Township of Scio
Established in 1833, the Township of Scio (“sigh-o”), is named after the Greek Island of Chios (Χίος). The township’s name has long been questioned by historians because early records were supposedly destroyed in a fire. Therefore, no one is entirely sure how and why Scio, which is not spelled correctly, was selected. However, pro-Greek sentiment was indeed derived from support of the Greek War of Independence (1821-32) because the US had recently overcome their own fight for freedom.
Also, according to the township’s website, Daniel Webster, one of the five greatest U.S. senators, gave a moving speech in Congress in 1824 about the massacre of Chios and also praised Chios “as a seat of Modern Greek culture” (sciotownship.org). It is hypothesized that some of his admirers in Washtenaw county, transcribers or speech writers, used the Italian spelling of Chios, when studying his speech. The Italian spelling (Scio) was the most common foreign one until the end of the 19th century, especially in Philhellenic texts and titles. For example, the title of Delacroix’s famous painting was Les Massacres de Scio (The ‘sci’ at the beginning of the Italian name is pronounced like the English ‘sh’ and therefore corresponds to the Greek chi/X). These same admirers, using this spelling, named the township Scio and that is most likely how Michigan and Chios were connected later on in 1833.”
