Johann Blees in Mainz

John Blees (1856-1916) was born in (what we now call) Germany. But where, exactly, was he born? Where did he live?

For the last few weeks, I’ve walked through all of my attempts to find a document that points to the birth location of Johann “John” Blees.

Back to the 1971 letter

The 1971 letter that Mrs. Edward (Katherine Fleischhacker) Blees typed to Anne Wood contained this sentence:

“… John Blees, who was born on April 10, 1856 in Darmstadt, Germany by Meinz-Hesse and resided at 111 Grosse Weis Gasse.”

Exerpt from 1971 letter from Mrs. E. J. Blees to Anne Wood¹Letter 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.

As noted in last weeks’ post, there are both a city and a region called Darmstadt. In the city of Darmstadt, there is no such street named Grosse Weis Gasse. However, in the city of Mainz, there is a street called: Große Weißgasse.

Trip to Mainz

Patrick and I had an opportunity to travel to Mainz in September 2023. So, we booked an appointment with the Archives. We hoped to find evidence of Johann Blees.

Mainz City Directories

Adreßbücher für der Stadt Mainz

In the City Directories (1839-1880) for the City of Mainz, Patrick quickly found Johann Blees. Actually, he found 3 men named Johann Blees.

1. Ship Builder: Johann Blees
2. Shoemaker: Johann Peter Blees
3. Sculptor: Johann Blees

However, none of these men lived on Große Weißgasse. Being thorough, we also looked in the Address Books’ street sections which listed each street and each house number on that street. Each dwelling listed its occupants. We found no familiar names on Große Weißgasse.

Family Registers

Next, we turned to the Family Register of the city, just to be certain. We discovered:

One, Johann Blees, the shipbuilder was married in 1823. He was the father of Johann Peter.
Two, Johann Peter Blees (1828-1870), the shoemaker, married but had no children.
Three, Johann Blees (1830-1880), the sculptor, also married, but had no children.

Disappointed but Determined

Needless to say, we were disappointed with our negative findings in Mainz. None of the men named Johann Blees that resided in Mainz were a match for our Johann Blees. Why was the specific street name given in the 1971 letter if Johann did not reside there?

Perhaps, Johann’s residence was not in Mainz. Maybe the street address sounds like Große Weißgasse and is actually in a different town. We must continue to look for clues to determine the birth location and parentage of Johann Blees.

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.