Antoine's Carriage & Upholstery

Antoine's Carriage and Upholstery. . Though little of the early history is known, we do know in 1820 this portion of the original town Lot 35 was owned by R. Brown. In the possession of Moritz Schall in 1891, the property was sold to Frank Antoine for $500. Antoine's home was located here and was the center of an active cultural life. Frank and Anne Catherine Stegle Antoine, who were both born in Paris, lived here with their family of five, of which three reached adulthood. They were of the community's most beloved "adopted" families. Frank Antoine later constructed an adjoining building for his carriage and upholstery business facing the square. with a large workshop located behind. In his shop, he turned out several fancy bandwagons, including those used by the Nesslein Band of Perryville and the Schnurbusch Band of Apple Creek. Following the death of Mr. and Mrs. Antione, their two daughters, Jeanne and Cecile, known as Ceil, lived in the house, with Cell offering instruction in dress making. , , Cletus Nesslein had originally started his furniture business in 1939 in the Hotel Perry Building a few doors north on Main Street. When the last Antoine daughter, Jeanne died in 1957, the Antoine's had lived there for 66 years. Mr. Nesslein began the process of razing the two buildings on this site to construct the current Friendly Furniture building. Erwin Hotop was the contractor, hired to construct the 7,500 square foot, two-story decorative brick building with plate glass display windows. Friendly Furniture opened on May 14, 1959. Ther business continues to operate in this building under the direction of Cletus Nesslein's son, Ken.