The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-17
c. P. Bohlae. One Qf the
 PioneerC 0f Montgomery

est pioneers they typihed a town--one
 which was the center of commercialism and which was the market for provisions
 for the surrounding country miles about.
 And MT. buIlae speaks of this fire de-
 stroying six stores with a total loss of
 about $o,000 as a serious calamity in those
 days!
 A conversation with this man. who Is 80
 years old, reveals things which are not
 creditable to the man or the present pe-
 riod. When Charles Philip RohIae came
 to Montgomery he had less than $l0. He
 had come all the. way from New York City seeking place to live and to work at his chosen trade, boot making. Not
 only was he in adverse financial circum- stances but sickness was in his family. His wife was ill and could hardly care
 for her only 2-year-old son.
 His 70 years have not soured his dispo- sition nor made him fretful and discour- teous.
 Seated on the porch of his home, Ala
 South McDonough Street, silently reading newspaper published in German was the attitude in which 1 found MT. Bohlae. | He is genteel in appearance and polite l In his treatment of visitors. When he 1 learned the mission of the newspaper
 man his eyes beamed and with apparent satisfaction he told the story of his life. The twenty-four years he lived in his l native Germany were the years of a | school boy. He did not like the restric- | tions and laws of the French government in Germany and he made his escape from the country and, like many others. he came to free America.
 In 1S39 MT. Bohlae landed in New York city and was there married. In 1S40 a son, who Is today thriving business man in Texas, was born. Two years later
 MT. Bohlae with his wife and young son sailed on vessel from New York and after about twenty days landed in Mobile From Mobile, MT. Bohlae said he came
 up the Alabama River to Montgomery.
 T had not $10." sad MT. Boh.ae with slight German accent, and my wife was $l0 pair and shoes for $6 a pair and finally made money to start in business. " He told of his struggles to keep the wolf from the door and of his building, | about lS45. one of the first business houses on Court Street. It was two-story | frame house. he said. and one of the | largest and most conspicuous in Mont | gomery. And as the old man talked of his
 first establishment even its streN num- | Der came to him.
 | Tt was No. H." said he, and 1t stood | where No. l4 now stands on Court Street. Mir BChlae said he employed several men, principally negroes, in the shoe i making department of his establishment
 and for years he sold most of the shoes | worn in this section of Alabama. | According tn this pioneer Moutg )meriar
 boots were universally worn in those l days, they being made by hand. | In an adjoining department of his build | ing Mir. Dohlae conducted a grocery bust
 ness, the two branches making him ont | of the most prosperous and substantial l business men of the little town.
 And he conducted this enter prise sue | cessfully inasmuch as he derived tn, | profits of the average merchant Of tn, | day until 1855 when on a Sunday nigh 1 just after the veteran Bohlae had bough | the McDonough Street lot and built | handsome residence thereon adioininl
 that of MT. Bohlae and the whole blocl ! was consumed
 The loss was disastrous to both Bohla, | and others who suffered the ruin of thei 1 property, but with the money saved from | his daily business ba 'ked by Vigor anC determination the shoemaker anC l groceryman ercted a structure of brick
 two stories high which was regarded b! | the people of this section as one of thu cent Iry buildings" This latter build | ing stands now on Court Street and f.
 until now owred by Mir. Bohlae wh, | has long since retired from business.
 In speaking of the time and his reason for buying a site for a home on Nc Donough Street. where property wa
 then. as it is now very valuable. Mr | Bohlae said that he did not care to iv
 In the East or lower portion of the city.
 . T paid $1,OO0 for this lot in 1855. h.
 said as he looked over his beautiful property with an expression Of adnlira