Property Record
405 S WISCONSIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Peter Heyrman House |
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| Reference Number: | 121810 |
| Location (Address): | 405 S WISCONSIN ST |
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| County: | Brown |
| City: | De Pere |
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| Year Built: | 1909 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20012017 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Dutch Colonial Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 2017: No immediately apparent exterior alterations since last surveyed. 2017 survey recommendation write-up: Oriented to the west, this two-story, Dutch Colonial Revival-style house rises from a rock-faced and coursed, stone foundation. Featuring a tri-color paint scheme, the first floor is covered with clapboard, while the upper story includes wooden shingle-sheathed, gambrel-roof dormers along three of its four elevations. A flat-roofed and open porch with wooden column supports and masonry piers extends across the home’s west elevation, sheltering the entrance, as well as two rectangular windows; the south one of which is larger than the other. A simple wooden railing completes the porch along both levels. Three regularly placed, one-over-one-light sash occupy the upper level, along with a semi-circular window at the peak. A rectangular projection that extends to the upper story includes a side entrance on the north, while a rectangular window bay is positioned along the south elevation and to the rear of the home. Windows throughout the remainder of the home are rectangular sash examples. The house was built between 1908 and 1909 by Peter Heyrman (b. 1874), the son of John B. and Barbara Heyrman. Peter’s father, who emigrated from Belgium, moved to De Pere in 1871. After first engaging in the mercantile business, he established the De Pere Standard, a Dutch-language, Catholic newspaper. In 1890, he and John Anton Kuypers would purchase the Brown County Democrat and, shortly thereafter, start De Volksstem. In 1899, John B. died and, by no later than 1900, Peter had joined the family business, for which his older brother Henry served as the editor. Tax rolls confirm that the house was built by Peter; however, the 1910 census enumerates him as living on South Michigan Street, along with his widowed mother, two sisters and a nephew (presumably in the house at 421 S. Michigan, where they are enumerated in 1920). It remains unclear if the house was initially rented out; however, Peter and his wife Elsie are confirmed as residing in it by no later than 1917 and presumably following their marriage in 1911. Between 1919 and 1920, the home was sold to J.B. Normann, at which time the Heyrmans (with their two children) moved to Waukesha, where Peter would work as a newspaper printer. Normann used the house for rental purposes, as flour mill manager Jack Dousman and his wife Esther are identified as living in (and renting) the house as of 1920. The house changed hands at least one more time before it was purchased by William S. and Lydia Klaus, who lived in it by no later than 1931. William was born in Green Bay in 1877 and initially engaged in cigar making, operating a factory in Wrightstown. In 1902, he transitioned to tobacco leaf sales (for a Milwaukee company) and established his headquarters in De Pere. He retired in 1936. Aside from that work, William was a director of the Northeastern Wisconsin Fair Association, for which he served as secretary at the time of his death in 1948. Previous to his thirteen years in that position (beginning in 1935), he served the organization as superintendent of privileges for twenty-four years (as of 1911). His obituary stated that he served as (second ward) alderman for twelve years, during which time he was council president and had to serve as acting mayor for a period. Additional positions held include county supervisor, city treasurer and a volunteer fireman. Lydia, who served on the school board for twenty-one years, remained in the house until her death in December 1969. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Citations for 2017 survey information found below in Additional Comments: Tax Rolls, City of De Pere, Brown County, 1908, 1909, 1919, 1920, 1925 (Normann’s name is crossed of in 1925 and the name Thomas Bomski is handwritten in; also of note, the taxes are identified as having been paid by W.S. Klaus); Biographical sketch for John B. Heyrman in The Commemorative Biographical Record of Brown, Door and Kewaunee Counties, Wisconsin (J.H. Beers & Co., 1895), 410-14; U.S. Federal Census, Population, 1900, 1910, 1920, 1930; “U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918,” Available online at www.Ancestry.com, Accessed July 2017, this specifically cites the Heyrmans are residing at 405 S. Wisconsin Street. As of 1930, Peter (widowed) and two children lived in Whitewater; Peter died on 19 May 1941, while a resident of Chicago where he again was engaged in the printing business. Green Bay City Directory, 1931; “Fair Secretary Dies in De Pere,” Green Bay Press-Gazette, 2 November 1948, 1; “Mrs. William Klaus,” obituary, Green Bay Press-Gazette, 11 December 1969, 51; Photo and caption (re: Mrs. Lydia Klaus’ last board meeting), Green Bay Press-Gazette, 19 November 1950, 16. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |