Property Record
208 E MAPLE ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | GENERAL JOHN B. CALLIS HOUSE |
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| Reference Number: | 45013 |
| Location (Address): | 208 E MAPLE ST |
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| County: | Grant |
| City: | Lancaster |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1858 |
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| Additions: | 1870 |
| Survey Date: | 2009 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Aluminum/Vinyl Siding |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | SIMPLE IN FORM, THE CALLIS HOUSE IS DOMINATED BY DETAIL - LACY BARGEBOARDS, ORNATE BRACKETS AND SUPPORTS ON THE PORCH, AND TRIM ON THE BALCONY. CORNER PILASTERS ARE ALSO FEATURED. OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS TWO AND A HALF STORY RESIDENCE INCLUDE A RECTANGULAR PLAN CONFIGURATION, A MULTI-GABLE ROOF, A BRICK CHIMNEY, 4/4 LIGHTS, AND FRENCH WINDOWS IN THE VERANDA AREA. AN ADDITION TO THE HOUSE WAS MADE IN 1883. (B). THE BUILDING HAS BEEN RECLAD IN VINYL SINCE IT WAS FIRST SURVEYED IN 1983. JOHN B. CALLIS OCCUPIED THE HOUSE FROM 1858 TO C. 1905. (A). THESE DATES MARK A PERIOD OF HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE IN LANCASTER. ARCHITECUTRAL STATEMENT: THE CALLIS HOUSE IS A DISTINCTIVE FEATURE OF THE COMMUNITY BUT AT THIS TIME ITS ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE REMAINS IN QUESTION. FURTHER RESEARCH ON THE BUILDING'S ORIGINAL APPEARANCE (INCLUDING, IF POSSIBLE, THE ORIGIN OF THE DECORATIVE DETAIL) AND SEBSEQUENT MODIFICATIONS IS NECESSARY TO EVALUATE THE BUILDING'S CONTRIBUTION TO LANCASTER'S ARCHITECURAL INVENTORY. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: JOHN B. CALLIS WAS BORN IN FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA IN 1828. HIS FATHER HENRY WAS A FARMER WHO MOVED HIS FAMILY TO TENNESSEE IN 1834 AND TO GRANT COUNTY IN 1840. AT THE AGE OF TWENTY, JOHN HEADED TO ST. PAUL WHERE HE WORKED ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF FORT GAINES (LATER FORT RIPLEY). IN 1851, HE TRIED HIS HAND AT MINING IN CALIFORNIA WHERE HE STAYED UNTIL 1853 WHEN HE RETURNED TO LANCASTER VIA CENTRAL AMERICA. IN LANCASTER CALLIS MARRIED, BUILT THIS RESIDENCE, AND ESTABLISHED A MERCANTILE TRADE WHICH HE MANAGED UNTIL THE OUTBREAK OF THE CIVIL WAR. (C,D,E). AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR, CALIS ORGANIZED COMPANY F (LANCASTER UNION GUARDS) OF THE SEVENTH WISCONSIN REGIMENT. INITIALLY SERVING AS CAPTAIN OF COMPANY F, THE NORTH CAROLINIAN QUICKLY ASSUMED ADDED RESPONSIBILITIES AS RANKING OFFICERS IN THE REGIMENT WERE KILLED OR WOUNDED. FOLLOWING THE BATTLE OF GAINESVILLE (AUGUST 1862) AND UNTIL GETTYSBYRG WHERE HE WAS SEVERELY WOUNDED, CALLIS COMMANDED THE SEVENTH WISCONSIN. HIS ASSOCIATION WITH THAT FIGHTING UNIT WHICH WAS PART OF THE RENOWNED IRON BRIGADE WAS SUMMARIZED IN A BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD: "IT WILL SUFFICE TO STATE THAT UNTIL AFTER GETTYSBURG THE HISTORY OF THE SEVENTH WISCONSIN ...IS THAT OF GENERAL CALLIS, AS HE WAS IDENTIFIED WITH EVERY SUCCESSIVE MOVEMENT." (C) BECAUSE OF HIS INJURY AT GETTYSBURG, CALLIS WAS DISCHARGED DECEMBER 24, 1863. THE FOLLOWING YEAR HE WAS APPOINTED MILITARY SUPERINTENDENT OF THE WAR DEPARTMENT IN WASHINGTON WITH THE RANK OF MAJOR. AT THE WAR'S END, HIS RANK WAS THAT OF BRIGADIER GENERAL, A REFLECTION