Historical Landmark - 227 South William Street

Home Browse Search

227 S. WILLIAM HISTORICAL CONTEXT John Caldwell built this house as a rental property in 1882.John was born in Vermont in 1820 to Mr. & Mrs. Matthew Caldwell. He came to South Bend in 1836 with his brother Cassius. Upon their arrival the brothers became carpenters and general laborers. The brothers built two houses together as real estate speculations before Cassius went west. John remained in South Bend where he married Vanvela Defrees and went to work for E.P. Taylor's Sawmill. Senator Colfax eventually appointed Mr. Caldwell to the mail service. During his term John developed the present perfect system of distributing mail by cars and steamships. Mr. Caldwell died in 1891 at age 71. He left the house to his heirs who sold both 227 and 229 S. William to Eugene and Nettie Herr in 1895. Eugene Herr was born in 1848 and married Nettie Roe in 1880. Mr. Herr was prominent and active in many public affairs. He was connected to the South Bend Register until it went under at which time Hibbard Printing Company employed him. He was an employee of the South Bend Tribune briefly before opening a business with his son Harold called "Herr & Herr Bookstore & Stationary". Eugene & Nettie Herr rented this house to their son, Harold, until 1929, after which the house was rented to various people. Mr. Herr died in 1911, his wife Nettie followed in 1931. The house was eventually placed into a trust held by Consolidated Liquid Trust and the American Trust Company. They transferred the house to Albert McGann Security Company Inc., as trustee in 1937. McGann Security sold the property to Howard Schroeder in 1940. Mr. Schroeder sold the house five years later to Clyde L. and Mabel Shannon. Mr. Shannon was a retired navel officer who rented the house out until his death in April of 1965. The structure was then sold to Franklin D. Stahl. Mr. Stahl was an accountant for the Simplicity Pattern Company in Niles, Michigan. He resided on Sycamore Street in Niles and rented out the William Street house until 1983 when he sold it to Chris and Peggy Brooks. Mr. & Mrs. Brooks continued to use the house as a rental until 1999 when it was sold to Douglas Bognar. Mr. Bognar is currently selling the house on land contract to Acquisitions & Investments LLC, which is operated by Frank Anderson. Mr. Anderson is currently renovating the structure while renting out the rear apartment and living in the front apartment. 4