Wompenanitis of record as the name of "the utmost end eastward" of the Montauk Peninsula. The description reads: "From the utmost end of the neck eastward, called Wompenanit, to our utmost bound westward, called Napeake." (Deed of July 11, 1661.) In other papers Wompenonot and Wompenomon, corrupted orthographies. The meaning is "The utmost end eastward,"i. e.from the east side of Napeake to the extreme end. The derivatives are Nar.Wompan(fromWompi,white, bright), "It is full daylight, bright day," hence the Orient, the East, the place of light, and-anit,"To be more than," extending beyond the ordinary limit. The same word appears inWompanánd,"The Eastern God" (Williams), the deity of light. FromWompi,alsoWapaninWapanachkik,"Those of the eastern region," now writtenAbanaquiandAbnaki,and confined to the remnant of a tribe in Maine. (See Wahamanesing,) Dr. Trumbull wrote: "Anit,the subjunctive participle of a verb which signifies 'To be more than,' 'to surpass'"; with impersonalMprefixed,Manit,as inManitou,a name given by the Indians, writes Lahontan, "To all that passes their understanding"; hence interpreted by Europeans, "God." It has no such meaning inWompenanit,but defined a limit that was "more than," or the extreme limits of the island. No doubt, however, the Indians saw, as do visitors of to-day, at the utmost end of the Montauk Peninsula, in its breast of rock against which the ocean-waves dash with fearful force; its glittering sun-light and in its general features, aWompanánd,or Eastern God, that which was "more than ordinary, wonderful, surpassing," but those features are not referred to inWompenanit,except, perhaps, as represented by the glittering sun-light, the material emblem of the mystery of light—"where day-light appears."
Montauk,now so written—in early orthographiesMeantacut,Meantacquit,etc.—was not the name of the peninsula to which it is now applied, but was extended to it by modern Europeans from a specific place. The extreme end was called by the IndiansWompenanit,and the point,Nâïag,"Corner, point or angle," from which Adriaen Block wrote, in 1614,Nahicans,"People around the point," a later Dutch navigator adding (War Dep. Map) the topographical description,Nartong,"A barren, ghastly tongue." The name has had several interpretations by Algonquian students, but without entire satisfaction even to themselves. Indeed, it may be said with truth, "It has been too much translated" to invite further study with the hope of a better result. The orthography usually quoted for interpretation appears first in South Hampton Records in an Indian deed of 1640, "Manatacut,his X mark," the grantor being given the name of the place which he represented, as appears from the same records (1662), "Wyandanch, Meantacut sachem," or sachem of Meantac. The Indian deed reads: "The neck of land commonly known by the name of Meantacquit, . . . Unto the east side of Napeak, next unto Meantacut high lands." In other words the high lands bounded the place called Meantacqu, the suffix-itor-utmeaning "at" that place. The precise place referred to was then and is now a marsh on which is a growth of shrub pines, and cedars. Obviously, therefore,MeantacorMeantacqu,is an equivalent of Mass.Manantac,"Spruce swamp," and of Del.Menántac,"Spruce, cedar or pine swamp." (Zeisb.) The Abn. wordMannaⁿdakôô,"cedar" (Mass.-uᶋtugh;Nar.áwtuck), seems to establish conclusively that-ántakwas the general generic suffix for all kinds of coniferous trees, and with the prefixMen, Man, Me,etc., described small or dwarf coniferous trees usually found growing in swamps, and from which swamps took the name. [FN] There is nothing in the name or in its corruptions that means "point," "high lands," "place of observation," "fort," "fence," or "confluence"; it simply describes dwarf coniferous trees and the place which they marked. The swamp still exists, and the dwarf trees also at the specific east bound of the lands conveyed. (See Napeak.)
[FN] The Indians had specific names for different kinds of trees. The generic general word wasMe'hittukorM'hittugk,Del.,M'tugh,Mass., which, as a suffix, was reduced to-ittuk, -utugh, -tagh, -tack, -tacque,etc., frequentlyak,which is the radical. Howden writes in Cree: "Atikis the termination for the names of trees, articles made of wood," etc.Mash-antack-uk,Moh., was translated by Dr. Trumbull fromMish-untugh-et,Mass., "Place of much wood."Mannaⁿdakōōis quoted as the Abn. word for "cedar;"Mishquáwtuck,Nar., "Red cedar."Menántachk,"Swamp" (Len. Eng. Dic.), is explained by Rev. Anthony, "with trees meeting above."Menautac,"Spruce, cedar or pine swamp" (Zeisb.), from the kind of trees growing in the swamp, but obviouslyantacnever described a swamp, or trees growing in swamps, without the prefixMen, Man, Me,etc.Keht-antakmeans a particularly large tree which probably served as a boundmark. It may be a question if the initialainantakwas not nasal, as in Abn., but there can be none in regard to the meaning of the suffix.
Napeak,East Hampton deed of 1648, generally writtenNapeaka, NeppeageandNapeague,and applied by Mather (Geological Survey) to a beach and a marsh, and in local records to the neck connecting Montauk Point with the main island, means "Water land," or "Land overflowed by water." The beach extends some five miles on the southeast coast of Long Island. The marsh spreads inland from the beach nearly across the neck where it meets Napeak Harbor on the north coast. It is supposed to have been, in prehistoric times, a water-course which separated the island from the point. Near the eastern limit are patches of stunted pines and cedars, and on its east side at the end of what are called the "Nominick hills," where was obviously located the boundmark of the East Hampton deed, "Stunted pines and cedars are a feature," wrote Dr. Tooker in answer to inquiry. (See Montauk.)