OF HIS "MERITORIOUS CONDUCT" THROUGHOUT HIS SERVICE. CALLIS WAS NEXT MADE A CAPTAIN IN THE REGULAR ARMY AND ASSIGNED TO THE 45TH INFANTRY IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA. HE RESIGNED HIS COMMISSION IN EARLY 1868 BUT REMAINED IN HUNTSVILLE WHERE HE WAS ELECTED TO THE 40TH CONGRESS FROM ALABAMA'S FIFTH DISTRICT. HE SERVED ONLY ONE TERM IN CONGRESS AND THEN RETURNED TO LANCASTER WHERE HE ESTABLISHED A REAL ESTATE AND INSURANCE BUSINESS. (NOTE: CALLIS HAD ALSO RETURNED TO LANCASTER IN 1867 AND HEADED THE PROCESSION AT THE DEDICATION OF GRANT COUNTY'S CIVIL WAR MONUMENT. (F). IN 1874 HE AGAIN HELD ELECTED OFFICE, SERVING IN THE WISCONSIN STATE LEGISLATURE. IDENTIFIED AS A "REFORMER IN POLITICS," CALLIS CHAIRED THE COMMITTEE ON INCORPORATIONS AND STATE LANDS. (C,D). FOLLOWING CALLIS' DEATH (C.1905), THE HOUSE WAS PURCHASED BY W.J. (DOC) SCHADE, WHO OPERATED A GYMNASIUM (IN THE OLD CITY HALL BUILDING NOW DEMOLISHED) AND THE SCHADE SANITARIUM WHICH HE LOCATED IN HIS OWN RESIDENCE. ACCORDING TO ONE ACCOUNT, SCHADE'S SANITARIUM WAS A "MODERN INSTITUTION" WHICH EMPLOYED THE FOLLOWING METHODS: THERMOTHERAPY, HYDROTHERAPY, ELECTRO-THERAPY, SPONDYLO-THERAPY, OSTEOPATHY, CHIROPRACTIC, AND MASSAGE. (G). SCHADE, A POPULAR LOCAL FIGURE, DIED IN 1951. (H). HISTORICAL STATEMENT: THE CALLIS HOUSE, LOCATED ADJACENT TO THE CITY'S CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTIRCT, IS HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT FOR ITS ASSOCIATION WITH JOHN B. CALLIS, LANCASTER'S MOST DISTINGUISHED CIVIL WAR VETERAN WHO ORGANIZED COMPANY F (THE LANCASTER UNION GUARDS) OF THE SEVENTH WISCONSIN, A REGIMENT HE LATER COMMANDED AS PART OF THE FAMED IRON BRIGADE. IN RECOGNITION OF HIS SERVICE, THE NORTH CAROLINA BORN SOLDIER ACHIEVED THE RANK OF BRIGADIER GENERAL BY THE CONCLUSION OF THE WAR. IN LANCASTER CALLIS WAS HONORED AS THE MARSHALL OF THE DEDICATION PROCEEDINGS FOR THE COUNTY'S CIVIL WAR MONUMENT HELD JULY 4, 1867. "One block east of courthouse square is the John and Martha Callis house. Callis, who was a successful merchant in the 1850s, commanded Company F, 7th Wisconsin Infantry, part of the famous Iron Brigade, during the Civil War. He was severely wounded at Gettysburg in July 1863. After the war he served one term in Congress before returning to Lancaster. He constructed this Gothic Revival house in 1858 and enlarged it in 1870. Callis died in it in 1898." Lancaster's Historic Courthouse Square |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. TAX ASSESSMENT RECORDS, ARC, UW-PLATTEVILLE. B. GRANT COUNTY HERALD, 18 JANUARY 1883. C. SOLDIERS' AND CITIZENS' ALBUM OF BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD, 2 VOLS. (CHICAGO: GRAND ARMY PUBLISHING CO., 1890), 2: 391-394. D. THE UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY (CHICAGO: AMERICAN BIOGRAPHICAL CO., 1877), P. 691. E. ALAN T. NOLAN, THE IRON BRIGADE (MADISON: STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1975), P. 115. F. THE LANCASTER HERALD, 9 JULY 1867. G. ELLIS BAKER USHER, WISCONSIN: ITS STORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 1848-1913, 4 VOLS. (CHICAGO: LEWIS PUBLISHING CO., 1914), 4: 1261-1262. H. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE, NO CITATION, VERTICAL FILE, ARC, UW-PLATTEVILLE. Lancaster's Historic Courthouse Square, Lancaster Historic Preservation Commission, 2006. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |