Saturday, September 27, 2025

Statuary Hall – Lamest Subjects

Are you familiar with Statuary Hall? Basically, each state is allowed two statues of their famous sons and daughters to place in the US Capitol.

These statues include such famous Americans as George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Samuel Adams, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay. Unfortunately, they also include no-names like Daisy Lee Gaston Bates, George Laird Shoup, Oliver Hazard Perry Norton, William Henry Harrison Beadle, and Henry Mower Rice.

Which got me thinking … Who are the most obscure figures among these 100 statues?


Colorado

Florence Sabin

  • Doctor
  • Med school prof
  • Was not behind that vaccine you’re thinking of

Alternate:  Kit Carson


Florida

John Gorrie

  • Doctor
  • Created an ice-making machine
  • “Impoverished, … sought to raise money to manufacture his machine, but the venture failed when his partner died.” [www.visitthecapitol.gov/apps/nshc/]
  • “Humiliated by criticism, financially ruined, and his health broken, … died in seclusion.”

Alternate:  Osceola


Frances E Willard

  • President, Evanston College for Women
  • President, National Women's Temperance Union, Women's Christian Temperance Union, National Council of Women

Alternates:  Lincoln, Jane Addams, Carl Sandburg, Frank Lloyd Wright


Kentucky

Ephraim McDowell

  • Surgeon
  • Performed the first ovariotomy in the US
  • “Removed a gall stone and repaired a hernia [for James Polk]”
  • Helped found Centre College

Alternates:  George Rogers Clark, Daniel Boone, Muhammad Ali


Minnesota

Maria L Sanford

  • Taught at Univ. of Minnesota
  • “Traveled throughout the United States delivering more than 1,000 patriotic speeches”

Alternate:  Hubert Humphrey


Nevada

Sarah Winnemucca

  • Acted as go-between for her tribe and the US Army
  • “As a spokesperson for her people … gave over 300 speeches to win support for them, and she met with President Rutherford B. Hayes and Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz”
  • Wrote a book
  • Started a school

Alternate:  Howard Hughes


New Mexico

Po’Pay

  • Convicted of sorcery, flogged
  • Organized the Pueblo Revolt

NOTE: “No image or written description of Po'pay is known to exist”

Alternate:  Geronimo


Oregon

Jason Lee

  • Missionary
  • “Helped to draft a petition for the establishment of a territorial government, and … journeyed east to present the petition in Washington”
  • “Presided over the preliminary meeting for territorial organization held at Champoeg in 1841”
  • Helped found Willamette College

Oops, wrong one


John McLoughlin

Doctor

  • Head honcho, Columbia Dept., Hudson Bay Company
  • Eventual American citizen

Alternates: Linus Pauling, Chief Joseph, Wayne Morse


South Dakota

William Henry Harrison Beadle

  • Brigadier general in Civil War
  • Surveyor general of Dakota Territory
  • State house rep, superintendent of public instruction
  • President, Madison State Normal School

Alternates: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull


Utah

Martha Hughes Cannon

  • Doctor
  • State senator
  • “Gave speeches at the World's Columbian Exposition, the 50th anniversary of the Seneca Falls Convention, and testified before the U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary”
  • Practiced polygamy, being the 4th wife of church leader Angus Cannon

Alternates: John Wesley Powell, Philo T Farnsworth


Washington

Mother Joseph

  • Nun, missionary
  • Architect
  • Built hospitals, schools & orphanages

Alternates: Chief Seattle, Scoop Jackson


West Virginia

  • John Kenna
  • US rep & senator
  • Died at 45

Alternates: Pearl Buck, Booker T Washington, Chuck Yeager


Wyoming

Esther Hobart Morris

  • Suffragette 
  • Justice of the peace

Washakie

  • Negotiated for Shoshone reservation 
  • Helped found a school

Alternates: Buffalo Bill, Black Elk, Alan Simpson


Monday, September 1, 2025

Common New England Town Names

Now that I spend half my time in New England, I’ve gotten a chance to check the place out. The quaint little towns, the rocky coast, the fall colors … they’re all amazing.

One thing I did notice, though, is the place names are all the same. I swear that every state has an Amherst, or an Andover, or a Danbury … 

Is it just me? Or is this a real pattern?

