Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Story
May 14, 1931
The People's Defender
West Union, Adams County, Ohio
What is this article about?
The article explores the origins of Ohio's 'Buckeye' nickname, noting its ties to the abundant Buckeye tree and its popularization during William Henry Harrison's 1840 presidential campaign through songs and slogans.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
The Why Of "Buckeye" Never Clearly Explained
It would probably not be possible to point to any definite date and say at this time Ohio became known as the Buckeye state and her people as Buckeyes, just as it would be impossible to say when the Indianians became known as Hoosiers, the Illinois people as Suckers, the Iowa people as Hawkeyes or the Carolinians as Tarheels.
It is true that the Buckeye tree grows abundantly in our state, but it is not exclusively characteristic of it. The Buckeye is found in profusion also in Indiana. plentifully in Illinois. and frequently in both Kentucky and West Virginia. But the tree and its peculiar nuts no doubt impressed themselves on the immigrants crowding west over the National roads in its early days, and they carried the nuts to their western homes and sent them to friends left back home in the east, and they thus became widely known as characteristic of the Ohio country.
But the Buckeye began to be linked with Ohio in song and story quite generally in the remarkable hard cider campaign of 1840 when the sturdy old Ohioan, William Henry Harrison, was the Whig candidate for the presidency. It was a campaign of songs and slogans and in many of them the Buckeye was frequently referred to and for the first time probably was applied to the people of that state. Tom Corwin. another noted Ohioan of the same date, was a character about whom such songs were written and some of them have been preserved which present the use of the word as the name of the people if not of the state. In the early forties there are recorded uses of the word Buckeye in the east as an adjective characterizing the persons referred to as from Ohio. At the opening of the next decade S. S. Cox, then a well known figure in the nation's politics. published the story of his travels abroad, under the striking title of "A Buckeye Abroad," helping no doubt to fix the name upon the state and its people. Such use of the word must have been quite common or it would not have been generally intelligible.
Want to sell it? A Defender Classified Ad will do it for you.
It would probably not be possible to point to any definite date and say at this time Ohio became known as the Buckeye state and her people as Buckeyes, just as it would be impossible to say when the Indianians became known as Hoosiers, the Illinois people as Suckers, the Iowa people as Hawkeyes or the Carolinians as Tarheels.
It is true that the Buckeye tree grows abundantly in our state, but it is not exclusively characteristic of it. The Buckeye is found in profusion also in Indiana. plentifully in Illinois. and frequently in both Kentucky and West Virginia. But the tree and its peculiar nuts no doubt impressed themselves on the immigrants crowding west over the National roads in its early days, and they carried the nuts to their western homes and sent them to friends left back home in the east, and they thus became widely known as characteristic of the Ohio country.
But the Buckeye began to be linked with Ohio in song and story quite generally in the remarkable hard cider campaign of 1840 when the sturdy old Ohioan, William Henry Harrison, was the Whig candidate for the presidency. It was a campaign of songs and slogans and in many of them the Buckeye was frequently referred to and for the first time probably was applied to the people of that state. Tom Corwin. another noted Ohioan of the same date, was a character about whom such songs were written and some of them have been preserved which present the use of the word as the name of the people if not of the state. In the early forties there are recorded uses of the word Buckeye in the east as an adjective characterizing the persons referred to as from Ohio. At the opening of the next decade S. S. Cox, then a well known figure in the nation's politics. published the story of his travels abroad, under the striking title of "A Buckeye Abroad," helping no doubt to fix the name upon the state and its people. Such use of the word must have been quite common or it would not have been generally intelligible.
Want to sell it? A Defender Classified Ad will do it for you.
What sub-type of article is it?
Historical Event
Curiosity
What themes does it cover?
Social Manners
What keywords are associated?
Buckeye Nickname
Ohio State
1840 Election
William Henry Harrison
Buckeye Tree
National Roads
What entities or persons were involved?
William Henry Harrison
Tom Corwin
S. S. Cox
Where did it happen?
Ohio
Story Details
Key Persons
William Henry Harrison
Tom Corwin
S. S. Cox
Location
Ohio
Event Date
1840
Story Details
The nickname 'Buckeye' for Ohio and its people originated from the prevalent Buckeye tree, spread by immigrants, and gained prominence in the 1840 presidential campaign songs and slogans supporting William Henry Harrison, with further reinforcement by figures like Tom Corwin and S. S. Cox's 1850s publication.