Peter Lucas, Sr and His Entrepreneurship Work

00:02 Today is July 5th, 2023, and my name is Sarah Lucas and I am interviewing Dr. Rosemary Lucas today at LaGrange Hospital in LaGrange, Illinois, and she is my husband's aunt and I am recording this interview today. And it's a memory that she has about her grandfather and it's the title of our story. Story today is Peter Lucas Senior and his entrepreneurship business. So tell me, Rosemary, what comes to mind when you think of this?

00:37 Oh, I think of how clever he was, okay. To not take advantage, but use the resources that were available.

00:50 How so?

00:51 Now, first of all, you have to remember, or maybe we never mentioned it before, that sometimes grandfather was a farmer. Okay?

01:00 Okay.

01:00 Sometime in the 20s, I do not know, when he lost part of his arm in a farm accident.

01:06 Oh, boy.

01:08 The story is told in the family that after that he said, well, if you don't have two hands, then you have to start to use your brain. So anyway, and grandfather was not a poor man. But anyway, he did own all these lovely pieces of ground out there. And there was one particularly good one. It was right across from where we lived. And the soil was very desirable for planting greenery and flowers and all that. And several. Some gardeners would come out and take a few pieces, a couple bushels, in fact, some of them would come out in the early morning in the dark and steal a couple bushels of dirt. Oh, really? Or whatever. But anyway, and at one point, I think he said he had some of the kids out there and they'd get there early and they'd sell it. And I don't know if it was a nickel, a bushel and a diamond bag or something. I don't know, I can't remember that exactly, but it was kind of funny. And the soil was beautiful. So anyway, he decided to start to sell it off. He had made friends with a couple of nursery people and he started to sell it off and he had to have a. You know, they had to get some equipment and all of this because they'd have to scrape it and bring it in and load up on a conveyor belt and put it on the trucks. In the morning at 7 o'clock, it would not be unusual to have eight or ten trucks parked out near the field waiting to come in and get their dirt.

02:47 That's a lot.

02:47 Now, two of their significant customers. One was Brookfield Zoo, which was being developed at that time, and the other was Butterfield Country Club, which is over in the Oak Brook area and flourishing today. Amazing, sad thing about the Brookfield Zoo. One Is that when that was being developed? Sometimes in the summer my cousin and I would come with our little lunch bags and we would go. If one of our trucks was going to make a delivery to the zoo, we would ride along and we could stay at the zoo while they made their delivery and went and picked up another one. And so we had. And this was when the zoo was being developed. In fact, at one time dad had to go up there on business and so I got to go along with him. And there we were standing in the area for the bears.

03:47 Oh my gosh.

03:48 You know, I'm a little kid, I'm about five years old. But not to worry. Dad was there and they were talking about this and that and the other thing.

03:55 Were the bears there?

03:56 They were, but they weren't right in that area. You know, we were safe, but still you knew they were there. But that Brookfield Zoo stands today.

04:05 Yes, it does.

04:06 As does Butterfield Country Club. That's sort of an upscale place. In fact, one of my nephews belongs to that club. And when we were there for somebody's wedding reception, we reminded all of them that they were standing on Lucas brothers special back garden.

04:28 Can you describe Peter Lucas Sr. To me? What does he look like? What's his manner like?

04:34 He looks kind of stern. Okay. He was fairly tall and he was dark haired and he looked rather stern. But he wasn't stern. It just that he looked that way and he would frequently. He was a business. He was a businessman, there was no doubt about it. He used his head and did a lot of things making that dirt field. That thing was worth a fortune, you know. But anyway, he was.

05:02 What were some things that he would say? Do you remember? Was there any kind of life philosophies he would convey?

05:08 I can't remember anything like that. No.

05:10 Okay.

05:10 I do remember. You know, as I say, he had the one arm. I never knew him with both arms. And I'd go up to the farm in the evening with dad and grandpa would always make a fuss over me. And one evening, you know what a barn is? A cow barn is.

05:29 Sure.

