Ixonia Wisconsin

In the study of words and language there are very few accidents.  If something sounds eerily familiar you can usually trace the word back through time, and if necessary across a few linguistic groups, and find a connection.

So I recently set out on such a hunt with great confidence.

Wisconsin has the dubious distinction of being an epicenter for Lyme Disease and other tick born illnesses.  They are a significant nuisance to all and a serious health matter to some.  Most of this unpleasantness comes to us courtesy of a little critter variously called the deer tick, bear tick, or blacklegged tick.  If you want to be both accurate and a bit formal, it is Ixodes scapularis.  Here's our little pal that causes so much mischief. 

One reason they are such a bother is that they are small....and the immature forms are even smaller.  Check as you might, you will miss a few of these buggers.

Diseases are often named after the geographic location in which they were first identified.  Ebola is one example that has been in the news  of late.  Even Lyme disease was named after Old Lyme Connecticut.  I bet the local Chamber of Commerce is pretty happy about that.

Tick species don't appear to have such a naming system but when I looked at the map prior to a recent road trip and noticed that there, right in the heart of tick country, was a little hamlet called Ixonia Wisconsin I figured there had to be some connection. Just had to be.

Here's a Google Earth view of down town Ixonia.  Loopy's tavern seems to be the main establishment.  It's next to the rail road tracks.

So, lets get into the etymology, not the entymology, of ticks.  Ixodes is actually the genus name and it is a Greek word.  It means "like bird lime - sticky, clammy".  Not particularly accurate as ticks have dry, hard shells.  But just look at that picture, does it not make your skin crawl a little?

And Ixonia?   Well.....

Township of Ixonia Organized

It was on February 12, 1841 when a part of Watertown, Towns seven and eight north of Range 16 were set off to organize the town of Union. It remained the town of Union for only five years and then was divided into two individual towns. Town 7 was called Concord without any disagreement, but a dispute resulted in the naming of town 8. To simplify matters it was agreed upon to put the letters of the alphabet on slips of paper and have young Mary Piper draw them until a name could be formed. As the result, "Ixonia" was the name given town 8 on January 21, 1846, and remains the only town bearing this name in the United States.

So there you have it.  A genuine linguistic coincidence.  When young Mary Piper drew random slips of paper back in 1846 she came up with Ixonia.  Ixodes scapularis had already been named, in a more systematic fashion, back in 1821 but I doubt Mary or anyone else in the room was aware of that fact.

Had they known one imagines another draw would have been forthcoming.