Heart and Soul

By Johnny B

My name is John Peter Blaul. I was born on August 26, 1949, around 10:00 AM. My buddies call me John or Johnny, my kids and grandkids call me Dad or Boompa. My eldest (Peter) when he was going on two years of age couldn’t say grandpa—it came out Boompa. The story was passed on and the name stuck.
My story doesn’t start on August 26, 1949, it dates back as far back as my elders could remember. All of them liked to tell their family history and wanted to pass them on to the next generation. Henry John Blaul, my grandfather, was particularly instrumental in keeping a family tree and history. When I was 24-years-old he sent me a family tree of the Blaul and Farley families. He was 81-years-old at the time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company
• Release date: May 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798889258254

Book preview

Heart and Soul

My name is John Peter Blaul. I was born on August 26, 1949, around 10:00 AM. My buddies call me John or Johnny, my kids and grandkids call me Dad or Boompa. My eldest (Peter) when he was going on two years of age couldn’t say grandpa—it came out Boompa. The story was passed on and the name stuck.

My story doesn’t start on August 26, 1949, it dates back as far back as my elders could remember. All of them liked to tell their family history and wanted to pass them on to the next generation. Henry John Blaul, my grandfather, was particularly instrumental in keeping a family tree and history. When I was 24-years-old he sent me a family tree of the Blaul and Farley families. He was 81-years-old at the time.

In 1856, John Blaul came from Hesse-Darmstadt, Bavaria - Germany. He had four sons and made his home in Burlington, Iowa. He started a wholesale distribution system. There was Blaul & Sons Coffee, Tobacco, etc. It can be found on the internet if you’re so inclined to look it up. Two brothers settled in the Chicago area one of them started the Blaul Brickyard on Belmont Avenue between Narragansett and Central. Today it is a shopping mall called the Brickyard Mall.

The most important of these brothers settled in Whiting, Indiana and worked for standard oil company (now Amoco) this was my great grandfather, John Blaul. He had four sons and six daughters. I will refer to these people later. One of those four sons was my grandfather, Henry J. Blaul. He was born November 6, 1892, and he was my favorite person in the whole world—kind, gentle, humble, never got upset, filled with wisdom and knowledge. I always hoped I could grow up to be like him. When Grandpa was a boy there was a great recession almost a depression and standard oil started laying off people. At the time company policy was to lay off all single men and retain married men with families. As such my great grandfather retained his job but given halftime hours. In those days it was 12 hours a day, six days a week. He went down to three days a week. The family started a big garden, raised chickens, and went fishing in Lake Michigan to put food on the table to make ends meet. My great, great grandmother’s name was Farley. Her mother, my great, great grandmother, was Mary Farley came from Dublin, Ireland sometime in the 1850’s. Her great grandson settled in Michigan, his name being James Farley, who eventually became the head of the Democratic Party and ran Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s campaign. Then was given the job of postmaster general of the United States. When he retired both parties used him as an emissary to foreign countries for funerals of heads of state. This is where my Irish roots come from (See attached family tree).

Eventually my grandfather’s family moved to the north side of Chicago, 1936 Wolfram Street, near Belmont and Damen and one block from the start and warner Gauge Factory (Speedometers, tachometers, etc.).

When grandpa was 13, he graduated from eighth grade and went to work in a number of part time jobs. When he was 15, he was hired at the Chicago telephone company (later Illinois bell-AT&T) the year being 1908. It was 10-hour days and ½ day on Saturday. He was employed there for 50 years and retired in 1958. He started as a clerk and ended up in their commercial marketing division. His last contribution was to write the manual for new business ways to be conducted, some of which is still in use today.

Grandpa told me that when he was 15 and before he started working full time, he and five of his buddies decided to take a trip to Wisconsin. Keep in mind there were virtually no cars, and the roads were either dirt or at best gravel. The mode of transportation was the train. The northwestern railroad went to Lake Delavan, and they bought roundtrip tickets. At the time there were no antidrinking, antismoking laws, let alone adult supervision laws. Thirteen- to fifteen-year-old boys who worked fulltime were considered adults and certainly matured earlier than young people do today. You were forced to grow up fast.

In 1908 there were no grocery stores, or big Wal-Marts, all businesses were single items fruits, vegetables, green grocers, bakeries, taverns, tobacco, meat, butcher shop. When they arrived at Lake Delavan, they set up camp on the shoreline with tents and blankets, and walked into town to get cigars, beer, and steaks. The beer didn’t come in bottles or cans. All beer was from a wooden barrel at the saloon and a 16 ounce schooner was 5 cents. If you wanted to take it with you it was put in a covered metal pail with a lid and a handle. He told me they lived like kings for a week.

