St. Joseph County, Indiana - The State of Indiana, 1907 (part 3 of 3)

Sec. 3. - Population and Revenues. - The population of Indiana when admitted into the Union, in 1816, was less than seventy thousand; but such an impetus was given to emigration by the organization of the state government that the census of 1820 showed that the state then contained 147,178 inhabitants. The revenues of the state continued for many years to be derived from a tax upon lands, as had been the practice during the territorial government. This tax was not, as at present, a percentage of the valuation, but a fixed sum per hundred acres according to the ciuality of the land. For this purpose, all lands w^ere deemed to be of first rate, second rate and third rate. In the beginning, first rate lands were assessed at one dollar per hundred acres; second rate, eighty-seven and a half cents: and third rate fifty to sixty-two and a half cents. In 1821, the assessment on first rate lands had increased to one dollar and fiftv cents on each hundred acres, and on other lands accordingly. In 1831, the assessment on first rate lands fell to eighty cents a hundred; second rate, to sixty cents; and third rate to forty cents. By an act approved February 1, 1835, the method of assessment was changed to our present ad valorem system; and the assessor was directed to assess land for taxation at its true value, or, as th3 act expressed it, "as he would appraise the same in the pa^Tnent of a just debt due from a solvent debtor." County revenues were raised principally from poll taxes and license fees, until the adoption of the ad valorem system.

Sec. 4. - Boundaries. - The boundaries of the state of Indiana, as fixed by the enabling act of congress, approved April 19, 1816, and as agreed to hj an ordinance passed by the constitutional convention, at Corydon, June 29, 1816, are as follows: On the east, "the meridian line which forms the western boundary of the state of Ohio ; " on the south, ' ' the river Ohio, from the mouth of the great Miami river to the mouth of the river Wabash;" on the west, "a line drawn along the middle of the Wabash, from its mouth to a point where a due north line drawn from the town of Vincennes would last touch the northwestern shore of the said river; and from thence, by a due north line, until the same shall intersect an east and west line drawn through a point ten miles north of the southern extreme of Lake Michigan : ' ' and on the north, "the said east and west line, until the same shall intersect the first mentioned meridian line, which forms the western boundary of the state of Ohio." It was provided in the enabling act of congress that if the constitutional convention of Indiana should fail to ratify these boundaries, then the boundaries of the state should be as fixed in the ordinance of 1787.

It would seem that the boundaries as fixed by the enabling act of congress, and as agreed to by the constitutional convention of the state, were so definite that no dispute could arise concerning them ; yet each of the boundaries, except that between Indiana and Illinois has been the subject of contention. The western boundary is exactly that fixed in the ordinance of 1787 ; and also that fixed by the act of congress, approved February 3, 1809, setting off the territory of Illinois from that of Indiana; except that the ordinance of 1787 fixes simply the "Wabash river," from its mouth to Vincennes, as part of the boundary ; and the act setting off Illinois territory defines that territory to be "all that part of the Indiana territory which lies west of the Wabash river," and the direct line north from Vincennes. The wording of the ordinance of 1787, "the Wabash river," would doubtless be interpreted to mean the middle line of that river ; and the line is so defined in the enabling act providing for the admission of Indiana as a state. In the act setting off the territory of Illinois, however, it might be contended that as Illinois "lies west of the Wabash river," the boundary must be the west margin of that river. No such contention has ever been made by the state of Indiana. Yet such a conclusion has been reached as to the southern boundaiy of the state. The enabling act provided, as we have seen, that the state should be bounded on the south "by the river Ohio;" and this would seem to mean the middle line of the river. The ordinance of 1787 also provided that "the middle state," that is, Indiana, should be bounded on the south "by the Ohio." The plain interpretation here also would seem to be that the middle line, or thread of the stream, should form the southern boundary of the state. But the words have not been so interpreted. In the act of cession by the legislature of Virginia, passed December 20, 1783, and in the deed of cession, made March 1, 178-1, the territory ceded to the United States is described as "being to the northwest' of the river Ohio." The territory on both sides of the Ohio, and the river itself, were at the time a part of Virginia ; and the contention was early made by Kentucky, as succeeding to the rights of Virginia, that no part of the i-iver was in- eluded in the northwest territory, and consequently that no part of it could pass by the deed of cession. The ordinance of 1787 itself was "for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the river Ohio. ' ' The claim of Kentucky has been sustained by the courts ; and the southern boundary of Indiana is the low water mark on the northwest bank of the Ohio river, as the same existed when the boundary was fixed. As the river has since receded to the south in some places, we have the anomaly that parts of the state of Kentucky are at present located on the Indiana side of the river.

The rights of Indiana, however, as to the use and navigation of the Ohio, and also as to civil and criminal jurisdiction on the river, have been made secure. By section seven of an act concerning the erection of the district of Kentucky into an independent state, passed by the commonwealth of Virginia, December 18, 1789, it was provided, "that the use and navigation of the river Ohio, so far as the territoiy of the proposed state of [Kentucky], or the territory which shall remain within the limits of this commonwealth lies therein, shall be free and common to the citizens of the United States ; and the respective jurisdictions of this commonwealth, and of the proposed state, on the river as aforesaid, shall be concurrent only with the states which may possess the opposite shores of the said river. "« The framers of the constitution of 1816 seemed satisfied simply to declare the boundaries of the state; but the framers of the constitution of 1851, while repeating this declaration, took pains to add, in accordance with the act of the commonwealth of Virginia, that "the state of Indiana shall possess jurisdiction and sovereignty co-extensive with the boundaries declared in the preceding section ; and shall have concurrent jurisdiction, in civil and criminal cases, with the state of Kentucky, on the Ohio river, and with the state of Illinois, on the Wabash river, so far as said rivers form the common bounda. Vol. 1, Revised Laws of Virginia, p. 59.

The enabling act defines the eastern boundary of Indiana to be "the meridian line which forms the western boundary of the state of Ohio." The ordinance of 1787 provided that "the eastern state," that is, Ohio, should be bounded on the west by "a direct line drawn due north from the mouth of the Great ]\Iiami" to the British possessions. In the enabling act of congress for the admission of Ohio, approved April 30, 1802, the same western boundary was fixed for that state. But in the act approved May 7, 1800, separating Indiana from the northwestern territory, the eastern boundary of Indiana, as we have already seen, was declared to be "the line beginning at the Ohio, opposite to the mouth of Kentucky river, and running thence to Fort Recovery, and thence north, until it shall intersect the territorial line between the United States and Canada." Yet, in the same act, it was also provided, "That whenever that part of the territory of the United States which lies to the eastward of a line beginning at the mouth of the Great ]\liami river, running thence due north to the territorial line between the United States and Canada, shall be erected into an independent state, and admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states, thenceforth said line shall become and remain permanently the boundary line between such state and the Indiana territory; anything in this act contained to the contrary notwithstanding." As Ohio was admitted . with the Great Miami meridian as her western boundary, it would seem that she could have no claim to this irregular line by way of Fort Recovery; and, indeed, such imaginary claim, as a practical question, has long since been relinquished. Indiana has never stood out for the three mile strip west of Fort Recovery, now a part of the state of

Oliio; and Ohio has abandoned any fancied claim to the wedge-shaped territory south of Fort Recovery, now a part of the state of Indiana. The old Indian boundary line, described in the treaty of Greenville, and extending southwesterly from Fort Recovery to a point on the Ohio opposite the mouth of the Kentucky river, is, however, yet found on many Indiana maps, as a historic reminder of the contention once entertained between the two states.

But it was as to the northern boundary of the state that there was chief contention. The ordinance of 1787, after providing for the boundaries of the minimum number of three states into which the northwest territory should be divided, provided further that, if deemed expedient, congress should have authority "to form one or two states in that part of said territory which lies north of an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan." The enabling act, however, provided that the northern boundary of Indiana slionld be "an east and west line drawn through a point ten miles north of the southern extreme of Lake IMichigan." The state of Indiana, therefore, extends ten milas north of the line provided in the ordinance of 1787 as the boundary between Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, on the south, and Michigan and Wisconsin on the north. This east and west line through the southern bend of Lake IMichigan is sometimes called the ordinance boundary line and sometimes the old Michigan or Indiana boundary line. In St. Joseph county this old ordinance line runs through the townships of Penn, Center, Greene, Warren and Olive; leaving Osceola, Mishawaka, South Bend, New Carlisle, and the larger part of the county in what would have been the state of Michigan, according to the ordinance of 1787. The ordinance boundary line is often referred to in the old records. As late as the May term, 1835, of the board of county commissioners of St. Joseph county, viewers were appointed "to view and lay out a road leading from the Michigan road east as near as practicable on the old Indiana boundary line, between sections thirty-five, township thirty-seven, range two east, and section two, township thirty-six east, to the county line of Elkhart." On the first day of the September term, being September 7, 1835, the viewers reported that they had laid out the road, "Begining at the Michigan road, at the intersection of the Indiana old boundary line; running thence east on and as near on the said old boundary line as practicable, to the county line of Elkhart county." This report was approved and the road located and ordered opened to the wndth of forty feet.

