It Was the Countess

Did you know? We shared a while back that Huntingdon was named for an English town and not for a countess. A reader sent us back to the books. The reader was right and we were wrong.

Rev. William Smith had the town laid out in 1767 and gave it the name Huntingdon in honor of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, in England, who had been a large donor to the College of Philadelphia, later the University of Pennsylvania, where Smith was then provost.

The 1883 county history states it carefully. It says the name is believed to have been given by Dr. Smith in her honor, in grateful remembrance of her donation. The 1909 Historic Huntingdon states it outright, and prints her portrait at the front of the book, under the line that both borough and county are named in her honor.

So the countess story stands, and it stands on books that have been on shelves in this county the whole time.

Thank you to whoever sent us back to check.

From the record

Passages about this subject, quoted from county histories now in the public domain. Each one names the book and the position in the text so it can be checked. Spelling is as printed.

Rev. William Smith, the founder of Huntingdon, was an Episcopal minister and a man of considerable learning and ability. He was elected provost of the University of Pennsylvania in 1755 and some time later made a journey to England to solicit funds for that institution. Among those who responded to his appeals was the Countess of Huntingdon, who gave him a liberal donation for the university and the town was named in her honor. At the beginning of the Revolution Huntingdon was a straggling village of but four or live houses. The only known inhabitants at that time were Benjamin Elliott, Abraham Haynes, Ludwig Sell, one of the Cluggages and their families. The town was then, and for some years afterward, more frequently called Standing Stone than Huntingdon and when the latter was used the other name was often added as a matter of explanation. Two brothers, James and David McMurtrie, came from Philadelphia about 1776 or 1777, having been sent there by their father, "a prudent Scotchman," to keep them from joining the "rebel army." They remained there and became useful citizens, David having been the first county treasurer.John W. Jordan, ed., History of the Juniata Valley and Its People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1913) · character 212,837 of the scanned text

On the 10th day of December, 1764, Croghan obtained from the proprietaries a warrant for the tract and by deed dated the 25th day of March, 1766, he conveyed the same to " William Smith, D. D., provost of the college of Philadelphia/' On the 6th day of May following, a survey was made by Samuel Finley, an assistant of William Maclay, then one of the Deputy Surveyors for the county of Cumberland, of "the Standing Stone place and Crawfords," including 1558f acres. On the 6th day of September, 1776, another survey was made by Maclay extendirg along the Juniata from the quarry below Standirg Stone Creek to the upper point of Cypress island, a distance exceeding two miles in length. That survey was returned to the Land office and some years later was confirmed to Dr. Smith by patent in which, as well as in Mac lays return, it is designated as "The Standing Stone tract. ' Doctor Smith obtained office titles for the greater portion of the land included in the survey made by Samuel Finley, and also to numerous other tracts in the vicinity. In 1767 he caused a town to be laid out on the Crawford or Croghan tract to which he afterward gave the name HUNTINGDON (see map) in honor of Selina, the Countess of Huntingdon in England, who had been a munificent donor to the college of Philadelphia, afterward called the University of Pennsylvania, of which he was then provost.Historic Huntingdon, 1767-1909 · character 238,018 of the scanned text

By the close of 1767, all the good lands in the valleys and river bottoms had been taken up. It was in the latter year that the town of Huntingdon was laid out. Its founder was William Smith, D.D., an Episcopal clergyman, and a gentleman of learning and ability. While Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, to which position he was elected in 1755, he made a trip to England for the purpose of soliciting funds in aid of that institution, and re- i ceived a liberal donation from the Countess of Huntingdon, in honor of whom he named the town. It is proper that we should know something of the life and character of this estimable lady. Selina Shirley was born August 24th, 1707. She and her two sisters, one of whom was older and the other younger than herself, were the daughters and heiresses of Washington Shirley, second Earl of Ferrars. At the age of twenty-one HISTORY OF HUNTINGDON" COUNTY. 73 she married Theophilus Hastings, ninth Earl of Huntingdon, a nobleman distinguished for his piety, from whom she took the title by which she is known in history. The deaths of four of her children at early ages, and of her husband in 1746, made a deep impression upon her mind and intensified her religious predilections. She adopted the doctrines of and attached herself to the Calvinistic Methodists, of whom George Whitefield, who, with Wesley, was, effecting a great revival, was the founder and leader.Milton Scott Lytle, History of Huntingdon County (Lancaster: William H. Roy, 1876) · character 132,520 of the scanned text

Checked 2026-08-01 · County history, independently fact checked

← All stories from Huntingdon borough