Thursday, July 23, 2009

By any other last name

I try to learn at least ONE new thing every day. Part of the reason why I read like crazy!

So today I learned something very interesting indeed. George Washington's last name was not ORIGINALLY "Washington."

In fact, it was "De Wessington."

Later, it became "de Washington" then just "Washington."

This, according to a news article.

I feel so betrayed.

But! Speaking of last names....I do believe I may have a "hobby" of sorts.

I used to be into my family's genealogy. Then I lost interest. Not only that, I lost all....and I mean ALL information I had on the last name "Colclasure."

Then I did some checking around on the 'Net. Checked out a bunch of genealogy sites where the last name was being discussed.

And now I'm interested again. Because it seems like there is a very rich history associated with this last name. And....about 30 different spellings of it! I do know that when my ancestors came to the U.S., the "K" version of my last name was Americanized and the new name started with a "C." I have been trying to find out what the original version of the name was, but all I've come up with is "Kalkloeser."

As to origin, we don't really know. We definitely know it's European. Could be German, Irish, maybe French. I also have ancestors from England, Hungary and Israel.

What's interesting is that my married name is also tied to my maiden name. When I told my husband, he joked, "I hope we're not cousins." Oh, my God! I think I would die if that happened!! (But, it reminded me of how Fate works. Even when we don't want it to work that way!) Somehow or another, the two names used to be connected.

So I guess that, when I'm not busy writing, this is something for me to get back into. It'll take time before I get the straight facts on the "Colclasure" history, though.

Fortunately, I have an aunt who has been doing this genealogy stuff for years. And I can try to reconnect with her to see if I can learn any information. And one of my sisters has a bit of an interest in it, too. So at least I have somewhere to start.

They better not trust me with anymore paper records to hold onto, though.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

thats interesting! So, does your hubby have your same maiden name then? So you didnt have to change it? Thats cool! I saw on Comcast news yesterday, two people with the same whole named getting married, Kelly Hildebrandt! It was a guy and an a girl (in case you were wondering, ha ha). So I guess at least your hubby is not named Dawn (wouldnt it be freaky though if it was Don? sounds like a movie or a book!)

I need coffee. Its too early in the morning. :-)

Dawn Wilson said...

My husband has a different last name. The thing was, when I was reading through posts about the "Colclasure" name, I kept seeing his last name paired with it from a long time ago. It's eerie. First it was "Wilson Colclasure" and now it's "Colclasure Wilson." LOL I think that kind of name pairing is a little uncomfortable. If I were to marry someone with the same last name as me, I'd go to very great lengths to be 100% sure we're not related!

April said...

I love genealogy. I haven't done mine in a few years b/c I hit a bunch of roadblocks. But I have managed to trace one part of my tree back to the 1200's.

One of my ancestors was the last man to ever be hanged in England.
And another one actually owned Coney Island (before selling it, boo-hoo!). I've found some other interesting stories.

One part I got blocked on is about an ancestor, the one who first came to Canada from Scotland and married a native lady. I finally found the story of how/why he was killed, but CANNOT find the name of his wife. The only thing I can be someone sure of is that she was Micmac. Maybe the Micmac society people would have some info.

Dawn Wilson said...

WOW, April! That's pretty darn impressive that you have been able to trace it so far back! GOOD FOR YOU!! The last time I checked, my aunt traced ours back to the French Revolution, and that's it.

It seems like you have made some big progress with tracing your heritage. I just really think it's important to know where we come from. And that history can be so interesting, as you have shown in what you have uncovered.

Yes, there WILL be roadblocks. No doubt about that. We had some roadblocks, too. But I think it's worth it to just NOT give up and keep trying to get those answers.

I hope you are able to get the information you seek on your genealogy. :) Thank you for commenting! **hug**