The people of Michigan cDUtended earnestly for the ordinance boundary line, claiming that any other boundary would be illegal and unconstitutional, for the reason that the provisions of the ordinance of 1787 in this regard were irrevocable, as defining the boundaries of the five states to be created out of the northwest territory. It appears that when the ordinace of 1787 was passed the true latitude of the southern extremes of Lake Michigan and Lake Erie was not known. At any rate, the people of Ohio at that timiseem to have been of the opinion that a.n east and west line through the southern liend of Lake Michigan would strike Lake Erie north of Maumee bay. As if to force such an interpretation of the ordinance, a line was actually surveyed from the southerly bend of Lake Michigan to the northerly cape of Maumee bay. The order for this survey was made by act of congress: and the intention of congress was to mai'k' the old ordinance boundary. The survey was, however, made under direction of the Ohio surveyor general, and he had the survey mad*' according to the views of tlic Oliio authoi-- ities. This line is called the Ohio line, and also the "Harris line," from the name of the surveyor. In the final settlement of the dispute, Ohio succeeded in making, oi' i-etaining, the Hari'is line as llic northern I)nundary of that state. Michigan was reluctantly persuaded to receive in exchange for the territory taken from her the upper peninsula of that state: and a most valuable exchange it has turned out to be. The Harris line was never accepted as the northern boundary of Indiana ; neither did this state accept the ordinance boundary, but took an independent, or perhaps, we might say, an arbitrary, position, insisting upon a ten mile strip north of the ordinance line, and giving as a reason for such insistence that otherwise she would be cut off from the navigation of Lake Michigan and the other great lakes. The Harris, or Ohio, line would not satisfy Indiana anj' better than the ordinance line; for both would prevent her from having a harbor on the great lakes. Michigan did not at first make a very strong contention against Indiana's claim. ^ There Avere then no settlements in northern Indiana or southwestern Michigan ; whereas the territory in dispute between Ohio and Michiga.n included the town of Toledo and a rapidly growing district in the vicinity. The northern boundary of Indiana is an east and west line, but the northern boundary of Ohio, the Harris line, runs a little north of east, beginning on the east line of Indiana, at a point about four miles and a half south of the northern boundarj^ of Indiana and running east by north to include the city of Toledo and Maumee bay. Neither did the ordinance line mark the boundary between Illinois and Wisconsin. Had it done so, Chicago would have been in Wisconsin, as it was at one time supposed to be. The northern boundary provided for in the ordinance of 1787, "an east and west line drawn through the southerly bend or extreme of Lake Michigan,'' has therefore been Avholly obliterated. For a very full and interesting treatment of the subject of our northern boundary line, see

Sec. 5. - The Name of the State. - The name of our state, "Indiana," does not appear in our history until the passage of the act of congress, approved May 7, 1800, providing that all the northwest territory, west of a line through Fort Recovery, should "constitute a separate territory, and be called Indiana Territory." The name thus given is very dear to the people of this state, not only from the beauty of the word itself, but even more from its association with our history, as a territory and as a state, now for over a hundred years. Indiana territory included at first not only the territory now forming our state, but also a part of that of Ohio and Michigan, all of Illinois and Wisconsin, and even part of Minnesota. As the successive territories were set off, however, and the territories themselves were erected into states, the beloved name remained with us. Other names were found for our sister commonwealths: Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota; all indeed beautiful, with their melodious French and Indian suggestions, but none of them comparable to our own Indiana.

There has been comparatively little discussion as to the origin of the name. It would seem indeed that the origin should be evident. When the territorial government was set up in the year 1800. the country was almost wholly occupied by the Indians. So far as occupancy was concerned, it was the Indian land. In ancient and modern times, in Europe as well as America, the suffix a. when added to a word, has been understood to mean land, country or place. Greece was known as Grecia ; Italy, as Italia ; Germany, as Germania. So we have Russia, Prussia, Austria, Australia. Pennsylvania, Virginia, Louisiana and many others. Indiana means nothing therefore but Indian land or Indian country.

It appears, however, that our state was not the first to bear the pleasant sounding name. In an interesting paper read before the Wayne County Historical Society, Mr. Cyrus W. Hodgin tells the story of an older Indiana."

At the close of the French and Indian war, in 1763, says Mr. Hodgin, a Philadelphia trading company was formed to engage in the fur trade on the Ohio. The company sent its agents into the Ohio valley with large quantities of goods to exchange for furs and other products which the Indians were accustomed to bring to the trading posts. In the fall of that year, certain bands of Indians who were tributary to the Iroquois confederacy, attacked the agenta of the Philadelphia company at a point a little below the site of the present city of Wlieeling, and seized upon the goods of the company, which they appropriated to their own use. In compensation for this loss, the Iroquois transferred to the company a tract of nearly five thousand square miles of land lying south of the Ohio and east of the Great Kanawha, - a tract equal in extent to the state of Connecticut. To this princely domain the company gave the name of Indiana, - Indian land. In 1776 the tract was conveyed to a new company, known as the Indiana Land Company. 'Virginia, however, refused to acknowledge the Indian title held by the company. A resort to the courts was equally unavailing. The eleventh amendment to the constitution of the United States, denying to citizens of one state the right to bring any action or suit against another sovereign state of the Union, was declared adopted, by proclamation of the president, issued January 8, 1798 ; and so the long contested case was stricken from the docket of the supreme court of the United States. The Indiana Land Company having lost its claim, the company itself passed out of existence; and the name "Indiana" was but a memory, until, in 1800, it was bestowed upon this commonwealth, now the great central state of the Union. It is not at all probable that the naming of our state had any connection with the name of the eastern Indiana. Accidentally the name is the same; but in each case, undoubtedly, the name given had direct reference to the Indians who occupied the country.

Sec. 6. - The Title of Hoosier. - But we have another name, a loving, pet name, the "Hoosier State." While comparatively little has been said or written as to the origin of the name "Indiana," very much has been said and written as to the origin of this goodnatured name, "Hoosier."

In the paper already referred to, "The Naming of Indiana," Mr. Hodgin has brought together various anecdotes and suggestions that have been advanced in explanation of the origin of the name. Since about the year 1830, he says, Indiana has been familiarly known as the Hoosier State, and the inhabitants have been called Hoosiers. A number of explanations of the origin of the term have been given. Meredith Nicholson, in his admirable little volume, "The Hoosiers," has collected these explanations. They are as follows :

1. An Irishman employed in excavating the canal around the falls at Louisville declared, after a fight in which he had vanquished several fellow workmen, that he was a "husher. " This was given by Berrj^ R. Sulgrove as a possible origin of the word.

2. Bartlett, in his "Dictionary of Americanisms," says that the men of superior strength, the heroes of log-rollings and houseraisings, were called "hushers" because of their ability to hush or quiet their antagonists; and that "husher" was a common term for a bully. The Ohio river boatmen carried the word to New Orleans, where a foreigner among them, in attempting to apl)ly the word to himself, pronounced it ' ' hoosier. ' ' so much enjoyed by Indiana people that they were called ''Hoosier's customei*s, " "Hoosier's men," "Hoosier's people," etc. The Rev. T. A. Goodwin says he first heard the word at Cincinnati, in 1830, where it was used to describe a species of gingerbread, but without reference to Indiana.

4. The Rev. Aaron Wood, a pioneer Methodist minister, says the word is a corruption of Hussar; the corruption originating as follows : When the young men of the Indiana side of the Ohio eros.sed over to Louisville, the Kentuckians made sport of them, calling them "New Purchase greenies, " and boasted of their own superiority. Fighting grew out of these boasts, and an Indiania.n who had a great admiration for the prowess of the soldiers called Hussars, after whipping one of the Kentuckians, bent over him and cried. "I'm a Hoosier, " meaning "I'm a Hussar."

5. But, concludes Mr. Ilodgin. the most probable explanation is that the word is a corruption of "WTio's here?" In my childhood, in the backwoods of Randolph county, I often heard the response, "Who's here?" to the rap at the door late at night, after the latch string had been drawn in. The word "here," however, was pronounced as if. in speaking the worcl "her," the sound of y were inserted between the h and e, making it "hyer." "Who's hyer," or "Who's yer," as it was generally abridged, was a common response to the rap of the visitor late at night: and "Who's yer" easily took the form of "Hoosier."