Every morning they would walk about two blocks into town and get sweet rolls for breakfast. They would swim and fish most of the day and in the evening go back to town for steaks and cook them at their campfire by the lake. My grandfather and his buddies learned a valuable lesson, in that after the first week they ran out of money and went hungry the second week—they were glad they bought roundtrip tickets so they could at least get back home.

Grandpa really loved to play baseball. In the early 1900’s there were semi-pro and pro baseball teams. Minor leagues didn’t exist. He played semi-pro pitcher or catcher. He was asked by two major league teams to play for them, including the Chicago White Sox.

My grandmother, Hilda, loved baseball and met my grandfather at one of his games. It was at one of these games that a line drive hit her directly in the left eye and it blinded that eye forever.

Henry and Hilda got married in 1916 and my dad was born in 1917. Arthur Franklin Blaul was born on November 3, in the same Blaul house, 1936 Wolfram Street. 1917 came and we entered WWI. Grandpa’s brother Frank went to France with the army and was cut in half by a German machine gun. He is buried in France. All of Wolfram Street was decorated with banners and flags as a memorial to Frank Blaul.

My grandfather was baptized and raised Lutheran, but he became Catholic when he married Grandma. If he hadn’t told me this, I and others would have thought he was a cradle Catholic.

Grandma Hilda had two more children who were born dead. The umbilical cord wrapped around their neck. The doctor told them no more children.

Vienna - March 28, 1895

Grandma was born in Vienna to a famous artist Wenzel Pfohl—her mother was from Bohemia, which was part of the Austro-Hungry empire. Her maiden name was Bieman, everyone just called her Gross-mama. Great grandfather Wenzel was decorated by Franz Josef the emperor and Kaiser Wilhem of Germany for his oil paintings, he was one of a few artists who could paint fingers and make them look real.

In 1905, he was commissioned by the United States government to come to Oklahoma and paint on the canvas the Native Americans living there for posterity’s sake.

He bought land in Idabel, Oklahoma in the southeastern part of the state but lost it during the great depression. He returned to Vienna in 1908 to bring his family back to America and become citizens. They had six children, Ulrich, Florence, Victor, Walter, Marie, and Hilda. Walter was sick (and died in childbirth in the late 1920’s), so rather than going through Ellis Island for fear of being sent back they went through Canada and made their way to Chicago. My great grandfather was hired by a large department store and did portraits and floral paintings on China, tea cups, plates, etc.

Art P. Fohl owned a resort on Sand Lake near Wild Rose, Wisconsin. The Olympic swimmer and movie star, Johnny Weismueller, used to go to his resort to practice at the lake. When I was a kid we went there to fish with my dad, Bob, Grandpa Henry, and Grandma Hilda. Uncle Art had already passed away. I might have been nine-years-old.

He received a salary of $300 a week which at that time was unheard of. But as I said he lost it all during the Great Depression. Grandma Hilda’s brother, Walter, is a sad story. When he was in his early 20’s and he told his family he was going to New York City for fame and fortune. The family never heard from him again. They hired private detectives and were in contact with the police, never a clue to his whereabouts. After WWII my dad was in the FBI and continued looking for him, he looked all the rest of this life, but it was futile. The presumption was that he was probably killed for his wallet and personal possessions and that he was probably buried in an unmarked grave for the indigent - a pauper’s grave in NYC. May he rest in peace.

Hilda and Henry bought a home for themselves in 1918 at 4917 W. School Street, Chicago, Illinois. This is where my dad was raised. He received all of his sacraments at Saint Bartholemew’s on Addison Street near Cicero Avenue.

Arthur Blaul married Dorothy (Louise) Blaul on June 14, 1941.

My mom’s parents Peter and Dora Lulevelt (Heinrichs) at 3600 N. Linder Chicago, Illinois. The house was on the corner of Linder and Addison Streets, about 4 miles west of Wrigley Field. It was two blocks from Central.

Peter Heinrichs was born on a farm in Sheboygan County just north of the city of Sheboygan just as you cross the Pigeon River on County Highway L.S. There is now a subdivision in its place.

Grandpa Peter died on March 4, 1959, I was just nine years old and I never really got to know him. I wish I had. Henry Blaul told me that Peter Heinrichs was the finest man he ever knew.

Grandma Dora left the farm when she was 18 and went to business college in Chicago. She met Peter there. They had two children, my mother, Dorothy on September 13th, 1920, and William in 1922 who died 2 minutes after he was born. Dr. Jonas (our family doctor) being Catholic, baptized him before he died.

All of Grandma Dora’s