Ash(born) in the USA– no, in Derbyshire!

The town of Matlock, close to the Pacific coast, is home to a large logging industry – and terrifying railways!

Patrick Coleman looks at the many settlements
in the USA named after places in Derbyshire.

WHEN English colonists sailed ‘across the pond’ in the 17th Century to found what would become the United States of America, they brought with them many of the place names they knew and loved. Maybe feeling a little homesick after the long voyage, they created an entire ‘New England’ in the northeastern corner of the New World. 

One province – now a state – was named after a southern county: Hampshire. But while there might not be a ‘New Derbyshire’ to contend with the fame of ‘New Hampshire’, plenty of immigrants helped write familiar Derbyshire place names all over the map of America.  

If you travel to the capital itself, Washington DC, you can find yourself strolling through the neighbourhood of Eckington. It is exactly one mile north of the US Capitol building and was named in honour of the village of Eckington, Derbyshire, by the 9th Mayor of Washington, Joseph Gales. Gales may not have been one of the early colonists, but he was born in the Derbyshire village in 1786, the son of a printer whose republican sympathies led him to emigrate to the US in 1795.

Joseph grew up to become the proprietor of Washington’s ‘National Intelligencer’ newspaper, as well as the official printer to the US Congress. He campaigned for the election of President John Quincy Adams, and in 1827 was himself chosen as Mayor of the City of Washington, the only person born outside the US to hold that position. After his retirement in 1830, Gales built himself a ‘country mansion’ – which he named Eckington in honour of his birthplace – on the tract of land which now forms a whole neighbourhood.

The Derbyshire and US Eckingtons share little in common these days but their names. But the Castleton in Vermont, US, is much more similar to its Peak District namesake, both being celebrated for their scenic beauty. The New England Castleton was first settled by colonists moving in from Massachusetts in 1768. They were led by a Colonel Benjamin Waite, whose family hailed from Castleton, Derbyshire, and who fixed the name to his new town. Like our Castleton, the one in Vermont is popular with hikers exploring the surrounding countryside. It sits on picturesque Lake Bomoseen within its own State Park. 

“Most of the Chesterfields in the US are technically named for the Earls of Chesterfield.”

Larger Derbyshire towns, like Chesterfield, often have several American equivalents. Most of the Chesterfields in the US are technically named for the Earls of Chesterfield, rather than for the town directly. The 4th Earl was so well known in the colonies for his writings, ‘good manners’, and pro-colonial politics, that two whole counties were named after him: Chesterfield, Virginia was formed in 1749; Chesterfield, South Carolina in 1785.

North Carolina, meanwhile, is home to a Buxton, which sits on the Atlantic coast in a dangerous area once known as the ‘Graveyard of the Atlantic’. For that reason, Congress ordered the building of a lighthouse in 1870. Buxton thus became home to the Cape Hatteras Light, the tallest lighthouse in the United States at 210 feet. It is famed across the country for its distinctive spiral decoration. 

On the other side of the country, nearer the Pacific coast, lies the secluded town of Matlock. It is surrounded by forest, the home of a large logging industry, and like the Derbyshire town it is named after, is also home to many legends. Local folklore has made a ‘bogeyman’ out of Matlock native John Tornow. Known as the ‘Wild Man of Wynoochee’, he was consigned to a lunatic asylum in 1909, but escaped into the woods where he lived for many years. Tornow was often spied by loggers with a long, shaggy hair and beard, becoming a terrifying figure in the imagination of Matlock’s children.      

The west of America is, of course, a very long way from New England, but those settlers who made the westward journey did not forget the places that they, or their ancestors, had once known. In California, the Old Santa Susana Wagon Road was used by travellers moving to what is now Los Angeles County. In 1888, the downward pass was recorded as entering an area named ‘Chatsworth Park’. This area developed into the township of Chatsworth, a place made famous by 20th Century Hollywood, which filmed huge numbers of Westerns and war movies on the Iverson Movie Ranch there. Gary Cooper, John Wayne and Laurel and Hardy all filmed at Chatsworth. Unsurprisingly, the town was named after Chatsworth House, the Derbyshire home of the Duke of Devonshire. 

The main route through Chatsworth, Los Angeles is named Devonshire Street, the designation chosen by its developer W. B. Barber, who had grown up near the ducal residence. The people of the Californian Chatsworth have long celebrated their connection to the Devonshires. In 1944, their Chamber of Commerce wrote to the 10th Duke to ask permission to use the ducal coat of arms on their official paperwork. The request was granted, and in 1988 the 11th Duke planned to travel to California to celebrate the American Chatsworth’s centenary. In the event, this didn’t happen as it would have clashed with a royal tour. But the Duke sent a letter to be read to the people of the community, and received a visit from members to his House in Derbyshire. The American Chatsworth Park is today, like its Derbyshire cousin, a magnet for tourists. It includes the rolling Simi Hills with the 700-foot Chatsworth Peak, home for centuries to the Chumash Native American Indians. 

Every region of the US seems to have its nod to Derbyshire. Even in the deep South you can come across familiar names: Bakewell lies along Route 27 in Tennessee; in the north, nearer the Great Lakes, you can pass through Whittington, Illinois. Derbyshire had its influence on the USA even before the nation’s birth. Founding father Benjamin Franklin famously visited Derbyshire in 1759, staying for a time in Alfreton. It’s just possible he inspired some Derbyshire dwellers to follow him across to the then Colonies.

There certainly were many from our county who headed to America. But surprisingly, many of the recorded colonists never managed to establish any lasting settlements named for their birthplaces. One of the earliest, John Oldham (1595-1636) was a Puritan who travelled to Plymouth Colony. He founded a town in Connecticut, but after being killed by Indians, the settlement was named Wethersfield after a village in Essex. 

The infamous Wragg brothers of Chesterfield were not responsible for any of the Chesterfields found in the USA today, though Wraggborough in South Carolina is named after the younger of the pair, Joseph (1698-1751). Both brothers were born in Chesterfield before moving to London and then emigrating to South Carolina, and both appear in history for the wrong reasons. Joseph captained slave ships and became the dominant slave trader in South Carolina. Samuel was captured by the pirate Blackbeard in 1718 and had to negotiate his way out of the situation. 

Nevertheless, Chesterfield remains one of the most ubiquitous Derbyshire place names in the United States. It is surpassed in number only by Derby, there being some 17 places across America named after the county seat. Not all are actually named for the city, but one that is unequivocally is Derby, Connecticut. It was named in honour of the English Derby in 1675 and went on to share in a common history. Both Derbys played major roles in the Industrial Revolutions of their respective countries, as both became manufacturing hotspots. Indeed, Derby, Connecticut became home to a bustling textile industry, taking its cues from the first-ever factory in the world: the Silk Mill in Derby, England, birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.