Hoosier: Encyclopedia II - Hoosier - Origin of the word

Hoosier - Origin of the word

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the etymology of the word is unknown, but it has been in use since at least 1826. According to Bill Bryson, there are many suggestions for the derivation of the word "Hoosier," but none is universally accepted.

It first came into general usage in the 1830s. John Finley of Richmond wrote a poem,The Hoosier's Nest, which was used as the "Carrier's Address" of the Indianapolis Journal, January 1, 1833. As it came into common usage, the debates about the term's origin began.

Some common hypotheses are:

Hoosier - Frontier slang

The most common belief is that the term was a greeting. When approaching a man's home in those early frontier days, you shouted from afar, "Hello, the cabin!" to avoid being shot. The inhabitants would then shout back "Who'sh 'ere?" (who's there). As it got slurred together over time, the country folk came to be called Hoosiers.

Additionally, "Hussar" was a term used on the Kentucky frontier for people who were public nuisances. According to local tradition, hussars were hard drinking carousers. This theory carries the implication that a large share of such folks came from Indiana.

Hoosier - Strongmen

Indiana rivermen were so spectacularly successful in trouncing or "hushing" their adversaries in the brawling that was then common that they became known as "hushers."

Additionally, the poet James Whitcomb Riley facetiously suggested that the fierce brawling that took place in Indiana involved enough ear biting that the expression "Whose ear?" was common enough to be notable.

Hoosier - Contract labor

A contractor reportedly named Samuel Hoosier preferred to hire workers from Indiana during the construction of the Louisville and Portland Canal in Louisville. His employees became known as "Hoosier's men" and finally just "Hoosiers."

A similar story involves the National Road, which got its start in Cumberland , Maryland, and slowly extended westward as the United States expanded (now called U.S. 40). It truly was a "national" road, in that it was "macadamized" ("macadam" is called "asphalt" today), quite an innovation for the nineteenth century. It was far ahead of its time, easily providing the best transportation route of its era. The road had reached Columbus, Ohio, just about the time that Indiana was in its final stage as a territory.

As plans were made to extend the highway to Richmond, Indiana, the call went out for laborers. Knowing that the federal government would pay "top dollar," workers for a contractor in the Indiana Territory reportedly named Robert Hoosier asked their boss if they could go work for this higher wage in the neighboring state of Ohio (Ohio attained statehood 13 years before Indiana did). Mr. Hoosier gave his consent, asking them to return to work for him when this section of the road was done.

Just as in the Sam Hoosier story, the crew of Indiana workers proved to be industrious, conscientious, and efficient. The Federal foreman referred to the group as "Hoosiers" meaning they were workers that Robert Hoosier had allowed to join the national work crew. It wasn't long before people along the National Road used the term to describe the folks living in the territory to the west.

Hoosier - Americanized foreign language

Jacob Piatt Dunn, Jr., Indiana historian and secretary of the Indiana Historical Society concluded that the term stemmed from the word "hoozer" from the Cumberland dialect of England, deriving from the Anglo-Saxon word "hoo" meaning high or hill. Immigrants from Cumberland, England settled in the Southern Appalachians and then migrated to the southern hills of Indiana, bringing the term with them.

Hoosier - Military origin

Another plausible explanation for "Hoosier" is that it sprang from Kosciusko County in the northern part of the state. Indeed Tadeusz Kościuszko, a Polish noble who fought with George Washington in the Revolutionary War, may have been the first "Hoosier." (This explanation was provided from research by Eugene Eoyang, professor at Indiana University).

Here again, "Hoosier" reflects the American penchant over the years of mispronouncing words and place names from other languages. and is a corruption of the Polish word, huzar or hussar (Hungarian hussar, Russian hussar, French hussard) which before the 15th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary meant "freebooter, freelance."

Then, in the second half of the 15th century, it acquired the meaning of "light horsemen." It is this sense that the term could be applied to the dashing, heroic light cavalry regiments who "fought with George Washington in the Revolutionary War." The military connotations of "hoosier" are strikingly reinforced in the Journal of the Kosciuszko Guards by William S. Hemphill. William S. Hemphill was born in 1832 and died in 1907.

There is no indication of the exact year in which the journal was written, but it was, presumably, sometime in the years following the end of the Civil War in 1865 and before his death in 1907. The word hoosier or hoosiers occurs frequently in the journal. Indeed, the Indiana regiment who fought in the Civil War named their camp "Hoosiertown."

Perhaps, the most telling anecdote is of a splendid Massachusetts regiment who disdained to soil their hands with the chore of moving a massive rock. So the regiment from Indiana, referred to as "Hoosiers," sets about the project. The soldiers from Massachusetts merely looked on. "A large, fine looking man," Hemphill recalls, "wearing a common soldier's blouse and slouch hat, on passing, had paused to watch the proceedings."

He began to berate the leader of the Massachusetts regimen, a second lieutenant. Abashed, the second lieutenant takes on airs, and threatens to teach the interloper some manners, but upon noticing that the "burley form of the Hoosier looked rather formidable, decided to appeal to Hemphill, who was in charge of the Indiana regiment."

"Sergeant," the second lieutenant said, "this is one of your men; arrest him and take him to your commanding officer. I will prefer charges against him and have him properly punished!" Hemphill took no action; as he reported later, because "I was full of laughter that I could make no answer."

When the interloping Hoosier realized how upset the second lieutenant was, he makes a pretty speech—if not an apology, then of polite remonstrance—;ending with these plainspoken words: "I guess the Sergeant will not arrest me, but if you wish to prefer charges against me, you can do so. I am Lieut. Col. George Humphrey, of the 12th Ind. Inf. at your service."

Hemphill adds: "It was a complete take down; and the Lieutenant's turn to apologize. The Hoosiers all joined in the laugh, and three cheers were given for Col. Humphrey; while the crest fallen Yankees quietly returned to their camp to wonder what kind of men the Hoosiers were anyhow."

Hoosier - Humorists

Humorist Dave Barry has suggested that it comes from "the sound pigs make when they sneeze." He had also speculated that, for all we know, it could be a Native American word meaning "sex with caribou," although many of his astute readers pointed out that there are no caribou in Indiana.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Origin of the word", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki