I had never heard of the name "Kalklöser" before reading these letters, and I wonder how many other readers are as intrigued as I am by the meaning of this name and the different ways it is spelled. I decided to share my thoughts. German surnames in Pennsylvania are frequently related to the occupation of the man to whom the name was originally assigned, and I am sure that this was the case for "Kalklöser." In those days the spelling of the name was often not as important as the sound or the meaning of the word. "Kalk" is "lime" in German. The spelling "Kalck" is a spelling that obviously sounds the same. The spelling "Kallig" is the way that the word for "lime" is actually pronounced in the German dialect spoken by most of the German settlers that settled in Pennsylvania in the 1700s. This dialect came from the Palatinate region along the Rhine, and its usage persists to this day in Pennsylvania, where it is commonly called "Pennsylvania Dutch." Eugene Stine, in his "Pennsylvania German Dictionary" spells the word for "lime" as "Kallich" or "Kallick." To the ear these spellings are virtually indistinguishable from "Kallig." The second half of the name, "Löser," is the word for "dissolver" or "solvent" in German. The sound of the umlaut "o" in German is made by pursing the lips as if to say an "o" but then saying a long "a". In the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect this pronunciation of vowels with umlauts is ignored, and the vowel is pronounced simply as one would pronounce the long "a" in English. Hence, one might replace it with an "a" when spelling the name for English-speaking people. But the German "e" is also pronounced like the English long "a", and therefore if one were using the German spelling without the umlaut sound, one might replace it with an "e" to get the same sound. To complicate matters, the spelling of an "ö" without the umlaut is often given by the combination of vowels "oe", and therefore the "ö" might be replaced in the spelling by "oe" without indicating any change in sound. In addition, since English does not use umlauts, one might retain the German spelling without the umlaut over the "o", ignoring the fact that this would indicate a different sound. So now the possible spellings for the word include: Löser Loser Loeser Leser Laser In fact, this word by itself is a surname that is not uncommon in Pennsylvania, and I am familiar with the name being spelled "Loser" by some families and "Layser" by others. Now put the two words together. My "German English Dictionary for Chemists" does not include "Kalklöser" but it does include "Kalklösung" which is defined as "solution of lime (calcium hydroxide)." Now, for a little chemistry. Lime is made by heating limestone, which is primarily calcium carbonate or CaCO3, to drive off the carbon dioxide or CO2, leaving lime or CaO as the residue. This is often called "quicklime." When water is added, it is converted to "slaked lime" or calcium hydroxide with the chemical formula of Ca(OH)2. Not very much of the lime actually dissolves, however, and one generally gets a slurry of slaked lime. This slurry of slaked lime was often used to coat the rough boards on the inside of barns or the outside of sheds and fences, and it was called "whitewash." It was a cheap paint and a preservative for wood. I have often seen where this was used on farms in rural Pennsylvania. Also, the word reminds us of Tom Sawyer, who had the job of whitewashing the fence, and we have found many figurative political uses for the word. So now we have the surname "Kalklöser" which has been spelled variously as "Kalligleser," "Kalckloesser," "Kalcklöser," "Kalckglöser," "Kalckgloeser," "Kalckgloser," "Kalckglasser," and possibly others in these letters. What did the original ancestor actually do for a living? My guess is that he made lime and then made slaked lime, which was used in farming or as a paint to whitewash buildings. I am reminded of the remains of old stone limekilns that were commonly seen on farms when I was a boy in the limestone region of eastern Pennsylvania. But I had never heard the name Kalklöser. Perhaps only a Pennsylvania Dutch chemist like me would care. Leroy Miller