Quawnotiwock,is quoted in French's Gazetteer as the name of Great Pond; authority not cited. Prime (Hist. L. I.) wrote: "The Indian name of the pond is unknown." The pond is two miles long. It is situate where the Montauk Peninsula attains its greatest width, and is the largest body of fresh water on the island. It would be correctly described byQuinneorQuawnopaug,"Long pond," but certainly not byQuawnotiwock,the animate plural suffix-wock,showing that it belonged to the people—"People living on the Long River." [FN] (See Quantuck and Connecticut.)
[FN] The suffix-og, -ock, -uck,is, in the dialect here, a plural sign. Williams wrote-oock, -uock, -wock,and Zeisberger wrote-ak, -wak.Quinneh-tuk-wock,"People living on the Long River"—"a particular name amongst themselves."Kutch-innû-wock,"Middle-aged men;"Miss-innû-wock,"The many."Lénno,"Man";Lénno-wak,"Men." (Zeisberger.)Kuwe,"Pine";Cuweuch-ak,"pine wood, pine logs." Strictly, an animate plural. In the Chippeway dialect, Schoolcraft gives eight forms of the animate and eight forms of 'the inanimate plural. The Indians regarded many things as animates that Europeans do not.
Assup,given as the name of a neck of land—"A tree marked X hard by the northward side of a cove of meadow"—means "A cove." It is an equivalent ofAucûp(Williams), "A little cove or creek." "Aspatuckriver" is also of record here, and probably takes that name from a hill or height in proximity. "Aspatuck hill," New Millford, Conn.
Shinnecock,now preserved as the name of an Indian village in the town of Southampton, on the east side of Shinnec'ock Bay, for many years in occupation by a remnant of the so called Shinnec'ock Indians who had taken on the habits and customs of European life, appears in its present form in Plymouth Records in 1637, in treaty association with the Massachusetts government. They claimed to be the "true owners of the eastern end of Long Island," but acknowledged the primacy of Wyandanch, sachem of the Montauks, who had been elected by other sachems as chief sachem or the "sachem of sachem" of the many clans. The name is probably from the rootShin,orSchind,"Spruce-pine" (Zeisb.);Schindikeu,"Spruce-pine forest";Shinak-ing,"At the land of spruce-pines." (Brinton);Schindak-ock,"Land or place of spruce-pines." There was an extended spruce-pine forest on that part of the island, a considerable portion of which remains in the district south of Peconic River in the town of Southampton. The present form of the name is pronounced Shinnec'ock.
Mochgonnekonckis written, in 1643, as the name of a place unlocated except in a general way. The record reads: "Whiteneymen, sachem of Mochgonnekonck, situate on Long Island." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 60.) Whiteneymen, whose name is written Mayawetinnemin in treaty of 1645, and "Meantinnemen, alias Tapousagh, chief of Marsepinck and Rechawyck," in 1660 (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 58), was son of Mechowodt, sachem of Marsepingh, and probably succeeded his father as sachem of that clan. (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 540.) His last possession was Cow Neck, in the present town of North Hampton, which was given to him by his father; it may have been the Mochgonnekonk of 1643. De Vries met him in conference in 1645, and notes him as a speaker of force, and as having only one eye. Brodhead wrote of him: "Kieft, therefore, by the advice of his council determined to engage some of the friendly Indians in the interest of the Dutch, and Whiteneymen, the sachem of Mochgonnecocks, on Long Island, was dispatched, with several of his warriors, 'to beat and destroy the hostile tribes.' The sachem's diplomacy, however, was better than his violence. In a few days he returned to Fort Amsterdam bearing friendly messages from the sachems along the Sound and Near Rockaway," and a formal treaty of peace soon followed. He was elected "sachem of sachems" by the sachems of the western clans on the island, about the time the jurisdiction of the island was divided between the English at New Haven and the Dutch at Manhattan, the former taking the eastern clans under Wyandanch, and as such appears in the treaties with the Dutch in 1645, '56—His record name is variously written—Tapousagh, Tackapousha, etc. It is frequently met in Long Island Records.Mochgonneckonckthe name of his sachemdom in 1643, has not been identified further than that he was the owner of Cow Neck, now called Manhasset (Manhas'et), Queens County, the largest neck or point of land on the coast.
Quaunontowunk,Quannotowonk, KonkhonganikandKonghonganoc,are forms of two distinct names applied respectively to the north and south ends of Fort Pond, as per deed for the tract known as "the Hither Woods purchase," which reads: "The name of the pond is Quaunontowunk on the north and Konkhonganik on the south." Dr. Tooker translated the former fromQuaneuntéow-unk,(Eliot), "Where the fence is," the reference being to a certain fence of lopped trees which existed on the north end of the pond, [FN-1] and the latter fromKuhkunhunganash(Eliot), "bounds," "At the boundary place." The present name of the pond is from two Indian forts, one known as the Old Fort, on the west, and one known as the New Fort, on the east, the latter remaining in 1661, the former destroyed, the deed reading, "Where the Old Fort stood." Wyandanch, [F-2] "the sachem of Manatacut,"—later called "The great sachem of Montauk"—had his residence in the Old Fort. He was the first ruler of the Montauks known to the Dutch, his name appearing in 1637. (See Montauk.)
[FN-1] The deed reads: "The north fence from the pond to the sea, shall be kept by the town; the south fence, to the sea, by the Indians." Presumably the fences were there when the land was sold.
[FN-2] Wyandach, or Wyandance, is said to have been the brother of Paggatacut, sachem of Manhas'set or Shelter Island, the chief sachem of fifteen sachemdoms. On the death of the latter, in 1651, Wyandanch became, by election, the successor of his brother and held the office until his death by poison in 1659.
Mastic,preserved as the name of a river and also as that of a village in Brookhaven, is of uncertain meaning.Wampmissic,the name of another village, is supposed to have been the name of a swamp—Mass.Wompaskit,"At or in the swamp, or marsh."
Poosepatuck,a place so called and now known as the Indian Reservation, back of Forge River at Mastick, probably means "On the other side," or "Beyond the river," fromAwossi,"Over, over there, on the other side, beyond," and-tuck,"Tidal river."
