Little Egypt Heritage Articles Stories of Southern Illinois © Bill Oliver 20 August 2006 Vol 5 Issue: #25 ISBN: pending Osiyo, Good Evening Ladies and Gentlemen of Little Egypt Once in awhile things that I have read seem to jump to the foreground by a chance statement or question. Recently a friend, with quite an expertise in Ohio cemeteries, asked me if a certain cemetery was in Nebraska. She was sure that it was not in Ohio. She was passing the question on to me because a friend of her’s was questioning and he thought it was in Ohio. As it turned out, it was in Nebraska. I knew it was in Nebraska because I had read about it in a judgment handed down recently by the Nebraska Supreme Court. A farmer owned all the land surrounding this cemetery in Platte county. He wanted to use the cemetery as the center of his circular irrigating system. When he was told no by the cemetery authorities he went to court. The court turned him down in his appeal for land use. My friend and I think that her friend, while reading an Ohio newspaper mistook it to mean the cemetery was in Ohio. The name for the Platte cemetery is very common. One can find one in many, many places. Just ask “google” <grin> and you will find that name most anywhere. This got me to thinking how places get named. Some are named for people. Stanton county, Nebraska was first named Izard county in honor of Mark W. Izard of Arkansas. He was the first marshal and second territorial governor of Nebraska. When the War Between the States began he joined the Confederacy. When the Eighth Territorial Legislature convened on 2 January 1862, they changed the name to Stanton, in honor of the Secretary of War. Some places take their name from other places. There are many stories about the giving of Southern Illinois the nickname “Little Egypt”. There are several traditions; however, my favorite is the Biblical one. It goes, when northern farmers needed seed due to drouth [drought] in the north, they traveled south to purchase seed, following the Biblical story that Egypt had storehouses full of grain. Others said that the topography was like that of Egypt. I’m sure that none had ever seen Egypt, so to me the Biblical version is the more likely. Toledo, Ohio, no doubt derives its name from Toledo [Toh-lay-doh], Spain. And, they are “sister” cities today. Local dialects can throw one off. My Grandmother Oliver was born in West Vienna, Johnson county, Illinois. The county seat, Vienna, was a few miles east. For some strange reason, I always heard her say she was from West Byeennie. That’s Bye-enn-nee, Illinois. It wasn’t until I was more than forty years old that I discovered there was no such place and that it was Vienna – like the European city of waltzes. The same is for Cairo, Illinois. The dialect in southern Illinois pronounces it – KAY-row, like the syrup. Back in Stanton county there is a community named Clinton. Probably chosen by settlers from Clinton, Indiana. Indian Creek, no doubt, was named because its banks were used as a campsite by Native Americans. Maskenthine Creek was named for John Maskenthine. He built his home along its course; however, it was named Maskenthine Creek because he was the first to die within the county. Back in Lucas county, Ohio, there is a Swan Creek which runs through Toledo and into the Maumee River. No one I’ve ever talked to has seen a swan in the vicinity of the creek. However, among other notes I have in my files, is a list of animals an early traveler put into his journal. It included swans on Swan Creek. Today, we drive past new housing developments with names that never seem to fit the local. Pine Forest Development. Sugar Creek Homes. Oak Gardens. I’ll bet you could name a few. e-la-Di-e-das-Di ha-wi nv-wa-do-hi-ya nv-wa-to-hi-ya-da. (May you walk in peace and harmony) and Wado, Bill -=- PostScript: Other sites worth visiting: PostScript: = = = = http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/SOIL http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/ILMASSAC http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/state/BillsArticles/LittleEgypt/intro.html