BLONIGEN FAMILY ANCESTRY



Florian aug 29,2013 I talked to an Elmer Thome on the phone a few weeks ago. He operates the little history museum in the Wisconsin Holyland. In the doc you gave me, it says that Fr. Al spoke with a "Mr. Thome" in Wisconsin; I'm sure this is Elmer Thome. The doc says that Mr. Thome said that the Blonigens came from Johnsburg, IL, near Sterling, IL. Actually, there is no Johnsburg in the vicinity of Sterling. But, since I wrote that "story," I finally found Johnsburg, IL. It's in McHenry County, IL, which is in northern Illinois, but not the same county as Sterling, IL; rather, it's closer to Lake Michigan. So, I think mentioning Sterling, IL is misleading. I did run across some information about Johnsburg, IL. McHenry County, the Wisconsin Holyland, and Clinton County in Michigan (where Westphalia, MI is located) were the first places where German immigrants from the Eifel settled in the Midwest. So, the Blonigens in northern Illinois decided to move to the Wis. Holyland to join the other Eifelers there, apparently. But I am not sure these "Blonigens" were OUR direct ancestors. Mr. Thome seems to know mainly the Blonigens from the Anton Blonigen side. These are our more distant relatives mentioned in the Blonigen book, the ones that changed their name to Blonien. These Blonigens told Mr. Thome that their ancestors came from northern Illinois. Anyway, that's just more information I've learned. I think we should stick with the working assumption that our John Blonigen ancestors emigrated straight from Germany to the WI Holyland in 1845-1846.??Also, I've attached a little bio/obit about the FIRST Father Al Blonigen, the Capuchin. It confirms that his grandfather John Blonigen came to Wisconsin in 1846. I've also perused bios online of Fr. Solanus Casey, who knew the first Fr. Aloysius. In one of them, I found a photo of Fr. Casey with fellow Capuchins in New York, and I think I can pick out which one is Fr. Aloysius. I suppose our family doesn't have any such photos? --FlorianRegarding p.8 below, Florian, 8-3-13 John and Anna followed the sons John and John Engelbert.John’s and Anna's parents must have died in Germany. Jacob/Peter Blonigen, father of John, was born in 1760; so he would have been 86 years old if he went with John and Anna to America in 1846. Instead, he probably had already died and was buried in Germany. The Blonigen book doesn't say when Jacob/Peter died; if he were buried in Mt. Calvary that information would probably be in the Blonigen book, but it isn't.Feb 15, ‘07A relative from St. Martin, Mrs. Clarence Blonigen (Anella), called me?(I wish I'd asked her for her name--I hate talking as if women's names didn't matter).She has in her possession a marriage certificate of Jacob Blonigen marrying Belinda Kinzer on October 28, 1919. Jacob's grandparents were John Blonigen and Catherine Dietzen. She thinks they're likely connected to Blonigens in Dakota. The certificate has little value to people around here. Do you have a network?on which?you could?send this information so that someone for whom it's precious could get it?The Blonigen number in St. Martin is 320-548-3341. Thanks, Jeanette December 2003Mike Blonigen is the brother of Judy Roos in Montana; our distant cousin. Judy was the one who had contact with Adelbert and whom we met in Hankinson, ND a few summers ago. Arnold New Natrona County DA named CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - A replacement has been named for Natrona County District Attorney Kevin Meenan, who stepped down earlier this month before pleading guilty to forgery and identity theft charges. The County Commission on Tuesday unanimously appointed Assistant District Attorney Mike Blonigen, whom Meenan had named interim district attorney shortly before his resignation. Blonigen's term lasts until January 2005. He said he expects to run for election next year. ''I very much look forward to this opportunity to continue to serve the public and particularly this position,'' he said. Blonigen was sworn in by District Judge W. Thomas Sullins. ''He certainly has the experience necessary to move forward,'' Commission Chairman Jon Campbell said. Campbell pointed out that Blonigen has six upcoming trials, including murder trials. ''We felt it very important to keep the continuity,'' he said. Blonigen was chosen from three GOP candidates submitted by the Natrona County Republican Party's central committee. The other candidates were Keith Nachbar, a Casper attorney, and Terry Rogers, an attorney in Jackson. Blonigen said the office will