Lonnie first met Faith at his local church one Wednesday evening in September of 2007. As a member of the small Church of Christ congregation for over three years, he knew all the names and faces of the full-time members. After spending much of the summer out of the area--a week-long trip to play paintball in Oklahoma followed by some overseas work and then a month-long vacation back in Texas--on his first night back he spotted a new face sitting in a middle pew next to a couple of the regulars. He figured she was an invited guest.
     Faith had joined the church over the summer and would have had a perfect attendance record if such a thing existed. She was pretty confident that she knew who all of the other members were--the ones who are there every time the doors open and the ones who are seen with somewhat less frequency. Then she noticed a guy slide in late and sit on the very back pew. She figured that he must be a visitor, and she should probably go and introduce herself after services. That is why she was a little confused when he walked straight over and started cutting up with 'the rest of the boys' after the closing prayer.

     For the record, they both claimed that they had every intention to walk over and introduce themselves, but their respective circles of friends managed to keep them too engaged to break free until everyone was being ushered out. It just so happened that they had parked next to each other and Faith was the first to open her mouth. Lonnie offered her a chance to grab a bite to eat, but she politely refused. She said they could get to know each other better on Sunday at morning worship, but Lonnie said he would have to work. The issue was left open to the future.
     Lonnie checked the members' directory when he got home and found that Faith was already listed. He decided to send her a quick little, innocent email just to test the waters. [Stalker alert:] He decided to Google her to see if she had a MySpace page or maybe a personal web site. Her unique last name pretty much eliminated any chance of getting any bad search results. Needless to say, he about fell off of the couch when the first thing that popped up was from a nearby high school with a date that was not that long ago. He could just imagine the preacher and her parents waiting on him outside the doors of the church next week. The fact that she did not immediately respond to the email made it all the more uncomfortable.
     The next Wednesday night after church services, Lonnie swept her off her feet. Actually, that is probably just his version of the story. A more accurate description would be that he re-invited her out to grab a bite to eat at the Applebees down the street. This time she accepted, and they spent the next few hours chatting away. She talked of family and friends. He gave a dissertation contrasting the battle of Thermopylae to the recently released movie, 300, and its implications on the birth of Western Democracy. It was everything that two people would dream about.
     The age issue was quickly resolved. Lonnie was physically a few years older than she had first believed. Much to his relief, Faith was not in high school and was in fact a 4.0 college graduate with a Physics Degree, which made her probably much more mature than he was. Before they knew it, several hours had past and they were being annoyingly ushered out of the restaurant. Since that time, they have had quite a few more dates and somehow still find each other's faults amusing. This spring, they even purchased matching mountain bikes from REI and a fancy Swedish bike rack contraption to mount them on top of his Jeep Liberty. It should come as no surprise that they have only been used the bikes two or three times.
     The happy couple have several things in common such as they enjoy running--rather she enjoys long-distance running and he enjoys watching her run as he peddles behind her on his mountain bike--and they both believe that Lonnie one of the funniest guys on the planet. There are a few other areas of contention that arise from time to time. Faith has not seen dozens of tremendous works of cenematic art that he would describe as "life-changing events". She actually liked the latest Indiana Jones movie; he is sure that George Lucas is purposely trying to destroy everything that is sacred and holy from his childhood. Faith refuses to watch great horror movie such as 30 Days of Night or classics with crude humor such as Eurotrip; Lonnie feels nauseous at the mere mention of such chick-flicks like Enchanted or Nanny Diaries.
     The story does not end here. While "When Lonnie Met Faith" is not scheduled for big screen any time soon, look for future installments to appear here periodically in these pages.

     Inevitably when one begins to examine records for clues to their past, they come across a surname that appears similar in nature to their own. To some degree, common sense must be utilized in order to build an objective opinion on a possible relationship between the two. I have seen several sites that are very adamant in their views that most of these surnames are not related in the least. That my be very likely be the case; however, I feel that we must look at everything from a contemporary point of view. Is Colson and Coulson the same? Do they share the same origins? Cole and Coul are both supposed to be shortened, familiar names for the very common Medieval name Nicholas. The former was generally English and the latter was typically Scottish. If we continue to focus on the Jesmond area, we must consider that it is only a stone's throw away from Northumberland's border to Scotland. Does that prove our case with any degree of certainty in either direction? No, but allow me to elaborate somewhat. The surname Blenkinsopp is alleged to come from Blencarn's Hope (see Blenkinsopp Castle History for the complete story). Over the subsequent centuries, we can see a number of variations used in the same general area. Blankenship, Blenkins(h)opp, Blenkinship, Blenkinshope, etc. These are all within a relatively small area. It is unlikely that several different sources area responsible given the affluence of the family's name in history.
     For a moment I want to get away from the Colson/Coulson/Colston dilemma. Instead I want to focus on a couple of popular historical figures for a possible understanding of the level of variation of surnames from generation to generation during this period. Harry, Duke of Buckingham--without question an educated man--signed his name Harre Bokingham on contemporary letters and signed documents. The father of Henry Tudor, the famous King Henry VII, bore the surname Tydwr, which is the original Welsh spelling. Not only do we see corruptions in the spelling among the lower and less literate commons, but it is also apparent in the upper classes as well. This, I believe, reflects a period of flux in the English language. Our language, which is a blend of several root languages, was much less standardized. Take for example the actual title of a book written in 1450, "How a man schall be armyd at his ese when he schal fighte on foote." Notice that the word 'shall' is spelled two different ways in the same sentence. This is not an uncommon discovery in a close examination of many texts of that period. For that reason more than any other, I give more consideration to geography and less significance to the recorded spelling of a surname when drawing my conclusions on this site. In researching 19th Century American census records, my father has noted that there are several incidents where Coleson and Colston families changed their name to Colson, and vice versa. Again, this does not mean that all of the Colson variations are interchangeable or even connected, but it is apparent that at least some of them are/were.

     I hope that this has aided you somewhat in your search for your own family heritage. From the limited amount of evidence that I have been able to collect, it appears to me that the majority of the Colson family and its other possible variations originated during the Scandinavian/Norse influx around the end of the first millennium. The main focal point of the Viking settlers was historically in the northeastern portion of the island--away from the areas dominated by the Anglo-Saxon immigrants that had preceded them.
     This appears to be in line with the notion that the seed of at least one branch of the Colson family was planted in the Jesmond, which has born witness to nine or more centuries of our ancestors.
     Does your opinion differ from my views? If so, I would like to hear about it. Please email me using the icon at the bottom. If you make a valid argument, I would be more than happy to post it on my site. If possible, please include a list of any sources that you have used to draw your conclusion.

Colson Family Genealogy by Eleanor Colson

Coulson Family Tree by Mary Coulson Moody

DColson Home Page by Darrell Colson, my father.

Colson Family Page by Justin Colson of Suffolk, England.

Colson Family Tree by Leister Productions, Inc.

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