L.T. Eastman Blacksmith Shop
L.T. Eastman Blacksmith Shop
| Address | 439 Boston Rd |
| Built | 1871 |
| Demolished | 1940 |
| Owners | William H. Sexton (1892 - 1900) |
| Other Lot Structures | Lund Building (1891 - 1970) |
The L.T. Eastman Blacksmith Shop stood on the west side of Boston Road just south of Billerica Centre, at the south corner of the lot where the house at 435-437 Boston Road stands today. The ground had been part of the Bowers family's "Old Homestead" south of the meeting house. When Dr. William Bowers died in 1820 his homestead of 25 acres went undivided to his widow and children, and his three unmarried daughters, Priscilla, Mary and Fanny Bowers, held it together for the rest of their lives. Priscilla left her share to the Baptist church in Billerica, and Mary and Fanny left theirs to the town for the benefit of the poor. After Fanny's death in 1871 the town and the First Baptist Church had the land surveyed by Samuel Sage and sold it in lots.
On May 11, 1871 Lund T. Eastman bought Lot No. 3 on Sage's plan, one acre and 86 rods on the main road to Boston between Mark Lund's lot on the north and G. W. Gragg's on the south. He paid the town $203.33 for its two thirds and the Baptist church and society $101.67 for their third. The two deeds were not recorded until 1879. Eastman built his blacksmith shop at the road, and the 1875 map shows "L. T. Eastman B. S. Shop" there with no house. In August 1879 he sold the lot "with the buildings thereon" to Clara E. Sexton, then of New Boston, New Hampshire, for $1,350. That November, as guardian of Addie E. Eastman, he also sold her the Eastman acre on the other side of the road.
The Sextons kept the shop going. In 1892, using a straw deed through John Sexton, Clara E. Sexton put the lot in the name of her husband, William H. Sexton, who is listed in 1901 as a blacksmith and horseshoer on Boston Road near the common, living opposite. From 1897 to 1900 the title went to Charles S. Hill of North Andover and back again, secured by a $3,000 mortgage, and in November 1900 Sexton sold the lot to Susan U. Phillips, who took over that mortgage. She sold it in January 1903 to Charlie L. Burton, a blacksmith and bicycle dealer on Boston Road beyond the common, who owned much of the land on both sides of this stretch of the road. By 1919 he was working at the Boston and Maine Railroad repair shops.
On April 21, 1923 Burton sold the shop and the southeasterly corner of the lot, 57 feet on the road and 130 feet deep along the Gregg stone wall, "with the buildings thereon," to Archie J. Vondal of Lowell, who gave him back a $1,000 mortgage. Vondal's Battery Service Station was listed on Boston Road near the common in 1925. Vondal fell behind on the mortgage and went bankrupt. Burton made a formal entry on April 28, 1927 to foreclose, and on June 2, 1927 Vondal's trustee in bankruptcy sold the lot to Edward Thommen of Billerica, whose Thommen's Garage sold and serviced Chevrolets. In 1946 Thommen sold it to Richard M. Gilman and Donald L. Spaulding, who ran Gilman & Spaulding, a repair garage and Esso station, from 1946. In 1949 a new garage building went up on the lot. Spaulding bought out his partner in 1957 and ran it as Spaulding General Auto and Truck Repair, Spaulding's Garage at 439 Boston Road, until he sold it in 1961 to the Musgrave family's Billerica Center Company.
In March 1970 the Musgraves sold the old shop lot, now Lot A on a plan surveyed for the company, to Mobil Oil Corporation for $35,000. With Lot B, the Gregg corner on Charnstaffe Lane, it became the site of the Mobil station built in 1971 at 441 Boston Road. ExxonMobil sold the station in 2010 to Global Companies LLC (Global), which still owns it. The rest of Lot 3, with the house, stayed with the Burtons until 1945 and then went to Harlie G. and Florence D. Bohannan. Since 1969 it has been in private hands.
Lund T. Eastman died on January 17, 1902, aged 64.
