USA > New York > Warren County > Queensbury > A history of the town of Queensbury, in the state of New York : with biographical sketches of many of its distinguished men, and some account of the aborigines of northern New York > Part 3
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53
Sampson, a few years later (about the year 1814), obtained a ยท local notoriety for killing a panther with a fishing spear, off Grassy point in the town of Bolton. It was at the time of the
20
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
breaking up of the ice in the spring. The animal, in a half starved, half frozen condition, had floated near to the point, on a cake of ice, and in endeavoring to escape to the land, became entangled in the branches of an old tree top that had fallen partly in the lake. Sampson caught sight of the chilled and struggling brute, and seizing his fishing spear, the first weapon at hand, he ran down to the shore, and making his way out on the trunk of the tree, succeeded in thrusting the animal's head under water, and keeping it there, until it was drowned. The skin was carefully removed, stuffed, and for years afterwards graced the show rooms of the Albany Museum.
I am indebted to the Rev. Courtney Smith, formerly of War- rensburgh, for the following reminiscence of Father Paul. "I remember Paul, but my memory goes back to its extremest . limit to authenticate his image. I must have been a wee bit of a boy, but on some public occasion, I have no idea what, which drew the public together, at the public house kept where the Mohican House is now kept, I seem to have been permitted to be there with my father or older brothers. While there, as I remember distinctly, a canoe came in from the lake, with a single man in it of medium height, somewhat stoutly built, and with the black hair and copper complexion of an Indian. He landed and walked up the bank with much deliberation and gravity of manner. It was the Indian preacher Paul, so I heard it remarked, and I deemed myself most fortunate in having seen him. X * He had acquired a respectable education in some New England institution, I am much inclined to think it was in Connecticut, and was regularly licensed to preach. How, or when he found his way into the Bolton set- tlement I cannot say, but at a very early period he came among those few families in the wilderness. They were many of them from New England, with all the New England appreciation of the gospel, and its institutions. As yet they were without a minister, and Paul coming with the requisite credentials, was invited to address them on the Sabbath, on the theme of reli- gion. He did so, and they were edified. He assisted them in burying their dead, and consoled them in their afflictions, and became much respected. But alas! The appetite which cha- racterizes his race ruined him. By an occasional indulgence in drink his appetite became fatally masterful. The fire-water burnt out his self respect, and he went down to the degradation
21
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PAUL FAMILY.
of the drunkard. Of course the people discarded him as a pub- lic teacher, and poor Paul disappeared from the scene." In a memorial commemorating a funeral among the early settlers, the Rev. Reuben Smith wrote concerning him. "The dread- ful habit increased, and at length our good deacons were obliged to tell him that it would not be for edification that he should offi- ciate in public any longer. He wept, tried reformation several times, fell again and again, and at length seemed to give up the attempt. He still clove to religion, however, in some sort, and even tried to preach in another connection." This was the Baptist Society, which, through the ministrations of Elder Bates, elsewhere alluded to, had attained a substantial and pro- sperous footing in the north part of this town. Father Paul officiated in a desultory sort of way, for several years, sinning an'd repenting, attempting reform and falling again, as many an one has done before him. On one occasion (my informant is Mr. Ralph S. Stebbins of Caldwell); "he made one of the most humble confessions ever heard out of the mouth of any human being. It was before his church brethren, and to use his own words, 'his bosom was literally drenched with tears.' A vote of forgiveness was unanimously given." At length, besotted with this vice, he abandoned his sacred calling, and gave himself up to the thraldom of his appetite. After dragging along a miserable existence for some years in his hut on Frenchman's point on the shore of the lake, about the year 1816 he revisited with his wife, the scenes of his childhood and youth in Connecticut. On his return, he coasted leisurely along in his canoe, through Long Island sound, and up the Hudson as far as Kingston point, near Rondout, where he was taken sick and after a brief illness, died and was buried. It is sup- posed that his wife returned to her friends in Connecticut. It is estimated that he was about seventy years old at the time of his death.