Some of the foregoing explanations seem fanciful. From the meaning which has always been attached to the name Hoosier, we are inclined to the opinion that it may more likely be derived from "husher, " meaning a strong, resolute fellow who could "hush" a boasting antagonist in short order; or, perhaps, from "HiLssar," a daring soldier. It may be that both words contributed to give form and meaning to the term. But see "Hoozer" in Mr. Dunn's paper, following;

In the number of the Northwestern Pioneer and St. Joseph's Intelligencer, published at South Bend, under date of April 4, 1832, we find a humorous paragraph showing that the word hoosier was used at that early date to refer to great size and strength, and, as such, was applied to the big sturgeons of Lake Michigan, then our regular springtime visitors. The paragraph reads :

"A Real Hoosier. - A sturgeon, who no doubt left Lake Michigan on a trip of pleasure, and with a view of spending a few days in the pure waters of the St. Joseph, had his .joyous anticipations unexpectedly marred by ranning foul of a fisherman's spear, near this place. Being brought on terra firma and cast into a balance, he was found to weigh eighty-three pounds." It will be noticed that the word hoosier, in this paragraph, has no reference to an Indianian, as such; "a real hoosier, ' ' as here used, simply means a strong, liu.sky fellow.

As applied to the human being, the word seems to have originally conveyed the ideas of vigorous manhood, hearty good feeling, shrewdness and good common sense. A Hoosier was a man to be depended upon, but not to be trifled with. He was one who could do things and was not afraid or ashamed to do them, in manly fashion. The word has gi'OWTi somewhat refined in meaning with the advancement of the state; but it still signifies a person of manly bearing, shrewdness, ability and kindliness. Such are the men who have made Indiana great. It is a noble word, as now used; and every genuine Indianian is proud to be known as a Hoosier.

The suggestion has also been made that the good word may have come to us from the French "huissier," meaning "usher"; that is, one appointed to seat people attending a public meeting and to aid in maintaining order. On such occasions the ushei's are sometimes disposed to display unnecessary authoi'- itv, and so themselves cause more disturbhistory" of ST. JOSEPH COUNTY.

ance tliau the very audience they are supposed to watch over. In a little French classic published in the early part of the seventeenth century, such over-officious ushers are referred to, the author saying: The ushers (les huissiere) make more noise than those they are appointed to keep quiet.^*^ The word "huissier, " judging- by the spelling, might by one not acquainted with French, be pronounced almost the same as "hoosier, " and we can fancy in a backwoods meeting at an early day hearing the good natured ushers reproved by some one who remembered the passage in the little French book, and who knew how to read French better than he did how to pronounce the words.

The following paper recently prepared by Mr. Jacob Piatt Dunn, secretary of the Indiana Historical Society, and published in the transactions of that society, is the most complete review of this interesting topic. We give the paper substantially as written by Mr. Dunn.

The discussion is admirable and most satisfactory, and we believe the distinguished author has actually found the original of our Hoosier in the Cumberland "hoozer":

During the period of about three-quarters of a century in which the state of Indiana and its people have been designated by the word "Hoosier," there has been a large amount of discussion of the origin and meaning of the term, but with a notable lack of any satisfactory result. Some of these discussions have been almost wholly conjectural in character, but others have been more methodical, and of the latter the latest and most exhaustive - that of Mr. Meredith Nicholson^ - sums up the results in the statement "The origin of the term 'Hoosier' is not known with certainty." Indeed the statement might properly have been made much broader, for a consideration of the various theories offered leaves the unprejudiced investigator with the feeling that the real solution of the problem has not even been suggested. This lack of satisfactory conclusions, however, may be of some value, for it strongly suggests the probability that the various theorists have made some false as.sumption of fact, and have thus been thrown on a false scent, at the very beginning of their investigations.

As is natural in such a case, there has been much of assertion of what was merely conjectural, often accompanied by the pioneer's effort to make evidence of his theory by the statement that he was "in Indiana at the time and knows the facts." The acceptance of all such testimony would necessarily lead to the adoption of several conflicting conclusions. In addition to this cause of error, there have crept into the discussion several misstatements of fact that have been commonly adopted, and it is evident that in order to reach any reliable conclusion now, it will be necessary to examine the facts critically and ascertain what are tenable.

The traditional belief in Indiana is that the word was first put in print by John Finley, in his poem "The Hoosier 's Nest," and this is noted by Berry Sulgrove, who was certainly as well acquainted with Indiana tradition as any man of his time.'* This belief is at least probably well founded, for up to the present time no prior use of the word in print has been discovered. This poem attracted much attention at the time, and was unquestionably the chief cause of the widespread adoption of the word in its application to Indiana, for which reasons it becomes a natural starting-point in the inquiry.

It is stated by Oliver H. Smith that this poem originally appeared as a New Year's "carriers' address" of the Indianapolis Journal in 1830,'^ and this statement has commonly been followed by other writers, but this is clearly erroneous, as any one may see by inspection of the files of the Journal, for it printed its address in the body of the paper in 1830, and it is a totally different production. After that year it discontinued this practice and issued its addresses on separate sheets, as is commonly done at present. No printed copy of the original publication is in existence, so far as known, but Mr. Finley 's daughter - Mi-s. Sarah Wrigley, former librarian of the Morrison Library, at Richmond, Indiana - has a manuscript copy, in the author's handwriting, which fixes the date of publication as Jan. 1, 1833. There is no reason to question this date, although Mr. Finley states in his little volume of poems printed in 1860, that this poem was written in 1830. The poem as it originallj^ appeared was never reprinted in full, so far as is known, and in that form it is entirely unknown to the present generation, although it has been reproduced in several forms, and in two of them by direct authority of the author.'^ The author used his privilege of revising his work, and wiiile he may have improved his poetry, he seriously marred its historical value.

As the manuscript copy is presumably a literal transcript of the original publication, with possibly the exception that the title may have been added at a later date, I reproduce it here in full :

The Hoosier'S Nest

Oompelled to seek the Muse's aid, Your carrier feels almost dismay'd When he attempts in nothing less Than verse his patrons to address, Aware how very few excel In the fair art he loves so well, And that the wight who would pursue it Must give his whole attention to it; But, ever as his mind delights To follow fancy's airy flights Some object of terrestrial mien Uncourteously obtrudes between And rudely scatters to the winds The tangled threads of thought he spins; His wayward, wild imagination Seeks objects of its own creation Where Joy and Pleasure, hand in hand. Escort him over "Fairyland," Till some imperious earth-born care Will give the order, "As you were!" From this the captious may infer That I am but a groveling cur Who would essay to pass for more Than other people take me for, So, lest my friends be led to doubt it, I think I'll say no more about it, But hope that on this noted day My annual tribute of a lay In dogg'rel numbers will suffice For such as are not over nice.

The great events which have occur'd (And all have seen, or read or heard) Within a year, are quite too many For me to tarry long on any - Then let not retrospection roam But be confined to things at home. A four years' wordy war just o'er Has left us where we were before Old Hick'ry triumphs, - we submit (Although we thought another fit) For all of Jeffersonian school Wish the majority to rule - Elected for another term We hope his measures will be firm But peaceful, as the case requires To nullify the nullifiers - And if executive constructions By inf'rence prove the sage deductions That Uncle Sam's "old Mother Bank" Is managed by a foreign crank And constituted by adoption The "heir apparent" of corruption - No matter if the facts will show That such assertions are not so. His Veto vengeance must pursue her And all that are appended to her - But tho' hard times may sorely press us. And want, and debts, and duns distress us, We'll share a part of Mammon's manna By chart'ring Banks in Indiana.

Blest Indiana! In whose soil Men seek the sure rewards of toil, And honest poverty and worth Find here the best retreat on earth, While hosts of Preachers, Doctors, Lawyers, All independent as wood-sawyers. With men of every hue and fashion, Flock to this rising "Hoosher" nation. Men who can legislate or plow. Wage politics or milk a cow - So plastic are their various parts, Within the circle of their arts. With equal tact the "Hoosher" looms. Hunt offices or hunt raccoons. A captain, colonel, or a 'squire. Who would ascend a little higher. Must court the people, honest souls, He bows, caresses and cajoles, Till they conceive he has more merit Than nature willed he should inherit. And, running counter to his nature, He runs into the Legislature; Where if he pass for wise and mute. Or chance to steer the proper chute, In half a dozen years or more He's qualified for Congress fioor.