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Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| May 29, 1821 | Administration | Estate of Dr. William Bowers of Billerica, physician (d. Nov. 17, 1820) | Heirs: widow Priscilla (Goodrich) Bowers; children William, Fanny, Priscilla and Mary Bowers | 1821: Dr. William Bowers dies; the homestead goes undivided to his widow and children | Probate #2314 |
Dr. William Bowers "died, seized of Estate, both real and personal" on Nov. 17, 1820, intestate, "leaving his widow, your memorialists and Pricilla Bowers and Mary Bowers his only Heirs". His son William and daughter Fanny were appointed administrators May 29, 1821. The inventory of June 27, 1821 begins with "The homestead containing 25 acres with all the buildings thereon", $3500, out of $5585 in real estate, and lists his "medicine drawers", books and phials. No division of the real estate is in the file.
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| March 16, 1869 | Will | Estate of Priscilla Bowers of Billerica, singlewoman (d. Feb. 22, 1869) | The First Baptist Church in Billerica (remainder, after the deaths of her sisters Mary and Fanny Bowers) | 1869: Priscilla Bowers leaves her third to the Baptist church | Probate #27759 |
Will of December 9, 1862, allowed at Lowell March 16, 1869, Dudley Foster executor: after a $500 legacy, "to the Baptist Church in Billerica all the remainder of my Property, Real, Mixed or Personal, to be by the Chh. kept as a fund, the interest of which to be expended for the support of Preaching in the Baptist Meeting house", the legacy "not to [be] paid till after the decease of my Sisters Mary & Fanny Bowers". Her heirs at law were those two sisters. The May 1869 inventory lists "1/3 of Homestead undivided 1 1/2 acres" at $1000 and "1/3 of Old Homestead 24 acres" at $800 among $3650 of real estate.
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| May 17, 1870 | Will | Estate of Mary Bowers of Billerica, singlewoman (d. 1870) | The Town of Billerica, for the benefit of the poor | 1870: Mary Bowers leaves her share to the town for the poor | Probate #27756 |
Will of December 9, 1862, allowed at Lowell May 17, 1870, Dudley Foster executor: "I give and bequeath to the Town of Billerica, all the Property Real, Mixed or Personal of which I may be possessed at the time of my decease, for the benefit of the poor of said Billerica. This legacy not to be paid untill after the decease of my Sisters Priscilla and Fanny Bowers." The town sold the two-thirds of the Bowers Homestead it received from Mary and Fanny Bowers to William H. Osborn in 1871.
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| July 25, 1879 | Quitclaim | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica, by Dudley Foster, Israel A. Colson and David L. Mason, committee | Lund T. Eastman of Billerica | 1871: the town sells its two thirds of Sage Lot 3 to Lund T. Eastman | 134/442 |
Under the vote of the town meeting of May 2, 1871, for $203.33, "two undivided third parts" of a parcel on the Main road leading to Boston: from a bound at land "this day sold to Mark Lund", westerly by Lund 30 rods to land of the Bowers, southwesterly 6 rods 15 links and southeasterly 4 3/4 rods by the Bowers land, easterly by land "this day sold to G. W. Gragg" 33 3/4 rods to the road, northerly 8 rods on the road, "containing 1 acre 86 rods. Being No. 3 on a plan surveyed by Saml Sage A.D. 1871. Being part of the real estate devised to said grantors by Mary Bowers and Fanny Bowers." Dated May 11, 1871; not recorded until July 25, 1879.
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| July 25, 1879 | Quitclaim | The Members of the First Baptist Church and Society of Billerica, by Edward Spaulding and George C. Gilman, committee | Lund T. Eastman of Billerica | 1871: the Baptist church and society sell their third to Eastman | 134/442 |
Under a vote of May 1, 1871, for $101.67, "one undivided third part" of the same Lot No. 3 on Samuel Sage's 1871 plan, 1 acre 86 rods, bounded by Mark Lund, the Bowers land, G. W. Gragg and the Main road, "Being a part of the real estate devised to said grantors by Priscilla Bowers." Dated May 11, 1871 (book pages 442-443), recorded July 25, 1879 with the town's deed.