continue to function much like it did under Meenan's command but improvements will be made in daily operations. Blonigen has 20 years of experience as a prosecutor. He led the felony unit in Meenan's office. From: <alblon@>To: <jblonclan@>Subject: Re: Re: Germany tripDate: Saturday, November 29, 2003 8:39 AMJeanette,I thought I had mentioned before that in 1991 I called as Herman Blonigen in K?ln. he said that his family came from France. Barbara and Heinz also mentioned that Blonigens live in France as well. Yes, with all our information put together we might come up with a clearer history of the Blonigen Family. I hope some day we can again visit Germany together. You have there giftfor asking questions. I tend to just listen to glean information.Arnold.From: <alblon@>To: <jblonclan@>; <jerdi50@>Subject: Fw: Re: Germany tripDate: Wednesday, November 26, 2003 9:34 AMJeanette,Before I went to Germany I contacted Paul Blonigen, the one in Florida who is researching the Blonigen Family tree. Here is the letter I wrote him.ArnoldHi Paul,My visit in Germany with the relatives was very pleasant. Hans Heinz in K?ln is not well: Heart problems and asthma. I think this will be the last time I see him alive. I also visited Blonigens in Daun; Heinz and his son Michael. They showed me their family tree and there was no connection to our ancestry as far as that went.I am not familiar with Pelm. There is Prüm near G?relstein and Daun. Again I heard that the Blonigens in Steffeln originally came from Büddesheim which is just below Steffeln and near Prüm and Daun. They moved into the Mertz house; a house bears the name of the one who built it. There are two houses in Steffeln known as the " Bl?nigen" houses. One is no longer occupied. In the Daun telephone directory we found Bloniens and one even spelled Blonyen. Heinz thinks it is a typographical error. For a while now the origin of the Blonigen name has been a question. It has no German meaning. When I studied in Germany for two years I was told the German students that Blonigen was not a German name. There has been a suspicion that the Blonigens originally stemmed from Ireland.I visited in K?ln a Mariannhill priest whose name is Balling. He said that his name is also Irish and several Ballings settled in Frankenland, near Würzburg. He told me that Balle is the word for a village in a certain area in Ireland. This was confirmed by someone else who is familiar with Irish history. Several families are to have come over to Germany from Ireland with the missionaries back before the 16th century. I think that there is a possibility that the same happened with Blonigens. Blonigens can also be found in France and Belgium which is near the Eifel Gebiet. I did go to Trier and Luxembourg, but did not investigate the Blonigen name there.Did you ever meet your uncles and aunts in St. Cloud, WI. I met Alois and Gerald there, as well as Verena and one more brother who lived in Fond du Lac. Alois has since died, as have a few other siblings. They seem to all die of cancer. I had visited Alois in the Fond du Lac hospitalbefore he died. I visited with the St. Cloud Blonigens several times; even took my father there one time. I also knew Philomena, the wife of Henry before she died. The other Fr. Aloysius Blonigen was the uncle of Henry in St. Cloud, WI. I have visited his grave a couple of times. There is a Capuchin Monastery in Detroit. MI. Fr. Aloysius (Theodore) was stationed there for a time. From this Detroit monastery there is a Capuchin whose cause is being presented for canonization; His name is Fr. Solanus Casey. He was a healer. Fr. Aloysius was Fr. Solanus'superior in Yonkers, NY for a while.It was a Capuchin brother named Schmitz who first put me in contact with the Wisconsin Blonigens. When he spotted my name tag he said that his aunts were married to Blonigens ( Gerald's and Alois' wives were Schmitz.) Brother Schmitz showed me the history of Mount Calvary Monastery which gave the information that the land on which Mount CalvaryMonastery and St. Lawrence Seminary stands was originally part of the John Blonigen farm; this John was father of our great grandfathers. He and his wife Maria (Gerrels) are buried in the cemetery below the hill of St. Lawrence Seminary in Mount Calvary. By the way, I also met Alan and a Phelix Blonien in and near Mount Calvary. Phelix told me that in the earlier times the one family ( Michael's descendants) dropped the 'g' because of mail mix up. I saw Phelix only once. When I returned to Mount Calvary a second time, he had died. I had also met