32 Peru Street
In the heart of Burlington’s Old North End, home to so many of the hard-working people who helped build the city, is Peru Street, which was growing fast from the 1840s through the 1860s as manufacturing boomed in the city. The history of 32 Peru Street is linked with the history of nearby #30 because it seems as though #32 may have been built as a rental property by the owner of #30’s original lot.
The 1853 Wainwright map does not show houses but does show residents/owners’ names. The four family names on this section of Peru Street are Mrs. Marha (Mahar), Mulcahy, Mills, and O. Smith. Mills is shown in the area where #30 is later seen; O. Smith is on the corner of Murray Street. The names are useful as references in later deed searches.
In May of 1855, Henry Hamilton of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, sold the eastern half of a lot on Peru Street, including “a small brick house” to Louis Luck, an immigrant tailor from Montreal, born in 1821. Louis’ family name was originally Lachance, translated to facilitate his assimilation into the community. Louis took on a mortgage, which he paid off, The location seems to be the same one marked for Mills on the 1853 map, #30.
Louis and his wife Mary/Marie tried to sell their house (30-32) to Louis Willett, a boatman, in April of 1868 Luck tried to help Willett, who was already in debt, but in June, Willett sold the property to Harvey Talcott, a lawyer who lived in downtown Burlington. Willett never appeared in the Burlington city directory as a resident of Peru Street. He lived briefly at 18 Water Street (now Battery).
Harvey Talcott boarded at the Central House, and later at the Van Ness House. In October of 1871 he sold the small frame house, 32 Peru, to James Wyatt, an employee of the Van Ness House. The deed is the first description of the property. Within four months Talcott sold the brick house, #30, to Charles Short, with a right of way to #32. The city directory of 1873-1874 shows Charles Short, an employee of the Van Ness House, living on Peru Street. The Vermont Historic Sites and Structures Survey says Short had acquired 30 Peru. He was a person of color who was the head waiter at the Van Ness, one of Burlington’s leading hotels. These three men no doubt knew each other quite well. It seems likely that James Wyatt was also African-American, since Wyatts were listed among the African-Americans in the neighborhood.
In June of 1879, Wyatt sold his house to Charles J. Alger, a lawyer, and editor and publisher of the Burlington Independent. Alger lived next door, on the corner of Murray Street. The house again became rental property. In July of 1895, Harriet Alger, the administrator of Alger’s estate, sold to Peter Desautels, a Winooski grocer, who passed it on to Edward and Clara Desautels Simays. Edward was an employee of the Venetian Blind Company. The couple lived at 13 Murray Street. They rented the place to an assortment of working people and widowed women, such as Emma J. McGill, widow of William, and Samuel F. McGill, an insurance agent for New York Life (1902-1903). Augustus Morell, carpenter, lived in the house from 1907 to 1912.
The Simays passed the house to Jennie M. Senor, widow of Lewis Senor, in May of 1912, but by September it belonged to Gertrude Q., and John S. Domagalski, an army man. They lived in the house. Fannie Newton, a domestic, was the next resident, from 1923 to 1937.
Clara Blondin was the next owner. In 1945 her estate passed the house to Mary Blondin Fremeau and to Anna Gouthro, a clerk at O.L. Hinds clothing factory at the corner of St. Paul and King Streets. Anna did live in the house from the mid-40s. Glenn E. and Janet Gouthro were owners from 1982 to 1988. The next resident was Elizabeth Curry, housing program developer.
An entity called S. Fenwick Easement comes into the picture in 1994, followed by Walter G. Pfiel III in 1995, Christine Eldred in 1999, with the Burlington Community Land Trust apparently taking over the land only. Christine negotiated a 20-year lease at that time. She and Benjamin Gabos are listed as owners, then the Champlain Housing Authority in 2010, Michel Geoffrion in 2015, with a final transfer from the Champlain Housing Authority to the present owner, Aurora L. Lenz- Wilson in 2015.
This house is an interesting example of the small but solid cottage housing built by mid-19th-century Burlington craftsmen.
Image Credit: Redfin