Sampson was married to a young and very pretty white girl of Whitehall. As the story goes, she was crossed in her affec- tions in some way, and in a paroxysm of anger, declared that she " would marry the first man that asked her even if he was a negro." The speech came to Sampson's hearing, and before her temper had opportunity to take counsel of her judgment, he proposed, and she took the irrevocable step, which alienated her for life from her kindred and race. Two sons and one
22
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
daughter named Christiana, were the fruit of this union. The latter was married to an Indian named Jaqua (called Jakeway) ; and is believed to be now living among the wilds of Putnam or Dresden on the east side of Lake George, opposite Sabbath Day point.
Sampson died of inflammation of the lungs, at his cabin on the north bank of Smith brook in the north part of Cald- well, and was buried in a ground on the Harris farm, now belonging to Judge Edmonds in Bolton.
Phebe married a man by the name of Wales, and, as their daughter and only child was taken care of, and brought up by the grandparents, it is assumed that the child's mother must have died during its infancy.
James, while in a state of semi-intoxication was brutally drowned by a gang of rustic ruffians in McDonald's, since Gar- field's bay, Lake George. It was on a town meeting day, and the waters of the lake were chill; under some pretext he was inveigled into the lake, or pushed in, and as he endeavored to grasp the only boat at hand, these human brutes would push it beyond his reach, until he was exhausted, and with Indian stoicism, he folded his arms and sunk to rise no more. The question of homicide was investigated by a grand jury, but no indictment was presented .- Hon. William Hay.
Benoni was a soldier in the regular army, in the war of 1812- 15, and died while in the service. Jonathan or Daunt as he was called, and Henry died at our county poor house.
This completes the family record, so far as I have been able to trace it. This brief narrative, being chiefly a compilation from conflicting accounts, preserved in family traditions, or the memory of the oldest inhabitant, is doubtless faulty in many particulars. Faulty and imperfect as it may be, it is probably all that will be gathered concerning the last resident Indian family of this town. For a principal portion of the facts herein recorded I am indebted to the late Judge Hay of Saratoga Springs, and Mr. Ralph Stebbins of Caldwell.
.
. .
VOCABULARY OF INDIAN NAMES.
PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
HE wilderness and lake region of Northern New York, was the common hunting ground for various tribes, where, during the unknown centuries preceding the discovery of the New World, divergent nationalities redressed their grievances and wrought out their forest feuds to their bitter end.
It therefore naturally followed that the more important and often visited localities, would be honored by two or more names, having varying significations according to the accidents and events, often of a transitory character, from which they were derived.
The corruptions and changes which the Indian terminology has undergone in its transitions through the not over grammatical speech of Dutch, French and Yankee traders and adventurers, have contributed largely to impede the labors of the ethnolo- gist, and added difficulties in the way of reaching just conclu- sions as to the derivation and meaning of words.
To harmonize and systematize this nomenclature has been utterly impossible, and therefore in each case authorities and references have been given, leaving the reader to his own in- ferences, and devolving upon the originals the responsibility of errors and mistakes. Where two or more authorities have differed, I have usually taken those nearest the sources from which the names were derived.
Until within a comparatively recent period, there were two noted Indians of the St. Francis tribe, who had their homes and hunting grounds in the great Adirondack wilderness. Their . names were Sabele and Sabattis, and over a quarter of a century ago, they were severally reputed to be upwards of a hundred years old, both hale, and with wonderful memories of the past. From them years ago were obtained a portion of the names in-
24
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
cluded in the following list, which with two exceptions are now given to the public for the first time. In the few instances where exact references are not given, the memoranda have been mislaid.
ABENAKIS, A name according to Drake signifying " Men of the East," ABENAKIES. and originally or formerly applied to all the tribes on the coast of the continent, but afterwards restricted to the Aborigines inhabiting Nova Scotia, the territory embraced in the present state of Maine, and a part of Canada .- Early Jesuit Missions by Rt. Rev. Wm. 1. Kip. According to Schoolcraft the name signifies " the east land, or place of light." The St. Francis Indians who occupied so conspicuous a place in our border annals during the old French war, were an offshoot or colony of this tribe. Sabele and Sabattis, some of whose descendants are still living in the northern wilderness, were also of this clan or sub-tribe.
ADAGEGTINGE, A brook in Davenport, Delaware Co., N. Y., one of the
ADAGUGHTINGAG. ) tributaries of the Susquehanna .- Calendar of N. Y. Land Papers, pp. 490, 497.
