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Welcome...
Thank you for stopping by to visit my site. It is very modest at this hour, but will be growing even larger as I discover more information on the people that preceded me and helped make me what I am today.
This site is and ongoing project and will be updated on a periodic basis (quarterly, if possible). The site is centered on my ancestors of the Frank Dawson Bliley family of Erie, Pennsylvania. There are other Bliley families in Erie County Pennsylvania with of whom many are the descendants of Sebastian Bleile (1793-1872), the brother of my Great-great-grandfather Andreas Bleile (1785-1835).
This site is really the work of more than one person. Some of them are my ancestors, and living relatives, others are people that I have met though this site and generously contributed their time and research.
If you have any letters, photos or other documents on this family you would care to contribute to the project, I would love to borrow or receive them as a gift. In either case, I would be delighted to hear from you. For more information about this site, click here.
Charles "Chuck" Arthur Bliley
Rochester, New York, U.S.A.
K3NAU@AOL.com
Updated: Dec. 10, 2007
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Our German Roots
The Blileys born before the 1800's had their roots in Germany. The families, which came to America in the 19th Century, were from the Black Forest area of Southern Germany near the union of German, France and Switzerland. In the late 1800's this area formed the German principality of Grand Duchy of Baden. Many of the Blileys were born in the small town of Krozingen about 5 miles southwest of Freiberg. (Map: 130K) Freiberg is located is located about 80 miles (120 km) southwest of the famous city of Stuttgart. Baden was united with the nearby principality of Württemberg to form the state of Baden-Württemberg.I trace my lineage from Andreas William Bleile who immigrated to America in 1834 and chronicled by his son Charles in a letter.
The Family Name
In my research and the documentation that I have been given, I have found two dominant spellings of the family name: Bliley and Bleile. There are also several other variations: Bleule, Blila, Baylin mostly found in early family records from the state of Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany.
I have found records of a Bleule parent's offspring being named Baylin. My great grandfather's name spelled as both Bleile and Bliley, but the Bliley is used in all family literature in the United States of America. One of the brothers of Charles A. Bleile (later Bliley), Andrew William Junior, used Blila as his family name.
One genealogist I met suggested the name variations may be the result of the different languages used in various recording systems, such as wedding licenses, baptismal certificates, birth certificates and death certificates, and cemetery registers. Religious records been kept many languages throughout the ages and in different countries--common ones are Latin, Hebrew, German and English. Perhaps a good linguist could give a definite answer, I cannot. It is possible that some of them could have been illiterate or barely literate, and corrupted the name themselves by accident.
After speaking with my wife's German-born cousin Margaret, I have some explanation for the differences in the spellings of the family name. The variations of Bliley that end in "le", such as Bleule and Bleile, are common to the German dialect from the Southern area of the country in the state of Baden-Württemberg. In the genealogical records, the state name is often abbreviated to only Baden to save space. Many of the family names in this region end in "le" in a fashion similar to Polish names commonly ending in "ski".
Now, as to what brought them to this country in the first place...that will only be answered through speculation, and hard evidence if I am lucky!
My Family
Scrapbook
-Generation 1--1780's to 1890's |
Great Great-Grandfather:
Andreas William Bleile
B: January 9, 1787; D: February 1835
Spouse: Catherine Eich
I know almost nothing about my great great grandfather except that he was the first Bliley in our "clan" who immigrated to the United States. He brought with him his wife Catherine Eich, five children, and aged aunt, from Germany in 1834 to settle in Harbor Creek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania. Andrew died one year later at the young age of 49.
Children: Eleanor, Charles A., Mary, Barbara, and Andrew Jr.
