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229 S. WILLIAM <br />HISTORICAL CONTEXT <br />This house was built in 1870 by John Caldwell as a rental unit. Mr. Caldwell was born in <br />Vermont in 1820 to Mr. & Mrs. Mathew Caldwell. He moved to South Bend at in 1836 <br />with his younger brother, Cassius. The two quickly became known for their hard work <br />and craftsmanship as carpenters. John was employed as a carpenter until business got <br />slow then he would work for the E.P. Taylor Sawmill. His brother Cassius began brick <br />making along the river and eventually co -constructed several homes with his brother. <br />John Caldwell eventually moved his interests into real estate and the constructing of <br />rental properties, such as the houses at 227 and 229 S. William. Mr. Caldwell eventually <br />became very well known through out South Bend and was appointed by Senator Colfax <br />to the mail service. During his work with the U.S. Postal Service Mr. Caldwell <br />developed the perfect system of distributing mail on cars and steamships as they passed <br />through towns rather then taking the mail to a large city like Indianapolis to be <br />redistributed. John Caldwell retained ownership of this property until his death in 1891 <br />at age 71, leaving the house and other properties to his wife, Vanvela Defrees Caldwell. <br />Mrs. Caldwell sold the house in 1895 to Eugene and Nettie Herr. <br />Eugene Herr, born in 1848, moved to South Bend in 1871 with wife, Nettie Roe Herr and <br />their children. Mr. Herr was a printer by trade and a prominent and active figure in <br />public affairs. Eugene was proprietor of the South Bend Register until it went under at <br />which time he went to work for the Hibbard Printing Company. Upon retiring from the <br />printing company Mr. Herr briefly worked for the South Bend Tribune then opened a <br />bookstore with his son, Harold, called "Herr & Herr". Mr. & Mrs. Herr rented 229 S. <br />William to various tenants over the next twelve years. They sold the property in 1907 to <br />Adelbert Hadelert who sold it the same year to Clarence E. Lee. Mr. Lee was the owner <br />of C.E. Lee Paint Store on Main Street. Mr. Lee was the first owner of the house to <br />actually reside there, however, the length of his stay is unknown. Clarence Lee sold the <br />house in 1925 to Mrs. Lydia Sawyer, widow of Dr. E.S. Sawyer. <br />Mrs. Sawyer resided at this address for several years eventually dividing it into four <br />apartment units in 1945. She sold the house to her sister, Erma Robison, in 1973. Erma, <br />a retired office worker for the Civic Planning Association and widow of Kenneth <br />Robison D.D.S resided at the Mar -Main Arms Apartments and rented the house out. <br />Mrs. Robison sold the property in 1974 to Chris and Peggy Brooks who continued to rent <br />the apartments out until 1993 when it was sold to Bonnie Richmond. Mrs. Richmond <br />only owned the house for two years, selling it in 1995 to the current owners, Guy and <br />Diane Bixel. <br />4 <br />