USA > New Jersey > Passaic County > Paterson > History of Paterson and its environs (the silk city); historical- genealogical - biographical > Part 11
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46
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THE ABORIGINES
of the facts and circumstances of the locality is also important, to avoid gross blunders in the interpretation. Many place-names are simply trans- lations of the earlier Dutch or Indian appellations, a fact that is often helpful in getting at their meaning. The fanciful and romantic had little place in aboriginal terminology, which was, indeed, usually exceedingly matter-of- fact in its significations. In the following attempts at interpreting a few Indian names of localities the foregoing principles have been held in mind.
Acquackanonk, Aquenonga, Hockquackanonk, etc .- This name has been a stumbling-block to scriveners ever since the first attempt to reduce it to English spelling. Here are some of the variations, gleaned from the records : 1678-Aquickanucke, Haquicqueenock; 1679-Haquequenunck, Aqueg- nonke, Ackquekenon ; 1680-Hockquekanung; 1682-Aqueyquinunke; 1683 -Aquaninoncke, Hockquecanung ; 1684-Aquaquanuncke; 1685-Aquicka- nunke, Haquequenunck ; 1692-Acquicanunck; 1693-Acquiggenonck, Hockquickanon ; 1694-Hackquikanon; 1696-Aqueckenonge, Achquicke- noungh, Aquachonongue, Achquickenunk, Hacquickenunk; 1698-Aqueck- konunque, Aquoechononque, Achquikanuncque, Achquickenunck; 1706- Acquikanong ; 1707-Hockquackonong, Hockquackanonk ; 1714-Achquege- nonck; 1736-Haghquagenonck; 1737-Acqugkanonk. A Jersey City news- paper condensed this sonorous Indian polysyllable into Quaknic. The first mention of the name, in 1678, applies it to a place "on the Pisawack river ;" namely, the tract now known as Dundee, in the city of Passaic, just below the Dundee dam. In 1679 the name was used to describe a tract of land in Saddle river township, Bergen county ; in the same year it was used to desig- nate the old territory, which included all of Paterson south of the Passaic river, and the city of Passaic. The Dutch name for the neighborhood along the Passaic river at the head of navigation was Slooterdam, a dam with a gate or sluiceway in it. This suggests the meaning of Acquackanonk. It was the custom of the Indians, when shad came up the river, to run a dam of stones across, running from shore to shore at an angle to a converging point, leaving an opening in the middle, in which they placed a rude net of bushes, in which the fish would get entangled. The Indian word ach-quoa-ni-can signifies a bush-net ; taking the first two syllables, adding the connective and euphonic k; hanne, a rapid stream, and the suffix onk, meaning place, we have Ach-quoa-k-han-onk-a place in a rapid stream where fishing is done with a bush-net. Suggesting the above to the late J. Gilmary Shea, LL. D., he proposed as a modification : Acquonan, Achquoanican, a bush-net, they take with a bush-net, and gan unk, the locative "near where," "or in the direction of where." Dr. Daniel G. Brinton, one of the few living scholars profoundly versed in the Indian languages, has kindly favored the writer with this definition : Ekwi, between, below or under; aki, land ; n, euphonic and connective ; onk, locative termination; hence the free rendering would be: "The place where the land is between or under." The interpretation given first above is undoubtedly the correct one.
Assenmaykapuck (1710)-"Land called," near the "Big Rock," in Ber-
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PATERSON AND ITS ENVIRONS
gen county, four or five miles from Paterson. From achsun, stone ; macheu, big ; puck, locative suffix : "place of the Big Rock."
Assenmaykapulig (1709)-"Spring called,"-"the northeastmost head of a spring of the river called Perampseapuss." The word may be incor- rectly written for assenmaykapuck. If applied to a spring, the last two syllables may be from pilhik, clean, pure, and the meaning would be "pure Big Rock spring."
Asacki (1681)-A small tract of land near Lodi.
Big Rock (1709)-A translation of the Indian name, Pammaikaipuka, from pemapuchk, rock ; and macheu, big.