I would not have the world suppose Our public men are all like those, For even in this infant State Some may be wise, and good, and great. But, having gone so far, 'twould seem (Since "Hoosher" manners is the theme) That I, lest strangers take exception. Should give a more minute description. And if my strains be not seraphic I trust you'll find them somewhat graphic.

Suppose in riding somewhere West A stranger found a "Hoosher's" neat, In other words, a buckeye cabin Just big enough to hold Queen Mab in, Its situation low but airy Was on the borders of a prairie, And fearing he might be benighted He hailed the house and then alighted. The "Hoosher" met him at the door. Their salutations soon were o'er; He took the stranger's horse aside And to a sturdy sapling tied; Then, having stripped the saddle off. He fed him in a sugar trough. The stranger stooped to enter in. The entrance closing with a pin, And manifested strong desire To seat him by the log heap fire, Where half a dozen Hoosheroons, With mush and milk, tincups and spoons. White heads, bare feet and dirty faces. Seemed much inclined to keep their places, But Madam, anxious to display Her rough and undisputed sway, Her offspring to the ladder led And cuffed the youngsters up to bed. Invited shortly to partake Of venison, milk and johnny-cake The stranger made a hearty meal And glances round the room would steal; One side was lined with skins of "varments" The other spread with divers garments. Dried pumpkins overhead were strung Where venison hams in plenty hung. Two rifles placed above the door. Three dogs lay stretched upon the floor, In short, the domicile was rife. With specimens of "Hoosher" life.

The host who centered his affections On game and range, and quarter sections Discoursed his weary guest for hours. Till Somnus' ever potent powers Of sublunary cares bereft them And then I came away and left them. No matter how the story ended The application I intended Is from the famous Scottish poet Who seemed to feel as well as know it "That buirdly chiels and clever hizzies Are bred in sic a way as this is." One more subject I'll barely mention To which I ask your kind attention My pockets are so shrunk of late I can not nibble "Hoosher bait."

It will be noted that thronshont the manuscript the word is spelled "Hoosher" and is always put in quotation marks. Mrs. Wrigley informs me that her father had no knowledge of the origin of the word, but found it in verbal use when he wrote. She is contident, however, that he coined the word "hoosheroon," and the proba.bility of this is increased by the fact that he did not quote it in his manuscript. In later editions of the poem he used the form "Hoosier. " His original spelling shows that the word was not common in print, and several years passed before the spelling became fixed in its present form.

Although the word "Hoosier" has not been found in print earlier than Januaiy 1, 1833, it became common enough immediately afterwards." In fact the term seems to have met general approval, and to have been accepted by everybody. On January 8, 1833, at the Jackson dinner at Indianapolis, John W. Davis gave the toast, "The Hooshier State of Indiana."^ On Augiist 3, 1833, the Indiana Democrat published the following prospectus of a new paper to be established by ex-Gov. Ray and partner:

The Hoosier

"We intend publishing a real Newspaper. To this promise (though comprehensive enough) we would add, that it is intended to make the moral and political world contribute their full share, in enriching its columns.

"Left to our choice Ave might refrain from remark on presidential matters; but supposing, that you may require an intimation, suffice it to say, that our past preference has been for General Jackson and his administration; and we deem it premature to decide as to the future without knowing who are to be the candidates. Those men who shall sustain Western measures, shall be our men. Believing that there is but one interest in the West, and but little occasion for partyism beyond the investigation of principles and the conduct of functionaries, we would ra.ther encourage union than excite divisio)!. We shall con.stantly keep in view the happiness, interest and prosperity of all. To the goofh this paper will be as a shield : to the harl. a terror.

mouths delay of pajonent, per annum, on a good sheet of paper of superroyal size, to be enlarged to an imperial as the subscription will justify it.

"This paper shall do honor to the people of Putnam county; and we expect to see them patronize us. The press is now at Greencastle. Let subscription papers be returned by the 1st of Sept. when the first number will appear."

On Oct. 26, 1833, the Indiana Democrat republished from the Cincinnati Republican a discussion of the origin and making of the word "Hoosier," which will be quoted in full hereafter, which shows that the term had then obtained general adoption. C. F. Hoffman, a traveler who passed through the northern part of the state, says, under date of Dec. 29, 1833:

"I am now ir the land of the Hooshiers, and find that long-haired race much more civilized than some of their Western neighbors are willing to represent them. The term 'Hooshier,' like that of Yankee, or Buckeye, first applied contemptuously, has now become a soubriquet that bears nothing invidious with it to the ear of an Indianian.''«

On Jan. 4, 1834, the Indiana Democrat quoted from the ^Nlaysville. Ky.. ^ilonitor, "The Hoosier State like true democrats have taken the lead in appointing delegates to a National Convention, etc." On ^May 10. 1834, the Indianapolis Journal printed the following editorial paragraph:

"The Hooshier, started some time ago by Messrs. Ray and Tannehill, at Greencastle, has sunk into repose; and a new paper entitled the ' G-reeneastle Advertiser,' published by James M. Grooms, has taken its place."

It is quite possible that this statement was made with the mischievous intent of stirring up Gov. Ray, for he was rather sensitive, and the "Whigs seemed to delight in starting stories that called forth indignant deniaL'> from him. If this was the purpose it was successful, for on May 31 the Journal said:

"We understand that another No. of the Hooshier has been recently received in town, and that it contains quite a bitter complaint about our remark a week or two ago. that it had 'sunk into repose.' We assure the Editor that we made the remark as a mere matter of news, without any intention to rejoice at the suspension of the paper. Several weeks had passed over without any paper being received, and it was currently reported that it had 'blowed out' and therefore, as a mere passing remark, we stated that it had 'sunk into repose.' We have no objection that it should live a thousand years."

The new paper, however, clid not last as long as that. It was sold in the fall of 1834 to J. AY. Osborn who continued the publication, but changed the name, in the following spring, to the "Western Plough Boy." On Sept. 19, 1834. the Indiana Democrat had the following reference to ]Mr. Finley :

"The poet laureate of Hoosierland and editor of the Richmond Palladium has threatened to 'cut acquaintance with B. of the Democrat!!' The gentleman alluded to. is the same individual that was unceremoniously robbed, by the Cincinnati Chronick, of the credit of immortalizing our State in verse, bv that justly celebrated epic of the ' Hoosier 's Nest.' " ^

On Nov. 29, 1834, the Vincennes Sun used the caption. "Hoosier and ]\Iammoth Pumpkins," over an article reprinted from the Cincinnati Alirror concerning a load of big pumpkins from Indiana.

These extracts sufficiently demonstrate the general acceptation of the name in the two years following the publication of Finley 's poem. The diversified spelling of the word at this period shows that it was new in print, and indeed some years elapsed before the now accepted spelling became universal. On Jan. 6, 1838, the Ft. Wayne Sentinel republished the portion of the poem beginning with the words, "Blest Indiana, in her soil." It was very probable that this publication Avas made directly from an original copy of the carrier's address, for Thomas Tigar, one of the founders and editors of the Ft. Wayne Sentinel, had been connected with the Indianapolis Press in January', 1833, and the old-fashioned newspaperman was accustomed to preserve articles that struck his fancv, and reproduce them. Jn this publication the poem is given as in the Finley manuscript, except that the first two times the word occurs it is spelled "hoosier" and once afterward "hoosheer." the latter evidently a typographical error. At the other points it is spelled "hoosher. " This original form of the word also indicates tha.t there had been some change in the pronunciation, and this is confirmed from another source. For many years there had been neriodical discussions of the origin of the wor:l in the newspapers of the State, and in one of these, which occurred in the Indianapolis Journal, in 1860, when numerous contemporaries of Finley were still living, Hon. Jere Smith, a prominent citizen of Winchester, made this statement:

"My recollection is that the word began to be used in this country in the fall of 1824, but it might have been as late as 1826 or 1827, when the Louisville & Portland canal was being made. I first heard it at a corn-husking. It was used in the sense of 'rip-roaring,' 'half horse' and 'half alligator,' and such like backwoods coinages. It was then, and for some years afterwards, spoken as if spelled 'huslier, ' the 'u' having the sound it has in 'bush,' 'push,' etc. In 1829, 1830 and 1831 its sound glided into 'hoosher,' till finally Mr. Finley 's 'Hoosier's Nest' made the present orthography and pronunciation classical, and it has remained so since."*

Of course, this is not conclusive evidence that there was a change in pronunciation, for iNIr. Smith's observation may have extended to one neighborhood only, and it may have taken on a variant pronunciation at the start, but his testimony, in connection with the changed spelling, is certainly very plausible.

