We always thought our Blieden ancestors were from the Riga, Latvia, area.  Now we know they were from Lithuania before Latvia.  Who left Lithuania for Latvia?  Did they live in Riga, or outside of the city? Who brought their pet canary with them when they left Latvia for South Africa?  Which Blieden became the first Rabbi in Muscatane, Iowa? These are just some of the stories you will read about in this section.

In the summer and fall of 2022, I did a major update to this section. New pages, a lot of information, documents and photos were added, as well as new video clips.

Use the links under the Blieden menu to take you to each page where you will read the answers to some of the questions posed above. This section is now organized in the following way: Note that there are many new pages and almost each existing page as new information on it.

Origins

  • the Blieden Surname
  • Riga and Wenden History
  • Zagare, Lithuania
  • Relatives Explore Zagare

Isaacour oldest known ancestor and his son, Ber

Isaac’s Siblings

  • Ayre Leib
  • Mordekhl
    • Pesa Nieburg
    • Zundel
    • Ber
    • Girsh
    • Leib
  • Samuel

Aaron and Hannah – my paternal great-grandparents

Aaron’s Siblings

Hannah’s Siblings

  • Julius Wolfson
  • Yetta Shocket
  • Lena Shocket

Harvey  – my paternal grandfather

Harvey’s Siblings

  • Rose Lily
  • Herman
  • Abraham
  • Meyer
  • Reve Blossom

Harvey’s and Gussie’s Children

  • Arthur
    • Lois
    • Arthur and Lois’ Wedding Album
    • Arthur and Lois’ 25th Wedding Anniversary Album
  • Bernie
    • May
  • Mildred
    • Manny rRch
    • Harvey Eric Rich

Blieden Family Video clips: You can even see some of our Blieden ancestors in action in these Video Clips from the 1930’s:


Thank You

A lot of people contributed stories, pictures and documents to this section. Without their help, I never would have been able to complete this section. Actually, I still have much to add, but that will have to wait until the next revision.

I hope I haven’t left anyone out. If I inadvertantly did, please let me know so I can add your name in. I also thanked people at the end of each page for their contributions to specific pages.

  • Patty Allen
  • Amy Blieden
  • Andy Blieden
  • Avra Blieden
  • Ira Blieden
  • Norman Blieden
  • Laurel Bleadon
  • Peta Blieden
  • Glynis Bloomberg
  • Marie Brower
  • Jud Bricker
  • Elizabeth Bricker Stephens
  • Barry Cantor
  • Susan Dubin
  • James Greve
  • Dr. Heidi Handler
  • Brendt Hirsch
  • Enid Levin
  • Ben Lipkowitz
  • Mort Kaplan
  • Carol Mithers
  • the late Berry Neumann
  • Cheryl Plotkin
  • Mimi Qunell
  • Ruth Rabini
  • Dr. Naomi Rapeport
  • Ellen Richmond
  • Matt Schwartz
  • the late Nettie Schwartz
  • Ariel Shapiro
  • Dr. David Simmons
  • Ivor Simmons
  • the late Millie Simmons
  • Andrew Steinberg
  • Lee Wolfson