one of his daughters in Mount Calvary that first time. I am well aware of the fact that some of the information is not complete in the first pages of the Blonigen tree. The second time I went to visit the Igelmunds in Steffeln, Mark gave me more information which he had gleaned from state records. It was then that I got the information that John Blonigen had two wives. The first wife Margaretha Finken bore him John ( Hans?) Engelbert and possibly another son Thomas who died at a young age. She died and John married Anna Schoetel whose first child was named John also; This is my great grandfather who moved to Minnesota after he married and had four children. My grandfather Gotthard was born in Minnesota. I also discovered than that there were two Margaret's and two Joseph's born to John and Anna Blonigen. One Margaret and one Joseph died in infancy. Barbara Igelmund told us that it was customary to name another child the same as an infant who had died. I think I sent this information to you earlier. Many of the church records were lost in the wars. The Eifel was the area where the Allied Armies entered Germany and bombed away. There are several mass graves in the area.It seems that Steffeln was miraculously ( so it is believed) spared from any bombs.Fr. Aloysius ( Arnold) Blonigen, CMM***********And this is what Paul Blonigen wrote me.ArnoldHi,Thank you for the followup. I visited all my WI aunt and uncles in 2000. Some deaths since then. Philomena Weber Blonigen is my grandmother. I'll keep searching for the link btw the Johnsburg, MTC, and Gerolstein/Daun Blonigens. I have computerized all the Steffeln Duppach, Hillsheim (Bolsdorf was in Hillsheim's parish) records, so I know the link is not there. I've also researched all the church records btw Budesheim/Prum eastward to to Hillescheim and Daun. The Irish lead might be fruitful if they kept their records like England. Did you get a copy of Heinz and Michael Blonigen's (from Daun) family tree? This could be the same Michael Blonigen that called me 3 years ago. He sent me his descendant chart (3 or 4 generations) that was prepared when the Nazis were in control. I guess these were prepared to show the lack of Jewish blood. The tree he sent me only showed his parents, grandparents, and great grandparents and possibly one more generation. If he had more, I would like to see it. I have done a lot of research on the Blonigen clan east of Steffeln and would like to tie my data into theirs.PaulFrom: Judy Roos 1/17/2001 Hi! thought you might be interested in some of Paul's new information. He is one of the Wisconsin cousins. Take care and keep in touch. let me know if there is one of the Minnesota bunch who would like to take on the task of updating their share of the book. your cousin, Judy -----Original Message-----> From: Paul Blonigen [mailto:figmo@]> Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2001 8:47 AM> To: Judy, Roos> Subject: Blonigen Book Hi,I have the Blonigen book computerized. I also have many changes for the Blonigens that stayed in Mt. Calvary. I also have corrected most of the information from Germany. The information re: our german ancestors is wrong. I do not have time to futher update the FDL descendants, but> will send you the computerized Blonigen book with all my updates. Sometime in April or May, I should finish my Blonigen research on our German ancestors, but will not have had time to research other Blonigen lines.>> For instance, the Blonigen book shows that Michael Blonigen/Blonien who settled in Johnsburg and his sisters are the children of Bernard Blonigen and Margaretha Grossmann. This is true. I have their DOBs and their parents marriage information. Actually, Bernard and Margaretha had six children. The Blonigen book shows Bernard's parents as Anton Blonigen and Maria Faber, whereas Bernard's and Margaretha's wedding record shows Bernard' s parents as Johann Blonigen and Maria Margaretha Bause (her last name hard to read other than Baus). This is important because the Blonigen book shows Anton Blonigen and Jacob Blonigen as brothers b. 1759 and 1760 to Johann Blonigen and Anna Maria Gerrals. According to the Blonigen book we are descendants from Jacob Blonigen. This is all false. There never was a Jacob or Anton born in Steffeln or the surrounding area during this time period. Also, there never was a marriage btw Johann Blonigen and Anna Maria Gerrals in Steffeln or the surrounding area. Johann Blonigen the alleged father of Jacob and Anton was supposely born in Steffeln in 1732. The only Johann Blonigens born btw 