Speonk,the name of a village in Southampton near East Bay, on an inlet of the ocean, to which flows through the village a small brook, has lost some of its letters.Mas-sepe-onkwould describe a place on a broad tidal river or estuary. In the same vicinitySetuckis of record as the name of a place. It may also be from Mas-sepe-tuck. (See Southampton Records.) While the English settlers on eastern Long Island were careful to preserve Indian names, they were very careless in orthographies.
Poquatuckis quoted by Thompson (Hist. L. I.) as the name of Oyster Pond in the town of Southold. It is now claimed as the name of Orient, a village, peninsula or neck of land and harbor on the east side of the pond. Probably fromPohqu'unantak,"Cleared of trees," a marshy neck which had been cleared or was naturally open. The same name is met in Brookhaven.
Cataconoche,given as the name of the Great Neck bounding Smithtown on the east, has been translated by Dr. Tooker fromKehte-komuk,"Greatest field," later known as the Old Man's Field, or Old Field.
Yaphank,Yamphank,etc., a village in Brookhaven, is from Niantic dialect in whichYis used for an initial letter where other dialects employL, NorR.Putting the lost voweleback in the word, we haveYapehánek,in LenapeRapehánek,"Where the stream ebbs and flows." The name is written Yampkanke in Indian deed. (Gerard.) The name is now applied to a small tributary of the Connecticut, but no doubt belongs to a place on the Connecticut where the current is affected by the tide. (See Connecticut.)
Monowautuckis quoted as the Indian name of Mount Sinai, a village in the town of Brookhaven, a rough and stony district on what is known as Old Man's Bay, a small estuary surrounded by a salt-marsh meadow. The name seems to be an equivalent ofNunnawanguck,"At the dry land." Old Man's Bay takes that name from the Great Neck called Cataconche, otherwise known as the Old Man's Meadow, and as the Old Field. "The two neckes or hoeces (hooks) of meadow that lieth next beyond the Old Man's Meadow"—"with all ye privileges and appurtenances whatsoever, unto the Old Field." PresumablyMan'swas originallyManse(English), pronouncedMans,"the dwelling of a landholder with the land attached," and calledOldbecause it was the first land or field purchased. (See Cataconche.)
Connecticut,now so written and of recordConnetquoit,etc, is not the name of the stream to which it is applied, but of the land on both sides of it. It is an equivalent ofQuinnituckquet,"Long-river land," as in Connecticut. (Trumbull.)Quinnituk,"Long river"; with locative-etor-it,"Land or place on the long-river." The stream is the outlet of Ronkonkoma Lake, and flows south to Fire-place Bay, where the name is of primary record. There were two streams to which it was applied; one is a small stream in Islip, and the other, the largest stream on the island, as described above. In old deeds it is called East Connecticutt. Fire-place is now retained as the name of a village on Bellport Bay, and its ancient locative on the Connecticut is now called South Haven. [FN]
[FN] There were two places bearing the name of Fire-place, one on the north side of the island on Gardiner's Bay, and one on the south side. The latter is referred to here.
Minasseroke,quoted as the name of Little Neck, town of Brookhaven, probably means "Small-stone land" or place—Min-assin-ohke, randnexchanged.
Patchogue,Pochough, Pachough,the name of a village in the town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County, on Patchough Bay, is probably met in Pochaug, Conn., which Dr. Trumbull read fromPohshâog,where two streams form one river, signifying, "Where they divide in two." The name was early extended to a clan known as the Pochoughs, later Patchoogues, who seem to have been a family of the Onchechaugs, a name probably the equivalent ofOngkoué(Moh.), "beyond," with-ogue(ohke), "land beyond,"i. e.beyond the bay. [FN] (See Moriches.)
[FN] Otherwise writtenUnquetauge—"land lying at Unquetauge, on the south side of Long Island, in the county of Suffolk." Literally, "Land beyond;" "on the further side of; in the same direction as, and further on or away than."Onckeway,a place beyond Stamford, on Connecticut river. (Col. Hist. N. Y.) "Ongkoué,beyond Pequannuc river." (Trumbull.)
Cumsequogueis given in will of William Tangier Smith as the name of what is now known as Carman's River, flowing to Bellport Bay. It is probably a pronunciation ofAccomb-suck-ohke,"Land or place at the outlet beyond." The record name of Bellport is Occombomeck, Accobamuck, etc., meaning, "Fishing-place beyond," which, as the deeds show, was a fishing-place at a freshwater pond, now dried up. The name is readily confused with Aquebogue.
Moriches,a neck of land "lying at Unquetague, on the south side of Long Island, being two necks called by ye names ofMarigesandNamanock" (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers, 45), is now in the town of Brookhaven. Namanock seems, from the locative, to be a corruption ofNam'e-ohke,"Fish-place"—Namanock or Namecock. (Trumbull.) [FN]Moriches,orMariges,is a corruption of DutchMaritches(Morichi, Mariche), fromMoriche Palmita(Latin), meaning, in popular use, any plant thought to resemble a palm.Mauritiaa species of Mauriticæ, or South-American palm, so called in honor of Prince Maurice of Nassau. (See Palmagat.)
[FN]Namaus,generic, "a fish"—Namohs,Eliot;Namés,Abn.,Namaes,Heck.;Namees,Zeisb.; with suffix-aki, -ohke,etc., "fish-land," place or country.Améessok,Zeisb.;Anmesooak,Abn.,Aumsûog,Mass., "small fishes." As a generic suffix,-ama'ug,Mass.,-ama'uk,Del., "fishing-place." "Ama'ugis only used at the end of a compound name, where it is equivalent toNameaug,at the beginning." (Trumbull.) The final syllable,-ug, -uk,etc., is an animate plural. On Long Island,-Ama'ugis frequently met in-amuck;in other places,-amwack, -amwook, -ameock,etc.
