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BIOGRAPHY OF ANDREW BLILA
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Third Draft - March 29, 2011
This is a biography of the life of Andrew Blila written by his great grand daughter, Joan Boettcher, in June of 2010. It is the first such work to be published and a welcome addition to my family history site. Joan and her husband, Bruce, have made numerous contributions to the story of Andrew Blila and those close to him. Joan introduced herself to me on April 15, 2010. Additional information on Andrew has been provided by another Blila descendent, Carl Wolf, of Warren, PA. Thank you both for your generosity.
You may also be interested in reviewing a chronology of his life for a different perspective on his life events and at what what age.
Chuck Bliley
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A Brief Biography
By Joan Boettcher, Eden Prairie, MN
June 7, 2010
Andrew Blila 1831 - 1919 Andrew W. Bleile (Blila) was born in 1830 to Andreas and Catherine Eich Bleile. The family came from a little town of Krozingen, Germany, located on the east bank of the Rhine River in the Schwartzwald region, just across from Alsatia. This area is known as the “Black Forest” of southern Germany near the union of Germany, France and Switzerland. In the early 1800s, this area formed the German principality of Grand Duchy of Baden.
According to a letter written in 1896 by Andrew’s brother and the eldest son of Andreas Bleile, Charles, to his grand daughter, the Village of Krotzingen contained eight or nine hundred people and they were mostly farmers. It was said that they made a comfortable, yet humble living. Andreas felt that he could not improve, nor better his family's condition in Germany, and believed that to be born poor was to die poor. With this thought in mind, Andreas and Catherine Bleile decided to take their family of six to America. Andreas and his brother Sebastian schemed to emigrate to America with others from Krotzingen, but shortly before the scheduled time for departure, Andreas suffered a stroke and had to stay behind with his family. Sebastian led the group to America while Andreas recuperated. Several months later, Andreas and his family left Krotzingen for America in despite the lack of a full recovery. Andrew as barely four when he left home on a long journey to America.
The Andreas Bleile family came in the S.S. Charlemagne, sailing from Le Harve, a major commercial port city in France, on September 8, 1834. (Source: Passenger Ship List, National Archives, Washington, 1916 ). At that time the family included Andreas (47), Catherine (Eich) Bleile (40), Leonora (13), Charles (12), Barbara (10), Maria (8) and Andrew (4). There were also several other family members that came with them. They eventually made it to Harbor Creek Township, eight miles from the then town of Erie where Andreas bought forty acres of land. There were about eight acres of newly cleared land on the place with a new and comfortable log cabin which, according to Charles, consisted of all the improvements. Andreas died within a year after arriving leaving Catherine to tend to the needs of a young family in a strange and challenging place.
Andrew’s given family name of Bleile has many variations found in the family records from the State of Baden-Württemberg,, Germany. Blila is one of them. The variations could have been due to the influences of language in local villages, regions and languages and perhaps other things. Upon arriving in America, the entire family spelled their name Bliley, the English version of the name. It is only Andrew who spelled it Blila perhaps because that is the English spelling that sounds most like it was pronounced in German.
The Bleile family in Germany was Roman Catholic and attended St. Albans Church, which was very close to their home. Charles, Andrew’s brother, was an alter boy there for three years before coming to America. In 1839, the German community in Erie built St. Mary’s Church, which is where they attended mass and made their sacraments. Charles and Andrew were both married there as I assume, were many other family members. It was the first Catholic Church in Erie.
When Andrew was 13 years old, he joined the crew from Erie on the schooner Citizen , owned by General Reed, and sailed on the Great Lakes for many years. He journeyed down to New York City and shipped aboard a vessel trading between that city and China ports. He made only one voyage as an ocean sailor, but that consumed the better part of three years and according to Andrew, it may have entitled him to the name of sailor. At the end of his ocean voyage, Andrew came back to the lakes and became an expert pilot, taking part in the Chicago grain trade. He was so expert, in fact, that to use his own expression, he “could have run from Buffalo to Chicago in the dark.” He laughingly admitted however, that he owed his title of “captain” to the enthusiastic address of an old shipmate, who hailed him with the title in public. Many of his friends continued to call Andrew “Captain” all of his life. It was reported that when he was a young man Andrew fell from the upper rigging of his ship to the deck below and broke his leg, arm and several ribs thus ending his sailing days. Andrew was a ship’s carpenter in the deep water clipper ships of our U.S. Merchant Marine and later, after recuperating, took carpentry jobs ashore and became a builder and contractor in Erie. Many of the older houses standing there today were built by him.
In 1856, when Andrew was 26, he married Gertrude Spacht at St. Mary’s Church in Erie, Pennsylvania. In 1870, Andrew bought a grocery store and carpenter shop at 10th and State Street in which he worked for almost 16 years. In 1874, Gertrude Blila bought the house on 9th street upon which Andrew built the home in which they lived all of their lives. The hand carved railing and newel post adorning their staircase along with the beautifully carved columns in front added to the elegance of their home. (Photo gallery of the house)
They had no biological children, but adopted their niece, Frances, infant daughter of Mary Rastatter, Andrew’s sister, and her husband, John M. Rastatter. Mary died in 1864 when Frances was four weeks old and Andrew and Gertrude took care of her at that time. The actual adoption took place in June of 1866 when Frances was two years old. Frances married a man by the name of Edward Wood. They had a son, Edward, who was born on May 10, 1884 and baptized at St. Mary’s Church on June 10, 1884. According to the obituary of John M. Rastatter, Frances died in Chicago when Edward still a minor. It is my understanding that Edward lived with Andrew and Gertrude while he was growing up. In 1903, when Edward was 19 years old, Andrew petitioned the court to legally adopt Edward who at that time became a Blila.
Andrew’s son, Edward Blila, married Helen Rapp on June 5, 1907. He and Helen moved into the family home and later had two children: Carl Andrew and Jeanne Marie. Edward was in charge of the vault at The Second National Bank in Erie, and was considered a devoted husband and father. The family lived with Andrew all of his life. Carl and Jeanne Blila called Andrew “Gramps”.
Andrew lived to be 88 years old and was one of the most notable figures among the older population of Erie. It was reported in a local newspaper article that Andrew was a familiar figure on the streets of Erie and was known for his genial humor and his many anecdotes of the city’s earlier history, with which he was thoroughly familiar. He had a marvelously retentive memory which enabled him to recall dates and events at will and was an authority on anything pertaining to the local happenings, particularly those of the remote past. This trait made Andrew Blila a most interesting companion and it was a trait that he retained up until the day of his death.
He died suddenly of heart failure in his home on February 4, 1919. Funeral services were held from the residence and from St. Peter’s Cathedral on February 5, 1919. Interment was made in Trinity Cemetery in Erie. Edward, Helen, Carl and Jeanne continued to live in the family home on 9th Street.
Edward died suddenly in 1932. Carl, Edward’s son, attended Cathedral Prep and graduated from the University Of Pittsburgh. He married Elba Armstrong Blila, a graduate of Mercyhurst College and lived in Erie all of his life. Carl and Elba had two children: Terry A. Blila, currently from Brazil, Indiana and Joan Blila Boettcher, currently from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Andrew was an artist as a wood carver. As a younger man of his sea-going years, he whittled out figure-heads on the bowsprits of majestic clipper ships, on the wheel and binnacle. Throughout the years he carved the most elaborate and beautiful pieces of furniture out of black walnut. They include a double bed with a hand carved frame, head board, side boards and a footboard, a dresser with attached carved mirror frame and an end table (dated 1915); a grandfather coo coo clock (the clockworks themselves were from Germany); a dining room table, chair and china cabinet; a music cabinet; sewing table; an elaborately carved sideboard (dated 1889) and hall rack. The faces of figures on the furniture are said to be those of family members, including his mother, Catherine.
When Andrew was in his 80’s, he presented the curator of the public museum in Erie with six hand-carved books that he had made twenty years earlier when he was 60 years old. He offered them to the museum on loan. According to a newspaper article that was written about the collection, every one of the six volumes is carved out of the wood of some historic ship or building. Andrew made such a good resemblance to a small pocket volume that the museum visitor would have to look twice to see that the volumes are only mementos. Each volume is two and one-half by four inches with a thickness of a little less than an inch. The name is burned on the side with the date 1890 and the title is also stamped on the back.
The "books" are as follows:
- Volume 1. Independence Hall, Philadelphia. This is a piece of cedar.
- Volume 2. McConkey House, Erie. This is said to have been one of the oldest residences in the city. The wood is oak.
- Volume 3. United States Frigate Lawrence, Erie. This vessel is one of Commodore Perry’s fleet. The wood is oak.
- Volume 4. First Court House, Erie. The wood is oak.
- Volume 5. Original Block House, Erie. The wood is chestnut and is said to have been an authentic memento handed down in the Blila family.
- Volume 6. Confederate Steamer Merriam. The wood is oak. Being a loyal son of Uncle Sam in the days of the Civil War, Andrew obtained a piece of the old rebel war vessel that started the federal navy until the celebrated Monitor appeared
To view examples of Andrew's cabinetry and carving skills, look at an online gallery.
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This biography is in part based on:
- A letter composed by Charles Bleile (Bliley) to his granddaughter in 1896 when he was in his 73
- A passenger list from the S.S. Charlemagne
- Miscellaneous documents in Joan's possession
- Information provided by Charles Bliley and from his Bliley Family Web site (www.Bliley.net)
- Information gathered by historian Carl Wolf, a Blila descendent living in Warren, PA
- Blila family notes and newspaper articles that were based on interviews with Andrew Blila.
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