Campgaw-A neighborhood in Bergen county ; meaning uncertain ; per- haps the last syllable is from kaaka, a wild goose; or gawi, a hedgedog. It is not unlikely a personal name (that is, of some Indian) applied to the locality.
Cantaqua (1686)-A personal name applied to a creek flowing into the Hackensack river.
Claverack-Dutch for packquechen, a meadow; a level stretch of land in Acquackanonk township.
Communipaw, Gamoenipa (1643)-A village on the New Jersey shore, opposite New York; perhaps from gamunk, on the other side of the river ; and ip-auge, meaning on the other side of the river.
Crosswicks, Crossweeksung (1709)-House of separation.
Espatingh, or Ispatingh (1650)-A hill ; back of Bergen, or about Union Hill.
Goffle-A Dutch word, properly written Gaffel, the fork; doubtless a translation of the Indian lalchauwiechen, fork of a road. referring to the forking of the two roads at that point-one going toward Pompton, and the other toward Hackensack.
Hackensack-Heckewelder defines it thus: "The stream which dis- charges itself into another, on low level ground; that which unites itself with other water almost imperceptibly." But this is a characteristic of most rivers, and is not peculiar to the Hackensack. A more plausible derivation would be from haki, earth or place; », euphonic and connective ; achgook, snake: a country full of snakes, referring to the most striking feature in the landscape, Snake Hill; or from haki, place; kitschii, great ; achgook, snake: the land of the big snake. The fable that the name is derived from the incident of an unsuccessful attempt to carry "eggs in a sack" is not sustained by any rules of etymology or philology.
Hoboken-Probably from hopoacan, a pipe.
Hohokus-Hokus, fox.
Horseneck-Probably from the Indian achsin or assin, a stone; and aki, place ; a stony place.
Krakeel val-The Dutch name of the Oldham brook, meaning a noisy or quarrelsome stream; doubtless a translation of the Indian name, and either referring to its turbulence, or to some fight that took place on its banks in pre-historic days
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THE ABORIGINES
Kinderkimack (1686)-In Essex county ; meaning unknown.
Maa eway ( 1709)-An Indian field so called, in the Ramapo valley, now known as Mahwah, literally, "a festival place," where the Indians (moze) ate.
Macopin (properly Macopan)-From macopanackhan, place where pumpkins grow.
Maggagtayak (Magahktyake, Mawaytawekgke), 1710-An Indian field so called, on the west side of Pasqueck river.
Mainating (1710)-A little red hill or mountain in the Ramapo valley. Mangcum (1709)-A river tributary to the Pequannock.
Maracksi ( 1734)-A large pond, now called Iron Works pond, north of Pompton, back of Federal Hill.
Menchenicke (1678)-The island in the Passaic river below the Slooter- dam (now Dundee dam) ; from menach'hen, island ; and och or aki, locative suffix : island. or island place.
Moonachie-A neighborhood in Bergen county near the Hackensack meadows; from monachgeu, ground-hog ; or munhacke, badger.
Narashunk (1710)-A tributary of the Ramapo.
Pamaraquemq (1709)-A tributary of the Pequannock.
Pamrapo, Pemmerpough (1731)-Probably from pemapuchk, big rock.
Parampseapus (1710)-Or Perampseapuss, an Indian name for Saddle river ; perhaps from ploeu, by a permutation of consonants changed into perocu, a turkey ; and amatschipuis, a buzzard or turkey buzzard. There is a local tradition that the name Paramus, sometimes pronounced Perrymus, means "place of wild turkeys." The termination seapus or sipus means river, so that the word appears to mean "turkey river."
Parhamus (1740), Paramus-Near Ridgewood, Bergen county ; doubt- less a contraction from Parampseapus.
Pascack (1740), Pasqueck (1710)-A river in the Ramapo valley ; prob- ably from pachgeechen, where the road forks.