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| August 8, 1879 | Warranty Deed | Lund T. Eastman of Billerica, unmarried | Clara E. Sexton of New Boston, N.H. | 1879: Eastman sells Lot 3 with the buildings to Clara E. Sexton | 135/298 |
For $1,350, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon" on the Main road to Boston, the same bounds (land formerly of Mark Lund 30 rods, land formerly of Miss Bowers, G. W. Gragg 33 3/4 rods, the road 8 rods), 1 acre 86 rods, "Being Lot No. 3 on a Plan of land surveyed by Samuel Sage A.D. 1871. Being the same premises conveyed to me by deed from the Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica and the members of the First Baptist Church" dated May 11, 1871. Dated Aug. 8, 1879. Eastman had paid $305 for the bare lot in 1871: the buildings, his blacksmith shop among them, were put up in between.
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| December 6, 1879 | Mortgage | Clara E. Sexton of Billerica (William H. Sexton releasing curtesy and homestead) | Mary H. Crosby of Billerica | 1879: Sexton mortgage to Mary H. Crosby | 136/582 |
Mortgage for $850 in three years at 6% of "lot numbered three on a plan surveyed by Samuel Sage A.D. 1871, and the same premises conveyed to Lund T. Eastman by deed from the Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica and the members of the First Baptist Church and Society" and "conveyed to me by deed from Lund T. Eastman bearing date August eighth" 1879. Dated Aug. 22, 1879. Discharged April 13, 1892 by Clara E. Sexton as administratrix of Mary H. Crosby (Book 232 Page 255).
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| April 19, 1892 | Warranty Deed | Clara E. Sexton of Billerica (William H. Sexton releasing curtesy) | John Sexton of Billerica (straw) | 1892: straw deed to John Sexton | 232/256 |
For $1, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon", Lot No. 3 on Samuel Sage's 1871 plan, 1 acre 86 rods (Mark Lund, Miss Bowers, G. W. Gregg, the main road), "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Lund T. Eastman by deed dated August eighth 1879", Book 135 Page 298. Dated April 13, 1892, the day she discharged the Crosby mortgage.
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| April 19, 1892 | Warranty Deed | John Sexton of Billerica, unmarried | William H. Sexton of Billerica | 1892: John Sexton to William H. Sexton | 232/257 |
For $1, the same Lot No. 3 "with the buildings thereon", 1 acre 86 rods, "Being the same premises this day conveyed to me by Clara E. Sexton by deed of even date." Dated April 13, 1892. With the straw deed before it, it put the lot in the name of her husband, the blacksmith William H. Sexton.
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| April 28, 1897 | Warranty Deed | William H. Sexton of Billerica (Clara E. Sexton releasing dower and homestead) | Charles S. Hill of North Andover | 1897: Sexton to Charles S. Hill | 285/37 |
For $1, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon", Lot 3 on Samuel Sage's 1871 plan, 1 acre 86 rods, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by John Sexton by his deed dated April 13th 1892", Book 232 Page 257. Dated April 22, 1897. Hill gave back a $3,000 mortgage the same day (Book 285 Page 45).
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| April 28, 1897 | Mortgage | Charles S. Hill of North Andover | William H. Sexton of Billerica | 1897: Hill mortgage back to Sexton | 285/45 |
For $3,000 in five years at 5%, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon", Lot 3 on Samuel Sage's 1871 plan, "Being the same premises this day conveyed to me by the said William H. Sexton by his deed of even date"; the buildings to be kept insured for at least $1,500. Margin: assigned to William C. Phillips (Book 325 Page 247), and discharged by him Dec. 31, 1900.
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| December 1, 1900 | Warranty Deed | Charles S. Hill of Billerica (Carrie R. Hill releasing dower and homestead) | William H. Sexton of Billerica | 1899: Hill back to Sexton | 325/547 |
For $1 and other considerations, the same Lot 3 "with the buildings thereon", "conveyed subject to a mortgage of three thousand dollars. Being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of William H. Sexton April 22nd 1897", Book 285 Page 37. Dated Aug. 28, 1899, acknowledged in Boston; recorded Dec. 1, 1900 with the next deed.
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| December 1, 1900 | Warranty Deed | William H. Sexton of Billerica (Clara E. Sexton releasing dower and homestead) | Susan U. Phillips of Billerica | 1900: Sexton to Susan U. Phillips | 325/548 |
For $1, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon", Lot 3 on Samuel Sage's 1871 plan, 1 acre 86 rods, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Charles S. Hill by deed dated Aug. 28th 1899 to be recorded herewith", free of encumbrances "excepting a mortgage of three thousand dollars to William C. Phillips which the grantee assumes and agrees to pay". Dated Nov. 24, 1900.