Kitchaminchoke,given as the name of a boundmark, said to be Moriches Island, is interpreted by Dr. Tooker, "The beginning place." The description (1630) reads, "Beginning at" a place called,i. e.an object or feature which would definitely locate a boundmark—apparently an equivalent ofSchiechi-kiminschi-aki,Lenape, "Place of a soft-maple tree." The territory conveyed extended toEnaughquamuck,which Dr. Tooker rendered correctly, "As far as the fishing-place."
NiamugandNiamuckare forms of the name of what is now known as Canoe Place, on the south side of Long Island, near Southampton. "Niamug,the place where the Indians haul over their canoes out of the North Bay to the South Bay." (Deed of 1640.) Dr. Trumbull translated fromNôe-amuck,"Between the fishing places." Local tradition affirms that centuries ago the Indians made a canal here for the purpose of passing their canoes from Mecox Bay to Paconic Bay. Mongotucksee, the hero of the story, was a chieftain who reigned over the Montauks in the days of their pride and power. The tradition has no other merit than the fact that Niamug was a place at which canoes were hauled across the island.
Sicktew-hacky(deed of 1638);Sicketewackey(Van der Donck, 1656): "All the lands from Rockaway eastward to Sicktew-hackey, or Fire Island Bay"; "On the south coast of Long Island, at a place called Sicktewacky, or Secontague, near Fire Island Inlet" (Brodhead); Seaquetauke, 1659; Setauck Neck, the south bound of St. George's Manor, now Manorville; of record as the name of an Indian clan and village near Fire Island Inlet, with the Marsapinks and Nyacks for neighbors; now preserved in several forms of which Setauket probably locates a place near Secontague.Sicketeuhacky,writes Mr. Gerard, "is the Lenape equivalent ofSecatogue,meaning 'Burned-over land.' Whether the mainland or Fire Island was the 'Burned-over land,' history does not tell us." Lands were burned over by the Indians to destroy the bushes and coarse grasses, and probably some field of this character was referred to by the Indian grantors, from which the name was extended to the Neck and to Fire Island, although it is said that fires were kindled on the island for the guidance of fishermen.
Saghtekoos—"called by the native Indians Saghtekoos; by the Christians Appletree Neck"—the name of the Thompson estate in Islip—probably means, "Where the stream branches or divides," or "At the branch," referring to Thompson's brook. The suffix-oosevidently stands for "small." (See Sohaghticoke.) "Apple-tree Neck" is not in the composition, but may indicate that the Indian owners had planted apple trees there.
Amagansett,the Indian name of what is now East Hampton, was translated by Dr. Trumbull, "At or near the fishing place"; rootAm,"to take by the mouth";Amau,"he fishes"; Abn.,Amaⁿgaⁿ,"ou péche lá," "he fishes there," (Rasles);s,diminutive or derogatory;ett,"Near or about," that is, the tract was near a small or inferior fishing-place, which is precisely what the composition describes.
Peconic,now so written and applied to Peconic Bay and Peconic River, but primarily to a place "at the head of the river," or as otherwise described, "Land from ye head of ye bay or Peaconnack, was Shinnec'ock Indians' Land" (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 600), is not the equivalent ofPeqan'nuc,"a name common to all cleared land," as translated by Dr. Trumbull, but the name given as that of a small creek tributary to Peconic River, in which connection it is of recordPehick-konuk,which, writes Mr. Gerard, "plainly stands forK'pe-hickonuk,or more properlyKĕpehikanik,'At the barrier,' or weir.KĕpehikanfromKepehike,'he closes up,' or obstructs,i. e.'dams.'" The bounds of the Shinnec'ock Indians extended east to this stream; or, as the record reads, "To a river where they did use to catch the fish commonly called alewives, the name of which creek was Pehickkonuk, or Peconic." (Town Records.)
Agwam,Agawam,is quoted by French as the name of Southampton, L. I. Dr. Trumbull wrote: "Acawan, Agawan or Auquan, a name given to several localities in New England Where there are low meadows—a low meadow or marsh." Presumably fromAgwu,"Underneath, below." Another authority writes: "AgawamfromMagawamuk,A great fishing place." (See Machawameck.)
Sunquamsis given by French as the Indian name of Mellville in Southampton, L. I., with the interpretation, "Sweet Hollow." The interpretation is mere guess-work.
Massaback,a hill so called in Huntington, Suffolk County—in English "Half hill," and in survey (1703) "Half-hollow hill"—probably does not belong to the hill which the English described as "half-hollow," but to a stream in proximity to it—Massabeset,"At a (relatively) great brook." (Trumbull.)
Mattituck,the name of a village in Southold, near the west end of the town, was primarily written as that of a tract of land including the present town of Riverhead, from which it was extended to a large pond between Peconic Bay and the Sound. Presumably the same name is met in Mattatuck, Ct., written Matetacoke, 1637, Matitacoocke, 1673, which was translated by Dr. Trumbull from Eliot'sMat-uh'tugh-auke,"A place without wood," or badly wooded. (See Titicus.)
Cutchogue,Plymouth Records, 1637; "Curchaug,or Fort Neck;"Corch'aki,deed of 1648; now Cutchogue, a village in Southold, in the vicinity of which was an Indian fort, the remains of which and of an Indian burial ground are objects of interest, is probably a corruption ofMaskutchoung,which see. Dr. Tooker translated fromKehti-auke,"The principal place," the appositeness of which is not strikingly apparent. The clan bearing the name was party to the treaty with the Massachusetts people in 1637, and to the sale of the East Hampton lands. Their earliest sachem was Momoweta, who acknowledged the primacy of Wyandanch.
