The true history of New England is sufficiently great to enable her to look fearlessly into the mirror of Truth, and she can well afford to cast off the meretricious glamour which has been thrown about her by those sons who “loved her not not wisely, but too well.”
New York City Thomas Addis Emmet, M. D.
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EARLY MENTION OF EVENTS AND PLACES IN THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY.
I
The origin of place-names, and the reason for them, are always matters of interest. Sometimes we may know both, often only one, and sometimes neither. Frequently a dead and forgotten old resident survives in the name of the hill he built his house on, or of the pond or brook by the side of which he lived, or in the property he once owned, or even in some event in which he was a prominent actor. Thus, the Brighams of Essex, in Brigham Hill; the Burlings, in Burlington; Count Fredenburgh, in Fredenburgh Falls and M. Chasy, nephew of Tracy, in Chazy, have a kind of immortality. The name of Samuel Champlain is preserved not only in the Lake which is called after him, but in the River Champlain, the Town Champlain, the Village Champlain; and who can give the number of Champlain hotels and streets, in the cities and towns and villages of the United States and of the British Provinces north of us? Also it is interesting that many localities in our very midst have had names in common use for a time, which, later, are lost in oblivion.
For years I have noted place-names and their reputed origin, both curious and suggestive, in our locality; and am constantly adding to them. Quite recently a man in our city spoke of Happy Hill, and another, in a neighboring town, of Pirate’s Hollow. Thus I added two to my list, and inquiry revealed their origin. I can give, approximately, the beginning of, and reason for, Providence Island, Gougeville, Molasses Corner, North and South Hero, Johnnycake Street and North Africa. Even The Devil’s Half Acre has quite a known history. But I greatly desire information concerning Whig Hollow, Cumberland Head, Beartown, Valcour, Suckertown, The Lost Nation, and many others.
On the western border of Lake Champlain, scarce five miles from its outlet into the Richelieu river, in the town of Champlain, opposite the lower end of Isle La Motte, is a famous headland called Point au Fer, freely rendered into English Point of Iron—Iron Point. But its common and only name now is the French Point au Fer. No iron is found there, and there is nothing suggestive of the hardness of iron in its shape, or in the ruggedness of its shores. Hadden, Riedesel, Phillips and many others called it Point au Fer only, and I think it proper to consider this to be its real name, in spite of the fact that on a map issued about 1748, from surveys made in 1732, it is called Point au Feu, or, in English, Point of Fire—Fire Point. It may be that the transcribers mistook the final r for u, an easy mistake when we consider the similarity between r and u as often found in old manuscripts.
I think I have chanced on the origin of and reason for this place-name. I will present my evidence to you and hope you will agree with me, or disagree, if you have reason to the contrary.
This evidence is found in and based upon, an account in volume 48, pages 99–107, of “The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents,” edited by Reuben G. Thwaites, secretary of the Wisconsin Historical Society. This volume, 48, came out in July, 1899. The original was the Relation of 1662–63, written by Father Jerome Lalemant, and contains a graphic account of a fierce fight between some Algonquins and a band of Iroquois returning from a raid on Montreal.