$(1)$解:∵$EF\perp AB,$$∠AEF = 50°$
∴$∠F AE=90°-∠AEF = 40°$
∵$∠BAD = 100°$
∴$∠CAD=180°-∠BAD-∠F AE = 40°$
$(2) $证明:过点$E$作$EG\perp AD$于点$G,$$EH\perp BC$于点$H$
由$(1)$得$∠F AE=∠CAD = 40°,$∴$AE$平分$∠DAF$
又$EF\perp AF,$∴$EF = EG$
∵$BE$平分$∠ABC,$∴$EF = EH$
∴$EG = EH,$即$DE$平分$∠ADC$
$(3)$解:∵$S_{\triangle ACD}=15$
∴$S_{\triangle ADE}+S_{\triangle CDE}=15$
即$\frac 12\ \mathrm {A}D·EG+\frac 12CD·EH = 15$
由$(2),$得$EF = EG = EH,$且$CD = 8,$$AD = 4$
∴$\frac 12×4EG+\frac 12×8EG = 15,$解得$EG=\frac 52$
∴$EF = EG=\frac 52$
又$AB = 7$
∴$\triangle ABE$的面积为$\frac 12\ \mathrm {A}B·EF=\frac {35}4$