USA > New Hampshire > History of New Hampshire, from its first discovery to the year 1830; with dissertations upon the rise of opinions and institutions, the growth of agriculture and manufactures, and the influence of leading families and distinguished men, to the year 1874; > Part 44
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Barrington. Baring means the children of Bera, a Saxon no- ble; Barrington, the town of the children of Bera, in Cam- bridgeshire, England.
Bartlett is a diminutive of Bartholomew, which in Hebrew means "the son that suspends the waters."
Bath from the Saxon baeth or bad, a bathing-place, given to a town in Somerset, famed for its hot baths.
Bedford is said to be derived from beado and ford, meaning battle-ford or slaughter-ford. Bosworth gives bedican, to bedike, and ford, a fortified passage.
Bennington is supposed to mean the town of the children of Binna. Ben may be an abbreviation of Benjamin. The town of Bennington in Vermont, and that of the same name in New Hampshire, were named in honor of Gov. Benning Wentworth.
Bethlehem is Hebrew, and means "house of bread." The priory of St. Mary of Bethlehem was converted by Henry VIII. into a hospital and was shortened into Bedlam.
Boscawen is a name of Cornish origin and signifies "a house surrounded by elder trees."
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Bow is so named from the curve in the river Merrimack.
Bradford means broad ford. There is a town of that name on the Avon, which is Celtic for river.
Brentwood is burnt wood, a town in England, in the county of Essex, which means East Saxons.
Bridgewater needs no interpretation.
Bristol is Welsh in origin, from bris, broken, and tol, a chasm ; a city built near the cleft mountain, where the Avon runs to the sea.
Brookfield reveals its own origin.
Brookline is equally intelligible.
Cambridge is the bridge on the Cam. This is a Celtic word adopted by the Saxons, and means crooked. Chaucer cele- brated this crooked, sluggish, creeping river, now so renowned for the city and university upon its banks, when only a solitary mill was turned by its waters.
" At Trompington, not far from Canta brigge There goth a brook, and over it a brigge, Upon the which brook, there stood a melle ; Now this is very sothe that I you tell."
Campton is Camp-town.
Canaan is borrowed from the Bible and means merchant or trader.
Candia is the modern name of Crete, in the Mediterranean, which was named, by the ancients, Creta or chalk, from the abun- dance of that earth found there ; and Candia may be allied to the Latin verb candeo, to shine or glisten.
Canterbury is the name given by the Saxons to the capital of Cainte or Kent; and they spelled it Cant-wara-byrig, which means the stronghold of the people of Kent.
Carroll is named in honor of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, one of the Revolutionary patriots.
Centre Harbor speaks for itself.
Charlestown, originally called Number Four, was heroically defended by Captain Phineas Stevens and thirty brave associ- ates, for three days, in April, 1747, against four hundred French and Indians under the command of Mons. Debeline. Captain Stevens, for his gallant conduct, was presented with an elegant sword, by Sir Charles Knowles, and in honor of the baronet the town was afterwards called Charlestown.
Chester, in all English names of places, means camp, from the Latin castra. It indicated a Roman encampment. Chester- field is the site of a camp.
Field is from the Saxon, fyllan, to fell, and indicates a plain from which the trees have been felled.
Chichester is a town in Sussex or South Saxon, and signifies
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the camp of Cissa, one of the Saxon chiefs. It was at first written "Cissaceaster," or city of Cissa, son of Ella.
Claremont is probably of French origin ; clair and mont, noble mountain.
Colebrook. The first root of this word is of uncertain origin. Coln, in English names, is from the Latin colonia, and desig- nates a Roman colony. Six towns in England are named Colne. Lincoln terminates with the same word. The Saxon word cal means also cole.
Columbia is derived from Columbus.
Concord. "In regard to this name," says Dr. Bouton, "the uniform tradition is, that it was designed to express the entire unanimity in purpose and action which had characterized the in- habitants of Rumford during the period of their controversy with the proprietors of Bow, and, indeed, from the first settle- ment of Penacook."
Conway is of Celtic origin, from con, head or chief, and wy, a river.
Cornish is also a Celtic word, from Cornwall. This word is variously interpreted to mean the horn or promontory of the Gaels; or, "the altars of the Gael."
Dalton is dale town.
Danbury is the stronghold of the Danes.
Danville is the village of the Danes.
Deerfield is the pasture of the deer.
