|
Indian Names of Places
in Plymouth, Middleborough, Lakeville and Carver Plymouth County
Massachusetts
Mannannock, probably from munnoh-annoch, -The Island
Star." The names of some of the plants, trees and flowers are wonderfully
descriptive and at the same time imaginative.
In the attempt to translate Indian Place Names the
first and most important step is, in my opinion, to obtain a knowledge, if
possible, of the peculiar characteristics of the place itself when the
Indians occupied the country. The next step is to attempt to consider it, as
one who has been much with the Indians of the North expressed it, "from the
Indian point of view." The place names were, in a large majority of cases,
very descriptive, so as to be easily recognized by the Indians of the
neighborhood, and often so descriptive as to serve as guide-marks for
wanderers through a country, almost a wilderness, with few inhabitants and
with only narrow trails from point to point. It must be borne in mind that
the Indians had no written language.
We cannot expect to find the exact meaning of many of
these names, but I believe, to most, we can give the idea that was intended
to be conveyed. The only foundations on which we have to build are the early
records of these names, written by men very ignorant of the Indian language,
struggling with the difficulty of expressing in writing, the sound of a word
of an unknown tongue. As that same word was expressed by different hearers,
with different spellings, the problem is a difficult one. Sometimes, for the
sake of euphony, sometimes for contraction, more often through carelessness,
almost all place names have been corrupted. This accounts, in part, for the
different opinions of different students in regard to the same word, and a
true student of the language, at the start, acknowledges possible wrong
deductions in many cases. One object of my work is, however, the collecting
by localities, the Indian Place Names of some of the towns of Plymouth
County. I believe this has not been attempted before in a published form. I
hope that my wish to create a new interest in the Wampanoag or Pokanoket
names will be realized by this paper.
I must ask the indulgence of Plymouth, Middleborough,
Lakeville and Carver for any geographical errors or errors from ignorance of
some local tradition or history, as I am not a native of Plymouth County.
I have included in my list of names quite a number over the
boundaries of the designated territory, but this is on account of their
frequent recurrence in deeds examined. Many Indian names must have been
omitted, which are probably to be found in old deeds and manuscripts
inaccessible or unknown to me.
I am greatly indebted to the late Hon. William T.
Davis, of Plymouth, for the advice and information received from him, also
to the late J. Hammond Trumbull, whose translations and suggestions, taken
from his publications and letters, I have used whenever possible.
From the early publications of the Massachusetts
Historical Society I have made many quotations, with the consent and
courtesy of Dr. Samuel A. Green, and the manuscripts of the American
Antiquarian Society have given me much valuable information.
Roger Williams' "Key to the Indian Language," Wood's "New England's
Prospect," Josiah Cotton's "Vocabulary of the Massachusetts Indian
Language," Dr. Arthur Gallatin's "Vocabularies," Rev. Jonathan Edwards'
"Observations on the Mohigan Language," Rev. Experience Mayhew's
"Observations on the Indian Language," Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull's
publications, are the authorities I have mostly consulted in regard to the
translations.
"The Plymouth Colony Records," "Records of the Town of
Plymouth," "The Mayflower Descendant" and various Plymouth deeds and
manuscripts are the authorities I have mostly used for the original spelling
of the Indian place names.
Mr. William Wallace Tooker's "Algonquian Series" and
Mr. Henry Andrew Wright's "Indian Deeds" have furnished many valuable
suggestions.
I wish to acknowledge the kindness of Mr. Charles E.
Weston whose familiarity with the old deeds and land boundaries in
Middleborough has been of great service.
Previous |
Index | Next
Return
to our Free Genealogy Library
Home |
Search |
Share |
Ancestry |
Shop |
Learn |
Help
|
|