Jozef Reinold BLOEMEN

Jozef Reinold Bloemen, born in Venlo on April 5, 1790, was the eldest of four brothers. The father was Thomas Bloemen (born in Venlo on June 2, 1754, and died on January 25, 1809), who married Johanna Sibilla Muller (born in Venlo on June 24, 1754, and died on October 22, 1828) in 1787. Thomas was part of what is referred to as "generation 3" in the Bloemen family tree from Venlo. He was "head of employees at the Urban Patent" during his lifetime, a role evidently significant enough to be mentioned at the wedding of Jozef Reinold and Anna Gertrudis.

Three of the four brothers served in Napoleon's army, likely all three were conscripted.. This is the sheet of Jozef Reinold:

source: Service Historique de la Défense - Vincennes (Fr)

Even though his family name is misspelled and his birth year is incorrect (1789 instead of 1790), it is clearly referring to Jozef Reinold Bloemen, as it states: "fils de père Thomas & Sibille Muller".

Additionally, we can envision his appearance: He stood 1.67 meters tall and had a "round, open" face (though "visage plein" isn't a standard term). He had a high forehead, blue eyes, a large nose, an average-sized mouth, a round chin, brown hair, and light brown eyebrows.

When he was summoned on April 17, 1809, as part of the 1810 conscription, he was number 30 in his group. He lived in Nijmegen, where he worked as a "menuisier," a term used at the time for a carpenter, joiner or cabinet maker.

He is enrolled in the 3rd Régiment d'Infanterie en Ligne and takes part in the "Campagne du Tyrol 1809".

He was promoted to sergeant on April 26, 1810, and on April 21, 1813, he was honorably dismissed and retired, as indicated by the term "congédié."His early retirement was due to being wounded in Bilbao, Spain. The reason for its absence in the family pedigree is unknown. I became aware of this because of an article in the Limburger Koerier dated December 30, 1925:

Limburger Koerier 30.12.1925, as result of the 9st birthday of Willem Bloemen (Monestry name Frère Léon - brother Lion), son of Jozef Reinold and Anna Gertrudis - Source: Delpher

Jozef Reinold's 'military career' awarded him, in addition to a St. Helena medal introduced by Napoleon III in 1857, this notable mention in the Venloosche Courant:

Article in the Venloosche Courant August 8, 1868 on the occation of the 50the wedding anniversary of Jan Francis Hendrik Bloemen & Catharina Barbara van Oeijen - Source: Delpher

In other words, the three Boemen brothers, mentioned at the start of this post, carried it all the way to their 'golden wedding' anniversary. At that time, it was so unique that even Emperor Napoleon reportedly had more to offer than the usual congratulations.

Incidentally, Jan Francis Hendrik was the middle brother, not the youngest.. He was the great-grandfather of my grandfather, Raimond Bloemen.