Tuckahoe,a level tract of land near Southampton village, takes that name from one or the other of the larger "round" roots (Mass.P'tuckweōō), possibly the Golden Club, or Floating Artmi, a root described "as much of the bigness and taste of potatoes." (Trumbull.) [FN] The same name is met in Westchester County.
[FN] Dr. Brinton writes: "They also roasted and ate the acrid cormus of the Indian turnip, in Delawaretaw-ho, taw-hinortuck-ah,and collected the seeds of the Golden Club, common in the pools along the creeks and rivers. Its native name wastaw-kee." ("The Lenape and their Legends.") The name of another place on Long Island, writtenHogonock,is probably an equivalent of DelawareHóbbenac(Zeisb.), "Potatoes," or "Ground-nuts";Hóbbenis,"Turnips." (See Passapenoc.)
Sagabonockhas left only the remnant of its name to Sag-pond and Sag-harbor. It is fromSagabonak,"Ground nuts, or Indian potatoes." (Trumbull.) The name is of record as that of a boundmark "two miles from the east side of a Great Pond," and is described as a "pond or swamp" to which the name of the tuber was extended from its product.
Ketchepunak,quoted as the name of Westhampton, describes "The greatest ground-nut place," or "The greatest ground-nuts." (See Kestaubniuk.)
Wequaganuckis given as the name of that part of Sag-harbor within the town of East Hampton. It is an equivalent ofWequai-adn-auke,"Place at the end of the hill," or "extending to the hill." (Trumbull.) The hill is now known as Turkey Hill, on the north side of which the settlement of Sag-harbor was commenced.
Namke,fromNamaa,"fish," andke,"place"—fish-place—was the name of a place on the creek near Riverhead. (O'Gallaghan.) More exactly,Nameauke,probably.
Hoppogues,in Smithtown, Suffolk County, is pretty certainly fromWingau-hoppague,meaning, literally, "Standing water of good and pleasant taste." The name was that of a spring and pond. In a deed of 1703, the explanation is, "Or ye pleasant springs." Supposed to have been the springs which make the headwaters of Nissequogue river at the locality now bearing the name of Hauppauge, a hamlet.
Massapeage—Massapeag,1636;Massapeague, Rassapeage—a place-name from which extended to an Indian clan whose principal seat is said to have been on Fort Neck, in the town of Oyster Bay, was translated by Dr. Trumbull fromMassa,"great";pe,the radical of water, andauke,"land," or "Land on the great cove." Thompson (Hist. L. I.) assigns the name to "a swamp on the south side of Oyster Bay," now South Oyster Bay, and it is so applied in Indian deeds. There were two Indian forts or palisaded towns on the Neck. Of one the name is not given; it was the smallest of the two; its site is said to be now submerged by water. The second, or largest, is called in Dutch recordsMatsepe,"Great river." It is described as having been situated on the most southerly point of land adjoining the salt meadows. Both forts were attacked by Dutch forces under Capt. Pieter Cock and Capt. John Underhill, in the summer of 1644 (a local record says August) and totally destroyed with heavy loss to the Indians. (Doc. Hist. N. Y., iv, 15, 16.) In Prime's and other local histories the date is given as 1653, on the authority of "Hubbard's Indian Wars," and Capt. Underhill is assigned to the command in the attack on the largest fort. The official Dutch record, however, assigns that honor to Capt. Pieter Cock. The year was surely 1644, (Brodhead's Hist. N. Y., i, 91.) The prefixMass,appears in many forms—Massa, Marsa, Marsha, Rassa, Mesa, Missi, Mas, Mes, etc., and alsoMat,an equivalent ofMas.
Massepe,quoted in Dutch records as the name of the Indian fort on Fort Neck, where it seems to have been the name of Stony Brook, is also met in Jamaica Records (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 505) as the name of a creek forming a mowing boundary or division line extending from a certain place "Eastward to ye great creek called Massepe." The name is fully explained by the description, "Great creek."Massepe-aukemeans "Great creek (or river) land," or place;Mas-sepe-ink,"At or on the great creek." The Indian residents came to be known as the Marsepincks.
Maskutchoung,a neck of land so called forming one of the boundaries of Hempstead Patent as entered in confirmatory deed of "Takapousha, sachem of Marsapeage," and "Wantagh, the Montauke sachem," July 4th, 1657: "Beginning at a marked tree standing at the east side of the Great Plain, and from thence running on a due south line, and at the South Sea by a marked tree in a neck called Maskutchoimg, and thence upon the same line to the South Sea." (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 38, 416.) "By a marked tree in a neck called Maskachoung." (Thompson's Hist. L. I., 9, 15, 47.) It is probably an equivalent ofMask-ek-oug,"A grassy swamp or marsh." A local interpretation reads: "Grass-drowned brook," a small stream flowing through the long marsh-grass, to which the name was extended.
Maskahnong,so written by Dr. O'Callaghan in his translation of the treaty between the Western Long Island clans, in 1656, is noted in "North and South Hempstead Records," p. 60, "A neck of land called Maskahnong." It disappears after 1656, but probably reappears as Maskachoung in 1658, and later as Maskutchoung, which see.
Merick,the name of a village in Hempstead, Queens County, is said to have been the site of an Indian village calledMerick-oke.It has been interpreted as an apheresis of a form ofNamanock,writtenNamerick,"Fish place." (See Moriches.) Curiously enough, Merrick was a proper name for man among the ancient Britons, and the corruption would seem to have been introduced here by the early English settlers from resemblance to the Indian name in sound. The place is on the south side of the island. The Indian clan was known as the Merickokes.
Quantuck,a bay so called in Southampton, is of record, in 1659,Quaquanantuck,and applied to a meadow or neck of land. "The meadow called Quaquunantuck"—"the neck of land called Quaquanantuck"—"all the meadows lying west of the river, commonly called or known by the name of Quantuck." One of the boundmarks is described as "a stumpy marsh," indicating that it had been a marsh from which the trees had been removed. The name seems to correspond with this. It is probably fromPohqu'un-antack,"cleared or open marsh" or meadow. (See Montauk.)