Passaic-Some variations in the spelling of this name are amusing : 1666-Passaic, Passaick; 1676-Pesayak; 1679-Passawack, Pisawick, Pisaick ; 1682-Pasawicke, Passaiack ; 1686-Pissaik; 1695-Passaya ; 1713 -Pasaiack. The Passaic is the largest river in New Jersey. Heckewelder says the word means "valley." But it has always been applied only to the river, not to the land. It is doubtless derived from the root pach, "to split, divide." In New Jersey the gutteral ch was softened into an s, as in Pascack, and other names. The termination ic is probably that of the suppositive form of the verb; hence the meaning is : "where it divides," referring, most likely, to the separation from the Hackensack. It is possible that it refers to the split or chasm in the rocks at the Falls ; but the root pach is most generally applied in Algonkin dialects to the forks or branches of streams.
Peckamin-A river in Little Falls township, flowing into the Passaic a mile or two above Paterson. It is sometimes written Peckman's river. The name is Indian, from pakihm, or pakihmin, cranberries, indicating that those berries once grew in the lowlands overflowed by this variable stream. The
P-6
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PATERSON AND ITS ENVIRONS
termination min appears in many geographical names ; it means any kind of small fruit.
Pequannock (Peaquaneek, 1709; Pagquanick, Pequanac, Packanack, etc.)-A name first applied, in 1695, to some Indians, and in 1709 to a river, a tributary of the Passaic. It was very early used to designate the Pomp- ton Plains. It is from pauqu'un-auke, land made clear for cultivation. There are several places of this name in Connecticut. "The name occurs, curiously disguised, in Tippecanoe (Ky. and Ind.), which is a corrupted abbreviation of kehti-paquonunk, 'at the great clearing,' the site of the Indian town on the Wabash river."
Pompton-Heckewelder defines it: Pihmton, crooked mouthed, for which there is no basis. The Delaware for oblique is pimeu; pihm is to sweat. The name may be personal, not geographical; if the latter, it not unlikely refers to the fact that there was a natural reef which formed an open or wide space (pohque, clear, open), where Pompton Lake now is. The meaning is not at all clear.
Preakness (Parikenis, 1751)-A name applied to the Second Mountain, and to the valley west of that mountain. Toward Little Falls, this mountain was called by the Dutch, early in the last century, the Harteberg, or Deer mountain, which may be the meaning of the Indian name, from pilhik, clean, pure ; or pilsit, chaste, and awelemukunees, a young buck; or a combination of pil, changed into Pir or Per, and ukunees-Per-ukunees, Preakness, a young buck. It is quite possible that some of these Indian names were given to places or localities by an earlier race than the Lenâpe, which would readily account for the difficulty of interpreting them by the dictionaries or vocabu- laries of the latter's language.
Rahway-A river separating the townships of Rahway and Wood- bridge ; usually written Rawack or Rahwack in the earliest records ; possibly from the Algonkin nawakwa, in the middle of the forest.
Raikghawaik (1709)-"A small creek," apparently in the Saddle River valley.
Ramapo-One of the three rivers uniting at Pompton to form the Pomp- ton river, a tributary of the Passaic. Heckewelder suggests its derivation from Wulomopeck, round pond or lake; or from lomowopek, white on the inside. The earliest record of the name (1710) gives it as Remopuck; it was also written Romopuck, Ramopuck and Ramapock, from which it has been gradually softened into the musical Ramapo. There was a sub-tribe of Indians at or near Ridgefield, Connecticut, who called themselves the Rama- poos, and who sold their lands in 1708, wandering forth no one knows whither. The termination pock is most probably from the suffix -paug, pond or lake. The first two syllables may be, as Heckewelder suggests, from wulum (by a permutation of consonants pronounced Rum or Rom), round ; or possibly from the Algonkin root nom, oil or grease, giving the meaning round pond, or oily pond. The simplest interpretation is that it came from Lamo-pog, where water flows down.
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THE ABORIGINES
Rockaway-One of the principal tributaries of the Passaic river. The meaning is obscure.
