Falmouth, MA
Topic: Barnstable County, MA
Falmouth is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts and is the south-westernmost town on Cape Cod. It is to the east of Buzzards Bay and to the north of Nantucket Sound with the Elizabeth Islands extending from it to the southwest. The original Indian name for the area was Suckanessett but it was first settled by a group of Quaker sympathizers in 1660. The settlement was incorporated as the town of Falmouth in 1686.

The origin of the name comes from the town of Falmouth in Cornwall, England, however it may have been chosen for several separate reasons. First, Falmouth, England was credited as the home port of English explorer and privateer Bartholomew Gosnold (1572 – 1607) who was the first Eurpoean to visit Cape Cod. (He is also credited for naming the cape, the Elizabeth Islands, and Martha’s Vineyard and the town of Gosnold, Massachusetts is named for him. He was also a major influence on the colonization of Virginia and died attempting to colonize Jamestown.) In addition to being home to Mr. Gosnold, Falmouth in England was already significant for being the third largest natural harbor in the world. And finally, the two towns share a geographic correspondence: Falmouth, England is a major port in southwest England while Falmouth, Massachusetts is on the southwest of Cape Cod. (This style of naming was also partially responsible for nearby Chatham.)

Falmouth in England is named for being placed on the mouth of the River Fal. Curiously, the town was remarkably new for it to inspire a sister in New England: it was less than a hundred years old when Falmouth, Massachusetts was founded. However, the town itself was founded next to the much older town of Penryn, on the same harbor. Now a suburb of Falmouth, Penryn was founded in 1216.

Eastham, MA
Topic: Barnstable County, MA
Eastham is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod. It is the southern-most town on the north-south outside arm of Cape Cod and it stretches across the width of the cape from Cape Cod Bay to the Atlantic Ocean. Originally called the Nawsett (or Nauset) Indian Territory, Eastham once encompassed much of the territory of the western cape including territory now held by Brewster, Chathan, Harwich, Orleans, Provincetown, Truro, and Wellfleet.

Due to dissatisfaction with Plymouth, the area that is now Eastham was scouted (twice) in 1644 by representatives from the colony to determine whether it would be suitable to transfer the seat of authority there. Ultimately, they decided that it was not practical to move to such a remote location and that there was insufficient room for growth. Nonetheless, Governor Thomas Prince and others (including original Mayflower colonists) elected to move there and the town was incorporated in 1646 under the name “Nauset”. Just five years later however, in 1651, it was renamed “Eastham. Due to the expanding settlements on the cape, it was quickly subdivided. By 1763, the town was reduced to its current size having gone from being the largest town on the cape in area, to the smallest.

The origin of the name Eastham is somewhat peculiar as it was named not by the local settlers, but rather by the Colony Court of Plymouth who changed its name from the Indian name of “Nauset” which had been originally used to the more English “Eastham”. That name was appropriate however as Eastham was at that time directly east across Cape Cod Bay from Plymouth. (Now, it is somewhat south with Wellfleet and Truro bring more directly east.) The name, obviously meaning “east hamlet”, may have been inspired by Eastham in Merseyside, England. That Eastham was named for being east of the town of Bromborough.

Dennis, MA
Topic: Barnstable County, MA
Dennis is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. It sits roughly in the middle of the east-west arm of Cape Cod and spans the cape north-to-south from Cape Cod Bay to Nantucket Sound. Prior to the arrival of the English, the area was known by its Indian name of Nobscusset. The first European settlers, John Crow, Thomas Howes and William Lumpkin, arrived in 1639 when the area was part of newly-founded Yarmouth to the west. In 1721, a church was built there and the area was organized as the East Parish of Yarmouth. In 1793, the local villagers officially broke away from Yarmouth and incorporated separately as the town of “Dennis”.

Dennis was named in honor of the Reverend Josiah Dennis, the first long-term pastor of the Yarmouth East Parish where he lived and served from 1725 until his death in 1763. At the time of the town’s incorporation, his direct successor Nathan Stone was still pastor in the parish.

