Show Where American Towns Got Names N Many of Them Were De- De Derived Derived De Derived rived From the Vikings and Saxons Anglo-Saxons The Washington ton The The existence of ot 21 1 towns to named Camden puts Camden well up In the list as one of or the most popular town names In the United States Franklin leads tile the list as a favorite ta label for a town to says a bulletin from the headquarters of ot the National Geo Geo- Geographic Geographic 31 graphic society by being repeated times In 31 states The name Franklin Is a tribute to the great American of ot Revolutionary Re fame Camden too Is a tribute to ton toa toa n a Revolutionary ne hero but Camden honors an Englishman Charles Pratt a London lawyer made such a name for himself before the bar that he was vas raised to earl of ot Camden ThIs Tills earls earl's subsequent opposition to the tea and stamp taxes made him many friend In America so the colonists in trIbute to their champion named for hIm towns In South Carolina GeorgIa Maine New Jersey North Carolina and New York and also four counties The other have ha been established established established by sons from the Revolutionary That That however Is not the whole story of ot Camden Like so many other English names Imported and scattered broadcast over oler the United States Camden Is a thumbnail picture of at a particular little spot In England Charles Pratt took his earldom from froma a manor park In the county of ot Kent which Is south of London To our Saxon Anglo-Saxon ancestors 40 generations back Camden would con con- convey convey vey ey a description just as vivid as the names Thousand Islands and Great Salt Lake do to us Origin of Name Camden II Cam our barbarian forefather would say means crooked den Is a wooded vale ale where swine feed That gives gI us the materials for a picture of ot the birthplace of ot our 21 a zigzagging ravine In the Kent the hills-the hills lie slopes are forested forestell with oaks whose acorns are arc welcome food for the swine Swine were the only stock raised by our Saxon Anglo Anglo forefathers With the aid of a few tool syl- syl syllables syl syllables like cam and den one can candig candig candig dig Into the origins of the Innumerable town names America has imported Importe from England The syllable Ing Is Isto isto isto to English names what the Mac Is Isto isto Isto to a Scotch name and 0 to an Irish name It Is the mark of a clan Thus the Hastings were the noble class of ot the Goth tribes In En England land By a little digging therefore one finds Im- Im Imbedded Imbedded Im Imbedded bedded in the name for Hastings Neb the proud title of ot a valiant tribe that ruled and prospered In Kent England Billings Mont has an IntImate link with the state of Delaware and Delaware ba bay which h is not apparent The Billings were the aristocratic tribe of the who lived In Lan Lancashire Now the name be- be became became be became came the giving gl the Uti title to Warrington England When a con con- con Norman French lord came Into cot cottrol trot of ot the Warring tribe after the Invasion he became Lord de la Warr A later Inter holder of ot that title who was made governor of ot Virginia explored a n great bay and the shores of the bay which now bear the name of the lords lord's house Delaware Other handy syllables for excavating excavating ing name origins are Or or ore de de- denoting de- de denoting denoting noting a settlement on the shore of the ocean or a river leigh ley or orlea lea meaning an untilled swamp land ey or ea showing the existence of an Island buhy marking a fortified place borough a hill that was a meeting place ham meaning the th home of ot an early Saxon Anglo-Saxon around which a village grew up by the ScandInavian equivalent of ot ham and therefore marking the home of ot a Vi- Vi Viking Vi Viking king or Danish Invader In who settled In England Some Names Misapplied There are Innumerable humorous examples In which these thumbnail geographical sketches telling about an anEn En English town have ha been carried over overto overto overto to the United States with no though of whether they apply or not Wind Wind- Windsor Windsor sor England Is on the shore of the Thames where the Saxons Anglo-Saxons put It but many of the 18 Windsors In the United States boast no more than n a creek The ea marks Chelsea Eng Eng- England Eng Eng- England England land as once an Island In the Thames mouth which It Is not now Neither are Its 11 brother by byname brother name In the United States Islands Pupils In school today think they have ha a hard time spelling many of our ourtown ourtown ourtown town and state names They really have much to be thankful for The Tho original names were often orten jawbreakers ers There are four In Inthe Inthe Inthe the United States whose silent r r Is often a stumbling block to the best spellers How much more of a stumbling stumbling bling bUng block Is the name of the tIu progenitor wara ceaster wara meanIng castle of ot the Inhabitants of the tho country of ot the Boston was once known as the town to of ot St and a shock headed Dane ot of north England returned to earth after a years thousand-years sleep would call the largest city In America New |