Saddle River-A tributary of the Passaic, into which it flows a short distance below Slooter-dam. A deed in 1671 speaks of "Warepeake, a run of water so called by the Indians but the right name is Perakanes by the Eng- 'ish Sadle river." Here is a curious bit of light on the differences among the aborigines themselves as to the correct appellation of their own streams. The different names may have been given to different parts of the river. In 1682 it was referred to, in a deed, as "Sadler's brook ;" in 1685, as "Sadler's or Saddle river." Warepeak is probably from wulit, smooth, pleasant; and pe-nuke, water-land, water-place: a pleasant, smooth stream, or fine land watered by a stream. A tract on the Hackensack river, above New Barba- does, was called Warepeek in 1671. An explanation of the kind that is invented to fit the facts, would have us believe that the name Saddle River was given to the ancient township of that name, stretching along the eastern and northern shores of the Passaic, from Garfield to Little Falls, because the township had much the shape of a saddle. Unfortunately for this explana- tion, the name was applied to the river for a century before the township had any existence.
Secaucus-Tract of land on Hackensack meadows, including Snake Hill; it has been very plausibly conjectured that the name means "place of snakes," but it is not easy to get any such derivation from the Lenâpe dia- lects. In the earliest records it is written Sikakes, which appears to be the diminutive form of the word. It might be derived from the Algonkin root sek, fright; and -aki, land or place-a land of terror, on account of the numerous snakes ; or from kitchi, great, and achgook, snake-the land of the Big Snake. The Dutch called it Slangenberg, Snake Hill.
Sicomac-A neighborhood in Bergen county. As a component of local names, the Delaware kamik or kamike means generally an enclosure, natural or artificial. In New England it usually takes the form -komuk, -commuc. The first syllable is probably a contraction of kitchi, great, and the meaning is "a large enclosed place." Local tradition says it was a burying ground. When the Indians sold that region, they expressly reserved Schickamack- with a characteristic regard for the graves of their ancestors. There was an Indian burying ground (Tauwundin) on the west bank of the Passaic river, near President street, in the city of Passaic. The writer has been informed by ex-Judge Henry P. Simmons, of that city, that about 1830 the field was full of indentations, showing where the Indians had been buried, in a sitting posture. Many relics were exhumed from these graves. The aborigines were wont, for many years after they had left these parts, to return with the remains of some distinguished member of their tribe to lay them beside the bones of his fathers. There was a place called Shekomeko, in New York, near the borders of Connecticut, where was an Indian burying ground, evi- dently giving its name to the locality.
Singack-A neighborhood about five miles southwest of Paterson; it is commonly called by the old people. "The Singack." The name is from
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PATERSON AND ITS ENVIRONS
schinghacki, a flat country, whence is derived schingask, a boggy meadow. The name given to this neighborhood describes it accurately ; it is a flat coun- try, along the Passaic river, and is frequently overflowed in times of freshet. A tributary of the Passaic in the same neighborhood was referred to, in a deed in 1696, as "Spring brook, called by the Indians Singanck."
Slank-A name applied in the neighborhood of Paterson to a small body of water setting back like a bay along the shores of a river. It is doubtless of Indian origin, from sihilleu, the freshet abates, the river subsides ; hannek, a flowing river, whence sihilleu-hannek, contracted into slank-the back- water from a freshet, and in time applied as above stated to a permanent body of water forming a bay or gulf along the shores of a river.
Slinker Val-Mentioned in a deed in 1696, as the "Slinker fall brook," a tributary of the Passaic near Third river. The name is Dutch de slinker val, the left (-hand) brook.
Succasunna-A locality in Morris county famous for the iron ore mined there since 1715. This fact suggests the origin of the name, from sukeu, black ; achsun, softened into assin or assun, stone; and ink or unk, locative suffix : suk-assun-ink, the place where the black stone is found. The Indian word for iron is sukachsin, black stone.