There have been offered a number of explanations of the origin of the word, and naturally those most commonly heard are those that have been most extensively presented in print. Of the "authorities" on the subject perhaps the best known is Bartlett's "Dictionary of Americanisms" which was originally published in 1838 and was widely circulated in that and the subsequent edition, besides being frequently quoted. Its statement is as follows :

"A correspondent of the Providence Journal, writing from Indiana, gives the following account of the origin of this term : 'Throughout all the early Western settlements were men who rejoiced in their physi- - eal strength, and on numerous occasions, at log-rollings and house-raisings, demonstrated this to their entire satisfaction. They were styled by their fellow-citizens, hushers, from their primary capacity to still their opponents. It was a common term for a bully throughout the West. The boatmen of Indiana were formerly as rude a.nd primitive a set as could well belong to a civilized country, and they were often in the habit of displaying their pugilistic accomplishments upon the levee at New Orleans. Upon a certain occasion there one of these rustic professors of the "noble art" very adroitly and successfully practiced the "fancy" upon several individuals at one time. Being himself not a native of the Western world, in the exuberance of his exultation he sprang up, exclaiming, in a foreign accent, "I'm a hoosier, I'm a hoosier." Some of the New Orleans papers reported the case, and afterwards transferred the corruption of the word "husher" (hoosier) to aU the boatmen from Indiana, and from thence to all her citizens. The Kentuckians, on the contrary, maintained that the nickname expresses the gruff' exclamation of their neighbors, when one knocks at a door, etc., "Who's yere?" ' " Both of these theories have had adherents, and especially the latter, though nobody has ever found any basis for their historical features beyond the assertion of this newspaper correspondent. Nobody has ever produced any evidence of the use of the word "husher" as here indicated. It is not found in any dictionary of any kind - not even in Bartlett's. I have never found any indication of its former use or its present survival. And there is no greater evidence of the use of the expression, "Who's yere?" when approaching a house. As a matter of fact, the common custom when coming to a house and desiring communication with the residents was to call, "Hallo the house!" And this custom is referred to in Finley 's line: ' ' He hailed the house, and then alighted. ' ' Furthermore, if a pereon who came to a house called "Wlio's yere?" what cause would there be for calling the people who live in the house "who's yeres?" There is neither evidence nor reason to support it. But there is still a stronger reason for discarding these theories, and most others. To produce the change of a word or term liy corruption, there must be practical identity of sound and accent. It was natural enough for the Indiana pioneers to convert "au poste" into "Opost. " It was natural enough for the Ne\\* INFexiean settlers to change "Jicarilla" to "TTickoiy." It was natural enough for the Coloi-ado cowboys to transform "Purgatoire river" to "Picketwire river." But there is scant possibility of changing "husher," or "who's yere" - as it would probably be spoken - into "hoosh-er. " This consideration has led to the suggestion that the expression from which the word came was "who is yer?" but there is nothing to support this. The early settlers did not use "is" for "are" but

Another theory, almost as popular as these, derives the word from "hussar," and this theory, in its various forms, harks back to a Col. John Jacob Lehmanowsky, who served under Napoleon, and afterwards settled in Indiana, where he becama widely known as a lecturer on the Napoleonic wars. The tradition preserved in his family is that once while in Kentucky he became engaged in a dispute with some natives, and sought to settle the matter by announcing that he was a hussar. They understood him to say that he was a "hoosier, " and thereafter applied that name to everybody from Indiana. This theory has several shapes, one being presented by the Rev. Aaron Wood, the pioneer preacher, thus :

"The name 'hoosier' originated as follows : When the young men of the Indiana side of the Ohio river went to Louisville, the Kentucky men boasted over them, calling them 'New Purchase Greenies, ' claiming to be a superior race, composed of half horse, half alligator, and tipped off with snapping turtle. These taunts produced fights in the market house and streets of Louisville. On one occasion a stout bully from Indiana was victor in a fist fight, and having heard Colonel Lehmanowsky lecture on the 'Wars of Europe,' who always gave martial prowess to the German Hussars in a fight, pronouncing hussars 'hoosiers' the Indianian, when the Kentuckian cried 'enough,' jumped up and said: 'I am a Hoosier,' and hence the Indianians were called by that name. This was its true origin. I was in the State when it occurred."'*

Unfortunately, others are equally positive as to their "true origins." The chief Objection that has been urged to this theory is that Lehmanowsky was not in the State when the term began to be used, and the evidence on this point is not very satisfactory. His son, M. L. Lehmanowsky, of DePauw, Ind., informs me that his father came to this country in 1815, but he is unable to fix the date of his removal to Indiana. Published sketches of his life" state that he was with Napoleon at Waterloo; that he was afterwards imprisoned at Paris; that he escaped and made his way to New York; that he remained for several years at New York and Philadelphia where he taught school; that he came to Rush county, Indiana, and there married and bought a farm ; that after bearing him seven children his wife died; that he then removed to Harrison county, arriving there in 1837. These data would indicate that he came to Indiana sometime before 1830. The date of the deed to his farm, as shown by the Rush county records, is April 30, 1835. Aside from the question of date, it ls not credible that a Polish officer pronounced "hussar" "hoosier," or that from the use of that word by a known foreigner a new term could spring into existence, and so quickly be applied to the natives of the state where he chanced to live.

To these theories of the origin of the word may be added one communicated to me by James Whitcoml) Riley, whose acquaintance with dialect makes him an authority on the subject. It is evidently of later origin than the others, and not so well known to the public. A casual conversation happening to turn to this subject, he said: "These stories commonly told about the origin of the word 'Hoosier' are all nonsense. The real origin is found in the pugnacious habits of the early settlers. They were very vicious fighters, and not only gouged and scratched, but frequently bit off noses and ears. This was so ordinary an affair that a. settler coming into a bar room on a morning after a fight, and seeing an ear on the floor, would merely push it aside with his foot and carelessly ask, 'Who's year?' " I feel safe in venturing the opinion that this theory is quite as plausible, and almost as well sustained by historical evidence, as any of the others.

In this connection it is of interest to note the earliest known discussion of the meaning of the word, which has been referred to as republished in the Indiana Democrat of Oct. 26, 1833. It is as follows : several years, to designate, in a good-natured way, an inhabitant of our sister state of Indiana. Ex-Governor Ray has lately started a newspaper in Indiana, which he names 'The Hoshier' (sic). Many of our ingenious native philologists have attempted, though very unsatisfactorily, to explain this somewhat singular term. Mordecai M. Noah, in the late number of his Evening Star, undertakes to account for it upon the faith of a rather apocryphal story of a recruiting officer, who was engaged during the last war, in enlisting a company of HUSSARS, whom by mistake he unfortunately denominated Hooshiers. Another etymologist tells us that when the state of Indiana was being surveyed, the surveyors, on finding the residence of a squatter, would exclaim 'WJio's here,' - that this exclamation, abbreviated to Hooshier was, in process of time, lapplied as a distinctive appellation to the original settlers of that state, and, finally to its inhabitants generally. Neither of these hypotheses is deserving any attention. The word Hooshier is indebted for its existence to that once numerous and unique, but now extinct class of mortals called the Ohio Boatmen. - In its original acceptation it was equivalent to 'Ripstaver,' 'Scrouger,' 'Screamer,' 'Bulger,' 'Ring-tailroarer,' and a hundred others, equally expressive, but which have never attained' to such a respectable standing as itself. By some caprice which can never be explained, the appellation Hooshier became confined solely to such boatmen as had their homes upon the Indiana shore, and from them it was gradually applied to all the Indianians, who acknowledge it as good naturedly as the appellation of Yankee - Whatever may have been the original acceptation of Hooshier this we know, that the people to whom it is now applied, are amongst the bravest, most intelligent, most enterprising, most magnanimous, and most democratic of the Great West, and should we ever feel disposed to quit the state in whicli we are now sojourning, our own noble Ohio, it will be to enroll oureelves as adopted citizens in the land of the 'HOOSHIER.' - Cincinnati Republican."

Here is a presentation of the question, ten months after Finley's publication, covering most of the ground that has since been occupied. The "hussar" theory is carried back to the war of 1812, long before Col. Lehmanowsky was in this country. The

"who's here" theory is carried back to the government surveys, although it is certain that there were few, if any, "squatters" on government lands in Indiana before the surveys were made. The "husher" theory, in embryo, is presented in the writer's theory, which is apparently conjectural, except perhaps as evidence that the word was applied to the rather rough-looking class of flat-boatmen who made their trips down the Ohio and Mississippi.

