Editing Chautauqua, New York (section)

===19th century===
Chautauqua was formed on April 11, 1805, from the town of [[Batavia (town), New York|Batavia]], while still part of [[Genesee County, New York|Genesee County]]. The first settler arrived the year before, near the current village of [[Mayville, New York|Mayville]]. When Chautauqua County was created on March 11, 1808, the town's territory was increased to include the eastern tier of townships, so that the town and the new county were coextensive. The town is the "mother of towns" in Chautauqua County since all other towns in the county towns were once part of it. The town is still one of the largest in the county.<ref>[http://history.rays-place.com/ny/chau-chau.htm History of Chautauqua, NY<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

The meaning of the name Chautauqua remains unknown and a source of speculation, with two longstanding [[Folk etymology|folk translations]] being “bag tied in the middle” and “place where fish are taken out,”<ref name="Names">{{cite web|date=February 7, 2016|title=Stories behind names of many familiar places|url=http://www.oleantimesherald.com/news/state-and-union-stories-behind-names-of-many-familiar-places/article_cd071cee-cd48-11e5-8153-67db9ca5a039.html|newspaper=Olean Times Herald|accessdate=August 29, 2016}}</ref> the latter having some support based on similar words in other [[Iroquoian languages]].<ref name="chq_history">{{cite book|author=John Phillips Downs|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofchautau02downs|title=History of Chautauqua County, New York, and Its People|author2=Fenwick Y Hedley|publisher=American Historical Society|year=1921|page=[https://archive.org/details/historyofchautau02downs/page/11 11]|accessdate=March 4, 2013}}</ref> In [[Seneca language|Seneca]] it is known as Dza’dáhgwëh.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://senecalanguage.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SENECA-DICTIONARY-FINAL.pdf|title=English-Seneca Dictionary|publisher=Seneca Language Department}}</ref>