Heinrich Herm. Blanck, the son of Hienrich Christopher Blanck and Dorothea Wenzel, was born in Lehe, German on January 16, 1849 and baptized on April 7, 1849 in the Lutheran Church in Lehe. Henry Blanck immigrated to Hoboken, New Jersey, circa 1870 where he married Melusine Erxmeyer in 1874. They were the parents of six children. Henry died in Hoboken in 1911.

The information on Henry Blanck and his family in Germany was taken from the church records of Lehe Germany, which are available on microfilm at the Family History Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints. They include:

• Lutheran Church of Lehe records from 1746 to 1806 on microfilm #1189501.
• Lutheran Church of Lehe records from 1816 to 1852 on microfilm #1189502.
• Reformed Church of Lehe records from 1816 to 1852 on microfilm #1189503.

The records for Lehe vary in content over time but at one point or another included: baptisms, marriages, deaths, and conformation records. Sometimes witnesses were listed, sometimes they were not.

The names connected to the Blanck family in Lehe were: Brunjes, Marwede, Wenzel, and Wilhadts.

The records for 1717, 1720 and 1722 are missing and there are gaps in the records from:

• 1726 to 1746
• 1747 to 1750
• 1753 to 1759

The records from 1759 to 1852 are pretty consistent, if not always completely legible.

The first time a family member appeared in the Lehe records was in 1759, with the death of Freidrich Jacob Brunjes, the son of Heinrich and Rebecca Brunjes.

Additional records were available from Die Einwohner des Fleckens Lehe 1827-1875 von der Gruendung Bremerhavens bis zur Einfuerung der Standesaemter . Bremerhaen Maenner vom Morgenstern 2012 kindly shared by Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum September 2016.

There are several events that should be listed in the later records that I simply could not find. Among these are:

• The baptisms of:
  • Hienrich Brunjes
  • Catherine Brunjes, daughter of Heinrich
  • Gerhard Blanck, born circa 1777, son of Johann Friedirch.

• The marriages of:
  • Heinrich Brunjes to his wife Rebecca
  • Johann Friedrich Blanck to Anna Catherine Thilbar

It is possible that the brides in the two marriages in question were from another town and the marriages were not recorded in Lehe. The unfortunate consequence of these missing records is that I could not find the names of the mother of Catherine Brunjes and I am not sure of the mother of Gerhard Blanck.

Henry Blanck appears to be the only Blanck who immigrated from Lehe to Hoboken. There were, however, many other immigrants from Lehe living in Hoboken in the late 1800's and early 1900's. In looking through the records for the family of Henry Blanck, I noticed that there are many names that became connected with the Blanck and Erxmeyer families after their immigration to New Jersey. Reddehases, Tietjens, Labouseurs and Rosenthals are names connected to the Blanck family that appear both in the Lehe and Hoboken records.

The majority of record for the name Blanck (and variations of spelling) are connected with the family of Henry Blanck born 1849 and his ancestors.

For more information on Heinrich Christopher Blanck, the father of Henry Blanck, click HERE

For more information on Dorethea Wenzel, the mother of Henry Blanck, click HERE