Quogue,the name of a village near Quantuck Bay, and located, in Hist. Suffolk County, as "the first point east of Rockaway where access can be had to the ocean without crossing the bay," has been read as a contraction of Quaquaunantuck, but seems to be fromPŏque-ogue,"Clear, open space," an equivalent ofPŏque-auke,Mass.
Rechqua-akie,De Vries;Reckkouwhacky,deed of 1639; now applied to a neck on the south side of Long Island and preserved in Rockaway, was interpreted by the late Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan: "Reck'sand';qua,'flat';akie,'land'—the long, narrow sand-bar now known as Rockaway Beach," but is more correctly rendered with dialectic exchange of R and L,Lekau.(Rekau), "sand or gravel,"hacki,"land" or place. (Zeisb.) "Flats" is inferred. A considerable division of the Long Island Indians was located in the vicinity, or, as described by De Vries, who visited them in 1643, "near the sea-shore." He found thirty wigwams and three hundred Indians, who were known in the treaty of 1645, as Marechkawicks, and in the treaty of 1656 as Rockaways. [FN]
[FN] The names in the treaty of 1645, as written by Dr. O'Callaghan, are "Marechkawicks, Nayecks, and their neighbors"; in the treaty of 1656, "Rockaway and Canorise." The latter name appears to have been introduced after 1645 in exchange for Marechkawick. (See Canarise.)Rechquais met on the Hudson in Reckgawaw-onck, the Haverstraw flats. It is not an apheresis of Marechkawick, nor from the same root.
Jamaica,now applied to a town, a village and a bay, was primarily given to the latter by the English colonists. "Near unto ye beaver pond called Jamaica," and "the beaver path," are of record, the latter presumably correct. The name is a pronunciation ofTomaque,orK'tamaque,Del.,Amique,Moh., "beaver." "Amique,when aspirated, is writtenJamaique,hence Yameco, Jamico, and modern Jamaica." (O'Callaghan.) The bay has no claim to the name as a beaver resort, but beavers were abundant in the stream flowing into it.
Kestateuw,"the westernmost,"Castuteeuw,"the middlemost," andCasteteuw,"the eastermost," names of "three flats on the island Sewanhackey, between the bay of North river and the East river." The tracts came to be known as Flatlands; "the easternmost," as "the Bay," or Amesfort.
Sacut,now known as Success Pond, lying on a high ridge in Flushing, is a corruption ofSakûwit(Sáquik), "Mouth of a river" (Zeisb.), or "where the water flows out." The pond has an outlet, but it rarely overflows. It is a very deep and a very clear body of water.
Canarsie,now so written and applied to a hamlet in the town of Flatlands, Kings County, is of recordCanari See, Canarisse, Canarise, Canorise(treaty of 1655),Kanarisingh(Dutch), and in other forms, as the name of a place or feature from which it was extended to an Indian sub-tribe or family occupying the southwest coast of Long Island, and to their village, primarily calledKeshaechquereren(1636). On the Lower Potomac and Chesapeake Bay the name is writtenCanais, Conoys, Ganawese,etc. (Heck, xlii), and applied to a sub-tribe of Naniticokes residing there who were known as "The tide-water people," or "Sea-shore settlers." On Delaware Bay it is writtenCanaresse(1651, not 1656 as stated by Dr. Tooker), and applied to a specific place, described in exact terms: "To the mouth of the bay or river called Bomptjes Hoeck, in the Indian languageCanaresse." (Col. Hist. N. Y. xii, 166.) "Bomptjes Hoeck" is Dutch and in that language describes a low island, neck or point of land covered with small trees, lying at the mouth of a bay or stream, and is met in several connections. The point or place described on the Delaware (now Bombay Hook) was the end of the island, known on old maps as "Deep Point," and the "Hook" was the bend in the currents around it forming the marshy inlet-bay on the southwest connecting with a marshy channel or stream, and the latter on the north with a small stream by which the island was constituted. Considered from the standpoint of an Algonquian generic term, the rule is undisputed that the name must have described a feature which existed in common at the time of its application, on the Delaware and on Long Island, and it only remains to determine what that feature was. Obviously the name itself solves the problem. In whatever form it is met it is the East IndianCanarese(EnglishCan'a-resé) pure and simple, and obviously employed as a substitute for the Algonquian term writtenGanawese,etc., of the same meaning. In the "History of New Sweden" (Proc. N. Y. Hist. Soc, 2d Ser. v. i.), the locative on the Delaware is described: "From Christina Creek toCanaroseorBamboHook." In "Century Dictionary"Bambois explained: "From the native East Indian name, Malay and Javabambu, Canaresebanbuorbonwu." Dr. Brinton translatedGanawesefromGuneu(Del.), "Long," but did not add that the suffix—wese,or as Roger Williams wrote it,quese,means "Little, small," the combination describing Bambo grasses,i. e."long, small" grasses, which, in some cases reach the growth of trees, but on Long Island and on the Delaware only from long marsh grasses to reeds, as primarily in and around Jamaica Bay and Gowanus Bay, on Reed Island, etc. True, Ganawese would describe anything that was "long, small," but obviously here the objective product. Canarese, Canarose, Kanarische, Ganawese, represent the same sound-"in (East) Indian, Canaresse," as represented in the first Long Island form, Canari See, now Jamaica Bay.
Keschaechquereren,(1636),Keschaechquerem(1637), the name of the settlement that preceded Canarese, disappears of record with the advent of the English on Barren Island and at Gravesend soon after 1637-8. It seems to describe a "Great bush-net fishing-place," from K'sch-achquonican, "Great bush-net." (Zeisb.), the last word fromAchewen,"Thicket"; from which alsot' Vlact Bosch(Dutch), modern Flatbush. The Indian village was between the Stroome (tidewater) Kil and the Vresch Kil, near Jamaica.