There has been a notable tendency to locate these stories at Louisville, and to connect them with the building of the Louisville and Portland canal which was under construction from 1826 to 1831, inclusive. The "husher" story is located there by several of its advocates. Another story, of recent origin, coming from one Vanblaricum, was recounted by ]\Ir. George Cottman in the Indianapolis Press of February 6, 1901. Vanblaricum claimed that while passing through southern Tennessee he met a man named Hoosier, and this man said that a member of his family had a contract on the construction of the Louisville and Portland canal; tha,t he employed his laborers from the Indiana side, and the neighbors got to calling them " Hoosier 's men," from which the name "Hoosier" came to be applied to Indiana men generally. Vanblaricum could not give the address of his informant, or any information tending to confirm the story. At my request Mr. Louis Ludlow, Washington correspondent of the Indianapolis Sentinel, made inquiry of the representatives from the southern districts of Tennessee, and learned that none of them had ever heard of such a story, or knew of the name "Hoosier" in his district. An examination of the directories of Atlanta, Augusta, Baltimore, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Little Rock, Louisville. J\Iemphis, Nashville, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Richmond, St. Louis, St. Joseph, Savannah, Wheeling, Wilmington, the District of Columbia, and the state of Tennessee, failed to reveal any such name as Hoosier. As it is hardly possible for a family name to disappear completely, we may reasonably drop the Vanblaricum story from consideration. The same conclusion will also apply to the story of a Louisville ])ak('r. named Hoosier, from whom the term is sometimes said to have come. It is now known that the occurrence minutes of an early Methodist conference in Indiana, was the result of misspelling. The member's name was "Ho-si-er (accent on the second syllable) J. Durbin," and the secretary in writing- it put in an extra "o. " It may be mentioned in this connection that "Hooser" is a rather common family name in the South, and that "Hoos" is occasionally found.

One of the most interesting wild-goose chases I ever indulged in was occasioned by a passage in the narrative of Francis and Therasa Pulszky, entitled "White, Red and Black." The Pulszkys accompanied Kossuth on his trip through the States and visited Indianapolis in 1852. In the account of this visit Mrs. Pulszky says :

"Governor "Wright is a type of the Hoosiers, and justly proud to be one of them. I asked him wherefrom his people had got this name. He told me that 'Hoosa' is the Indian name for maize, the principal produce of the State."

This opened a new vista. The names "Coosa" and "Tallapoosa" came to memory. How simple! The Indiana flat-boatmen taking their loads of corn down the river were called "Hoosa men" by the Southern Indians, and so the name originated. But a search of Indian vocabularies showed no such name for maize or for anything else. The nearest approaches to it are "Hoosac" and " Housatonie, " which are both probably corruptions from the same stem, "awass," meaning beyond or further. The latter word is supposed to be the Indian "wassatinak," which is the New England form of the Algonquin "awassadinang, " meaning beyond the mountains.

In 1854 Amelia M. Murray visited Indianapolis, and was for a time the guest of Governor Wright. In her book entitled "Letters from the United States, Cuba and Canada" (page 324), she says:

"Madame Pfeiffer (she evidently meant Mrs. PuLszky, for Madame Pfeiffer did not come here and does not mention the subject) mistook Governor AVright, when she gave from his authority another derivation for the word 'Hoosier.' It originated in a settler's exclaiming 'Huzza,' upon gaining the victory over a marauding party from a neighboring State."

PuLszkys and Miss Murray, but knew nothing of Madame Pfeiffer. He said: "I often heard my father discuss this subject. His theory was that the Indiana tiatboatmen were athletic and pugnacious, and were accustomed, when on the levees of the Southern cities, to 'jump up and crack their heels together' and shout 'Huzza,' whence the name of 'huzza fellows.' We have the same idea now in 'hoorah people,' or 'a hoorah time.' " It will be noted that all these theories practically carry three features in common :

1. They are alike in the idea that the word was firat applied to a rough, boisterous, uncouth, illiterate class of people, and that the word originally implied this character.

3. They are alike in the idea that the word was coined for the purpose of designating Indiana people, and was not in existence before it was applied to them.

If our primary suspicion be correct, that all the investigators and theorists have followed some false lead from the beginning, it will presumably be found in one of these three common features. Of the three, the one that would more probably have been de^ rived from assumption than from observation is the third. If we adopt the hypothesis that it is erroneous, we have left the proposition that the word "hoosier," was in use at the South, signifying a rough or uncouth person, before it was applied to Indiana ; and if this were true it would presumably continue to be used there in that sense. Now this condition actually exists, as appears from the following evidence.

In her recent novel, "In Connection with the De Willoughby Claim, ' ' - Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett refers several times to one of her characters - a boy from North Carolina - as a ' ' hoosier. ' ' In reply to an inquiry she writes to me :

"The word 'hoosier' in Tennessee and North Carolina seems to imply, as you suggest, an uncouth sort ' of rustic. In the days when I first heard it my idea was also that - in agreement with you again - it was a slang term. I think a Tennesseean or Carolinian vof the class given to colloquialisms would have applied the term 'hoosier' to any rustic person without reference to his belonging to any locality in particular. But when

"In the year 1888, as a child, I visited Nashville, Tenn. One day I was walking down the street with two of my aunts, and our attention was attracted by a large number of mountaineers on the streets, mostly from northern Georgia, who had come in to some sort of society meeting. One of my aunts said, 'What a lot of hoosiers there are in town.' In surprise I said, 'Why I am a Iloosier. ' A horrified look came over my aunt's face and she exclaimed, 'For the Lord's sake, child, don't let any one here know you're a hoosier. ' I did not make the claim again for on inspection the visitors proved a wild-looking lot who might be suspected of never having seen civilization before."

"I have been familiar with the use of the word 'hoosier' all my life, and always as meaning a rough class of country people. The idea attached to it, as I understand it, is not so much that they are from the country, as that they are green and gawky. I think the sense is much the same as in 'hayseed.' 'jay' or 'yahoo.' "

"While visiting in Columbia, S. C, I was walking one day with a young gentleman, and we passed a rough-looking countryman. 'My! what a hoosier," exclaimed my escort. 'That is a very noble term to apply to such an ob.ject,' i said. 'Why so?' he inquired. 'Why I am a Hoosier - all Indiana people are,' I answered. ' Oh ! we do not use it in that sense here,' he rejoined. 'With us a hoosier means a jay.' "

"The word 'hoosier' is generally used in Virginia, South Carolina, Tennessee as an equivalent for ' a country hoodlum, ' ' a rough, uncouth countryman,' etc. The idea of 'country' is always attached to it in my mind, with a degree of 'uncouthness' added. I simply speak from my general understanding of the term as heard used in the States mentioned above."

"Pardon my delay in answering your question concerning the word 'hoosier' in this section. The word means a native of Indiana, and has a rare popular sense of a backwoodsman, a rustic. One hears: 'He is a regular hoosier. ' ' '

"About the word 'Hoosier' - one hears it in Tennessee often. It always means rough, uncouth, countrified. 'I am a Hoosier,' I have said, and my friends answer bewilderingly, 'But all Indiana-born are Hoosiers,' I declare, 'What nonsense!' is the answer generally, but one old politician responded with a little more intelligence on the subject : 'You Indianians should forget that. It has been untrue for many years.' In one of Mrs. Evans's novels - 'St. Elmo,' I think - a noble philanthropic young southern woman is reproached by her haughty father ioj teaching the poor childfen in thf iieiyhbin hood^'a lot of hoosiers,' he calls them. I have seen it in other books, too, but I can not recall them. In newspapers the word is common enough, in the sense I referred to."

It is scarcely possible that this widespread use of the word in this general sense could have resulted if the word had been coined to signify a native of Indiana, but it would have been natural enough, if the word were in common use as slang in the South, to apply it to the people of Indiana. ]\lany of the early settlers were of a rough and ready character, and doubtless most of them looked it in their long and toilsome emigration, but, more than that, it is an historical fact that about the time of the publication of Finley's poem there was a great fad of nicknaming in the West, and especially as to the several States. It was a feature of the humor of the day, and all genial spirits "pushed it along." A good illustration of this is seen in the following passage from HotTma.n's "Winter in tlie West ' ''^ referred to above :

''There was a long-haired 'hooshier' from Indiana, a couple of .smart-looking 'suckers' from the southern part of Illinois, a keeneyed, leather-belted 'badger' from the mines of Ouisconsin, and a sturdy, yeomanlike fellow, whose white capot. Indian moccasins and red sash proclaimed, while he boasted a three years' residence, the genuine 'wolverine,' or naturalized Michiganian. Could one refuse to drink with such a company? The spokesman was evidently a 'red horse' from Kentucky, and nothing was wanting but a 'buckeye' from Ohio to render the assemblage as complete as it was select."

