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.