05:30 Okay. So he was going to take me in there and he was going to carry me. Now he only had one arm, but he was carrying me on his arm. And he's walking down the center where the cows are all. And so it was big bond. And so anyway, you've got cows on either side, you know, and they're hooked in and all that. But grandpa decided that we should walk down the middle and it was along the middle and he was carrying me. And I'll tell you, Sarah, I was very glad we got to the other end because I was afraid seeing all those cows. You were. And Grandpa only had one hand, remember?

06:09 Yeah. Was he strong? Was he strong?

06:11 Oh, yeah, he was. He was tall.

06:14 Did he. Did he laugh a lot? Did he laugh a lot? You said he was stern looking, but not active.

06:21 He was quite a businessman.

06:23 Yeah.

06:23 And he had his finger in a lot of pies out there. You know, if you wanted to go back and start looking, you'd see a number of things that he had a hand in getting established, you know. But anyhow, we did get through the cow barn without any problem. Yeah. If I live to be 100, which are my two most. I'll never forget it because I didn't want to say Grandpa. I'm afraid that. Wouldn't tell him that. But on the other hand, I kept thinking to myself, why don't we get to the other end of this anyway, that's just a little side story. But the big thing was that he had the smarts to turn that field into a lucrative business for the family, you know.

07:10 Are there any other details you remember or remember being told about his business?

07:16 Well, yeah, I remember a lot about him. One thing, as I say, he was a businessman.

07:23 Yeah.

07:23 And he had. And he was also an elected official in the township. He was the township supervisor. And for some reason or other he would need to go downtown and I mean downtown Chicago.

07:37 Sure.

07:38 Which is a big deal for people like that on business. And don't forget, he had seven daughters. Okay. Once in a while, in the morning, we'd see him coming through the cornfield and he had on his suit and that meant he was going downtown to do business and mother was his driver. Now he had seven daughters and some of them didn't drive anyway. And they surely were not going to drive to downtown Chicago. But anyway, he'd come through the field and he'd approach her and say, could you take him down? It was usually to the Continental bank. Well, yes, she could do that. So she got all cleaned up and off to go. And I would get to go. I would get to ride along. And he was down there, he was doing business. I don't know what it was, but it was all very serious stuff that he did. But I always thought it was funny that he asked her to take them at his old girls.

08:39 But anyway, so he would be all dressed up in a suit walking through the cornfields.

08:45 He'd have his suit on. It was probably the same suit he always wore, I don't know. And he'd have the hat and.

08:53 What did he call you? Did he have a nickname for you?

08:56 No, I don't know. He didn't. And they usually call me Rose.

08:59 Did he?

09:00 Well, his wife's name was Rose.

09:02 So he called you Rose?

09:03 Yeah. But the other thing I was thinking about him with his entrepreneurship was that. I can't remember, I had another one for him. It slips my mind right now, but the other day I said, when you look back on it, he's got his name. His name isn't there, but his imprint is the church that we worshiped in. It was a little church in the country, wooden frame church. And it burned to the ground. And anyway, the church fathers, people were meeting and they were mulling over, going on and on and on about were to build a new church. And after a little conversation, grandfather stood up and he said, I will donate the land for the church. Which he did do.

09:53 Were you there when he said it? Were you there when he said it?

09:56 No, I wasn't. You know. Yeah, yeah, but he did that and he gave a generous piece of property to the church. And it was formed, you know, there. And it was mostly German people who were. And on that. And because they needed a little more support, they decided to team up with the Irish over there. The church became a German Irish village. Anyway, that was one of his side things that he did. But, you know, as I say, he was. And then like if you go back in history, schools out in the country were few and far between, you know, but we had one in our district and grandfather's name is on the cornerstone for the first school that was put up.

10:45 What's the name of the school?

10:47 It just had the. It was. Gave a number. They all had numbers.

10:53 Is the number. Do you think his name is still on the school?

10:55 Yes, it is. It was the last time I was out there. I don't know. But it was a very lovely school that was built and his name was there with them.

