6

southerly through the middle of said channel, and of Fuca's straits to the Pacific
Ocean.' The San Juan Islands are sprinkled all over the middle of this channel,
so that the United States claimed that the main channel ran to the west of the
islands and Britain/Canada claimed that it ran to the east. The dispute was
finally arbitrated in 1872 by Emperor William I of Germany in favour of the
United States.
  Also in the United States, there are towns named Waldron in Shelby County,
Indiana (pop. 800), Hillsdale County, Michigan (pop. 570) and Scott County,
Arkansas (pop. 2842). Only for the first-named have I been able to determine
the origin of the name. 17
  Waldron, Indiana, was not always so named. It grew up along the railroad
through Indiana constructed in 1854, and in 1856 received the name Stroupville.
The local Post Office, however, was called Conn's Creek. This situation persisted
until January 31, 1876, on which date the United States Post Office changed
the name to Waldron. The townsfolk are said to have held a meeting to select
one name for their little community. They were not able to agree until one man,
in disgust, left the meeting and took a walk through a ploughed field. There
he found a scythe bearing the inscription,'The Waldron Scythe Company.' He
returned to the meeting and suggested the name 'Waldron' as a compromise.
The townspeople agreed and petitioned the Indiana State Legislature to change
the name accordingly. 18
  Waldron's Bridge which crosses the River Dodder at Rathfarnham, Dublin,
Ireland took its name from the nearby calico dyeing and bleaching plant of
Waldron Pros.
  Australia has a Waldron Road at Chester Hill, NSW; Waldron Place, Cam-
bridge Park, NSW; Waldron Street, Sans Souci: NSW and Waldron Street,
Garokan, NSW.
  There is also a Waldron Street near Flushing Meadows in Queens, New York
and a Waldron Park Drive in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The Waldron
Mercy academy is in the same county. These names are, however, of mostly
unclear origin.


17 Rand- McNally.
18 John Garrett of Milan, Indiana got this explanation in 1988 from Earl Peek (born about
1898) whom he describes as Waldron's oldest citizen and recognized historian. Earl Peek in
turn got the story in 1913 when the daughter of the man who was then the most knowledgeable
citizen of Waldron related it in a school composition. He thinks the Waldron Scythe Company
was based someplace in Pennsylvania.