ADIQUITANGE. A branch of the Susquehanna river in Kortright, Dela- ware County, N. Y. (probably the same stream named above) .- Calendar of N. Y. Land Papers, p. 487.
ADIRONDACK. Tree Eaters. A name given in derision to the Algonquins by the Iroquois .- See Colonial Hist. N. Y., vol. IV, p. 899.
ADIRONDACK. A once powerful tribe of Indians of this name dwelt along the Canada shore of the St. Lawrence river. According to School- craft the name signifies "Bark-Eaters." It was a detachment of this tribe, headed by two distinguished chiefs Yroquet and Ochasteguin, that accompanied Samuel Champlain in his first voyage of discovery through the lake that bears his name, and fought a battle with a party of Iroquois on the headland at Ticon- deroga.
AGANUSCHION. " Black mountain range, as the Indians called this Adi- rondac group."- Lossing's Hudson, etc. Vide Aquanuschioni.
AGIOGOCHOOK. The White mountains of New Hampshire, of which the English name is a literal translation.
ALLNAPOOKNAPUS. Indian lake in the northern wilderness .- Sabele.
ANDIATOROCTE. The place where the lake contracts. A name applied to Lake George .- Dr. O' Callaghan's New Netherland.
AONEO. An island. Onondaga. A term applied by that clan to the whole western continent, which their traditions state was expanded from the shell of a tortoise .- Schoolcraft's Notes, p. 61.
25
VOCABULARY OF INDIAN NAMES.
AONTAGILBAN. A creek which empties into Fish creek, Saratoga county. Taken from " map No. 221, of the late Fish creek reservation in 1706."- Sec. of State's office.
APALACHIAN. Endless mountains .- O' Callaghan, Doc. Hist. N. Y., II, 702. This is the true Indian name of the great Alleghany range. AQUANUSCHIONI. The united people. A name by which the Iroquois designated themselves .- Drake's Book of the Indians, v, 4.
AREYUNA. Green rocks. Tupper's lake .- C. F. Hoffman. Vigil of Faith. ASTORENGA. The name of the hills at Little Falls .- Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois, 78.
ATALAPOSE. A sliding place. Roger's rock on Lake George. The In- dians have a singular superstition, that the witches or evil spirits haunt this place, and seizing upon the spirits of bad Indians, on their way to the happy hunting grounds, slide down the precipitous cliff with them into the lake where they are drowned .- Sabattis. ATATEA. (See Cohatatea). A river. The upper Hudson .- Charles Fenno Hoffman.
ATTIGOUANTON. Lake Huron .- Murray's British America, I, 150. BONTOOKEESE. Little Falls at Luzerne on the Hudson .- Sabele.
CAHOHATATEA. Iroquois. The North or Hudson river .- Dr. Mitchill, quoted in Annals of Albany, II, 233.
CANADA. From Kanata, a village .- Dr. F. B. Hough. Josselyn, an early colonial writer, derives this from Can, mouth, and Ada, country .- Drake's Book of the Indians, I, 23.
CANARAGE. The St. Lawrence river .- Macauley's Hist. N. Y., 1, 98. CANASHAGALA. An Indian name of a clearing on a south branch of Moose
river near Moose lake in Hamilton Co., N. Y .- Simms's Trappers, 188.
CANIADERI GUARUNTE. A name applied to Lake Champlain. The door or gate of the country. See Canada .- T. Pownal's Map and To- pographical Description.
CANIADERI OIT. The tail of the lake i. e., of Lake Champlain .- Ibid. Also Spafford's Gazetteer, p. 200.
CANKUSKEE. North-West bay on Lake George. So named on a Map of the Middle British Provinces, London, 1776. See Ganaouske.
CANNEOGAHAKALONONITADE. The Mohawk river .- Dr. Mitchill, Annals of Albany, II, 233.
CANNIUSKUTTY. A creek. A tributary of the Delaware river .- Calendar of N. Y. Land Papers, p. 501.
CATARAKOUI. Iroquois. Great or big lake (vide Cataraqui) .- Colonial Hist. of N. Y., vol. x, p. 503.
CATARAQUI. The St. Lawrence river, signifying a fort in the water. Dr. Hough states that Cataroqui, is the ancient name of Kingston, a bank of clay rising out of the waters .- Hist. St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, 181.