Totowa (written also Totua, Totohaw, Totowaw, Totaway, etc.)-The name of a tract of land extending from Clinton street, Paterson, southwest- erly to the line of Little Falls township, and from the Passaic river westerly to the base of the Preakness mountain. The word is pronounced Tow- tow-ah, with the accent on the first syllable. Heckewelder applies the name to the Passaic Falls, which are embraced in the tract, and derives the name from "Totauwei, to sink, dive, going under water by pressure, or forced under by weight of the water." As in so many other of Heckewelder's con- jectural interpretations, his definition is not rightly applied. Totowa is a tract of several thousand acres of land, and the Falls were not called by that name until seventy years after the purchase of the land by the whites. The Delaware word for a water-fall is sokpehellak (cataract), or sookpehelleu, the water tumbles down from a precipice ; for a large or great fall, kschup- pehella gahenna. Clearly, the name does not describe the Falls. In a note to the writer Dr. Brinton says the name "appears to be certainly the Dela- ware tetauwi. it is between." This correctly describes the tract. It is be- tween the river and the mountain. Moreover, it may have been regarded as neutral ground, between the Hackensacks and the Pomptons. It is with diffidence that the author ventures to suggest another interpretation. The savage dweller in the ancient wilderness about the Falls was above all things superstitious. He lived in a state of double consciousness, as it were, and to his untutored mind it was difficult in the extreme to distinguish between the real and the unreal. What wonder if as he gazed upon that mighty cataract hurling itself with resistless force and with unceasing, bewildering motion down through those black rocks, split asunder for its passage; what wonder, we say, if his fancy, ever on the alert to perceive supernatural influence, should conjecture that here dwelt a mighty spirit, the very symbol of energy
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THE ABORIGINES
-of the power to do-expressed by the Algonkin root -twa or -to; or the Cree totawere, having almost precisely the pronunciation of our own Totowa? The Indian never dreamed of harnessing that mighty energy, and compell- ing it to do his bidding. He left it to the white man to accomplish that feat. Henry P. Simmons, of Passaic, who was born in 1815, said that he always heard the "old people" say that the Hackensack Indians owned the country known as Acquackanonk, and that the Pomptons owned the land north and west of the Passaic river, at Paterson. This tradition is corroborated by the deeds which have been cited.
Tuxedo-Atuksitok, place where there are deer.
Wanaque-A river and a valley-a very beautiful one, too-in Passaic county, about thirteen miles northwest of Paterson. The word is pro- nounced, and until within a few years was always written, Wynockie, which doubtless approximates to the sound of the Indian word. Wanaque is per- haps more musical, and looks more pleasing to the eye. The name occurs in that form in osme of the earliest deeds. An obvious derivation would seem to be from winak, sassafras, from the root won or win, expressive of a pleasurable sensation, the leaves of the sassafras being sweet ; and -aki, place, land: the sassafras place. A more poetic derivation would be from the Algonkin root Wanki, peace, repose.
Wagara-The name of a small stream east of Paterson, flowing into the Passaic river, near the Wagara or River street bridge. The word is pro- nounced by the old Dutch people Wagharagh, accent on the first syllable. The name may refer to the location of the neighboring land, as being of the Passaic river-from woakeu, crooked or bent; and -aki, land, place: the country at the bend of the river. The territory on the opposite side of the Passaic was called by the earliest Dutch settlers De Bogt, the Bend, which may have been suggested by the Indian Wagara. This is one of the most pleasing of our place-names, and by all means should be preserved.
Watchung (1677)-Wesel, Garret or First Mountain ; from wachtschu or wadchu, hill, mountain ; and the locative suffix unk, place where : mountain place. In the Minisink dialect wachunk signifies high.
Watsessing-The Indian name for the country about Bloomfield, is from the same root wadchu, hill ; achsun, assin, stone, and the locative suffix ink or unk a stony hill. There is a whimsical local tradition that the name indicates that the place was formerly the seat of the Ward family; this has been invented to explain the early name, Ward sesson, which is simply a cor- ruption of the aboriginal appellation.
Wequahick-The creek between Newark and Elizabeth ; from ekwi, be- tween, Wiquajek, at the end, or at the head of a creek or run. The English name is Bound Creek, evidently a translation of the Indian.
Wieramius (1740)-A tract in Bergen county ; usually pronounced Weary-mus. The meaning is not clear.
