Bill 27-16 Proposed Local Landmark Designation for 803 W Washington (Kizer House)

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Kizer House 803 West Washington Historical Context: William L. Kizer (1844 —1917) was one of South Bend's foremost business leaders. Kizer was born into a pioneer farming family with property on Portage Road in German Township. W.L. Kizer was educated in the district schools and received a college education. William grew up to be an expert on finance and investment. In 1865, he was appointed deputy collector of Internal Revenue for the fifth division of the ninth revenue district of Indiana. He later was transferred to the general office of the ninth district under Col. Norman Eddy until 1868. With his longtime friend, Jacob Woolverton, he founded Kizer & Woolverton, a South Bend company that specialized in real estate, insurance, investments, and loans. Kizer and Woolverton remained partners for 48 years until the death of W. L. Kizer on December 22, 1917, at 73 years of age. He was a primary investor and officer of the South Bend Malleable Range Company, and his other investments and projects included railroads, a timber company, a patent medicine company, and local real estate. He served as a South Bend City Commissioner under David R. Leeper (1892 -94), and was director of St. Joseph Loan & Trust. Kizer also served as a booster for the Lincoln Highway Association assisting in bringing the Lincoln Highway through South Bend in 1913. On May 11, 1870, William Kizer married Elizabeth Brick, whose brother, South Bend attorney Abraham Lincoln Brick, was a Republican member of Congress from 1899 until his death in 1908. William and Elizabeth purchased their lot for a new home, which sat adjacent to the Brick residence, on April 25, 1887 for $3,300. Around that same year, the couple built their Romanesque Revival home at 803 West Washington in South Bend — a full decade before the Oliver Mansion, located directly across the street. The 1896 Tax Duplicate Book lists the value of the lot as $3,350 and a value of improvements as $11,790, giving the property a total value of $15,140. This is slightly less than Tippecanoe Place, owned by Clement Studebaker. William and Elizabeth had three children: Horace (1874), Willomine (1877), and Ward (1884). Ward died in 1902 due to a congenital heart problem; Horace died in 1914 after suffering a stroke. Mrs. Elizabeth Kizer died at the mansion on October 30, 1927. In 1904, Willomine married Thomas Enoch Morrison, who was originally from LaPorte and worked in insurance in South Bend. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1916; they had no children, and Morrison died in Logansport State Hospital in 1919. Willomine lived in the mansion until her death on May 15, 1929 at 51 years old. Description of Building: The Kizer House is part of the West Washington National Register Historic District. The house is in the Romanesque Revival style with a full three stories and basement.