4
26
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
CAUGHNAWAGA. Cook the kettle .- Doc. Hist. of N. Y., III, 1108. The name of one of the Mohawk villages, and afterwards applied to a colony or tribe of praying Indians, converts from the Iroquois. Gallatin in his synopsis supposes it to be derived from Coughnuh- woh her leh, a Mohawk word signifying rapids.
CAYWANOOT. Isola Bella. The residence of the late Col. Ireland in Schroon lake .- Lossing's Hudson, 52.
CHATIEMAC. The stately swan. One of the names of the Hudson .- Schoolcraft, The Indian in his Wigwam, 122.
CHEONDEROGA. Signifying three rivers, one of the many names of Ticon- deroga. From a map by T. Pownal, M. P., Lond., 1776.
CHEPONTUC. A difficult place to climb or get around. An Indian name of Glen's Falls .- Sabattis.
CHICOPEE. A large spring. An Indian name of Saratoga Springs .- Sabattis.
CHOUENDABOWA. Clifton Park, Saratoga Co., N. Y .- Catalogue of Maps in State Library, p. 205.
COHATATEAH. Another Indian name of the Hudson .- A. B. Street. COHETABA. Iroquois name of the Hudson .- Gordon's Gazetteer of N. Y. COHOES. From Cahoos, a canoe falling .- Brant. Spafford's Gazetteer
of N. Y., p. 170. Morgan in his League of the Iroquois, has it Gahahoose.
CONGAMMUCK. The lower Saranac lake .- Sabattis.
CONNESTIGUNE. Hence Niskayuna. A field covered with corn .- Gor- don's Gazetteer.
CONNUGHHARIEGUGHHARIE. A great multitude gathered together, Mo- hawk name for Schenectady .- Stone's Life of Red Jacket, p. 5. Coos or COWHASS. The white pine .- Dr. Fitch. Applied to a region of country in the northern part of New Hampshire, sometimes named as the upper and lower Coos or pine regions.
CORLAR. Lake Champlain was known to the Dutch by this name, and also as the lake of the Iroquois.
COSSAYUNA. The lake at our pines. Indian name of a sheet of water in Argyle, N. Y .- Vide Dr. Fitch's Hist. Survey of Washington County, in Trans. N. Y. S. Agricultural Soc. for 1849.
COUCHSACHRAGA. The great dismal wilderness. An Indian term applied to the still wild and unsettled region north of the Mohawk, and west of Lakes Champlain and George .- Pownal's Topographical Description.
COUXSACHRAGA. "Their hunting grounds (i. e. the Iroquois), are first Coxsachraga, a triangle lying on the south-east side of Canada, or St. Lawrence river, bounded eastward by Saragtoga, and the drowned lands ; northward by a line from Regiochue point (on Lake Champlain, or as the Indians call it; Caniaderiguarunte, the
27
VOCABULARY OF INDIAN NAMES.
lake that is the gate of the country), through the Cloven rock on the same lake to Oswegatchie or la Galette ; south-westward by the dwelling land of the Mohawks, Oneidas and Tuscaroras."- Pownal on Colonies, vol. I, p. 267, Lond., 1774.
DIONONDEHOWA. The lower falls on the Battenkill river near and above the devil's caldron, Galesville, N. Y .- Dr. Fitch's Hist. Survey of Washington County. Also see Calendar of Land Titles, p. 204. ERIE. " The Agoneaseah (Iroquois), anciently called this Lake Kan-ha- gwa-rah-ka, i. e., a cap, and latterly Erie, Erige, or Erike, which, according to Hennepin signifies Cats-eye."- Macauley's Hist. N. Y. vol. I, p. 119. Morse in his large Geography defines it as the lake of the Cats.
GAISHTINIC. The Minci name for Albany .- H. R. Schoolcraft.
GANAOUSKE. North West bay on Lake George .- Colonial Hist. N. Y., vol. x, p. 600. Judging from analogy, this should mean the battle place by the water side.
GA-NA-SA-DA-GA, T. The St. Lawrence river. So named on Morgan's map of the Iroquois .- League of the Iroquois.
GANOONOO. The territory comprised in the state of New York. Dr. Hough, in his History of St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, has it Ka- nono. The word is Iroquois, and is defined elsewhere as meaning the whole state.