1720-1740 were born in the town of Gerolstein, 10-15 miles SE of Steffeln. Gerolstein is also the city that I found another Blonigen clan that I'm trying to connect to the Steffeln Blonigen clan. Bernard was born in Dohm, about 4 miles north of Gerolstein. I think he is a descendant of the Gerolstein Blonigen Clan and not the Steffeln Clan.Here are our Blonigen ancestors from the earliest to Johann who came to USA>> Nicholas Blonigen, b. ca1660 and Catharina Johann Blonigen, b. 21 jan 1680 Steffeln, Veronica Gentges, b. 22 oct 1693>> Hilger Blonigen, b. 25 jul 1721 Steffeln, Anna Catharina Klinkhammer, b. 1719 loc unk>> Peter Blonigen, b. mar 1749 Steffeln, Maria Elizabeth Servas, B. 10 feb 1766, Auel> (peter's first wife, Margaretha Schlosser, b. 12 nov 1755 Steffeln, one child, Hilger who died 4 months) Johann Blonigen, b. 5 sep 1792 steffen, died 15 apr 1870 Mt. Calvary, Wi 1st wife - Margaretha Finken, b. 29 jan 1792, Auel, d. 24 may 1819. One son Johann Engelbert, b. 21 nov 1818 - my g+grandfather)> 2nd wife, Anna Maria Schottel, b. 1 may 1800 Steffeln - they came to USA with a lot of their own children and Johann Engelbert Blonigen from the first marriage. When I send you my information, I'll include genealogy charts on both marriages. I have alot of the Blonigen spouses' families prior to 1700.> I use FTM 8.0 - I have found that this is the best genealogy software. PaulKreis PrümBy Jeanette Blonigen ClancyThe following can be added to pages 3 and 4 of “The Blonigen Tree.” It will appear in the centennial history of Avon, whose settlers came from the same area of Germany as the Blonigens.The Blonigens in America came from Steffeln, a Dorf or farm village in Kreis Prüm (district of Prüm) in the Rhineland of Germany. Prüm is part of the Eifel, a region containing high and steep hills formed by volcanoes. The town of Prüm is about ten miles from the Belgium border and forty miles north of Trier. It had been an influential town under Charlemagne, whose relative is buried there. Legend says that Charlemagne himself was born illegitimately in the Eifel. At sites in the area, relates Zauber der Vulkaneifel, he entertained luminaries of the time, such as an emissary from the Byzantine Empire, the caliph of Bagdad, or the patriarch of Jerusalem. This is the only time in its history that the Eifel had international importance. When the Blonigens emigrated, the area was governed by Prussia. That was decided in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, which restructured Europe after the Napoleonic wars. Before 1871 there was no unified Germany, only a loose confederation of German states. This explains the fact that German immigrants to America did not say they came from Germany (Deutschland), but from Prussia (Preussen) or Austria (?sterreich) or Bavaria (Bayern) or Pomerania (Pommer) or Hesse or Luxembourg or Oldenburg in the flatland of northern Germany where Plattdeutsch was the dialect spoken. German immigrants from the Trier province called themselves preuss (sounds like "price") but they had little in common with the stereotypical Prussian character. Militaristic Prussia began far to the northeast as a Protestant state on the Baltic Sea near Poland and Lithuania. East Prussia is part of Russia today. It was the aggressive state of Prussia that eventually united Germany in 1871. Most of the German immigrants who called themselves preuss—certainly the Blonigens--were Catholic Rhinelanders coming from the region between the Rhine and western European states. They came from the Eifel, a high, hilly region east of Luxembourg and Belgium, west of Koblenz on the Rhine River and north of Trier on the Moselle River. Other place names in the Eifel that German-American family histories might mention are Gerolstein, Büddesheim, Bitburg, Hillesheim, Daun, and Langenfeld.The Eifel is known for its hilly terrain formed by volcanoes a million years ago and for its raw weather. When Father Al and I visited relatives in the area during the summer of 1997, the days were drearily cool and rainy. Inge Fuchs, a maternal relative of ours in Kempen, Germany, said that temperatures in the Eifel generally dipped a few degrees below those in her home farther north. Fuchs also said that personalities in the Eifel are a bit dour. It is tempting to connect this statement with the stories of hard German personalities familiar to most of us. The speech of people in the Eifel resembles that of Stearns County. They use pronunciations and turns of phrase not acceptable in standard German but part of our experience growing up in