Deering is the field of the deer ; as Derby is the home of the deer. This name was given to the town by Governor John Went- worth of Portsmouth, in honor of his wife, Frances Deering Wentworth.
Derry, like Druid, is supposed to be derived from the Celtic deru, an oak.
Dorchester, in old English, "Doreceaster," from the Celtic dwr, water, and the Latin castra, a camp.
Dover from the Celtic dwr or dwfwr, water, and means the town upon the water in Kent. The Romans called the place Dubrae.
Dublin is of Irish origin. Dubh, in Celtic, is black ; lyn or linne is a pool or lake; Dublin is black pool. Durham is deer home.
Dummer, from the Danish dommer, a judge or arbiter, the name of a man.
Dunbarton, first called Starkstown, was named from a town and castle in Scotland, near which Stark's ancestors lived. Dun is Celtic and means a fort. Isaac Taylor interprets Dun- barton as " the fort of the Britons."
Eaton is water town,
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Kingston, is king's town.
Effingham is the home of the children of Effa or Uffa, a fa- mous king of the East Angles, A. D. 575.
Enfield is the end of the open country. Field is a place where the trees have been "felled."
Epping is of uncertain origin. It may be from the Saxon aeps an aspen, and ing, a meadow.
Epsom is by some derived from Ebba, meaning Ebba's home ; by others from aeps, an aspen, meaning the home of the aspens.
Ellsworth. Ella was a Saxon king who reigned in Sussex or South-Saxons. Ellsworth is Ella's estate.
The Gaelic and Erse word for water is uisge, of which whis- key is a corruption, derived from uisge-boy (or usquebaugh ), meaning yellow water; or, if the second root be bagh, "water of life." The root uisge appears in Wisk, Esk, Usk, and Exe, names of rivers.
Exeter, formerly written, Exancester, means the camp upon the river Exe.
Farm-ing-ton. The town of the meadow farm. The Saxon verb feormian meant to supply with food, because tenants, an- ciently, paid their rent in produce and stock; hence, the word feorm or farm.
Fitzwilliam is the son of William, originally the name of a man. Fitz is from the Latin filius.
Francestown reveals its own origin. It was named for Fran- ces, the wife of the last Governor Wentworth.
Franconia, the home of the Franks, a name given, in the east, to the inhabitants of western Europe. The word Franks dates from the crusades in which the inhabitants of France, the land of the Franks, were leaders.
Franklin, anciently, "a superior freeholder " in England. Freedom tells its own origin.
Gilford. Gill is a valley; and Gilford is the ford in the valley. Gill is also the name of a man ; and
Gilsum is probably Gill's home, and
Gilmanton is the town of the man of the valley. Some ety- mologists derive Gilman from Gaul or Gael, making the family of French extraction.
Goffstown. Goff is Celtic for smith.
Gorham. Gor is Celtic for a place of worship, as in Ban- gor ; it is applied to the choir of a church, hence, Gor-ham is church-home.
Grafton. Graf is connected with grave, to cut or ditch; as Gravesend is the end of the ditch or moat; and Grafton is a moated or fortified town. Some authors derive it from the Gothic graf, an earl or count.
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Grantham. Grant is simply grand or great, and as a surname was translated by the Latin magnus. Grant-ham is great or grand home, or the home of Mr. Grant.
Groton. Gro, in Celtic, is sand; if from this root, Groton would mean sand-town. It may be the French gros or great.
Greenfield and Greenland need no explanation.
Hampton is home town.
Hampstead is homestead.
Hancock. Han sometimes means high, allied to the Saxon hean or heah ; and cock means a hill ; Hancock, a high hill; or as the name of a man it may be from Hans, John, and cock, lit- tle, meaning little John.
Hanover first appears in German history, in the twelfth cen- tury. The river Leine flows through Hanover to the Aller. It is thought that the name was first given to a ford over this river meaning hand-over, or have over. "Hab or han ober."
Haverhill. Haver is sometimes thought to be a modification of the Celtic gafr, a goat ; if so, Haverhill would mean goat hill ; others derive it from the Dutch haver, meaning oats.
Hawke was named from Admiral Hawke; a name derived from heraldry, the hawk being a symbol of courage. The town is now called Danville, or Dane village.
Hebron is a Hebrew name and means alliance, society or friendship.
Hill speaks for itself.
Hillsborough is the stronghold upon the hill, or the city of Mr. Hill.