Chatham, MA
Topic: Barnstable County, MA
Chatham is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. It is located on the south-eastern tip of Cape Cod with Nantucket Sound to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area was inhabited by several hundred members of a tribe known as the Monomoyicks. The first European to visit the area was the Frenchman Samuel de Champlain in 1605, but after difficulty with the natives he ultimately departed and founded Quebec City in 1608. During his time there and on subsequent maps, he named the area “Port Fortune”.

The first English colonist, William Nickerson, arrived in 1656 after purchasing land off of the local Monomoyicks chief. Unfortunately, he did not have approval for the purchase from the court at Plymouth, a requirement at the time, and was ensnarled in a 10-12 year legal battle over his purchase. He was finally allowed to settle in 1664 and general settlement began the following year. At that time, the land belonged to the towns of Yarmouth and Eastham, but in 1696 the area formed the Constablewick (area overseen by a constable) of Monamoy. In 1712, it was incorporated as a town and renamed “Chatham”.

In the 1890 “Massachusetts Gazetteer”, a reference with historical information on many of the towns of Massachusetts written by Elias Nason and George J. Varney, the origin of the name Chatham was indicated as being in honor of the Earl of Chatham, in England. However, this could not have been the case as William Pitt, the first Earl of Chatham, was not given the peerage until 1766 – well after the town had been named. However, while we do not know what sources Mr. Nason and Mr. Varney were drawing from, it can be postulated that they actually meant the Baron Chatham, the predecessor of the Earl title, which had been created in 1705 and “recent news” to the town founders.

The title of Baron Chatham was initially created and bestowed to John Campbell (1678 - 1743), a Scottish nobleman and Duke of Argyll, in recognition to his support of the Act of Union of 1707 which combined England and Scotland (and Wales, which was already absorbed into England) into Great Britain. Later, he would fight in the War of Spanish Succession and eventually become Commander in Chief of the British Army in 1742. However, if the town has been named in John Campbell’s honor, it might have been named Argyll or Greenwich which were superior titles instead.

Equally likely is that the town was named Chatham simply in honor of the naval port town in Kent, England on the River Medway. As Chatham, Massachusetts is a town on the south-eastern part of Cape Cod, it may have seemed appropriate to name it for a port town on the south-eastern part of England.

Brewster, MA
Topic: Barnstable County, MA
Brewster is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. It is on the border between the Mid-Cape and Lower Cape regions, just as the Lower Cape extends north. The town is on the northern side of the cape, on Cape Cod Bay. The original Indian name for the area was Sawkattuckett (later Anglicized as Sawtucket). The town was initially settled in 1656 as the North Parish of Harwich. (The South Parish, the site of the current town of Harwich, was settled somewhat later.) The town formally split off from Harwich in 1811 and was renamed Brewster, in honor of the Pilgrim elder William Brewster (1567 - 1644). (Curiously, the border between Brewster and Harwich would not be finalized until 1848 after some back-and-forth between the two towns over land ownership.)

William Brewster was a Pilgrim and passenger on the Mayflower, originally from Scrooby, England. In his youth, he attended the University of Cambridge and subsequently traveled to the Netherlands in 1585 while working for the English ambassador to that country. When the ambassador was subsequently made Secretary of State to Queen Elizabeth, William Brewster stayed on as an assistant until 1587. In 1590, he returned to and become Postmaster to Scrooby, a job he held until 1607. During this time, William’s brother, James Brewster, had become a prominent reformist priest, and using the family manor as base, they formed a separate church in 1606 and they sought to flee to the Netherlands where there was additional religious tolerance. From 1609 to 1619, William and his congregation were operating out of the Netherlands until pressure from England caused the Netherlands government to crack down on his group and he was effectively forced to flee to North America with the Pilgrims. On arriving in the New World, William Brewster became both the senior elder of the new colony, as well as its religious leader for many years.

In a shade of Frank Zappa, William Brewster named his two children “Love Brewster” and “Wrestling Brewster”.

