I am a Scholfield.

Some people may be Smiths.  Whites, Browns, Blacks or Greens.  But Me?  I am a SCHOLFIELD.

SCHOLFIELD

That’s right.. SCHOLFIELD.  It’s like music, wouldn’t you say?  Ack!  NO! NO!  You are BUTCHERING IT!  That’s German, Schultz..  We’re ENGLISH.  Scholfield sounds just like it’s written.  Except w/ a hard C and the L is silent.  No, a hard C.  Like SKO.  No, SKOL is that nauseating chewing tobacco.  That’s right.  Without the L.  Like I said.  SCHOLFIELD.  Ahhh.

I have been thinking about my maiden name a lot lately, b/c my sister – the last remaining Scholfield – just got ENGAGED!  Hearty CONGRATS to Suzanne & Jon!!!  As she & her fiance are already being bombarded w/ questions about the wedding, the date, the cake, the dress, the invitations, the location, and so on.  I thought it might be a bit much to start asking whether she’ll be keeping her name, or taking his.  But you know of course I have been wondering.  Whether my parents will no longer have any real Scholfield children.  Whether they will weep at night unable to sleep b/c both of us are now gone.  No pressure.  But they do have something they can still call their own.

Scholfield.org.  It’s ours!  Like the spoon collection and the heirloom doilies, it’s family.  But here is the down side.  Whereas my husband devotes an incredible amount of time to his family surname, his Ellingsworth.org website, and his 300-plus Ellingsworth friends on Facebook, my poor Scholfields are being overlooked.   For SHAME!  As much as I’d like to point fingers at my husband for his self absorption, we all know who the SCHOLFIELD is in this family.  Wah-wah-wahhhhh.  The time has come to dust off the old Scholfield.org site and put it to good use.  I already have way too much on my plate, and I’d like to challenge myself even further.  SO – Any Scholfields out there looking for a free scholfield.org email address?  Let me know.  My mom has one and her joy knows no bounds.  Any family history to contribute?  Send it my way.  Gossip?  Even better! (Even if it’s not about a Scholfield.)

We are after all THE SCHOLFIELDS.  The proud, the few, the hut dwelling/field grazers.  And did you know that here in Maine we have Scholfield HISTORY?!  As in – the SKOLFIELDS of Brunswick!  WOW.  Isn’t it great that people who were never related to me, don’t have the same spelling of my name but DO share the same phonetic pronunciation lived close by?  And did I mention? were RICH>>?  WELL. That seals the deal.

I hadn’t heard about this long lost pseudo branch of the family either, until my parents came to visit this summer.  My dad had done some research and discovered a SKOLFIELD HOUSE just 30 minutes north of Portland!

theotherskolfieldhouse

Hmmm.  Doesn’t look much like a Victorian mansion to me either.  When we walked up. none of us (including the senior in the chair) was quite sure what was going on.  So we politely stood on the corner across the street, trying to look inconspicuous while scratching our heads and taking photographs.  Apparently this Skolfield House is a nursing home.  Which doesn’t get a whole lot of out-of-town visitors looking for tours.  After consultation w/ google maps, we discovered The Skolfield-Whittier House several blocks away.

the skolfield house

WOWZA!!  That’s more like it!  So even though we spell our name a wee bit differently (Scholfield v. Skolfield), it is after all pronounced the same.  And since back in the day no one could really spell, we all know these folks were closely related to me.  At least the ones in the second house. b/c they were rich.