Hinsdale is named in honor of Colonel Hinsdale, one of the earliest settlers of that town. It meant, originally, Hind's dale. The Saxon hine meant a domestic, a peasant, or boor. The last word appears in neighbor or nigh-boor.
Holderness is said to be composed of hole-Deira-ness. In this word, ness is the Saxon naes, nose, and Deira is the name of one of the Saxon kingdoms ; hence Holderness is the nose or promontory of the low-lying kingdom, Deira. Others interpret differently.
Hollis may have some relation to the holly tree, or it may, like Harris, Harry's son, be a patronymic.
Hooksett. Saet, in Saxon words, means dwellers or inhabi- tants ; if hook is also Saxon, Hooksett would mean the dwellers at the bend or bow in the river. Hock also means high. Hock- cliff is high cliff.
Hopkinton. Hob is an abbreviation of Robert; and kin or kins means children; Hobkins or Hopkins denotes the sons of Robert ; and Hopkinton is the town of the children of Robert.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Hudson is the son of Hod or Roger ; or it may be borrowed from the famous navigator, Henry Hudson.
Jackson is the son of Jack or John.
Jaffrey, or Jeffrey, is probably corrupted from Geoffrey or God- frey, from the German Gott and fried, God's peace.
Jefferson is the son of Jeffers or Jeffrey.
Keen or Kean is the name of a man and means bold, daring or bright. The town is said to have been named in honor of Sir Benjamin Keene, who at the date of the grant was minister from England to Spain.
Kensington, the town of the children of the tribe. Cyn, in Saxon, means tribe, race or kin. King is supposed to be from this root. It was written cyning, or cyng.
Kingston is the town of the king.
Lancaster. Lon or Lune was the name of the English river where there was a Roman station; hence, Lancaster is the camp upon the Lune. Lune is an abbreviation of the Roman Alauna and that is composed of the Celtic words all, white, and avon or afon, water.
Landaff. Llan is Celtic, meaning an enclosure, church-yard and church. Landaff is, therefore, "the Church of David."
Langdon. Don or dun means both hill and water ; hence, from the second definition, the name of the river Don. Lang means long ; Langdon is long hill or town. Dun is also a hill- fortress.
Lebanon is a Bible name and means white. Mount Leb- anon, therefore, is identical in meaning with Mont Blanc.
Lee, legh, and leigh all mean pasture, field or commons.
Lempster is probably an abbreviation of Leominster from the Celtic lleian, a nun, and minster, a monastery ; in this word, a nunnery.
Lincoln is the old Roman Lindum colonia, the colony of Lyn- dum. Lyn means a lake or pool, and dun a hill or town.
Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, transferred to a New Hamp- shire town ; anciently called Olisippo or Ulysippo, from Ulysses, the fabled founder. The true origin is uncertain.
Littleton is little town, a misnomer.
London is said to be formed from lyn, a pool, and dun or don a hill. Taylor says it means " a fortified hill."
Londonderry "speaks to us of the settlement of the desolated city of Derry by the London guilds." Don, as a Celtic affix, means hill, and deru means an oak.
Loudon is said to be from law and don, both meaning hill. It . is of Scotch origin. The etymology is doubtful.
Lyman is of uncertain origin. It may be from lye, a pasture, and man, meaning the man at the pasture.
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HISTORY OF
Lyme from lim, lime or mud.
Lyndeborough, the town of the linden tree.
Manchester, called by the old Britons Maen-ceïnion, the rock of gems ; by the Romans, Mancunium ; by the Saxons, Mancestre. Man is also Celtic for district.
Marlow. Mere is a pool or lake; low, a hill ; the hill by the lake.
Marlborough, the fortified town upon the marl.
Mason, a man's name indicating his trade.
Meredith, a name of Celtic origin, and denotes the roar of the sea.
Merrimack, an Indian word meaning swift-water-place.
Middletown and Milton mean middle-town.
Milan is borrowed from the Italians.
Milford is, the ford at the mill.
Monroe, Celtic Monadh Roe or Mont Roe, from the mountain on the river Roe, in Ireland. The root rea, rhe, or rhin means rapid or flowing.
Mont Vernon. Vernon is a Norman name.
Moultonborough. The first root of Moulton is of uncertain origin.
Nashua, an Indian word, meaning pebbly bottom.
Nashville. Naes is a promontory ; ville is French for a town ; if these words make Nashville, it means the town upon the promontory.
Nelson is the son of Nel, originally the name of a man.
New Boston. Boston is variously derived from Bosa, a bishop of E. Angila, A. D. 669, or from St. Botolph.
