THE BAALKE FAMILY

and Related Families

The Name.
As near as I can tell, Baalke, Balke, Bahlke, and Balcke are various attempts to "Americanize" the name Balken. Anna Elisabeth Koehn's maiden name, for instance, is given as "Balken" in German documents, and as "Baalke" in English documents. In German, Balken means a beam or support. The word is related to the English work baulk or balk, one meaning of which is "a squared beam." There is a German proverb, Wasser hat keine Balken. ("Don't trust yourself to the water.")

The Asteroid.
One of our more illustrious kinsmen, Ron Baalke, has had an asteroid named after him. The asteroid was discovered by Eleanor Helin in 1992, and was originally called 1992 AO. In 1997, the asteroid was named in honor of Ron Baalke. Read more about it: Asteroid 6524 Baalke.

The Families.
The three families featured on these pages - the Baalkes, the Balkes, and the Koehns - are closely related. Anna Elisabeth Koehn (née Balken or Baalke) was probably an aunt of John H. Baalke and an aunt or sister of Joachim Balke. All three families came from Brandenburg Prussia and settled in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, in the mid-1860s. Follow the links to read more:

The Baalke Family
The Balke Family (under construction)
The Koehn Family (under construction, but you can see a map of the Koehn family plot in the Lutheran Cemetery, Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Return to Patrick's Family History Page

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