ORIGIN OF SOLINA

On looking over some old numbers of your excellent paper, I was much pleased with the graphic account of the first settlers of Solina, which neighbourhood I always considered the garden of Darlington, but found that nothing was said of the derivation of the euphonious name, Solina; and as ancient history is some times as interesting as modern, I thought you would like to hear the origin of it.

The village was known by the name of Pilchardtown until about forty years ago, when a meeting was called to consider the propriety of starting a Temperance Lodge; which suggestion was at once concurred in. Then it was asked what the name of the lodge should be, when some said Eldad, some Bethel and others Zion, the names of the churches in the neighbourhood. When the school teacher, fearing that sectarian dissensions were likely to mar the good fellowship necessary to the success of any society, moved that a committee be appointed to choose a name and submit it to the next meeting and that the committee be composed of Messrs. Wm. White, Charles Turner and the school teacher, John Hughes, which was carried.

Messrs. White and Turner were young men, stone masons, who were attending school that winter. One afternoon the teacher asked them to remain after school to choose a name for the Lodge. The teacher said, “Now we must get an original name, let us take six letters, three vowels and three consonants-say A, I O, and L, N, S, put each letter on a card and draw separately. If it spells a good word let it be the name, if not we can transpose till we get a good name. It as not long till we got SOLINA.

The young men were much pleased to think of creating a word, and at the next meeting the name was unanimously adopted and soon the school as called Solina. The wagon-maker, the late Mr. Simon Lee, put it on every wagon he made after and he made many good ones.

The Post Office when established was called Solina. Soon it lost the old name altogether and everybody called it Solina. I don’t know where Mr. Turner went, but Mr. White married a sister of the Rev. W. C. Beer and lives in Mariposa where he is a very successful farmer. The teacher, Mr. John Hughes, lives I am told at Blackstock. Van Winkle, Jr.