St. Martin. An example is the expression die Frau sei Mann (literally, “the woman his husband”), a phrase utterly incorrect in standard German but heard by us while growing up in St. Martin, and heard again in Steffeln, Germany. German people in and outside of the Eifel told us in 1997 that the region’s poverty sent its sons and daughters to America. Land was scarce, crops were failing, and families were large. The land was beautiful with its high hills and forests, but stony and a grudging provider for the farmers of the nineteenth century—steinreich ("stone-rich") it was called. In the 1850s, states a German document out of Virneburg in the Eifel, two-thirds of the population had meat only once a year. Money was so scarce that when someone received a letter, money for the postage (due from the receiver) had to be begged from fellow villagers. As inheritance customs divided each family holding between all the sons, the plots of land grew too small to support families. Karl Fuchs of Virneburg told the author that virtually every family sent members to America. Today few inhabitants of the region do much farming, earning a living instead by driving to jobs.Despite their poverty, the emigrants from German states did not belong to the lowest classes. As Mack Walker wrote in his book Germany and the Emigration, "they were people who relied upon their own skills and wished to do so in the future, who had property that could be turned to cash; they traveled on their own resources. They were people who had something to lose, and who were losing it . . . a growth of population without a corresponding growth of economic bases." Most of them could read and write. Besides the economic squeeze, the most common reason for emigrating was to escape the Prussian military draft. Germany was still divided into rival states, and political unrest touched the lives of ordinary people with military conscription. Many of them fled Prussian conscription for its many wars leading up to German unification in 1871. This is what brought the Blonigens to the New World.BLONIGEN FAMILY ANCESTRYby Aloysius Blonigen, CMM (Arnold, son Herman and Magdalena Blonigen)and Jeanette Blonigen ClancySince “The Blonigen Tree” was first published, new information has been acquired about our ancestors from records found both in Germany and in the Stearns County courthouse. At one time Bl?nnigen descendant Marcus Igelmund from Steffeln worked for a governmental unit in Germany, where he had access to birth and marriage records. So we can be more certain that this is the correct information, although some of it is still guesswork. This information refers to pages 8, 9, 20, and 21 of “The Blonigen Tree.” We now know the names of the children of Margaret (Blonigen) and John Salchert and of Anna (Blonigen) & Mathias Wagner. We know that Joseph had no children, because he died going to California or in California. There were two Josephs born to Johann and Anna (Sch?ttel) Blonigen. One died in infancy. The order of children is also not right: There were nine children born to them, of which Johann, the oldest generation in St. Martin, was the firstborn. Here is the revised family tree from 1732 to the present. Johann Bl?nnigen, born 1732, married Maria G?rels (or Greuel, but not Gerrels). Descendants in Germany think he moved from Büddesheim to Steffeln where he settled in the Mertes house. It stood at the bottom of the hill leading to the church that is still there. The former Mertes/ Bl?nnigen house has been razed along with its barn. On the site of the barn the Dorf of Steffeln erected a village center using proceeds from the sale of the Steffelberg, a mountain of volcanic rock that used to mark the Dorf. Now it is nearly leveled, its material used for building roads.Johann (b. 1732) and Maria (G?rels) Bl?nnigen had two sons that we know of: Anton and Jacob (b. 1760). Perhaps there was a third brother Peter, and he, rather than Jacob, is our direct ancestor. The marriage certificate of Johann Bl?nnigen to Anna Sch?ttel gives Peter Bl?nnigen and Maria Katharina Servas as the parents. More evidence comes from the oral history of Bl?nnigen descendants in Steffeln, who speak of a Peter Bl?nnigen as their ancestor. Instead of three sons, it is possible there were only two and that either Jacob or Peter is a middle name. Jacob or Peter’s son Johann, born in 1791, married Margaret Finken. They had a son and named him Johann Engelbert, born perhaps in 1818. One document names him Johann Engel. He married Katharine Dietzen, and their descendants live in the area