GITCH IGOMEE. Big Sea Water. The Algonquin name for Lake Supe- rior .- Schoolcraft's Indian in his Wigwam, p. 303.
GLEN'S FALLS, mentioned on a French map by M. de Levy published at Quebec, 1748, by the name of Chute de Quatrevignt, Pds .- Doc. Hist. N. Y., vol. I, p. 557.
HOCHELAGA. This name was applied by the Algonquins to the site now oc- cupied by Montreal, and also to the St. Lawrence river. Hough' suggests its derivation from Oserake, a beaver dam .- Hist. St. Lawrence and Franklin Counties, p. 181.
HOOSACK. The place of stones, i. e., a rocky or stony region .- Rutten- ber's Indian Tribes, p. 376. It has also been defined as a basin or kettle. Indian tradition states that the last naked bear was killed at this point.
HOUSATONIC. A Mohegan compound, probably signifying the valley of the stream beyond the mountain .- H. R. Schoolcraft.
HOUTKILL. Dutch name of Wood creek .- Doc. Hist. of N. Y., vol. II, p. 300.
HUNCKSOOCK. The place where everybody fights. A name given by the nomadic Indians of the north to the upper falls on the outlet of Lake George .- Sabattis.
HURON. A French appellation bestowed upon the lake bearing this name and also to the tribe of Wyandots living on its banks .- Schoolcraft.
28
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
INCAPAHCHO. Lindenmere or the lake of basswoods. The Indian name of Long lake .- The Vigil of Faith by C. F. Hoffman.
IROCOSIA. The land of the Iroquois. Northern New York. This term frequently recurs on the older maps and charts of the state.
IRONDEQUOIT. Derived from a Mohawk term signifying an opening into or from a lake .- Colonial History N. Y., vol. Ix, p. 261.
KAHCHEBONCOOK. The Big Falls on the Hudson, known as Jessup's falls .- Sabele.
KAHCHOQUAHNA. The place where they dip fish. An Indian term ap- plied to the head of Lake Champlain, the site of the present vil- lage of Whitehall .- Gordon's Gazetteer N. Y., p. 758.
KANIADAROSSERAS. Hence Kayaderosseras, the lake country .- Colonial Hist. N. Y., vol. VII, p. 436.
KASKONGSHADI. Broken water, a swift rapid on the Opalescent river .- Lossing's Hudson, p. 33.
KAYADEROGA. A name of Saratoga lake .- Butler's Lake George, etc. KAYADEROSSERAS. A name applied to a large patent or land grant, a stream and a range of mountains in Saratoga county, N. Y. In the Calendar of N. Y. Land Papers, it is variously written Caniader- osseros, Caneaderosseras, Kanyaderossaros, Cayaderosseras. In a letter to the author from the late Judge Hay, he says " Geo. G. Scott informs me that his father always stated that Kayader- osseras being interpreted meant the crooked stream, which de- scribes it."
KENNYETTO. The Indian name of the little Sacandaga or Vlaie creek, a tributary of the Sacandaga .- Simms's Trappers of New York.
KILLOQUAH. Rayed like the sun. Racket lake. From the Mohawk. Vigil of Faith by C. F. Hoffman.
KINGIAQUAHTONEC. A portage of a stone's throw or two in length be- tween Wood creek and Fort Edward creek, near Moss street in Kingsbury .- Evans's Analysis, p. 19.
KITCHIGAMMINK. Great lake .- Gallatin's Synopsis. See Gitch-Igomee. MAHAKANEGHTUC. The Mohegan name of the Hudson .- Dr. Mitchill, quoted in Munsell's Annals of Albany, vol. II, p. 233. The name is given by numerous authorities with many varieties of spelling. MAIS TCHUSEAG. Massachusetts ? "The country on this side of the hills."- T. Pownal's Top. Descrip. N. America, Lond., 1776.
MAMMACOTTA. Dividing the waters, hence Mamacating in Sullivan county .- Gordon's Gazetteer N. Y., p. 719.
MASSACHUSETT. A hill in the form of an arrow-head .- John Cotton as quoted in Drake's Book of the Indians.
MASTAQUA. The largest or longest river. A name applied to the Racket river .- Sabatti's.
29
VOCABULARY OF INDIAN NAMES.
