Subject: [COULOMBE-L] Fw: Christopher COLUMBUS

Received this from the medieval newsbase:
----------
> From: Ellen M. Coulombe
> Newsgroups: soc.genealogy.french; soc.genealogy.medieval
> Subject: Re: Christopher COLUMBUS
> Date: Saturday, October 04, 1997 6:38 AM
> 
> Tom Cain wrote in article
> - 34335c97.1795713@news.dircon.co.uk - ...
>
> : I read somewhere - although I haven't the reference to hand at the
> : moment - that 'Colombe' was actually only a knickname. Without the
> : reference I can't point you to his real surname.
> : 
> : Aparently it was his uncanny ability to make it to home port without
> : making landfall and coasting - actually making a straight dead-on
> : landfall within a few miles of home - that gave him a reputation as a
> : safe captain who didn't get lost. His men regarded him as a 'good-luck
> : talisman' because - in an age of seafaring uncertainty - he could
> : guarentee to get them home safely. His men named him 'The Homing
> : Pigeon' or 'La Colombe' and the name stuck. As an aside, the supposed
> : 'good luck' was actually more likely his judicious use of a little toy
> : he bought from a wandering friar in Italy - an early compass. Columbus
> : was one of the first mariners who saw the advantages of the compass as
> : a navigation tool for when the stars were inaccessable (as they are
> : more often than not in Northern European sea skies).
> : 
> : So, regretfully, I think there is no connection with your family.
> 
> Tom:
> 
> Thank you for the information you have given above; it certainly was
> interesting.  However, insofar as to whether or not there is a connection
> to the family line it is inconclusive.  It is true that the surname
> translates to "Dove"; but keep in mind that the spelling of surnames
> underwent many changes over time and locations; because, as I am sure you
> know; spellings were guessed at when written down due to the widespread
> illiteracy that prevailed through the centuries.  
> 
> The possibility of the connection does not stem from the translation
> "Dove"; but rather is based on several observations:
> 
> First, there is the persistent rumour that the family line is linked to the
> brother of Christopher Columbus, who of course, was Italian.  This rumour
> even persists today in the town of Le Neubourg, (Eure), Normandy, France;
> which is where Louis COULOMBE, who emigrated to Quebec, Canada in 1666, 
> originated from.   
> 
> This rumour has surfaced time and time again from various unrelated
> branches of this surname that are not directly connected and live all over
> the United States and Canada.  I run a mailing list for this surname and am
> in contact with a large number of people with this surname.
> 
> Second, whenever I do research into any bases that have information on
> French surnames, the name COULOMBE/COLOMBE/COLOMB is noticeably missing;
> or very obviously in the minority.
> 
> Third, on one of the web sites that researches the History of Surnames the
> surname COULOMBE et. al was not to be found in any of the papers listing
> ancient names in France, Saxon, Germanic, etc. etc. until I came to the one
> on Italy.  There I found a variation of the name.  It's the only reference
> I have found.
> 
> I suspect that at some time even further back in the past some ancestors
> from Italy (or Corsica, as the case may be) wandered to France and settled
> there.  
> 
> I am hoping that someone somewhere may have information that might help
> connect the lineages.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
>       Ellen M. Coulombe
> 
> 

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