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| January 15, 1903 | Quitclaim | Susan U. Phillips of Billerica, widow | Charlie L. Burton of Billerica | 1903: Phillips to Charlie L. Burton | 351/246 |
For $1, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon", Lot number three on Samuel Sage's 1871 plan, 1 acre 86 rods more or less (land formerly of Mark Lund, Mrs. Bowers, G. W. Gregg, the main road leading to Boston), "Being the same premises to me conveyed by William H. Sexton by deed dated November twenty-fourth, nineteen hundred", Book 325 Page 548. Dated Jan. 15, 1903.
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| January 15, 1903 | Mortgage | Charlie L. Burton of Billerica | Moses P. Greenwood of Billerica | 1903: Burton mortgage to Moses P. Greenwood | 351/247 |
For $1,000 in one year at 5%, the same Lot 3 "with the buildings thereon", "Being the same premises to me conveyed by Susan U. Phillips by deed of even date". Dated Jan. 15, 1903. Margin: assigned to Hattie Greenwood and others and discharged (Book 610 Pages 137 and 138).
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| May 9, 1923 | Deed | Charlie L. Burton of Billerica, unmarried | Archie J. Vondal of Lowell | 1923: Burton sells the shop lot to Archie J. Vondal | 680/247 |
With quitclaim covenants, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon": from a point in the westerly line of the main road leading from Billerica to Boston "at a stone wall at the land of one G. W. Gregg", westerly by Gregg 130 feet, northerly by other land of Burton 21 feet, northeasterly still by Burton 117 feet to the road, southerly by the road 57 feet; "Being the southeasterly portion of the premises to Charlie L. Burton conveyed by Susan U. Phillips by deed dated Jan. 15, 1903", Book 351 Page 246. Dated April 21, 1923 ($1.50 stamps). This is the shop lot, cut from the south corner of Lot 3; Vondal's Battery Service Station was listed on Boston Road near the common in 1925.
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| May 9, 1923 | Mortgage | Archie J. Vondal of Lowell | Charlie L. Burton of Billerica | 1923: Vondal mortgage to Burton | 680/248 |
With mortgage covenants, to secure $1,000 in one year at 6%, the same 57-foot parcel "with the buildings thereon" at the Gregg wall. Dated April 21, 1923. Burton entered to foreclose on April 28, 1927 (Book 750 Page 118) and acknowledged satisfaction on June 6, 1927 (Book 750 Page 489), after the lot was sold by Vondal's trustee in bankruptcy.
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| May 26, 1927 | Foreclosure Entry | Charlie L. Burton, mortgagee | (certificate of entry under the mortgage from Archie J. Vondal) | 1927: Burton enters to foreclose | 750/118 |
Owen F. Carnes and Sumner S. Dole certify that on April 28, 1927 they saw Charlie L. Burton, mortgagee under the mortgage from Archie J. Vondal dated April 21, 1923 (Book 680 Page 248), "make an open, peaceable and unopposed entry on the premises described in said mortgage, for the purpose, by him declared, of foreclosing said mortgage for breach of conditions thereof." Sworn May 2, 1927.
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| June 2, 1927 | Trustee's Deed | William F. Barrett, Trustee in Bankruptcy of Archie J. Vondal of Lowell | Edward Thommen of Billerica | 1927: Vondal trustee in bankruptcy to Edward Thommen | 750/198 |
With quitclaim covenants, "the land in Billerica with the buildings thereon": the 57-foot lot on the westerly line of the main road from Billerica to Boston at the stone wall at land of one Gregg, 130 feet by Gregg, 21 and 117 feet by land of one Burton; "Being all and the same premises to the said Archie J. Vondal conveyed by Charlie L. Burton by his deed dated April 21, 1923". Dated June 2, 1927. Thommen ran Thommen's Garage (Chevrolet sales and service) and is listed with a garage on Boston Road in 1931, 1941 and 1942.
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| June 2, 1927 | Mortgage | Edward Thommen of Billerica (Edith G. Thommen releasing dower and homestead) | Arthur S. Cook and Carrie E. Cook of Billerica | 1927: Thommen mortgage to the Cooks | 750/199 |
To secure $1,250 in one year at 6%, the same lot "with the buildings thereon", "Being the same premises to me conveyed by deed of William F. Barrett, trustee in bankruptcy of Archie J. Vondal, dated June 2, 1927". Discharged June 20, 1946 by Arthur S. Cook (Book 1046 Page 196).
