October 5, 2023

Blees: 1971 Letter

John Blees (1856-1916) was born in (what we now call) Germany. He lived his adult life in the United States.

Last week, we looked at the negative findings (all the places I expected to find evidence of John’s birth and parentage). There is one secondary source that may help answer these questions about John:

In which town was he born?

Who were his parents?

1971 Letter

In the spring of 1971, Mrs. Charles Wood wrote to Blees family members. She was looking for descendants of Richard Blees, the 15th child of Jacob Richard Blees.

Katherine Blees (1922-2018) responded:¹

We are sorry that we have no information regarding the Richard Blees, referred to in your letter. We note your statement that “all of the other branches of the family are in Germany, except for the descendants of my grandfather and the descendants of Richard Blees.” We do have information about a number of other members of the Blees family who emigrated to the United States, and I will try to give you a history of these people. We do not know, of course, whether this is an entirely different Blees family, or if they do fit into the genealogical record which the great niece of Richard Blees has compiled, dating back to the 1500’s. Perhaps, this information may fill in some missing pieces.

The letter continues with a statement about Katherine’s source:

All of the following data came from my father-in-law, Albert John Blees [1889-1974], who is now living in Green Valley, Arizona.

Within that paragraph, Katherine relays the following information, provided by Albert:

He is the oldest living heir of John Blees, who was born on April 10, 1856 in Darmstadt, Germany by Meinz-Hesse and resided at 111 Grosse Weis Gasse.

He emigrated to the United States in 1886, and went to live for a time with his sister, Catherine Blees Manke [Maneke], in St. Louis, Missouri. (She had emigrated to the United States sometime before, and had lived previously in Chicago, Illinois, until the great fire in 1871, when she moved to St. Louis.) [paraentheses in original]

John Blees was later married in Great Bend, Kansas. He died in 1916. His father’s name was also John Blees, who also had another son, named William and the daughter, Catherine, mentioned above. William had two sons, whose names we do not know, but their ages could date back to the 1880’s.

first page of the 1971 letter

Details in the Letter

Within the letter the following details about John Blees are given:

Birthdate: April 10, 1856
Birth location: Darmstadt, Germany, by Meinz-Hesse
Residence address: 111 Grosse Weis Gasse
Emigration 1886
Lived for a time in St. Louis, Missouri
Married in Great Bend, Kansas
Died 1916
Father is John (presumed Blees)
Sister Catherine Blees Manke [Maneke], lived in St. Louis, Missouri
Brother William, who had 2 sons

Correct Information

This letter provides many clues. Some of the clues are backed up with original source documents and may be labeled as correct.

John’s sister Catherine lived her adult life in St. Louis. Her marriage record,² her children’s births³ and her death⁴ all occurred in that city.

John Blees died in 1916.⁵

In 1887, John married Victoria Prosser in Great Bend, Kansas.⁶

Incorrect Information

Within the letter, the immigration date is not correct.

Johann [John] traveled to American in 1882.⁷

Unable to Corroborate

Lastly, some of the details in the letter cannot be verified or are absent.

Both John’s and his sister’s death certificates list their father as John Blees, but this name needs to be verified with other documents, like baptism records. John’s mother’s name and his German birth-name are missing from the letter.

To date, there are no records placing John in St. Louis, Missouri before his marriage.⁸

Did John and Catherine have a brother named William/Wilhelm? Did he come to America?

The city of his birth is not exactly given. It is not as simple as it seems. Darmstadt is a city in present-day Hessen, Germany. However, the term Darmstadt was also used for the larger jurisdiction surrounding the city of Darmstadt. In 1971 (when the letter was written), it would have been in the country of West Germany. When John was born in 1856, Darmstadt was part of the Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein [Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine or informally as Hesse-Darmstadt]. There is no such place as Meinz-Hesse; Mainz is a different city, about 30 miles from Darmstadt.

Also, the street address provided (111 Grosse Weis Gasse) is not located within the city of Darmstadt.

What’s Next?

We must continue to look for confirmation of the birth and parentage of Johann/John Blees.
Where is Grosse Weis Gasse?
In which church was John baptized? In which town?

SOURCES

1
Letter from Mrs. Edward J. (Kitty) Blees (1922-2018) of North St. Paul, Minnesota to Mrs. Charles (Anne) Wood of Kansas City, Missouri (June 8, 1971). The letter details an interview with and stories from Albert Blees (1889-1974) regarding his father’s (John’s) birth and lineage. First transcription, by Karrie Blees, April 17, 2007. Spelling and punctuation as in original. [Karrie’s notes in brackets.] Karrie Blees has an original carbon copy, 2023.
2
“Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991,” database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:669D-XYH2 : 25 February 2022), Catharina Blees in entry for Heinrich Manecke, ; citing Marriage, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City; FHL microfilm 007513773.
3
St. Louis Genealogical Society Members Only database of Church records.
4
Missouri State Board of Health. Death Certificate for Katherine Maneke, June 17, 1926.
5
Minnesota Department of Health, Minneapolis MN. Minnesota Death Certificate. No. 22754 (John Blees, 1916).
6
Blees-Possey Marriage License, August 8, 1887. Barton County Marriage Book B, page 104. Great Bend, Kansas.
7
Baltimore, Maryland. Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Baltimore, Maryland, 1820-1891. Microfilm Publication M255. RG 36. Roll 35: Jan 6 – Jul 27, 1882. National Archives, Washington, D.C. Ship: S.S. Strassburg arrived 26 May 1882. Johann Blees, Steerage Passenger No. 1654, page 38.
8
Checked St. Louis MO City Directories 1881-1887, digitized newspapers, deed records and church records.

Author: Karrie Blees

Filed Under: Blees