This same frontier jocularity furnishes an explanation for the origin of several of the theories of the derivation of the name. If an assuming sort of person, in a crowd accustomed to the use of "hoosier" in its general slang sense, should pretentiously announce that he was a ' ' husher, " or a " hussar, ' ' nothing would be more characteristically American than for somebody to observe, "He is a hoosier, sure enough. ' ' And the victim of the little pleasantry would naturally suppose that the joker had made a mistake in the term. But the significance of the word nuist have been quite generally understood, for the testimony is uniform that it carried its slurring significance from the start. Still it was not materially more objectionable than the names applied to the people of other States, and it was commonly accepted in the spirit of humor. As JMr. Finley put it, in later forms of his poem:

It appears that the word was not generally known throughout the State until after the publication of "The Iloosiers' Nest," though it was known earlier in some localities, and these localities were points of contact with the southern people. And this was true as to Mr. Finley 's locality, for the upper part of the Whitewater valley was largely settled by Southerners, and from the Tennessee-Carolina mountain region, where the word was especially in use. Such settlements had a certain individuality. In his "Sketches" (page 38) the Rev. Aaron Wood says-.

There was a wide difference in the domestic habits of the families peculiar to the provincial gossip, dialect and tastes of the older States from which they had emigrated."

The tradition of my own family, which was located in the lower part of the Whitewater valley, is that the word was not heard there until "along in the thirties." In that region it always carried the idea of roughness or uncouthness. and it developed a derivative - "hoosiery" - which was used as an adjective or adverb to indicate something that was rough, awkward or shiftless. Testimony as to a similar condition in the middle part of the Whitewater valley is furnished in the following statement, given me by the Rev. T. A. Goodwin :

"In the summer of 1830 I went with my father, Samuel Goodwin, from our home at Brookville to Cincinnati. We traveled in an old-fashioned one-horse Dearborn wagon.. I was a boy of twelve years and it was a great occasion for me. At Cincinnati I had a fip for a treat, and at that time there was nothing I relished so much as one of those big pieces of gingerbread that were served as refreshment on nnister days. Fourth of July and other gala occasions, in connection with cider. I went into a baker's shop and asked for 'a fip's worth of gingerbread.' The man said, 'I guess you want hoosier-bait, ' and when he produced it I found that he had the right idea. That was the first time I ever heard the word 'hoosier,' but in a' few years it became quite commonly applied to Indiana people. 'The gingerbread referred to was cooked in square pans - about fifteen inches across, I should think - and with furrows marked across the top, dividing it into quarter-sections. A quarter-section sold for a fip, which was 6i^ cents. It is an odd fact that when Hosier J. Durbin joined the Indiana IMethodist Conference, in 1835, his name was misspelled 'Hoosier' in the minutes, and w^as so printed. The word 'Hoosier' always had the sense of roughness or uncouthness in its early use. ' '

At the time this statement was made, neither Mr. Goodwin nor I knew of the existence of the last four lines of Finley 's poem, in which this same term "hoosier-bait" occurs, they being omitted in all the ordinary forms of the poem. The derivation of this term is obvious, whether "bait" be taken in its sense of a lure or its sense of food. It was simply something that "hoosiers" were

After the word had been applied to Indiana, and had entered on its double-sense stage, writers who were familiar with both uses distinguished between them by making it a proper noun when Indiana was referred to. An illustration of this is seen in the writings of J. S. Robb, author of "The Swamp Doctor in the Southwest" and other humorous sketches, published in 1843. He refei*s to Indiana as "the Hoosier state," but in a sketch of an eccentric St. Louis character he writes thus:

"One day, opposite the Planter's House, during a military parade, George was engaged in selling his edition of the Advocate of Truth, when a tall hoosier, who had been gazing at him with astonishment for some time, roared out in an immoderate fit of laughter.

" 'Why, boss,' said the hoo.sier, 'I wur jest a thinkin' ef I'd seed you out in the woods, with all that har on, they would a been the d - dest runnin' done by this 'coon ever seen in them diggins - you're ekill to the elephant ! and a leetle the haryest small man I've seen scart up lately.' "

Unfortunately, however, not many writers were familiar with the double use of the word, and the distinction has gradually died out, while persistent assertions that the word was coined to designate Indiana people have loaded on them all the odium for the significance that the word has anywhere.

The real problem of the derivation of the woixl "hoosier," is not a question of the origin of a word formed to designate the state of Indiana and its people, but of the origin of a slang term widely in use in the South, signifying an uncouth rustic. There seems never to have been any attempt at a rational philological derivation, unless we may so account Mr. Charles G. Leland's remarks in Barriere and Leland's "Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant," which are as follows :

"Hoosier (American). A nickname given to natives of Indiana. Bartlett cites from the Providence Journal a story which has the appearance of being an after-manufacture to suit the name, deriving hoosier from 'husher - from their primary capacity to still their opponents.' He also asserts that the Kentuckians maintained that the nickname expresses the exclamation of an Indianian when he knocks at a door and exclaims 'Who's yere ? ' However, the word originally was not hoosier at all, but hoosieroon, or hoosheroon, hoosier being an abbreviation of this. I can remember that in 1834, having read of hoosiers, and spoken of them, a boy from the West corrected me, and said that the word was properly hoosieroon. This would indicate a Spanish origin."

The source of Mr. Leland's error is plain. "Hoosieroon" was undoubtedly coined by Mr. Finley to designate a Hoosier child, and what the boy probably told Mr. Leland was that the name to apply properly to him would be Hoosieroon. But that alone would not dispose wholly of the Spanish suggestion, for "oon" or "on" is not only a Spanish ending, but is a Spanish diminutive indicating blood relation. In reality, however, ]\Ir. Finley did not understand Spanish, and the ending was probably suggested to him by quadroon and octoroon, which, of course, were in general use. There is no Spanish word that would give any suggestion of "hoosier." The only other language of continental Europe that could be looked to for its origin would be French, but there is no French word approaching it except, perhaps, "huche," which means a kneading trough, and there is no probability of derivation from that.""

In fact, "hoosier" carries Anglo-Saxon credentials. It is Anglo-Saxon in form and Anglo-Saxon in ring. If it came from any foreign language, it has been thoroughly anglicized. And in considering its derivation it is to be remembered that the Southerners have always had a remarkable faculty for creating new words and modifying old ones. Anyone who has noted the advent of "snollygoster" in the present generation, or has read Longstreet's elucidation of "fescue," "abisselfa, " and "anpersant"'' will readily concede that. And in this connection it is to be observed that the word "yahoo" has long been in use in Southern slang, in almost exactly the same sense as "hoosier," and the latter word may possibly have developed from its last syllable. We have a very common slang word in the North - "yap" - with the same signification, which may have come from the same source, though more probably from the provincial EngiLsh "yap," to yelp or bark. "Yahoo" is commonly said to have been coined by Swift, but there is a possibility that it was in slang use in his day.

It is very probable that the chief cause of the absence of conjectures of the derivation of "Hoosier" from an English stem was the lack in our dictionaries of any w^ord from which it could be supposed to come, and it is a singular fact that in our latest dictionaries - the Standard and the Centurj^ - there appears the word "hoose, " which has been in juse for centuries in England. It is used now to denote a disease common to calves, similar to the g-apes in chickens, caused by the lodgment of worms in the throat. The symptoms of this disease include staring eyes, rough coat Avith hair turned backward, and hoarse wheezing. So forlorn an aspect might readily suggest giving the name "hooser" or "hoosier" to an uncouth, rough-looking person. In this country, for some reason, this disease has been known only by the name of the worm that causes it - "strongjdus micrurus" - it sounds very much like "strangle us marcus" as the veterinarians pronounce it - but in England "hoose" is the common name. This word is from a very strong old stem. Halliwell, in his "Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words," D-ives "hooze" and "lioors," and states that "hoos" occurs in the "Promptorium Parvulorum," and "hoozy" in the "Cornwall Glossary." the latter being used also in Devonshire. Palmer, in his "Foik- Etymology," says that "hoarst - a Lincolnshire word for a cold on the chest, as if that which makes one hoarse," is a corruption of the Old Engli.sh "host." a cous'h, Danish '^hoste," Dutch, "hoeste," Anglo-Saxon, "hweost," a wheeziness; and refers to Old English "hoose," to cough, and Cleveland "hooze," to wheeze. Descriptions of the effect of hoose on the appearance of animals will be found in Armatage's "Cattle Doctor," and in the "Transactions of the Highland Society of Scotland," fourth series. Vol. 10, at page 206.