Narriochwas given by the chief who confirmed the title to it in 1643, as the name of what is now known as Coney Island, andMannahaningas that of Gravesend Neck. (Thompson's Hist. L. I., ii, 175.) The Dutch called the former Conynen, and the latter Conyne Hoeck—"t' Conijen Conine." Jasper Dankers wrote in 1679: "On the south (of Staten Island) is the great bay, which is enclosed by Najaq, t' Conijen Island, Neversink," etc. Conijen (modern Dutch, Konijn), signifies "Rabbit"—Cony, Coney—inferentially "Small"—literally, "Rabbit, or Coney Island," in Dutch. The Indian names have been transposed, apparently.Mannahaningmeans "At the island," andNarriochis the equivalent ofNayaug,"A point or comer," as in Nyack. The latter was the Dutch "Conyne Hoeck." Judge Benson claimed Conyn as "A Dutch surname, from which came the name of Coney, or Conyn's Island," but if so, the surname was from "Rabbit" surely.
Gowanus—Gowanus,1639;Gowanes,1641;Gouwanes,1672—the name of one of the boundmarks of a tract of land in Brooklyn, is probably fromKoua(Kowaw,Williams;Curve,Zeisb.), "Pine";Kowawese(Williams), "A young pine," or small pine. It was that of a place on a small stream, the description in the Indian deed of 1639, reading: "Stretching southward to a certain kil or little low bushes." The land conveyed is described as being "overflowed at every tide, and covered with salt-meadow grass." The latter gave to it its value. The claim that the name was that of an Indian owner is not well sustained. The evidence of the Dutch description of the bay as Boompje Hoek, meaning, literally, "Small tree cape, corner or angle," and the fact that small pines did abound there, seems to establishKouaas the derivative of the name.
Marechkawick,treaty of 1645—Mereckawack,Breeden Raddt, 1649;MareckawickandMarechkawieck,Rapelie deed, 1630;Marechkourick,O'Callaghan;Marechkawick,Brodhead—forms of the name primarily given as that of Wallabout Bay, [FN] "The bought or bend of Marechkawick"—"in the bend of Marechkawick," 1630—has been translated by Dr. Tooker fromMen'achk(Manachk,Zeisb.), "fence, fort," and-wik,"house" (Zeisb.), the reference being to a fenced or palisaded cabin presumably occupied by a sachem and his family of the clan known in Dutch history as the Mareckawicks. The existence of a palisaded cabin in the vicinity of "the bought or bend" is possible, but the name has the appearance of an orthography (Dutch) ofMereca,the South-American name of a teal, (Mereca Americani) the Widgeon, and-wick(Wijk,M. L. G.), "Bay, cove, inlet, retreat," etc., literally "Widgeon Bay." "Situate on the bay of Merechkawick," is entered on map of 1646 in Stiles' "History of Brooklyn."Mericawas the Mayan name of the American Continent. It is spread all over South America and was applied to many objects as in the Latinized Mereca Americani. The early Dutch navigators were no doubt familiar with it in application to the Widgeon, a species of wild duck, and employed it in connection with the word-wijk.Until between 1645 and 1656, the Indians residing on the west end of Long Island were known as Marechkawicks; after 1656 they were called Canorise. (See Canar'sie.) Brooklyn is from DutchBreukelen,the name of a village about eighteen miles from Amsterdam. It means "Broken land." (Breuk.) On Van der Donck's map the name is written correctly. A record description reads: "There is much broken land here."
[FN] Wallabout Bay takes its first name from DutchWaal,"gulf, abyss," etc., andBocht,"bend," It was spoken of colloquially by the early Dutch as "The bay of the foreigners," referring to the Walloons who had settled on the north side of the bay in 1625. The first white child, Sarah Rapelie, born in New Netherland, now the State of New York, was born here June 17th, 1625.
Manette,so written of record—"near Mannato hill," about thirty miles from Brooklyn and midway between the north and south sides of the island—has been interpreted from its equivalent,Manitou,"Hill of the Great Spirit," but means strictly, "That which surpasses, or is more than ordinary." (Trumbull.) It was a word in common use by the Indians in application to everything that was more than ordinary or that they could not understand. In this instance it seems to have been applied to the water of a spring or well on the rising ground which they regarded as of surpassing excellence; from the spring transferred to the hill. The tradition is that some ages ago the Indians residing in the vicinity of the hill were suffering for water. They prayed to the Great Spirit for relief, and were directed to shoot an arrow in the air and where it fell to dig and they would find water. They did so and dug the well now on the rising ground, the water of which was of surpassing excellence, or Manitou. The story was probably invented to account for the name. It is harmless fiction.
Rennaquakonck,Rinnegahonck,a landmark so called in the boundaries of a tract on Wallabout Bay, described in deed as "A certain swamp where the water runs over the stones," and, in a subsequent deed, "At the sweet marsh" (Hist. of Brooklyn), is an orthography ofWinnegackonck,meaning "At the sweet place," so called from some plant which was found there, or to distinguish the marsh as fresh or sweet, not a salt marsh. The exchange of R and W may be again noted.
Comac,the name of a village in Suffolk County, is an apheresis ofWinne-comac,as appears of record. The combination expresses, "Good enclosed place," fromWinne,"Good, fine, sweet, beautiful, pleasant," etc., and-komuck,"Place enclosed," or having definite boundaries, limited in size.