MATTEAWAN. Derived from Metai, a magician or medicine man, and wian,
a skin, the region of charmed furs or peltries. A term applied to the highlands of the Hudson .- Brodhead's N. Y., p. 75.
MESSACHIBIE. Mississippi ? The father of rivers .- T. Pownal's Top. Descrip. N. America.
METTOWEE. Indian name of the Pawlet river, Wash. Co., N. Y .- Fitch's Hist. Survey.
MICONACOOK. A name of the Hudson river .- Sabele.
MINI-SOTAH. Turbid waters, hence Minnesota .- Drake's Book of the Indians.
MISSISSIPPI. The whole river .- Gallatin's Synopsis.
MOHAWK, from Mauqua or Mukwa, a bear .- Schoolcraft's Notes on the Iroquois, p. 73.
MOHEGAN. Mahegan, an Indian term signifying a wolf .- Col. Hist. N. Y., vol. IX, p. 38.
MOOSPOTTENWACHO. Thunder's nest. Indian name for Crane's mount- ain, in the western part of, and the highest peak in Warren county .- Sabele.
MUHHAAKUNNUK. A great water or sea that is constantly in motion either ebbing or flowing. Hence the word Mohican, the name of the Stockbridge Indians .- Hoyt's Antiquarian Researches.
NACHASSICKQUAACK. A point above the falls on the Hoosick river .- New York Cal. of Land Papers, p. 27.
NACHTENACK. Waterford on the Hudson .- Ruttenber's Tribes, etc., p. 399. NIAGARA. From Ohniagahra, a neck or strait .- Spafford's Gazetteer of N. Y., p. 219. Goldsmith in his Miscellaneous Works, vol. IV, p. 39, note, defines it as meaning thunder waters.
NISKAYUNA. From Canestagione. The great corn country or place .- Ruttenber's Tribes of the Hudson's River, p. 398. See also vol. IV, p. 906, Col. Hist. N. Y., where it is spelled Canastagiowne and defined as the great maize land.
OHIO. The beautiful river .- Schoolcraft, the Indian in his Wigwam, p. 20. From Oyo the beautiful river .- Kip's Jesuit Missions. See also Col. Hist. N. Y., VIII, 117 and IX, 76, where Io is found to signify great or beautiful.
OIOGUE. The Indian (Mohawk) name of the Hudson north of Albany .- Hist. of New Netherland, II, 300.
ONEADALOTE TECARNEODI. The name of Lake Champlain on Morgan's map.
ONDAWA. White creek, Washington county, N. Y.
ONDERIGUEGON. The Indian name for the drowned lands on Wood creek near Fort Ann, Washington county, N. Y. It signifies conflux of waters .- From a Map of the Middle British Colonies by T. Pow- nal, M. P., 1776.
30
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF QUEENSBURY.
ONGWEHONWE. A people surpassing all others. The name by which the Iroquois designated themselves.
ONIGARAWANTEL. According to Schoolcraft the original name of Sche- nectady. According to Dr. Mitchill the rendering should be Ohnowalagantle .- Vide Annals of Albany, II, 233.
ONTARIO "or CATARAQUI. The beautiful lake."- T. Pownal's Top. De- scrip. N. A., p. 31. See also Col. Hist., Ix, 16, where it is trans- lated beautiful lake, and Ix, 76 where it is rendered Great lake. Hough makes it Onontario, which would change the meaning to Mountain lake.
ORONGUGHHARIE. A great multitude collected together. The site of the city of Schenectady, originally a seat of the Mohawks .- Gordon's Gazetteer of New York.
OSSARAGAS. Wood creek, emptying into the head of Lake Champlain .- Top. Descrip. of the Middle British Colonies, Map, T. Pownal, 1776. OSWEGATCHIE, or OGHSWAGATCHIE with a dozen other different spellings. " An Indian name," the historian JAMES MACAULEY, informed the author, "which signifies going or coming round a hill. The great bend in the Oswegatchie river (or the necessity of it), on the borders of Lewis county, originated its significant name. An In- dian tribe bearing the name of the river, once lived upon its banks ; but its fate, like that of many sister tribes, has been to melt away before the progression of the Anglo-Saxon."- Simms's Trappers of N. Y., p. 249, note. According to a writer in the Troy Times of July 7th, 1866, it is a Huron word signifying black water. Sabattis defined it as meaning slow and long.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.