John Kaul

John Lanzel Kaul (1866–1931) was an American businessman. He was involved in the timber industry and was a prominent figure in Birmingham, Alabama.

Kaul was born in St. Marys, Pennsylvania on October 9, 1866 to Andrew Kaul and Walburga (Lanzel) Kaul. He was a student at Rock Hill College in Baltimore, Maryland, and also took a business course at Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York.

In an article entitled "Parasite Kills Self", the Southern Worker newspaper said the following about Kaul's death: John Lanzel Kaul, capitalist, of Birmingham, Ala., killed himself after a spree at Atlantic City by jumping from a window. Kaul was one of the most vicious labor haters in the South, was always among the worst enemies of any attempt on the part of workers employed in his lumber industry to organize. Kaul was formerly the president of the Birmingham Chapter of the Red Cross, and engaged in other “patriotic” activities that were safe for him. The Birmingham plutes who head lynch mobs will miss their drunken friend.

Whereas radical newspapers slandered him, the Alabama State Commission of Forestry praised him for his "ability, energy and devotion to duty contributed greatly to the advancement of forestry...his public service, and splendid personal qualities were held in highest regard and esteem by the membership of this commission."