Winbeam-The name of a mountain overlooking the Wanaque valley. In some of the old deeds it is written Wimbemus, which would suggest a
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PATERSON AND ITS ENVIRONS
derivation from wimb, heart of a tree; - bi, tree; moschiwi, bare, open: a solitary tree on a bleak mountain top.
Winocksark (1686)-A brook running into Saddle river. Not unlikely from the same origin as Wanaque.
Yanticawe; also written Yauntakah (1677), Yantico, etc .- The Indian name of Third river, flowing into the Passaic and forming the southern boundary of Acquackanonk township. Dr. Trumbull suggests as the mean- ing of the name Yantic, in Connecticut, a derivation from yaen-tuk, extending to the tidal-river, which would correctly describe the Yanticaw. Possibly the name is a corruption of kintekaey, the Indian ceremonial dance, which may have been celebrated habitually in some secluded vale along that charm- ing stream. An Indian Chief of the Hackensack tribe, called Cantaqua or Tantaqua, and after whom a tributary of the Hackensack was called Can- taqua's creek, may have given his name to this river also.
Yawpare-A locality in Bergen county, a few miles from Paterson ; probably named from the Minisink sachem Iaoapogh, of whom mention has been made. A definition suggested by Dr. Trumbull for a somewhat similar name (Yaubucks) seems applicable here-yawi-pogs, on one side of the small pond.
This attempt to give life to the Indian names about us, by interpreting their meaning, so that they may be to us something more than mere words, is attended with obvious difficulties. The suggestions here made may stimu- late others to further and more successful efforts, which shall tend to illus- trate the truth of the Homeric saying: "Words are winged, and will soon fly away unless fastened down with the weight of meaning."
THE EARLY WHITE SETTLERS. CHAPTER I.
The settling of Acquackanonk-Some early transfers of real estate-An excursion to the Great Falls by two missionaries-Copy of a cele- brated patent-The first map of Paterson-An interesting old deed. Quaint receipts for quit-rents.
Ghy arme, die niet wel kond aen u noodruft raken : Gy rijke, die't geluck in 't voor-hoofd soecken wild : Verkiest Nieuw-neder-land ('t sal niemand billik laken) Eer gy u tijd en macht, hier vruchteloos verspild. Hier moet gy and'ren, om u dienstb'ren arbeyd troonen, Daer komt een gulle grond, u werck met woecker loonen.
Ye poor, who know not how your living to obtain; You affluent, who seek in mind to be content ; Choose you New Netherland (which no one shall disdain),
Before your time and strength here fruitlessly are spent.
There have you other ends, your labor to incite ;
Your work, will gen'rous soils, with usury, requite.
Door-aderd, met veel killen : die het Land, En't Bosch verfrisschen.
Die van't gebergt, en heuvels neder-vlien : En't Molen-werk, bequame plaatsen bien Op'd oevers van u stromen. Waard te sien : Gepropt met Visschen. En Prik, en Aal, en Sonne-vis, en Baars :
Die (blanken geel) u Taaff'len als wat raars)
Vercieren kan : ook Elft, en Twalft niet schaars, Maar overvloedig.
And streams, like arteries, all veined o'er, The woods refreshing ;
And rolling down from mountains and the hills, Afford, upon their banks, fit sites for mills,
And furnish, what the heart with transport fills, The finest fishing. The lamprey, eel and sunfish, and the white And yellow perch, which grace your covers dight; And shad and striped bass, not scarce, but quite Innumerable.
With such "spurring verses" as these, found in "Anthology of New Netherland, or Translations from the Early Dutch Poets," by Henry C. Mur- phy, did Jacob Steendam, the first poet in the New Netherlands, depict in glowing colors the charms of the New World, for the benefit of his fellow- citizens in Holland, anxious to better their condition. The former verse is part of a poem written in 1662; the other is of earlier date. The Indian war of 1655 was the final test of strength between the whites and the red men in the neighborhood of New York. Thereafter, the planting of new settlements went on apace, and immigration from the mother country poured into the land which the enthusiastic Steendam in a most exalted fit of inspiration declared to be
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