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C] <br />Samuel Perley <br />828 E. Jefferson <br />HISTORICAL CONTEXT <br />This property is located on the southwest corner of East Jefferson and South <br />Notre Dame Avenue of South Bend, Indiana. The Property was platted in 1854 as <br />lots 330 and 331 of Cottrells first addition. <br />Lot 331s earliest known owner was John Beck, a cabinet maker for Union Cabinet, <br />Company. Mr. Beck resided in a house on lot 331 from 1877 to 1880 when he <br />sold the property to Mary Witz for $900.00. It is believed that in 1882 the <br />existing house was torn down (although it is possible that it was incorporated <br />into the new construction) and the current house was built. This being the <br />case it appears as though Mary Witz was the person responsible for building <br />the house presently at 828 E. Jefferson, being that she was the owner at the <br />time of its construction. Mary Witz used this house specifically as a rental, <br />a trend that the majority of the property's future owners would follow. Mary <br />eventually sold the lot to Alexis Coquillard on July 2, 1887 for $1,200.00. <br />Coquillard immediately sold lots 331 and 330 to his wife Maude M. Coquillard <br />on February 23; 1888. Maude Coquillard sold the house to her brother, Samuel <br />P. Perley, on_October 8, 1892 for $3,000.00. Mr. Perley resided in the house <br />until 1903. <br />Samuel Parley was born in Portland, MA on October 8, 1861, and came to South <br />Bend from Detriot in 1877. He. graduated from the University of Notre Dame in <br />1881, which was the same year his sister, Maude, married Alexis Coquillard. <br />So, upon graduation he took a job as bookkeeper for the Coquillard Wagon <br />. Works. - He was soon promoted to cashier and private secretary, and after <br />Coquillard's death in 1890 he was appointed trustee of Coquillard's estate <br />which was worth over a million dollars, and was promoted to manager of the <br />wagon factory. <br />Mr. Perley married Lilliam Cassady, the daughter of one of the founders of the <br />South Bend Chilled Plow Works, on November 23, 1894. Together they had four <br />children. Mrs. Perley was active in many prominent social circles, churches <br />and charitable organizations. She died on March 8, 1929. <br />Samuel Perley became a well known businessman of his own right in 1894 when he <br />founded the Perley Lumber Co., which became one of -the largest hardwood lumber <br />businesses in the state. He was also the secretary of the South Bend Chilled <br />Plow Works, and was one of the founders and first trustee of -the American <br />Trust and Citizen's National Banks. <br />Samuel Perley dedicated a considerable amount of time and energy to community <br />affairs. He held several civic offices, he was appointed to the cities first <br />Park Board, he was a member'of the first city council, served as the city's <br />first commissioner and was an active member of the Grange. Samuel was also <br />instrumental in platting several additions to the city. Samuel Perley died on <br />February 15, 1934. <br />Samuel Perley sold 828 E. Jefferson to Richard and Fannie Dugdale in 1903 for <br />$3,200.00. The Dugdales used the house strictly as a rental from 1903 to <br />September 15, 1952 when Fannie sold the lots to Warren Burdge. Mr. Burdge <br />then turned around and sold the property on the same day to Daniel 0. and <br />Carmel E. Elliott. The house stayed within the Elliott family as a rental <br />until 1993. In the fall of 1993 Daniel and Suzanne Elliott sold the house to <br />Weiss -Sessions which in turn sold it to Weiss Kendall LLP on October 18, 1996. <br />• Presently the property is in the process of being purchased by Richard <br />Johnson. <br />