There is also a possibility of a geographical origin for the word, for there is a coast parish of Cheshire, England; about seven miles west of Liverpool, named Hoose. The naii;e probably refers to the cliffs in the vicinity, for "hoo." which occurs both in composition and independently in old English names of places, is a Saxon word .signifying high. However, this is an obscure parish, and no special peculiarity of the people is known that would

There is one other possibility that is worthy of mention - that the word may come to us through England from the Hindoo. In India there is in general use a word commonly written "huzur," which is a respectful form of address to persons of rank or superiority. In "The Potter's Thumb" Mrs. Steel writes it "hoozur. " Akin to it is "housha," the title of a village authority in Bengal. It may seem impossible that "hoosier" could come from so far off a source, and yet it is almost certain that our slang word "fakir," and its derivative verb "fake," came from the Hindoo through England, whither for many years people of all classes have been returning from Indian service. It is even more certain that the word "khaki" was introduced from India, and passed into general use in English and American nui-series long before khaki-cloth was knoAATi to us.

As a matter of fact, words pass from one language to another in slang very readily. For example, throughout Eno^iand and America a kidnapper is said in thieves' slang to be "on the kinchin lay," and it can scarcely be c{uestioned that this word is direct from the German "kindchen." The change in meaning from "huzur" to "hoosier" would be explicable by the outlandish dress and looks of the Indian grandees from a native English standpoint, and one might naturally say of an uncouth person, "He looks like a huzur. ' '

It is not my purpose to urge that any one of these suggested possibilities of derivation is preferable to the other, or to assert that there may not be other and more rational ones. It is sufficient to have pointed out that there are abundant sources from which the word may have been derived. The essential point is that Indiana and her people had nothing whatever to do with its origin or its signification. It was applied to us in raillery, and our only connection with it is that we have meekly borne it for some three score years and ten, and have made it widely recognized as a badge of honor, rather than a term of reproach.

Addenchim, February. 1907. The greater part of the preceding was published in the Indianapolis News of Aug. 23 and 30, 1902. Afterwards I rewrote and enlarged it. Since then tliere have appeared two publications which threw some additional light on the subject. One of these is an account of Col. Lehraanowsky. purporting to be autobiographical, published under the title, "Under Two Captains," by Rev. W. A. Sadtler, Ph.D., of Philadelphia. This demonstrates that Lehmanowsky believed he originated the word, for he gives the following account of it : "In this connection I may mention an amusing incident that occurred somewhat later in a town in Kentucky, where I happened for a day or two. There was a drunken brawl in progress on the street, and as quite a number were involved in it, the people witli whom I was speaking began to be alarmed. I remarked just then that a few hussars would soon quiet them. My remark was caught up by some bystander, and the word hussar construed to mean the men of the State of Indiana (from which I had just come), and thus the word 'Hoosier' came into existence. Such is the irony of fate! Learned men have labored long to introduce some favored word of the most approved classic derivation, and as a rule have failed. Here a chance word of mine, miscalled by an ignorant loafer, catches the popular fancy and passes into Literature."'*

At the same time he furnishes conclusive evidence that he did not originate it, for he says that he did not leave Washington for the West until the spring of 1833; that he \tent as far as Ohio with his family and passed the winter of 1833-4 in the state,^ reaching Indiana the next spring, or more than a year after "The Hoo.sier's Nest" had appeared in print. His story, as given above, locates the incident at a still later date.

Although I had long been convinced that "hoosier," or some word closely resembling it, must be a,n old English dialect or slang word, I had never found any trace of a similar substantive with this ending until in this publication, and, in my opinion, this word "hoozer" is the original form of our

"hoosier." It evidently harks back to the Anglo-Saxon "hoo" for its derivation. It might naturailly signify a hill-dweller or highlander as well as something large, but either w^ould easily give rise to the derivative idea of uncouthness and rusticity.

There is a suggestiveness in the fact that it is Cumberland dialect. The very center of hoosierdom in the South is the Cumberland plateau with its associated Cumberland mountains, Cumberland river, Cumberland gap, and Cumberland Presbyterianism. The name Cumberland in these, however, is honorary in origin, the river and mountains having been named for that Duke of Cumberland who is known to the Scotch as "The Butcher of Culloden." But many of the settlers of this region, or their immediate forebears, were from Cumberland county, England, and so "hoozer" Avas a natural importation to the region. Thence it was probably brought to iLS by their migratory dascendants, ma.ny of whom settled in the upper Whitewater valley - the home of John Finley.

Since the publication of the foregoing paper, Mr. Dunn has written the following supplementary statement, which appeared in the Indianapolis Star, under date of June 2, 1907 :

"The recent publication by the Indiana Historical Society of a pamphlet on the origin of the word 'Hoosier' has caused a revival of interest in that mysterious subject, and several noteworthy points have been brought to light. One writer calls attention to the fact that in the early book descriptive of Indiana, entitled 'The New Purchase,' the word 'Hoosierina' is used for a female resident of the State. This is evidently a coinage of the author of the book, and one that did not meet with popular favor, as it is not known to have been used elsewhere.

"Another writer suggests that the word comes from the French 'huissier' meaning an usher or bailiff. This suggestion has been made before (Indiana Quarterly ]\Iagazine of History, Vol. 1, p. 94), but it is hardly within the bounds of possibility. The transition would have to come through pronunciation, and the pronunciation of 'huissier' is prac-

"The most interesting fact is bronght forward by Judge Timothy E. Howard of Sonth Bend, who has been engaged in preparing a local history, and has found a use of the word in print earlier than the publication of Finley's ' Hoosier 's Nest.' It occurs in a South Bend newspaper called the Northwestern Pioneer and St. Joseph's Intelligencer, in the issue of April 4, 1832, and is as follows:

'' 'A REAL HOOSIER. A sturgeon, who, no doubt, left Lake Michigan on a trip of pleasure, with a view of spending a few days in the pure waters of the St. Joseph, had his joyous anticipations unexpectedly marred by running foul of a fisherman's spear near this place - being brought on terra firma and cast into a balance he was found to weigh 83 pounds. '

"This paper was published at the time by John D. Defrees and his brother Joseph H. Defrees, both prominent in early Indiana history, and both natives of Tennessee. The use of the word here confirms the theory of the pamphlet that 'Hoosier' was not coined to designate a native or resident of Indiana, but was a slang word in common use at the time in the South, signifying a rough, uncouth countryman; and that it was probably used verbally as a nickname for Indianians for several years before it was put in print, but not so univei-sally as afterwards.

"The Defrees brothers were presumably familiar with the Southern use as well as its nickname application; and what did they mean by calling a sturgeon a 'real' Hoosier? Certainly not a 'real' resident of Indiana, for they speak of him as a visitor from Lake Michigan. The obvious idea is that he is a 'real' big, rough fellow; and that therefore the name is appropriate to be applied to him. So far as now known this is the earliest appearance of the word in print, and Judge Howard holds the record for successful original research in this line."

of Hoosier- - James Whitcomb Riley, by accepting and gracefully wearing the title of ' ' The Hoosier Poet ' ' ; and Governor Claude Matthews, by everywhere and always proclaiming his love for and pride in the name. In the dedication of the Indiana building, at the Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893, the governor introduced Mr. Riley to that world audience in the following noble words :

"If there be one characteristic above another for which the citizen of Indiana may be noted, it is his love of home - whether that may be the splendid mansion in the busy center - the farm house mid the smiling fields of grain and shaded pasture, or the cabins of our fathers in the deep umbrageous forest. It comes to us an inheritance from the 'Hoosier' pioneer who braved the unknown dangers of the forest, not with the greed of gain his sole absorbing thought, but with his soul filled with the noblest inspiration of our race, to build a home that he might leave a goodly inheritance to his children. I mentioned to .you the name of 'Hoosier' by which the citizen of Indiana is known far and near. I regret there are a few whose eai*s have grown so fastidious, that the name offends, but as for me I love the name and honor it. It is the synonym of sturdy manhood, untiring energy, sterling integrity, unflinching courage and a hospitality so broad and generous that has not its superior in all the world. It was the strong right arm of the 'Hoosier' that felled the forest, bridged the rivere, pushed for\vard roads over hill, throug'h prairie and marsh, and laid the foundation of an empire in the grandeur of their state. We love him who can paint the picture of the humble life: find a poem in 'the simple annals of the poor,' and sing the sacred home songs of his people. None other has ever done this better than the Hoosier poet, James Whitcomb Rilev of Indiana."

Note. - The foregoing chapter, giving a brief outline of the history of Indiana, previous to and including the organization of the state government, seemed a necessary introduction to the history of St. Joseph county. The relations of the county to the state are ^ exceedingly intimate, and an adequate knowledge of the county, as a political organization, and in its historical relations could hardly be had without a preliminary knowledge of the commonwealth of which the county forms so important a subdivision.