Henry Paulus Buys the Business

After owning and operating Ainsworth's general store for almost eight years, Charles and Amelia Goldman sold their business (but not their building) in February 1923 to a newcomer named Henry Paulus.


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Hobart Gazette 16 Feb. 1923.

If I've found the right place on modern-day maps, Cook, Indiana, was just west of Cedar Lake (and is now part of the Town of Cedar Lake). I'm going to have to take the newspapers' word for it, because I can't locate Henry Paulus in Hanover or Center Townships. For that matter, I've spent a ridiculous amount of time already trying to trace him anywhere. You wouldn't think "Henry Paulus" was such a common name.

Here's one place where I know I've got the right Henry J. Paulus:


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Ancestry.com. U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Record of Appointment of Postmasters, 1832-1971. NARA Microfilm Publication, M841, 145 rolls. Records of the Post Office Department, Record Group Number 28. Washington, D.C.: National Archives.

(This answers the question of why I could never find a first name for the "Mr. Pintz" listed in Along the Route — because he was Max Mintz.)

Anyway, from what I've been able to piece together so far: Henry Joseph Paulus was born December 19, 1882[1] — thus missing the 1880 census. He might be the "Henry Paulis" who shows up in the 1900 Census as coachman to the family of H.A. and Minna Kirchhoff, who were somewhat socially prominent (to judge by their daughter's wedding announcement). In 1903, Henry married Theresa Osburg.[2] By the 1910 Census they had a six-year-old son, Ambrose. (Henry seems to be unemployed, but I have a hard time believing that.) The 1920 Census shows them still in Chicago, now with another son (Urban) and a daughter (Irene); Henry is a salesman.

And the next we hear of him, it's 1923 and he's in Ainsworth. Ainsworth! — what could possibly bring him down here? A desire for fresh country air? And when did he have time to go run a store in Cook, Indiana?

We already know he stayed only a few years here. I've found Henry and Theresa, I believe, in a 1928 Hammond city directory, and then the 1930 Census shows them back in Chicago, where Henry ran a hardware store. They stay there until 1935 (or later), but moved to California for the 1940 Census. And, as that 1944 Vidette-Messenger article says, Henry ran his hardware store in Los Angeles. I believe he died in California on May 31, 1961.[3]

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According to the Hobart News, the Goldmans found their "desirable house" to be Frank Clifford's house in Hobart Park ("Local and Personal," 22 Feb. 1923).

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[1] WWII Army Enlistment Records.
[2] Cook County, Illinois Marriages Index.
[3] Ancestry.com. California, Death Index, 1940-1997 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000. Original data: State of California. California Death Index, 1940-1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.