Johann Domschat

GEDCOM Note

All the Dumschatt spelling variations (corruptions) are Germanized forms of the Lithuanian name Dumcius. A Lithuanian variation is Dumcaitis. In Lithuanian the c would be pronounced liked the English ch. In origin the Dumcius name comes from the then Lithuanian speaking parts of East Prussia. East Prussia is now divided between Lithuania, Russia and Poland. The earliest Dumcius found to date came from Semba in East Prussia to SW Lithuania in the mid-1700. He deserted from the army of Frederick the Great, who massively drafted peasants and those peasants massively deserted. (Little Lithuania website) Name variations: Ummaszate, Dummasze, Dummaszeit, Dummaszikke, Dummaszuz.</line><line /><line>
Dumschatt is a Germanized version, a corruption of the Lithuanian last name Dumcius (c=Eng. ch).

Dumcius is derived from the word "dumoti - to think" and its primary meaning is "galvocius" --- thinker, knowledgeable person, intellectual. Among other definitions: "high government official, adviser" and "foreman, overseer".

It is in the last sense that the word (archaic spelling--dumczus) figures in Kristijonas Donelaitis's 18-th century book-length poem "Metai" [The seasons].
Modern editions of the classic poem use the modern spelling.

It is now out of use as a word, exists only as a surname.

It would be false to think of the name as being derived from "dumti--to run".

Much of East Prussia was originally Lithuanian-speaking, but eventually was colonized and Germanized. Hence the mutation of Dumcius into Dumschatt, Povilaitis into Powilat, etc.

A northwest Lithuanian variant of the name is Dumsa (s like Eng. sh).

Although to a Lithuanian-speaker the name sounds quintessentially Lithuanian, it's actually a rare name; as of 1939, there were only about 50 families in Lithuania with the name. They're probably all related, if only distantly. There is, or at least was, a village called Dumciai [lit., The Dumciuses] in Suvalkija, i.e. southwest Lithuania. (According to one witness, as of about 1937, most of the villagers looked similar and had the same last name!)

Skipping all the detail, I'll say my guess is that the first Dumcius in Lithuania arrived in the mid-18th century as a deserter from the army of Frederick the Great and that all the rest are his descendants.

The Dumciai who stayed in Prussia were eventually Germanized, their name corrupted into Dumschatt and assorted variant spellings. People w/ the name Dumschatt etc. probably consider themselves Germans or of German descent. (In fact, on the Internet, I came across an Ulrich Dumschatt, writing whatever in German.) http://www.network54.com/Forum/5317/viewall-page-120</line><line /><line /><line />