Bourne, MA
Topic: Barnstable County, MA
Bourne is a town in Barnstable County, on Cape Cod. Initially settled in 1640, it was a part of Sandwich until 1884 when it ceded and incorporated, taking the villages of Sagamore, Buzzards Bay, Cataumet, Pocasset, and Monument Beach with it. Prior to being settled, in 1627, the Pilgrims had set up a trading post, called Aptuxet Trading Post (meaning "little trap by the river"), in what would eventually become the village, to facilitate trade between Plymouth Colony, New Amsterdam, and the local Wampanoag Indians.

While existing as a part of Sandwich, Bourne was known as Monument Village. When it was incorporated, it was renamed in honor of (still-living) Jonathan Bourne (1811 – 1899), one of the wealthiest and most successful whaling-industry capitalists at the time. Jonathan Bourne was born in Monument Village, though he lived much of his life in New Bedford. During his lifetime, Mr. Bourne also served as a legislator for the state of Massachusetts, as well as a member of the Governor’s Council.

Jonathan Bourne Jr., his son, would later move to Oklahoma and become a Senator for that state.

Barnstable, MA
Topic: Barnstable County, MA
Barnstable is both the name of a county in Massachusetts, as well as the town that is its county seat. It was founded by the Reverend John Lothrop and a group of Congregationalists who settled there and incorporated it in 1639. Lothrop had been exiled from England as punishment for preaching against the established Church of England. He and his congregation had settled first in Scituate, before experiencing friction over land allotments and moving to Barnstable. The area had very recently also been settled by another religious group, led by Parson Joseph Hull, who had been recently kicked out of Weymouth. (He is not the namesake of Hull, MA.) He had also departed for New England after having been expelled from the Church of England (but not exiled) in 1635. The town of Barnstable was primarily an agricultural community with the commercial center of the county to be in nearby Hyannis. The original Indian name of the area that would be Barnstable was "Mattakeese", meaning "plowed fields".

The town was named "Barnstable" by Mr. Lothrop, in honor of the town of "Barnstaple" in Devon, England. It is currently the oldest incorporated borough in the United Kingdon. It was founded prior to 930 (as "Beardestaple") and became a Saxon stronghold to defend North Devon from raids by the invading Danish. In addition to its strong defense, it was at the time the commercial center of the area. It had been made into a full borough by Alfred the Great, the king of Wessex until 899 and given a town charter by his grandson King Athelstan, who had at that point became King of England.

The original function of the town of Beardestaple was probably to serve as a commercial center for the nearby town of Bearde, now known as the town of Beer, also in Devon, England. (The suffix "staple" is Saxon for "marketplace".) The origin of the name of Bearde is unknown, it may have come from the Saxon word for wood ("bearu"), the Norse word for farmstead ("byr"), or the Anglo-Saxon term for barley, from which we get our modern English word for beer ("bere").

About This Blog
Topic: Meta
Hello and welcome to my blog. You probably know the clich?, the one about the curious and incessant child who approaches the world eyes-wide and with a single word on his or her mouth: "Why". In the beginning, the questions seem rather easy, but confounded with the parade of "Why", the exasperated parent eventually resorts to the conjunction of last resort: "Because".

This blog is my personal quest into answering "Why". Not with "Why is the sky blue?" or similar questions of physics and the natural world, but instead with things a little closer to us and more easily overlooked: names. Specifically, I have always been fascinated with the names of places: towns, squares, subway stations, stadiums, you name it. Places we may live in or go to every day, with no thought as to why we call it what we do. Is it named for a person? A place? Does it mean something in another language? Why was this name important to the person doing the naming? These are the types of questions that I have been researching for my own personal curiousity, and I am documenting some of that research here. Eventually, I hope that I will be able to put this together in a book.

I admit that this type of thing may not be for everyone. But I hope that at least some of you may find some of these interesting.

NOTES:

At least initially, I am limiting what I post here to Massachusetts. There are more than 350 towns and cities in MA, plus dozens of villages and other places of interest, and that is more than enough to keep me occupied for the time being. Please also be aware that the things I post here are *drafts*. If I get something wrong, please don't hesitate to tell me about it, but be aware they they may not be perfect. My intention is to post about a different place a couple of times a week. Please come back often.