NOTES AND DOCUMENTS: Norway, Maine

Abstract

NOTES AND DOCUMENTS Norway, Maine BY WALTER W. WRIGHT Dr. Halvdan Koht, in Norwegian-American Studies and Records , volume 13, presents some interesting speculations on the origin of the name of the town of Norway, formerly in Cumberland County, and since 1805 in Oxford County, Maine. Dr. Koht explains how the original petitioners selected "Norage" for the name, and how, evidently at the hands of Massachusetts officials (Maine did not become a separate state until 1820), this was changed to "Northam," and finally to "Norway." This evolution does make it clear that the name "Norway" was not originally chosen by the settlers of the area. For the sake of the record, however, it should be noted that there are other explanations than those Dr. Koht offers for the selection of "Norage" as a name. William D. Williamson in his History of the State of Maine ; from Its First Discovery, A.D. 1602, to the Separation, A.D. 1820, Inclusive, published in 1839, states that the name Norway is obviously chosen from the country in Europe. But this rather categorical statement does not help us. Norway, Maine, has, interestingly enough, been the subject of three town histories. The first, the History of Norway: Comprising a Minute Account of its First Settlement . . . , by David Noyes, published in 1852, is cited by Dr. Koht. It does not explain the origin of the name. But Dr. Koht allows himself an error when he comments, "It is interesting that nowhere on the title page is a reference to the State of Maine given, an indication that the town that was the subject of the book was the only one of that name in the United States." After all, Noyes's history was written, printed, and bound in Norway, Maine, for the inhabitants of the town. No other Norway could have been considered likely to confuse the readers. Not only were there three other towns of that name in the United States in 1852, but one of them, Norway, Herkimer County, New York, was formed in 219 220 WALTER W. WRIGHT 1792, just five years before the incorporation of the Maine town. There was an early settlement in Racine County, Wisconsin, known as Norway, and it was there that the first Norwegian newspaper of the Northwest, Nordlyset (The Northern Light), was established in 1847. This Norway was indeed founded by Norwegians, and was one of the earliest such settlements. Norway , La Salle County, Illinois, seems, according to the publications of the Norwegian- American Historical Association, to have been so named by 1847, the land having been settled before that date. The second history of the Maine town, the Centennial History of Norway , Oxford County, Maine, 1786-1886, by William B. Lapham, was published in 1886. It devotes a short chapter of five pages to the naming of the town, and quotes the petition of incorporation, the last sentence of which reads, "We therefore pray that if your Honours think proper, to Incorporate us into a Body Politick by the name of NORAGE and your Petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray." Lapham comments: "As to the name by which they desired the new town to be called, the subject is not entirely clear. 'Norage' is an unusual name for a town, and a more reasonable conclusion is that 'Norwich,' which is pronounced much like it, was the name agreed upon by the petitioners, but misspelled by the person who drew the petition." The third history, A History of Norway, Maine, from the Earliest Settlements to the Close of the Year 1922, by Charles F. Whitman, published in 1924, devotes two pages to the matter of naming the town. Whitman rejects Williamson's statement by pointing out that there were no settlers from Norway, and hence "no one who cared particularly to honor it with the name of the new town." Whitman continues: It seems quite certain that it was suggested by the name the petitioners requested to be given it. What reasonable explanation can be given for the meaning of "Norage?" It is clearly a misspelling no matter what its significance. There are two explanations . The old English pronunciation of Norwich is as if spelled...