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Post by Mark Patenaude on Oct 11, 2006 14:38:13 GMT -5
Why the different spellings  Mark |
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Post by JoeOverlock on Oct 11, 2006 15:24:39 GMT -5
Classic spellings, I think. I'm not 100% sure but I think Hoosic is an old Indian name.
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Post by hoxie on Oct 13, 2006 8:23:25 GMT -5
"Hoosic" and its variants comes from an Algonquin Indian name. (I forget what it translates to. You can find out in Eugene Michalenko's book, In This Valley, sold by the Adams Historical Society).
The Algonquin Indians actually had three separate names for each branch of the Hoosic. I think just the Main Branch was called the Hoosic. The South Branch was the Ashuwillticook (hence the name of the bike trail), and I forge what the North Branch was. (Again, it's in Eugene's book).
Anyway, when the English first settled the area, they adopted various spellings. "Hoosuck" (the name of the local TU Chapter) was originally the dominant one. (Adams used to be the Town of East Hoosuck). But it eventually fell into disfavor and is now considered archaic.
Over time, two other spellings came to be used, in slightly different senses. Now, the "official" version is that "Hoosic" refers to the river (but only in MA), while "Hoosac" refers to the valley (hence "Hoosac Valley High School") and the mountains.
Got all that??? But wait, there's more.
In New York, the river is called the "Hoosick" and so is the town of Hoosick Falls, NY. (I forget whether VT goes with the MA or the NY spelling).
I once tried to explain all this by email to Frank Sousa, the "hook and bullet" columnist for the Springfield Republican, to announce a Hoosuck Chapter TU event. But it evidently did not sink in, because the next week the announcement still referred to the "Hoosic Chapter TU."
Oh well.
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Post by Mark Patenaude on Oct 13, 2006 10:29:42 GMT -5
I'm giving you 1 Karma for that explanation.
mark
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Post by JoeOverlock on Oct 13, 2006 11:34:36 GMT -5
+10! Don't waste it all here though, you need to save some for our "History" section on HoosuckTU.org  |
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Post by jf5 on Oct 13, 2006 14:47:42 GMT -5
Good answer. I always felt it was just variations of the name over time.
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