of Wisconsin including Johnsburg, Mount Calvary, St. Cloud, Fond du Lac, and Milwaukee. Some migrated to North Dakota and Montana. Another son, Thomas, was born after that and died in 1839. Margaret (Finken) must have died after giving birth to Thomas because Johann married Anna Sch?ttel, perhaps in 1824. Johann and Anna (Sch?ttel) Bl?nnigen had nine children, four of whom died before adulthood. All were born in Steffeln.Johann (b. 1825) married Elizabeth Heinen in 1852, and after they had four children, the family moved to St. Martin, Minnesota.Maria Anna (b. 1826) married Mathias Wagner.Maria Katharina (b. 1828) died in 1830.Elizabeth (b. 1830) married Mathias Dietzen in 1853.Margaret (b. 1831) died as an infant.Wilhelm (b. 1834) perhaps died young.Joseph was born and died in 1836 (a clear record).Margaret (b. 1837) married John Salchert. Joseph (b. 1840) remained single and disappeared after heading to California.Two of Johann Bl?nnigen’s sons immigrated to America to avoid being drafted by the Prussian military-- Johann Engelbert and Johann. The first was the oldest born to Margaret (Finken), and the second was the oldest born to Anna (Sch?ttel). In 1846 their parents Johann and Anna (Sch?ttel) Bl?nnigen followed Jn & Jn Engelberg to America with the rest of the family. The parents Johann and Anna (Sch?ttel) Blonigen died at Mount Calvary, Wisconsin, not far from Johnsburg, and are buried in the Mount Calvary cemetery. Most likely Margaret (Finken), the first wife, is buried in Germany.Michael Bl?nnigen, the son of Anton and Maria (Faber) Bl?nnigen, also immigrated to escape the draft. So there were three young Bl?nnigen men who came to America to flee the Prussian military draft. Michael’s descendants are the present Bloniens in Wisconsin. They dropped the “g” in Mount Calvary, because the mail of the various Blonigens was being confused.Johann Blonigen, born of Anna (Sch?ttel), married Elizabeth Heinen, who had four children in Wisconsin. Then they moved to St. Martin, Minnesota, in 1864 along with other Rhinelander immigrants from Johnsburg—Stangs, Netts, and Schmitzes. What drove them was a disagreement over the site of a new church that had to be built because the old one burned down. One faction wanted to rebuild on the same site, the other wanted to move away from the Lutheran church next door. The site of the Catholic church was moved, and those who disagreed with that migrated to St. Martin (information from Mr. Thome, a man Father Al met in Johnsburg, Wisconsin in 1999). In 1881 Johann built a stone house a half mile south of St. Martin. The present inhabitant said in 1999 that it is still in good shape and people stop by from all over the U.S. and Canada to take a photo of it.At the entrance of the St. Martin cemetery is an old grave with the name John Blonigen. He was the second son of Johann and Elizabeth and he died of consumption in September of 1881. In February of that year he married Mary Walz although his family did not want him to because he was sick. After he died, Mary Walz married Frank Weisser of Melrose. From their granddaughter we know there was no child from her first marriage to John Blonigen.Johann’s brother Joseph also moved to St. Martin and acquired the land adjoining that of his older brother in 1865. It was not a homestead, because the record shows a previous owner had been granted it as “bounty.” Joseph went off to California and was never heard of again. Records indicate that his brother Johann acquired the land after it was declared delinquent in taxes in 1874. From this we can conclude that Joseph died either on the way or in California. The land was granted to all the siblings of Joseph, and they signed it over to Johann in 1893 (see appendix). Joseph’s farm became the home of Gotthard Blonigen, son of Johann and Anna, in 1894. Before that, he had gone to the state of Washington where he farmed for a while. His sister Margaret (Schneider) was there. The land there was so hilly that when he was working with four horses abreast, the head of one horse was level with the feet of another. Coming back to Minnesota, Gotthard married Thekla Vogt in 1899 and settled on the farm Joseph had acquired. It stayed in the family until 1996, after three remaining daughters of Gotthard and Thekla Blonigen had moved to a nursing home. Mr. Thome said that the Blonigens were known to be stonemasons and blacksmiths. The Blonigens, he said, first went to the vicinity of Sterling, Illinois, where Johannisburg, the town named after them still stands. From there they migrated to other