11:04 What area is it in?

11:06 It's in Palace Park. Okay. What was interesting is his own children, the kids out there went to school through eighth grade and then if they wanted to go to high school, there wasn't one. It was what was called the nine high school district. And grandfather supported if they wanted to go to school. But one of his daughters, it just wasn't real bright. And I think when she was in first grade or something, she wasn't doing well and she was home and she'd Come home and cry and everything. And Grandpa went over. He was on the board of directors, and he said, she doesn't have to go to school anymore. And she said, my wife will teach her everything she needs to know. That was the other Vander going to school.

11:53 He sounded like a very defensive.

11:56 Oh, yeah.

11:57 A definitive van and a giving one. Very generous.

12:01 But he was. Oh, yeah, he was very generous. You know, as I say, with the school and the church.

12:06 Can you tell me what was his relationship like with your grandmother? What are some memories you have?

12:13 They went to church every Sunday.

12:15 Okay.

12:15 Together.

12:16 Yeah.

12:17 And they'd sit together in the front view over here. They were the Germans. They were the Germans. And across the aisle would be our two Irish grandparents. Johanna McMahon would be on the other side. And it was always interesting because Peter's wife was named what she was Rose.

12:40 She was Rose. That's right.

12:41 You told me.

12:41 So what was she like? Tell me what she was like.

12:45 She was a simple farm woman. And I don't mean she was simple in the sense that she didn't, you know, but she was a very. She took good care of her children and their children. And I think in the other thing we talked about her baking. If you went up there in the morning, she was always knee deep in her elbow deep in dough, you know, making bread and things. And every time you went up there, she made sure that there was a treat for you. Did she? Yeah. Oh, yeah. She'd see you coming, you got something, and it was a pretty nice treat. You know, sometimes it was easy.

13:25 How did you feel when you were with them?

13:28 Oh, it was a happy that time. It always was. There was never. I never heard any dissension. I'm sure that. I'm sure Grandfather had dissent with some of his business associates because he was a. I won't say he was domineering, but he was a man of purpose. He made up his mind to do it, and he did it.

13:49 Sure sounds like it.

13:50 Yeah.

13:51 These are great memories.

13:52 Yeah. But as I say, I think when you're talking about people being entrepreneurs, you know, starting their own little business and stuff, another part of that story is that you don't know the area, but 111th street was a road, main road, and actually it went from the west side of Chicago, extended all the way out to Lagrange Road. Back in those days, I think it was called the Anaheim and a whole section of it was loads of land. It was just open farmland. And they'd be driving along, and Grandfather got the idea that it was a long haul from Michigan out there, and people needed to stop to get gas in their car. And they also probably could use a little snack. So he put his daughters to work and they opened a little. They had an ice cream stand. Cute. And there was a gas station, a gas pump, and you could stop there and probably a dollar fill your car with gas. And then his. And that was at 111. And that was there for a long time. But his daughter, who had married and her piece of land was at the corner of 100 levels in Southwest Highway. So his daughter and her husband started a similar arrangement at that corner. Now, these were wide open spaces. It was kind of. Anyway, they started something there and they expanded it more and they had the gas station, but then they had meals and they lived in the building. And it was a log cabin. They built it as a log cabin.

15:39 Wow.

15:42 At one point. And they lived in there and they built. Well, eventually they moved out of the log cabin and I don't know who took it over, whatever. And they made it into a big restaurant and the whole thing. And it was. I think it only was closed down sometime in the maybe 70s or so. People would come from all over. They called it Far Away Joe's.

16:09 Faraway Joe's. That was the name of it. I bet I could find a picture of it. Rosemary, thank you for telling me these stories.

16:18 But they. But they did that. And I see they did have a. They served meals and they had parties there. But I can remember being with a group of my students at the school one time, and they were older, they were having a reunion and they were all talking about going to faraway shows.

16:41 Thank you for telling me the story. Thank you.

16:43 Yeah. But.