Bleimes Family History
Chapter 18. Bartholomaeus - and beyond.
No doubt the Anglicized version would be Bartholomew but I am not sure it should get that treatment since we are in doubt about his emigration. Either way – let’s just call him ‘Bart’.
Bart was born and baptized Catholic in 1806 in the little town of Birresborn,
Prussia. Today that area is called Rheinland-Pfalz. We have no information
about his death, the lack of which supports the theory of his possible
emigration to the US, estimated to have been about 1845. In 1833 he married
Gertrud Stumpfs and by 1834 had sired our Georg. (George 2). [Bartholamaeus
Bleimes' Family Chart] They had three or four more children, only
one of whom might have survived to emigrate: Catharina, born 1842.
Gertrud died in January 1843 and Bart married Maria Becker in March. They
had a daughter Magdalena in December of that year.
So it is possible that family of (as many as) five could have left for
the US subsequent to that time. There appears to be no more German records
of them in that area.
Bart’s parents were Georg (1) and Susanna Throns. [Georg
Bleimes (1) Family Chart] So now you know how we numbered the George’s.
Georg was born in 1768 at Weich, Prussia which also had been the home
of the previous two generations of Bleimes’s: Thomas [Thomas
Bleimes Family Chart] and Peter. Today that town is called Malbergweich.
In April 2004 I visited the towns of Birresborn and Malbergweich to view
the former homes of our ancestors.
I found the residence in Birresborn has been very well maintained and
is now a butcher shop (Metzgerei). In the following picture the two gentlemen
in the middle are the butchers.
The place in Malbergweich is also in fine condition, is still a home, and is occupied by a single senior gentleman who is likely a descendant of Thomas Bleimes through a female line. I am standing on the left in the following picture of the residence in Malbergweich.
The occupant (in the center) was an agreeable person and allowed me to walk through his place and take pictures.
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Thomas Bleimes might have had a fixation of sorts: all three of his wives had the given name of Gertrud.Peter Bleimes was born in the early part of the 1700's somewhere in Prussia. His wife was recorded as A. Maria 'NN' meaning her surname was unknown. He is the earliest known ancestor in the Bleimes line.
Miscellaneous: In the rolling German country east of Cologne, there is a hill named "Bleimesberg" that can be found on official maps. Its history and significance are unknown to us.