Initially formed from portions of more than one county, the parentcounty here shown being the first mentioned in the title of the Act of Assembly forming this county: for other counties, portions of which were utilized in the formation of this county, see Part I, Alphabetical Arrangement.

PART V.

ORIGIN OF COUNTY NAMES

In the preparation of Part V, no account has been taken of conflicting county traditions, nor has an attempt been made to harmonize such traditions with apparently correct interpretations, but an effort has been made to assemble, under an alphabetical arrangement of the county names, the most reliable and concise quotations bearing upon this phase of the subject.

Each quotation is immediately followed by a citation of the authority quoted, while additional references,—in alphabetical order,—furnish corroborative and cumulative evidence in support of the quotation actually offered.

In cases of widely varying interpretations, these several interpretations have been given,-each with its own citation,-with a view to offering the student the larger scope in connection with those cases; but, where the Acts of Assembly are quoted as authority for the origin of the name, no corroborative or other evidence is offered, as there is no appeal from such authority.

For re-capitulation of sources of names, see end of this Part.

The following abbreviations are used in this Part:

A.: Acts of the General Assembly of Virginia, for the session indicated.
Brock: Robert A. Brock's "Virginia and Virginians".

Collins: R. H. Collins's "History of Kentucky" (1878).

E (superior): resulted from Virginia legislation, but now extinct, as
shown by accompanying dates.

Green: B. W. Green's "Word Book of Virginia Folk Speech” (1912).
H. Hening's "Statutes at Large".

H. A. I.: “Handbook of American Indians" (Bureau of American Eth-
nology, Bulletin 30: 1907).

H. B.: "Journals of the House of Burgesses", 1619-1776 (Virginia
State Library: 1905-1915).

K (superior): resulted from Virginia legislation, but now in Kentucky.
Lewis: Virgil A. Lewis's "History of West Virginia" (1889).
Long: Charles M. Long's "Virginia County Names" (1908).
U. S.: United States Geological Survey, Bulletin 258 (1905).
W (superior): resulted from Virginia legislation, but now in West
Virginia.

ACCAWMACK:

(1634-42/3)

and (1663)

Named after the Accomack Indians, "A tribe of the Powhatan Confederacy that formerly lived in Accomac and Northampton Counties." (H. A. I.; Long, 163, 165). The word means "on-the-other-side-of-water place". For etymology, meanings, and variants, see H. A. I.

ALBEMARLE :

(1744)

"the name of Albemarle was given to the new county from the title of William Anne Keppel, Second Earl of Albemarle, at that time [1737-1754] Governor General of the Colony." (Wood's "History of Albemarle County", 8; Long, 70).

ALEXANDRIA:

(1847)

"the said county shall contain that part of said District [of Columbia], which lies on the west side of said [Potomac] River, and shall be called the County of Alexandria" (U. S. Stats. II, 105).

Named from Alexandria (City), which was organized in 1748 and was built on a part of "the whole of the domain from Great Hunting Creek to the Falls of the Potomac extending miles inland and embracing six thousand acres [which] had been purchased by John Alexander in 1669 of Capt. Robert Howsen, for 6600 pounds of tobacco. Howsen had secured his right to it by a Royal Patent granted to him in 1688 [1669] by Governor Berkeley for having brought to Virginia a certain number of immigrants. The nucleus of the town was first formed somewhere near the site of the gas works, and was called Belle Haven." (Snowden's "Some Old Historic Landmarks", 13).

ALLEGHANY:

(1822) "A corruption of the Delaware Indian name for the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, the meaning of the name being 'lost.'" (U. S., 21; Long, 168). For etymology, meanings and variants, see H. A. I.

AMELIA: (1735)

AMHERST:

"named for the Princess Amelia [Sophia], the youngest daughter of George II. of England." (U. S., 23; Long, 50).

(1761) "named after the hero of Ticondaroga [Major General (Sir) Jeffrey Amherst], the most successful as well as the most popular of all the English Colonial Governors-General. [17631768]." ("Facts of interest about Amherst County", 5; Long, 71).

APPOMATTOX: (1845)

"Indian names for places are apt to be descriptive of the places. These Indians were Algonquins, in whose language 'apamu-tiku' means 'a sinuous tidal estuary'. Their chief town in 1607 was in, or rather just below, the present "Turkey Island bend', and the name was applicable rather to the James than to the Appomattox; but the English had previously named that river for their king. In the course of time the 'apamu-tiku' country of the Indian came to be called 'the curls of the river' by the English". (Brown's "First Republic", p. 195; Tyler's "Cradle of the Republic", p. 14).

"An Indian word meaning 'tobacco plant country'". (U. S., 27; Long, 166). For etymology, meanings and variants, see H. A. I.

AUGUSTA: (1745)

"named in honor of Princess Augusta [of Saxe-Gotha], wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales, Father of George III." (Waddell's "Annals of Augusta County" (1902), 36; Long, 51).

BARBOUR: (1843)

BATH:

(1791)

BEDFORD:

"shall form one distinct and new county, and be called and known by the name of Barbour County, in honour to and in memory of Philip P. Barbour of Virginia." (A., 1842-3, p. 37).

"so called because of the medical springs."
Long, 175).

(U. S., p. 38;

(1754) "was named in honor of John Russell, the Fourth Duke of Bedford, who was Secretary of State of Great Britain from February 13th, 1748, to June 26th, 1757."

of Bedford County", p. 4; Long, 90).

BERKELEY: (1772)

BLAND:

(1861)

W BOONE: (1847)

("Historical Sketch

"named Berkeley, in honor of Norborne Berkeley, Baron de Botetourt, 'the good Governor of Virginia [1768-1770]', as he was called, under George III." (Norris's "History of the Lower Shenandoah Valley", p. 220; Long, 139).

"said to have been named after Richard Bland, of Revolutionary fame." (U. S., p. 49; Long, 101).

"shall form distinct and new county, and be called and known by the name of Boone County, in honour to and in memory of Daniel Boone, the well known pioneer of the western frontier settlements." (A., 1846-7, p. 49.)

BOTETOURT:

(1770)

"was named in honor of Norborne Berkeley, Lord Botetourt, who was Governor of Virginia in 1768-[1770]." (Waddell's "Annals of Augusta County" (1902), p. 216; Long, 138).

k BOURBON: (1786)

"was named in compliment to the Bourbon Family of France,a prince of that family, then upon the throne, having rendered the American Colonies aid, in men and money, in the struggle for independence." (Collins's "History of Kentucky", ii, p. 66).

w BRAXTON:

(1836)

"named in honor of Carter Braxton, one of Virginia's signers of the Declaration of Independence." (Lewis, p. 673).