Newbury is new town, usually a fortified town.
New Ipswich. Ipswich in England is variously interpreted ; I, from Eba a Saxon queen, and wic or wich, meaning Eba's home; 2, from Gippin, the winding river and wich, meaning the place of the crooked river.
New London, Newmarket, Newport, Newton and Northwood reveal their own etymology.
Northumberland is, in England, land north of the Humber. "The Humber was a Cimbric river ; and Northumberland was called of old, North Cumriland, where the Cymri were driven from the plains before they settled in Wales."
Nottingham is the home of the descendants of Mr. Nott.
Mr. Edmunds, in his history of names of places, says : "The word Snottingham, now disguised as Nottingham, means the home of the children of the excavations, or of the cave dwellers."
When Nottingham included Northwood, the lumbermen dis- tinguished their timber lands by peculiar names. There was a place called by the Indians "Gebeag, a place for eels ;" by the
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
lumbermen "Gebeag Woods." The dense forests to the north- west of Gebeag were called North Woods, hence the name of the town, Northwood.
Orford. Orr or Ore is a river in Scotland ; "or," in Welch, signifies a boundary or border ; Orford is the ford by the bound- ary, or the ford of the river Ore.
Ossipee is an Indian word, which Mr. Potter describes as "the river of pines."
Pelham, either from peele, a tower, or from pool. It may mean tower home, or pool home.
Pembroke. Pem or pen means, in Celtic, a hill ; Pembroke may mean hill-brook.
Piermont is probably of French origin, meaning stone-mount. Pinkham is the home of the pink.
Pittsfield and Pittsburg are derived from Pitt the earl of Chatham. The name may have originated from a foundling ex- posed in a pit.
Plaistow. The first root is doubtful. Plega, Saxon, means a battle ; stow, a place, mansion or town ; perhaps Plaistow means battle-place. One author defines Play-sted and Play- stow, " a place for sports."
Plymouth, the mouth of the Plym, a river in Devonshire, England, so named from plwm, lead, from the color of its waters. "Plymouth was so named by the Pilgrims, in remem- brance of the last English land on which their eyes rested as they passed down the Channel."
Portsmouth, the mouth of the port.
Randolph signifies fair help ; the same as Randulph, from ran, fair, and ulph, help.
Raymond, from rein, pure, and mund, mouth, one of vir- tuous speech.
Richmond is from ric, rich, and mund, mouth, meaning elo- quent.
Rochester, the camp of the Saxon chief, Hrof. It may be formed from roche, French for rock.
Roxbury is the town of rocks. The Roman name of Roch- ester, in England, was Durobriviae.
Rollinsford. Roland, Rollin and Rodland mean counsel for the land. Rollinsford is the ford of the counselor for the land.
Rumney or Romney is Roman island or station by the water. Rye is a bank or shore. This town has an appropriate name. The same is true of Rye in England.
Salem is a Hebrew word meaning peace.
Salisbury, from the Latin "salus" health. The town of health or safety.
Sanbornton is the town of the Sanborns. Sanborn is prob-
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ably composed of the words sand and bourne, a boundary, indi- cating that the progenitor of that family lived near a sand hill. Some authors make the original name Samborne, indicating a different origin of the first syllable.
Sandown is probably sand hill. Down or dune means a grassy hill. Hence the name given to the Southdown sheep.
Sandwich is sand village.
Seabrook needs no definition.
Shelburne may be formed from shel or shal, from the Saxon sceol, shallow, and burn or bourn, a brook.
Somersworth. The Saxon word somer, summer, became the name of a man, like winter and spring, and worth indicated his estate, as worship or worthship was originally the homage due to wealth.
Stark is named for General Stark. The word applied as a Surname means strong.
Stewartstown is the town of Mr. Stewart, who owed his name originally to his occupation.
Stoddard is said to be a corruption of standard. The name was given to the standard-bearer of William the Conqueror, and was written "De La Standard."
Strafford is street-ford.
Stratham is street home.
Sullivan, from the Celtic suil, eye, and ban, fair, meaning the fair-eyed.
Surry from Suth-rice, south kingdom
Sutton is south town, a name of thirty-one places in England.
Sunapee is an Indian name.
Swanzey is probably swan's island.
Tamworth is the estate by the Teme. Tam is Celtic for river, hence the name Teme or Thames.
Temple speaks for itself. It is of Latin origin.
Thornton is the town of thorns.
