.
Escanaba, Delta County, Michigan. The town was named from the river that runs through the place. The name comes from the Anglicization of the original Ojibiway Indian name So-schon-hio, which means "flat rock" and was given to the river by the Indians because the bed was of flat limestone rock. Originally the present name was spelled Ecnanawba, but for euphony, Perry H. Smith, while vice president of the Chicago and North Western - Railway, on the suggestion of Peter White of Marquette, proposed the elision of the "w." The suggestion was adopted by the early settlers there, and the improved spelling has become established. At a very early day the first cluster of houses that were built here, took the name of Sand Point, but that was never the corporate name of the place.
Pamond, Kingsbury County, South Dakota, was named by John E. Blunt, one of the railroad civil engineers, from Thackeray's novel of this title. The town was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1883. It once carried the name of "Sana," a Biblical name given it by E. F. Froude, when the first postoffice was established here.
Essig, Brown County, Minnesota, was named by C. C. Wheeler, then an officer of the Chicago and North Western Railway, to honor one of the Brothers Essig, who erected the first business building in the place.
Estelline, Hamlin County, South Dakota, was named for the daughter of D. J. Spalding of Black River Falls, Wis., the owner of the adjoining farm. It was platted by the Western Town Lot Company in 1882.
Evan, Brown County, Minnesota, was named by the first postmaster for his wife Eva. Its earlier name was Harmon, which it was given for an early settler of the vicinity.
Evanston, Cook County, Illinois. This town was named by and for Dr. John Evans. Previous to 1855 there was a postoffice here that was called Gross Point and Ridgeville, the last from the fact that it was located on a ridge or elevation of land that was nearly surrounded with what then were "swamps." This city is the home of Northwestern University. The charter for the univer- sity was granted by the legislature of Illinois and approved by the governor on Jan. 28, 1851. This proceeding grew out of a meeting that was held in Chicago on May 31, 1850, at which meeting were present, Dr. John Evans, A. J. Brown, Rev. R. H. Blanchard, J. K. Botsford, Henry W. Clark, Grant Goodrich, Rev. Zadoc Hall, Rev. Richard Haney and Orrington Lunt. A committee consisting of Dr. John Evans, A. J. Brown, E. G. Meet, A. S. Sherman and Grant Goodrich, was appointed to draft a charter
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for a university, to be established in or near Chicago, under the pat- ronage of the Methodist Episcopal church. Several sites were of. fered for the location of the university. By a happy accident, Orrington Lunt "discovered" the land on which the university is located, and he and Dr. Evans on Aug. 11, 1853, bought the land, 380 acres, from its then owner, Dr. A. F. Foster of Chicago, for $25,000, or about $71 per acre. The first permanent building, University Hall, was finished ready for occupancy in 1869.
Evansville, Rock County, Wisconsin, was named by the citizens for Dr. Calvin Evans, an early and much beloved physician of the neighborhood.
Ewing, Holt County, Nebraska, was platted by the Pioneer Town Site Com- pany in 1882, and was named for "Uncle" Jimmy Ewing, the first man who settled in the upper part of the Elkhorn Valley, and whose farm was near this site.
Exeter, Fillmore County, Nebraska, was named from Exeter, New Hampshire, and that was named from Exeter in England.
Eyota, Olmsted County, Minnesota, was named by Milo Matteson, from the . township, and this was named from the Sioux Indian word iyotak or iyotan, meaning "greatest" "most." .
Fairburn, Custer County, South Dakota. Was platted by the Pioneer Town Site Company in 1886. This is a composition name made up of the affix "fair" and the Scotch "burn" (a brook or creek) and was used because this was an attractive location on a small and unnamed creek.
Fairfax, Linn County, Jowa, was originally called Vanderbilt for Jacob Vander- bilt an early settler. The present name came from Fairfax County in Vir- ginia, and that from Lord Fairfax, the grandson of Lord Culpeper, a great and early land owner in Virginia.
Fairfax, Gregory County, South Dakota, was named by Mrs. Isabella B. Turney of the Turney familiy who owned much land in the vicinity, from Fairfax Court House, Virginia. That town was named for Lord Fairfax, the grand- son of Lord Culpeper, a large land owner in the early days of Virginia.
Fairmont, Martin County, Minnesota, was named from its situation on a hill. Farnhamville, Calhoun County, Iowa, was originally called Farnham for R. E. Farnham, one of the civil engineers who built the railroad through this place. The postoffice department in 1881 insisted upon having the name changed, and the present one was selected. The town was platted under the name of Farnham by the Western Town Lot Company in 1881.
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