Nyack,the name of the site of Fort Hamilton, is a generic verbal fromNâï,"A point or corner." (Nâïag,Mass.,Néïak,Len.) The orthographies vary—Naywayack, Narrack, Nanak, Narrag, Najack, Niuck, Narrioch, etc. With the suffix-ak,the name means "Land or place at the point." (See Nyack-on-the-Hudson.) Dankers and Sluyter wrote in their Journal (1679-80): "We went part of the way through the woods and fine, new-made land, and so along the shore to the west end of the island called Najack. . . . Continuing onward from there, we came to the plantation of the Najack Indians, which was planted with maize, or Turkish Wheat." The Nayacks removed to Staten Island after the sale of their lands at New Utrecht. (See Narrioch.)
Nissequague,now so written, the name of a hamlet in Smithtown, and of record as the name of a river and of a neck of land still so known, is of primary recordNisinckqueg-hackey(Dutch notation), as the name of a place to which the Matinnecock clan removed after the war of 1643. (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 60.) The English scribes wrote Nesequake (1650), Nesaquake (1665), Nessequack (1686), Wissiquack (1704), (Cal. N. Y. Land Papers), and other forms. The Indian deed of 1650 (Smithtown Records) recites the sale by "Nasseoonseke, sachem of Nesequake," of a tract "Beginning at a river called and commonly known by the name of Nesaquake River, and from that river eastward to a river called Memanusack." "Nesaquauke River" is the entry in patent to Richard Smith, 1665. The stream has its source in a number of springs in the southern part of Smithtown, the flow of which forms a considerable river. (Thompson.) The theory that "The tribe and river derived their name from Nesequake, an Indian sagamore, the father of Nassaconset" (Hist. Suf. Co.), is not well sustained. The suffix-set,cannot be applied to an animate object; it is a locative meaning "Less than at." In addition to this objection, Nassaconset is otherwise written Nessaquauke-ecoompt-set, showing that the name belonged to a place that was "On the other side" of Nessaquauke. Neesaquauke stands forNeese-saqû-auke,fromNisse,"two,"Sauk,"Outlet," and-auke,"Land" or place, and describes a place at "the second outlet," or as the text reads, "At a river called and commonly known by the name of Nesaquake River." The sagamore may have been given the name from the place, but the place could not have taken the name from the sagamore. The estuary, now known as Nissequage Harbor into which the stream flows, extends far inland and forms the west boundary of Nissequage Neck.
Marsepinck,a stream so called in Queens County, from which extended to the land which was sold, in 1639, by "Mechowout, chief sachem of Marossepinck, Sint-Sink and dependencies," and also extended to an Indian clan known as Marsepings, is no doubt an orthography ofMassepeand-ing,locative. It means "At, to or on the great river."Masis an abbreviation ofMassa, Missi,etc., "great," andSepe,means "river." It was probably used comparatively-the largest compared with some other stream. (See Massepe.)
Unsheamuck,otherwise written Unthemamuk, given as the name of Fresh Pond, on the boundary line between Huntington and Smithtown, means "Eel-fishing place." (Tooker.)
Suggamuck,the name of what is now known as Birch Creek, in Southampton, means "Bass fishing-place." (Tooker.)
Rapahamuck,a neck or point of land so called, is fromAppé-amuck,"Trap fishing-place." (Tooker.) The name is assigned to the mouth of Birch Creek. (See Suggamuck.)
MemanusackandMemanusuk,given as the name of Stony Brook, probably has its locative "At the head of the middle branch of Stony Brook," Which formed the boundmark noted in the Indian deed. The same name is probably met inMayomansuk,fromMawé,meaning "To bring together," "To meet"; and-suck,"Outlet,"i. e.of a pond, marsh or river. The brook was "stony" no doubt, but that description is English.
Cussqunsuckis noted as the name of Stony Brook referred to in Memanusack. The stream is probably the outlet of the waters of a swamp. In his will Richard Smith wrote: "I give to my daughter Sarah, 130 acres of land at thetwoswamps calledCutts-cunsuck." The first word seems to stand forKsúcqon,"Heavy" (Zeisb.), by metonymie, "Stone,"-es,"Small," and-uck,locative, "Place of small stone."Ksúcqonmay be employed as an adjectival prefix. Eliot wrote, "Qussukquemin,Stone fruit," the cherry.
Mespaechtes,deed to Governor Keift, 1638, from which Mespath (Brodhead), Mespat (Riker), Mashpeth and Mashpett (Co. Hist. N. Y., xiv, 602), now Maspeth, a village in Newtown, Queens County, and met in application to Newtown Creek (Col. Hist. N. Y., xiii, 25), has been translated by Dr. Tooker, "FromMech-pe-is-it,Bad-water place," and by Wm. R. Gerard, "FromMassapichtit,verbal describing scattered settlements, as though the Indians who sold the lands had said, 'We include the lands of those living here and there.'" [FN] Flint, in his "Early History of Long Island," wrote: "Mespat Kills, now Maspeth, from the IndianMatsepe,written by the Dutch,Maespaatches Kiletje"—long known as "Dutch Kills." In patent of 1642, for lands described as lying "on the east side of Mespatches Kil," the boundary is stated: "Beginning at the kil and the tree standing upon the point towards the small kil." Obviously there were two streams here, the largest called Mespatches, which seems to be, as Flint states, a Dutch rendering ofMatsepe-es,fromMas(Del.Mech), a comparative term—"great," as distinguished from "small," the largest of two, andSepees (Sepoûs, Sepuus),"a brook."Sepe, Sipo, Sipu,etc., is generally applied to a long stream. The west branch of Mespatt Kill has the record name ofQuandoequareus.Flint wrote: "TheCanapauke,or Dutch Kills, sluggishly winding its way through the meadows of bronzed grasses."Canapaukestands forQuana-pe-auke,"Long water-land," or "Land on the long water." The stream is a tidal current receiving several small streams. (See Massepe.) Mespatches seems to belong to the stream noted in patent of 1642.
[FN] "Missiachpitschik,those who are or live scattered." (Zeisberger's Onond. Dic.)