Troy is borrowed from the classics. There is a Celtic Troy from tre and wy, the town by the river Wye.
Tuftonborough. Tuf is Danish for branch; Tufton became an English surname and borough, was the stronghold of the family.
Unity. The town was called Unity from the happy settlement of the conflicting claims of Hampstead and Kingston to the same tract of land under different grants.
Wakefield is from the Saxon waeg way, and field, meaning the field by the wayside. It may possibly mean watch-field.
Walpole is of doubtful origin, perhaps from wall and pol or pool. The town was named in honor of Sir Robert Walpole, Prime Minister of George I.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE.
Warner is of uncertain origin. It may be a contraction of Warrener, the keeper of a warren.
Warren, a preserve for rabbits. One tradition says that Ben- ning Wentworth gave this name to one of his grants in honor of Admiral Warren of "Louisburg notoriety."
Washington means the town of the meadow creek ; waes is Saxon for water ; one meaning of ing is meadow, and "ton" is town or enclosure. It was the home of the Washingtons in England.
Weare is an enclosed place on a river.
Wentworth may be the estate on the river Went in Northum- berland, or the estate of Wanta, a Saxon chief.
Westmoreland is West-moor-land. The town was named in honor of Lord Westmoreland, a friend of Gov. B. Wentworth.
Whitefield proclaims its own origin.
Wilmot may be a corruption of the French name Guilemot, derived from Guillaume, William, which is Guild-helm or golden helmet.
Wilton from a town in Wiltshire, England.
Winchester. Gwent or Went is the Celtic name of a city of Hampshire. Gwent means bright or lofty, an elevated tract of country ; gwint means wind. If this word enters into Winches- ter, it would mean a windy place. As Gwent was the British name of a district, it would mean Gwent-camp. The town was named in honor of Lord Winchester.
Windham is wind-home. One author makes it a contraction Winmund-ham, the home of Winmund.
Wolfeborough is the stronghold of Mr. Wolf, who borrows his name from a beast of prey. The town was probably named in honor of General Wolfe.
Woodstock is wood-stem. Stoc in Saxon is the main part of the tree. Stoke is a prefix to sixty-five towns in England, and the suffix to many more.
Isles of Shoals. "They are supposed to have been so called," says Mrs. Thaxter, "not because the rugged reefs run out beneath the water in all directions, ready to wreck and destroy, but be- cause of the 'shoaling' or 'schooling' of fish about them, which, in the mackerel and herring seasons, is very remarkable."
NAMES OF COUNTIES.
New Hampshire was divided, in 1771, into five counties. Gov. Wentworth gave the names of his distinguished friends in England to these counties. Each of those names was originally significant of some peculiarities in the home, the person or oc- cupation of the progenitor of the family.
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HISTORY OF
Rockingham means the home of the descendants of Mr. Rock. This last word became the name of some man from his residence near a rock.
Strafford is street-ford-first, the designation of a place, then of the occupant of it.
Hillsborough is the stronghold of Mr. Hill, whose name indi- cates his abode.
Cheshire is cheese division-a name given to a territory long ago celebrated for its cheese.
Grafton is the moated town which gave name to the Duke, Latin, Dux, or leader who had his residence in it, or it may mean earl-town.
Belknap is named from the historian of New Hampshire. His name seems to be compounded of bel, beautiful, and knap, hill.
Carroll, like the town, borrows its name from Charles Carroll of Carrollton. It is an Irish name of uncertain origin. One of the poets mentioned by Ossian is Carril.
Sullivan is named in honor of General Sullivan.
Coös is of Indian origin, and means crooked, which appro- priately describes the channel of the Connecticut, in the north. It was originally a part of Grafton county, and was incorporated in 1805.
Mr. Potter in his history of Manchester gives the following definition of the most important Indian names in New Hamp- shire. Nashua means "the river with a pebbly bottom." Souhe- gan means "worn-out lands." Penacook means "the crooked place." Namoskeak, now written Amoskeag, means "the fish- ing place." Winnepesauky, now spelled Winnipiseogee, means "the beautiful water of the high place." Pequawkett means "the crooked place." Ossipee means "pine river." Swamscott means "the beautiful water place." Winnecowet "the beautiful pine place." Piscataquog means "great deer place." Contoo- cook means "crow place." Suncook means "wildcat place." Pemigewasset means "crooked mountain pine place."
All Indian etymologies, except those given by the aborigines themselves, are quite doubtful.
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