states and gave similar names to their settlements—Johnsburg in Wisconsin, Johnston in Iowa northwest of Des Moines, and Johnsburg in Minnesota near the Iowa border, southwest of Rochester.Johann Blonigen, the oldest generation in America, left a brother Mathias in Germany. Mathias, married to Maria Katharina Mertes, is the great-great-grandfather of Barbara Igelmund, who lives in Steffeln. Mathias’ son Sebastian came to America and died in Green Bay, Wisconsin in 1934. His descendants went to Iowa. The last person in Steffeln with the Bl?nnigen name was Barbara’s uncle Joseph Bl?nnigen, who never married and died in 1976. However, there are two Bl?nnigen houses in Steffeln— called ober Bl?nnigen and unter Bl?nnigen (upper and lower)—but no relative lives in them anymore. However, there are Bl?nnigen descendants in Steffeln. Barbara’s mother was Elizabeth (Schlusen), sister of Joseph. Elizabeth and Joseph and a sister Margaret married to Joseph Sünnen were the children of Peter Bl?nnigen, son of Michael, son of Mathias, brother of our ancestor Johann buried in Wisconsin. Mathias is also the ancestor of Karl and Johann Sünnen in Steffeln. Karl owns a Gastwirtschaft (an inn) and also had been gathering information on the family. Barbara Igelmund and the Sünnens in Steffeln are second cousins in the Bl?nnigen line. (This information is not given in “The Blonigen Tree,” but was determined in Germany with the help of the Igelmunds and the Sünnens.)Mathias and Johann (m. Finken) had another brother who is the ancestor of Hans Heinz Bl?nigen in K?ln (Cologne), Germany. He was contacted by Father Al Blonigen in 1991 and visited by him and Jeanette Blonigen Clancy in 1997. In 1985 Father Al had contacted the Igelmunds, whom he later connected to Hans Heinz. In Germany Father Al also spoke by phone to a Herman Blonigen whose ancestors had lived in France. (There are three spellings of the name in Europe.) APPENDIXIn the Stearns County records is a deed of the land signed over to John Blonigen in 1893 by Anna Maria (Blonigen) Wagner, sister of Joseph Blonigen. It also was signed over to John Blonigen of Stearns County, Minnesota, by Englebert & Katherina Blonigen of Marshfield, WI; Joseph & Maria Blonigen of Belford, N.D; Theodore (Father Aloysius, a Capuchin) of Detroit, MI; and Pauline (probably a nun) of Green Bay, WI. These were the only heirs of Englebert Blonigen, a deceased brother of Joseph.It was signed over to John Blonigen of Stearns County, Minnesota, by George & Maria Anna Salchert of Oconto County, WI; Joe & Anna Salchert of Anoka County, MN; J.P. & Maria (Salchert) Reisin of Waterloo, Iowa; and Sophia Salchert (single). These were the only heirs of Margaret Blonigen Salchert, a deceased sister of Joseph.It was signed over to John Blonigen of Stearns County, Minnesota, by Katharine Dietzen (single) of Milwaukee, WI; Englebert Dietzen (single); Joe & Regina Dietzen; Mathias & Maria Dietzen; Jacob & Gertrude Dietzen Steffes; and Joe & Anna Maria Dietzen Holzmann, all from Marshfield, WI; John & Maria Dietzen Schaefer of Fond du Lac County, WI; and John & Elizabeth Dietzen Behrens of Russell, WI. These were heirs of Elizabeth Blonigen, deceased sister of Joseph Blonigen.PicturesSome family members of Hans Heinz and Anni Bl?nnigen.Karl Sünnen and grandson in front of his Gastwirtschaft.Karl Sünnen, Jeanette Blonigen Clancy, Johann Sünnen and wife.Marcus and Sonja Igelmund standing on former site of Bl?nnigen barn and house.Ober Bl?nnigen and unter Bl?nnigen houses.Igelmund family in 1997.Bl?nnigen grave in Steffeln.Grave of Father Aloysius Blonigen in Wisconsin.Grave of Johann and Anna (Sch?ttel) Blonigen in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin.Grave of Michael Blonien, in Johnsburg, Wisconsin, who also fled the draft.St. John the Baptist Church at Johnsburg, Wisconsin.Capuchin Hill in Mount Calvary that originally belonged to Johann and Anna (Sch?ttel) Blonigen.Grave of Catherine and Engelbert Blonigen and their daughter at Mount Calvary. Son Joseph migrated to Matandor, North Dakota.1994 addition: Gotthard Blonigen went to Washington State and built a house there before coming back to St. Martin, getting married, and settling down. His son Herman said he described the wheat fields on the hills. In "gang plowing"-- four horses abreast--the feet of the horse on the highest elevation were higher than the head of the horse on the bottom.Adelbert found out that Vogts came from Vinnen and Ramlers from Hüven in Niedersachsen. ................
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