The Joliet, Illinois Blums, transplanted from Cincinnati, Ohio, also pronounced it Blum. Our relatives came from northcentral Germany. I have the name of the city (not handy now) but haven't gotten into the overseas genealogy yet. I'm looking for other children of Peter Blum (b. ca. 1837). He served in the Civil War from 1862-64 in the 9th Regiment of Ohio Valley Infantry, then died in 1881 in Cincinnati from a roofing accident (see my other note here). I have some of Peter's children's names but don't know how accurate they are: John Andrew (my grandfather), Robert, Kate, Annie, and Robina.