The records of ownership for the property at 1012 N. Dearborn begin in 1874. Everything predating 1871, presumably, was destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire.
Here is the top of the first page of the available title records for the property, which consists of the south 1/2 of Lot 10, all of Lot 11, and the north 1/2 of Lot 12, Block 15, Bushnell’s Addition: 
Here is what I have been able to make of this. George L. Dunlap sold the property to William Waller on July 11, 1874. William Waller died in 1880, and his son James L. Waller inherited the property. They sold the property to Mary A. H. Ferry on July 10, 1880. Mrs. Ferry died in 1906. In 1907, Gilbert McKinley purchased the property, later selling it to Hannah H. Maloney in 1918. Mrs. Maloney sold the property to David Adam in February 1921. Dave Adam was acting on behalf of the P&C, and the property has remained in the club’s hands ever since.
One key to understanding the history of the building and its prior residents is the renumbering of Chicago’s streets in 1909. Prior to that time, 1012 N. Dearborn was known as 336 Dearborn. Here’s a snapshot of Robinson’s 1886 Map of Chicago showing the corner of Dearborn and Oak. You can see our building in roughly the center of the picture (the buildings at 328 and 332 Dearborn, shown on the map, are no longer there). 
The 1875 Chicago City Directory shows that William Waller was living at 336 Dearborn with James L. Waller–giving a date before which the building must have been constructed. It couldn’t have been built before 1871, obviously, or it would have been destroyed in the fire.
Old Mr. Waller died at home in 1880:
The 1880 census shows that James Waller (age 28), his wife and two children, along with his brother William Waller (age 22), and four servants (a black woman, Mrs. Russell, a female and male German, and Maggie Hynes, an Irishwoman) were living at 336 Dearborn. The census lists the occupations of the Waller brothers as “clerk in bank.” The census was taken in June 1880, after the death of William Waller, Sr. in March 1880.
The October 1880 Reversed Directory of the Elite of Chicago lists James L. Waller at 336 Dearborn. You can see George Dunlap at 328 Dearborn, at the corner of Dearborn and Oak where the parking garage currently stands.
The 1883-84 Reversed Directory of the Elite of Chicago confirms that Mrs. Ferry was by then living at 336 Dearborn:
Mrs. Ferry also appears in the 1885-86 Elite Directory.
It’s interesting to note that in the 1885-86 Directory there appears a new neighbor: 332 Dearborn, occupied by Robert W. Tansill. That would be Robert Weems Tansill, who made millions selling 5 cent cigars.
That’s enough for tonight. More to come.
paletteandchisel 
Our records show the building was built in 1872 and Dunlap was the first occupant. The city says it was built in 1874 and the Waller brothers were the first occupants. This seems to explain it.
Dunlap lived next door after he sold the building, but they show another resident as well. Was it a house or maybe a two-flat?
I’m not sure which records you are referring to Bill–I’d love to see whatever it is that shows that Dunlap lived there first in 1872 or even that he built the house. From what I gather, Dunlap sold Waller the vacant land and Waller built the house, moved in with his two sons, and then passed away in 1880. I’m not sure what records you refer to for Dunlap living next door and having another resident. The Dunlap home at 328 Dearborn was most definitely not a two-flat. It was an amazing single family mansion. I have a photo of it that I will be posting on here soon.
I also have a photo of the Robert W. Tansill house at 332 Dearborn that I will be posting as well.
Oh, I see–you are referring to Orson Smith, listed in the 1885-86 City Directory. I’ll have to do some research on that name. Unfortunately the 1890 census records for Illinois were destroyed in a fire in 1921 at the Commerce Building in Washington, D.C., but I’ll see what I can find.
It’s mostly correspondence from 1999 – 2000, but they must have been referring to something they’ve seen.
Are you referring to the correspondence regarding the designation for the National Register?
Yes
That correspondence is quite garbled. It wasn’t until I went to the title records, then the census, then the city directories that I was able to make sense of who owned the property when and who lived there when.
It is quite clear, though, that through the years the club was willing to claim as the first inhabitants of the house whoever it felt was most illustrious. If you look at the article “For Men Only,” for example, you’ll see that in 1957 the membership was claiming that 1012 Dearborn was “the old Jack Jelke mansion.” I suspect the claim that Dunlap built and lived in the house is of the same kind.
FYI, Jack Jelke was an oleomargarine magnate in Chicago in the early part of the 20th century. I have found nothing to indicate he had any connection to the property.
[…] Waller was the other child living at 336 Dearborn in 1880, the two-year-old daughter of James and Nannine Waller. Nannie was something of a society girl, as […]
[…] I’ve noticed some confusion about whether George Dunlap built the home we now inhabit, later selling it to William Waller, or whether Waller himself was the builder. Recently I found an item from the Tribune of April 12, […]
[…] The Great Chicago Fire of October 1871 destroyed the neighborhood where the P&C stands today. One of the principal residents of the neighborhood, George Dunlap, who sold land to William Waller in 1874 on which the current building was erected, was burned out in the fire. But Dunlap vowed to rebuild. Here is an item from the Chicago Tribune of April 1872: […]
Have you been able to find floor plans if the original house? I am very interested.
Sorry, no, I have not. I would be very interested to see any such plans myself.