Sources

Individual Contributors
Gene F. Bals
Gene is a descendant of Heinrich Anton Bals [21 December 1859- 26 January 1949]. His site includes the history of Henry and Elizabeth, regional history, and the origins of the surname.
There is some duplication between our sites, which I found necessary for context, but I’ll keep it to a minimum.
http://bals.info
I stumbled on Gene’s current website on 17 December 2019 and emailed him immediately. He responded the following day and a week later a binder arrived on my doorstep, which contained a printed version of his 2014 website. Gene first visited Schmerlecke and the Bals-Lusebrink in 1975 so to say he’s a wealth of knowledge is a vast understatement. We actively email information/documents back and forth and I thoroughly enjoy the collaboration.

Bettina M. Balz
Bettina is a descendant of Anton Theodor Balz [05 March 1864-01 July 1934]. She had a genealogy/family tree styled site which compiled 1950s era family history with her own research.
I have included a link to an internet archive version of the site for those curious and/or tech savvy enough to navigate that resource.
http://www.balz.name
I found Bettina’s website a few hours before Gene’s - it was hands down my most successful research day in terms of positive hits. Her site was created on 17 November 2003, last updated on 28 March 2005, and is sadly no longer active.

Franz Josef Bals & Andreas Bals
Franz Jozef and Andreas are descendants of Franz Ferdinand Joseph Balz [26 June 1855-03 May 1930], They, along with their wives Heidi and Julia, are the current stewards of the Bals-Lusebrink. We spent a full day [12 hours] with them during our trip in May 2025 and they were extremely gracious and welcoming. During our time together, they shared historical stories and I was able to get some pictures and video.

Franz Volker Balz
Volker is a descendant of Anton Theodor Balz [05 March 1864-01 July 1934]. His genealogy research from 30 years ago not only filled a lot of voids in my research [names, dates, locations], but he had the Testaments of Theodore Balz, and Franz Ferdinand Joseph, which designate the dispersion of land and assets.
We connected via my Chapel on the Lusebrink YouTube video in October 2025 and he graciously emailed me pictures of his documents.

Publications
1150 Jahre Schmerlecke 883-1983
A German-language book published in 1983 by the Schmerlecke Local Historical Society to celebrate the 1150th anniversary of the Village. This book is out of print and I don’t currently possess a physical copy.

Benninghauser Beiträge zur Heimatkunde [Benninghausen Contributions to Local History]
A German-language publication from 1989 which explores the history of the Benninghausen district of Lippstadt, Germany.
I don’t know if this exists/existed as a physical book, but I acquired a scanned PDF from Gene Bals. I have converted it into a searchable PDF version, but it still needs some clean up as there are duplicate pages.
[Current size is 194 pages - 49.1MB].

Online Resources
Erwitte/Schmerlecke Sites
https://www.erwitte.de
https://www.erwitte.de/schmerlecke

The Chapel On The Lusebrink Informational Sites
https://kapelle-schmerlecke.jimdofree.com
https://pr-geseke-erwitte.de

Archival Sites
https://www.archive.nrw.de
https://newspaperarchive.com
https://pocahontas.historyarchives.online

Genealogy Research Sites
https://www.ancestry.com
https://www.myheritage.com
https://www.familysearch.org
https://www.wikitree.com
https://www.findagrave.com