Amite, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Sandra McLellan, Nov., 2000 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ >From Tangipahoa Centenial Book, 1869-1969: Donated to the archives by the Tangipahoa Parish Tourist Commission Amite Amite means either "friendship" or "young." I have found nothing to substantiate the popular belief that it is from indian meaning "red ant," signifying "thrift." The traditional meaning of Amite is "friendship," the name considered to be a corruption of the French amitie. Claiborne, in a footnote added to a direct quotation from a report of Iberville himself dated July, 1699, states: "It was on this occasion that he gave names to the lakes and streams they still bear. Amite, in token of the friendly reception he there had from the Indians; Maurepas and Pontchartrain, after two French ministers." This account could very well be true. On the other hand, the late William A. Read of Louisiana State University had a theory that Amite was a French corruption of himmita, a Choctaw adjective designating "young." Even though Amite resembles amitie, Read could find no reference to the Amite River in the writings of early French explorers, Iberville included. Read's theory of the process of corruption is the following: When himmita had once become corrupted to Mite, the further shift to Amite naturally took place through a misunderstnding of the word-group La Mite, the vowel of the definite article being taken as the first letter of the proper name. From Amite to Amitie was then but another false step. Discussing other French corruptions of Indian words, Read mentions local Chappepeela, "Hurricane river," the first part of the work having been confused with chapeau. The initial syllables of Indian words were frequently omitted in the evolution into modern forms. Such is true in Chafalia, Chappepeela, Chinchuba, and Tchefuncta, some names familiar to southeast Louisianians. Himmita into Mite is, therefore, highly possible. On Bancroft's copy of Delisle's map of 1718, one reads "Mite R." If a French word were the origin of the name of the river, a man of intelligence like Delisle would have used it because the earliest French names like Chadeleur, Dauphine, Maurepas, and Pontchartrain, have remained generally undistorted. Closing his argument, Read records the significant truth that none of the various pronunciations of Amite keep the concluding vowel sound of amitie. It is interesting to note the names of the rivers west from Washington Parish to about halfway across Louisiana. They are the following: Bogue Chitto, Tchefuncte, Tangipahoa, Natalbany, Ticfaw, Amite, Mississippi, and Atchafalaya. All these names are of Indian derivation, with perhaps one "friendly" exception. Personally, I am undecided as to the true derivation of Amite. To the friendly residents of the city of Amite, I can only say that if the name does not mean "friendship," they can be proud that it ought to be and that with age Amite will always remain "young." The Amite River heads in Amite County, Mississippi, courses as a boundary line for several Louisiana parishes, and runs into Lake Maurepas. It does not flow through Tangipahoa Parish. The city of Amite, parish seat of Tangipahoa is established on U.S. Highway 51 approximately fifteen miles above Hammond. Amite has the dates of incorporation: March 7, 1861, as Town of Amite, St. Helena Parish; September 29, 1876, as Town of Amite City, Tangipahoa Parish; November 27, 1900, under Act 136, which brought uniformity to all incorporated towns. In 1960 the official population was 3,316.