Bloody Run
About fifteen years since (about 1875) the ancient name of Bloody Run, which for more than a century had designated the place of that village upon the map, and was known to thousands of travelers throughout this state and the west, was stricken out of existence, and that of Everett was substituted for it. The advent of a railroad had changed the population so that a large majority were newcomers, who had no respect for the historical association, and who disliked to be called by the dubious title of Bloody-Runners, and so they thought that Edward Everett�s memory ought to be commemorated rather than the unknown travelers who were killed by the Indians many years ago, and whose blood had ensanguined the water of the rivulet, and given the village the name. And at a borough election they voted for a change, and the court, no one objecting, for it seemed to be conceded, at least passively, that the majority of voters had a right to adopt a new name, decreed the change. Soon after I met that very remarkable old man, General Simon Cameron, who said to me: �Judge, why did you permit that name to be changed?� I replied: �The people living there, by a large majority, voted in favor of the change and petitioned the court to decree it, and I supposed the majority ought to rule.� �No, sir,� said he, �not at all! What have they to do with it? What right have they to make me and tens of thousands of other people all over the country revise our knowledge of geography and learn a new name? Besides, the old name commemorated an incident in the early history of the county. If I had been judge I never would have permitted it.� �Nor would I, General,� I replied, �if you had been in court and suggested what you have just stated.� Unquestionably it was a mistake. I have regretted it ever since. There would be as much propriety in changing the name of Bunker Hill.
(Source: William M. Hall, 1890.)
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