Joseph Mitchell's Account of the Origins of the Boneyfiddle (Bonafiddle) Name

ID: 792 ~ Source: "Bona Fiddle --- Origin of Name," Portsmouth Daily Times (19 November 1912), Historic Portsmouth Newspaper Collection, Center for Public History Archives, Shawnee State University, Portsmouth, Ohio. ~ Date: 19 November 1912
This file appears in: How the Boneyfiddle Got Its Name: Historic Preservation and Economic Redevelopment in a “Land of Good Faith”

The Portsmouth Daily Times endeavored to settle the historical debate over the origins of the Boneyfiddle name, with an interview of Joseph W. Mitchell, noting that the paper is "frequently asked how the term 'Bonafiddle' came to be applied to all that portion of the city lying west of Market Street." The Times noted that "Joe Mitchell has always been credited with having invented the name and fitting it on to the ‘Point’ locality, so that gentleman was sought by the reporter and made to give an account of the transaction.” To the disappointment of the bean patch and other theorists, Mitchell would explain how a court proceeding involving Conrad Gerlach led to the creation of the neighborhood's famous nickname in the 1880s.

This file appears in: How the Boneyfiddle Got Its Name: Historic Preservation and Economic Redevelopment in a “Land of Good Faith”