The name "Wishek" was not the original spelling of the clan, although there were some people living in Neumark in 1716 who spelled their name Wuschke. The earliest spelling, which was picked up in the church books in Babiak, was Wäschke. The actual translation into English would be Waeschke. About 1813, under Napoleon, a Polish official took over the registry of the vital statistics in Babiak. He changed the name to read phonetically in Polish and the spelling became "Weszke." In 1826, when the Vital Statistics were again taken over by the Lutheran Church the spelling was germanized and became "Weschke," which is how the name remained in the congregations of Babiak, Chodecz, Sompolno, Alexandrow, and Lodz. Sometime around 1835 several of the Weschke families, presumably from Chodecz, settled in the village of Siske, District Opocznow, Province Radom in Poland. It was here that the name was changed to "Wuschke" and only the ones who were living in the district of Opocznow spelled the name "Wuschke." This was confirmed by Mrs. Alide Anderson who was born in Volhynia in 1907 and remembered that her grandfather told her the name was originally spelled with the "ä." Some who remained in Alexandrow and Sompolno kept the Weschke spelling and one person, who was a school teacher, kept the Wäschke spelling. Our ancestors were listed as Prussian citizens.*The above information is from the Wuschke Family Book written by Ewald Wuschke.

 

WUSCHKE NAME SOURCES

 

There are two sources for the spelling of Wäschke. The first is the German way of putting the “ke” at the end of a name to signify “the son of.” This was popular in the thirteenth century. The other source is a German Slavic form of creating a nick name by adding “schke” to the first 2 or 3 letters of a name (Michael=Mischke, Paul=Paschke).

 

1. Wäsch (ke) meaning, son of a person named Wäsch:

a. Wäsch stems from the occupation of cloth production, called “a Tuchwäscher" who put the cloth through soapy water under hammers or heavy rollers in its finishing process.

b. Wäsch is an occupational name for someone who washed raw wool before spinning.

c. Wäsch is used for a laundry person, they were usually found in castles and monasteries.

d. Wäsch is a name for the person who washes the stones and dirt away in a sluice in gold mining.

e. The German dictionary uses “wäschkies" and “wäschkes’ to mean wash gravel.

 

Variations of the name Wäsch are, Wäsche, Wäscher, Wäschle, Wescher, Wesch, Wesche and Wusch as in “Meine Wäsche wusch mir meine Landlady.” = My washing was washed by my Landlady.

 

Note: Wäschke has also been found according to church records to be used for the son of Wesche. That change probably came from the changes in the German Language. There has been High German, Low German and Medium High German. Wesche was the spelling of the Medium High language. Church records also show the Wesche name interchanges with Wäscher. Wäscher was the more common spelling in the south of Germany and Wesche was more common in the north, probably due to the dialects of the areas.

 

2. Wä (schke) nick name for a person whose name starts with “Wä."

a. Wäsch still makes up the same name “Wäschke.” This is the most likely source.

b. Wälder, Wälter, and Wälther, are also sources for the nick name, they relate to a forest (Wald), or a person who comes from the forest.

3. Waschke with a plain “a” probably comes from:

a. Wasmuth or Waso, Wasmod, which comes from the root “Was” or Wass = Swedish Vass and means strong, sharp, boisterous.

b. Wase, which is a topographic name for someone who lived on a patch of reclaimed marshland that provided a rich pasture land.

c. Waldemar again relating to a forest.

d. In polish Wasik is a man with a thin mustache.

e. There is also the name Wasil or Wasyl which was quite common, which comes from Basil (Latin) which means kingly or royal. That would probably be in the area closer to Russia who use the spelling Vasily. With the “W" at the beginning it is the Prussian and Polish form.

 

In northern Poland, around G’dansk bay, the name Waschke was quite popular. It has been in the area since the 1200s at that time the Teutonic Knights occupied the area.

 

There are two towns in what was Prussia and now Poland with the name Waschke. One is now in the Russian Province of Kaliningrad, 6.4km, 260degrees or NW from Rudau. It now has a population of 3 and is a Forest Ranger Station. Its current name is Zvjagincevo. Rudau is on the following map Click here. The province was once called Samland and/or Fischhausen. The other town is southeast of Leszno Poland about 8 miles, it is now spelled Waszkowo.

 

Other name information of interest was received from a Dr. Johannes Wutschke of Germany who traced his own family name through the following changes. In 1637 the name was Wihske, in 1659 Wischke, I 1692 Wuschke, and in 1720 Wutschke.  Dr. Wutschke's family records originated in Bernburg and then they moved to Dessau where most of the changes occurred.

 

Oldest names found, relationship unknown.

Wäschke, Heinrich - born 1570 Helfta, Mansfeld, Germany.

Wäschke, Anna - born 1605 Helfta, died 1636 at Eisleben.

Wäschke, Michel - was the mill foreman and master grain-miller in the Gieserschen Mill in Friedeberg, Neumark in 1763.

Wäschke, Georg - born 1783 in Zauche (fathers name was also Georg). He and his family moved to Kunersdorf, where they no longer used the "ä" but just a regular "a."

Weschke, Maria Catharina - had a child in 1765, from Thüringen.

Weschke, Gottlieb - born 1797 Grosspachleben, Anhalt, Germany.

Weschke, NN - adult lived in Alt Reetz, Neumark between 1790-1794.

Wuschke, NN - an adult who resided in Küstrin, Neumark in 1599.

Wuschke, NN - lived in Zantoch by Landsberg in Neumarkin 1718.

Wuschke, Christian - lived in Koltschen, Neumark in 1796.

Wuschke, Charlotte Louise - born 1786 place unknown, married in Brandenburg City or district in 1807.

 

Of special note:

Close to Jastrow we also found a Johann Anton Waeschke (locksmith) who was married to Marie Sophie Krausse on 9 Aug., 1773 in the Evangelical Church in Massow, Kr Naugard, Pommern, Prussia. (Search LDS Batch M99981).

There is no known connection to our family.

 

They moved a short time later to Schoenwald, Kr. Frankenstein, North Silesia. There they appear in the Church Books as being witnesses at two baptisms in 1783 and 1791. Anton was describes as being a Fleishmeister and a Gerichtsgeschworener. Master meat cutter and a Court Juror according to Google translator.