Methodology

  1. For each of the 6 NE states, get a list of all their towns
  2. Dump them in a spreadsheet
  3. Line up the names to see how many states actually do include each one
  4. List those names that have a majority of the states (i.e., 4, 5 or 6)


All 6 States

The only town that appears in all 6 states is Warren. Interestingly, this actually comes from 2 historical figures:

  • Sir Peter Warren (NH* & RI) – admiral in the Royal Navy (captured Louisbourg in the French & Indian War)
  • Joseph Warren (ME*, VT*, MA, CT) – a Founding Father & Revolutionary War hero (he died at Bunker Hill)

And those dates point to when each town was founded, either in the mid or late 1700s. The towns range in population from 800 (NH) to 11,000 (RI). 

Joe


5 States

The number of towns in each state range from 482 (ME) down to 39 (RI). Not too surprisingly, except for one, the towns in this section include every state except for dear ol’ Rhody.


Andover

Andoverians are copycats. Andover MA*, which was founded in 1646, takes its name from Andover, England. Andover CT, which was founded almost 200 years later, makes the same claim. The rest of the Andovers (VT*, NH*, ME) are named after Andover MA.

Andover populations range from 570 (VT) to 36,600 (MA). Andover MA is known for Phillips Academy, one of the most famous prep schools around.


Chester

Sounds like our Chesters are all copies as well. First, we have 3 towns (CT, MA & NH*) that are named after Chester, England. Chester VT is named after King George IV, one of whose titles as heir to the throne was Earl of Chester. Finally, Chester ME, is named after Chester NH.

Our Chesters date from 1722 (NH) to 1836 (CT). They range in size from 550 (ME) to 5,200 (NH)

Chester UK


Plymouth

More copycats. You can probably guess how these came about though.

First of all, we’ve got Plymouth MA*, where the Pilgrims came ashore. They named their settlement after their last port of departure, Plymouth England.

The rest (CT, VT*, NH*, ME) simply named themselves after the Massachusetts town. Plymouth VT, though, needs a special call out as being the birthplace, home & burial site of Calvin Coolidge.

That’s it?


Richmond

Richmond’s our odd man out. Instead of their being no Richmond in Rhode Island, it’s Connecticut that’s the state that got left out.

Another unusual feature is that our Richmonds have 4 different sources. Now, 3 of them are Dukes of Richmond. That, though, accounts for 2 different guys, Ludovic Stewart, the 1st Duke (ME), and Charles Lennox, the 3rd (MA & NH*). The other Richmonds are after the city in England (VT), as well as some obscure Colonial pol named Edward Richmond (RI). 

All of our Richmonds have over 1,000 people, with Richmond RI having 8,000. That town is also our oldest (1669).

The 3rd Duke, a big supporter of the Colonies


4 States

  • Bridgewater – town in England (NH, MA), after Bridgewater MA (VT*), descriptive (CT)
  • Brookfield – descriptive (VT, MA), after Brookfield MA (NH), for Thomas Brooks, 1st minister (CT*)
  • Burlington – after Richard Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington (VT*, CT), town in England (MA*), after Burlington MA (ME)

  • Canaan – land in Bible (ME, NH*, CT), after Canaan CT (VT*)
  • Easton – descriptive: i.e., a “town to the east [of something]” (CT, MA, NH, ME) 
  • Goshen – land in Bible (MA, CT) after Goshen CT (NH, VT)
  • Groton – town in England (MA*, CT*), after Groton MA (NH), unknown (VT)

Another well-known prep school

  • Milford – descriptive (MA*, NH*), after Milford MA (ME), after town in England (CT)
  • Newport – descriptive (RI*, ME), after Henry Newport, 3rd Earl of Bradford (NH), unknown (VT)
  • Pittsfield – after William Pitt, PM & friend of the colonies (MA, NH), after Pittsfield MA, unknown (ME, VT*)

Would you believe I’m actually related to this guy?

  • Plainfield – descriptive (MA, CT*), after Plainfield CT (NH*), after Plainfield NH (VT)
  • Randolph – after Peyton Randolph, 1st Pres. Of the Continental Congress (MA), after Randolph MA (ME), after Edmund Randolph, Founding Father (VT), after John Randolph, ant-Federalist politician (NH*)
  • Roxbury – from Roxbury MA, former town & now a Boston neighborhood (ME, VT), unknown (CT, NH)

  • Salisbury – after city in England (MA), after Salisbury MA (NH*), unknown (CT), after Salisbury CT (VT)
  • Sharon – area in the Bible (MA, CT), after Sharon CT (NH*, VT)


So, in other words:

  1. A town in MA (or, sometimes, CT) is named after a town in England, a place in the bible, or some English or Colonial dude
  2. The towns in the rest of the NE states are named after the town in MA (or, sometime, CT)


* - author has visited