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| April 7, 1944 | Quitclaim | Florence E. Grant of Chelmsford (straw for Charlie L. Burton) | Charlie L. Burton and Hattie C. Burton of Billerica | 1944: the rest of Lot 3, excepting the shop lot | 1004/438 |
The same tract "with the buildings thereon" (4 rods 10 feet on the road, the Sexton and "Eastman" lines, Fuller land) and the Sage plan Lot 3 farther north, as tenants by the entirety, "the same premises to me conveyed by Charlie L. Burton by deed of even date". Dated April 6, 1944. After his death (May 29, 1961) the widow conveyed it in 1961; it was sold in 1961 and 1970 to private owners and then to the mall developers.
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| June 20, 1946 | Deed | Edward Thommen of Billerica (Edith G. Thommen releasing dower and homestead) | Richard M. Gilman and Donald L. Spaulding of Billerica, tenants in common | 1946: Thommen to Gilman and Spaulding | 1046/196 |
With quitclaim covenants ($2.75 stamps), "the land, with the buildings thereon": the 57-foot lot on the westerly line of "main road (Boston Road so-called)" at the stone wall at the land of one Gregg, 130 feet by Gregg, 21 and 117 feet by land of one Burton; "Being the same premises conveyed to the grantor by deed of William F. Barrett, Trustee in Bankruptcy of Archie J. Vondal, dated June 2, 1927", Book 750 Page 198. Dated June 17, 1946. The buyers ran Gilman & Spaulding, a garage and Esso station.
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| June 20, 1946 | Mortgage | Richard M. Gilman and Donald L. Spaulding of Billerica | Middlesex County National Bank, Everett | 1946: Gilman and Spaulding mortgage | 1046/197 |
To secure $2,500 in monthly installments, the same lot "with the buildings thereon", including "all portable or sectional buildings, heating apparatus", oil burners, gas and oil and electric fixtures and the like.
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| February 15, 1957 | Deed | Richard M. Gilman of Bedford | Donald L. Spaulding of Billerica | 1957: Gilman to Spaulding | 1363/334 |
With quitclaim covenants, consideration less than $100, the same 57-foot lot "with the buildings thereon", "Being all and the same premises conveyed to me and the said Donald L. Spaulding, as tenants in common, by Edward Thommen by his deed dated June 17, 1946", Book 1046 Page 196. Acknowledged Dec. 27, 1956. The garage then ran as Spaulding General Auto and Truck Repair (Spaulding's Garage, 439 Boston Road, in 1957).
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| September 14, 1961 | Deed | Donald L. Spaulding of Billerica (Mary L. Spaulding releasing dower and homestead) | Earl R., Thomas W. and Evelyn Musgrave, co-partners as the Billerica Center Company | 1961: Spaulding to the Billerica Center Company | 1528/462 |
With quitclaim covenants, for consideration paid, "the land in said Billerica with all the buildings thereon", the same 57-foot lot at the Gregg wall (130 feet by Gregg, 21 and 117 feet by Burton), "Intending and hereby conveying all and the same premises to me conveyed by Richard M. Gilman by his deed dated December 27, 1956". Dated Sept. 14, 1961. The Musgraves ran Musgrave's Tower Farm on the other side of Boston Road.
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| March 20, 1970 | Deed | Earl R., Thomas W. and Evelyn Musgrave, co-partners d/b/a Billerica Center Company | Mobil Oil Corporation of New York | 1970: Lot A to Mobil Oil Corporation | 1916/215 |
For $35,000, with quitclaim covenants, "all that certain parcel of land with the buildings and improvements thereon", Lot A on "Plan of Land in Billerica, Mass. Surveyed for Mobil Oil Corp." (Emmons, Fleming & Bienvenu, Feb. 1970, Plan Book 110 Plan 59), 4,864 square feet: 133.21 feet by Lot B, 20.90 feet, 119.84 feet and 57.97 feet on Boston Road; "For grantors' title, reference is made to deed to the grantors from Donald L. Spaulding dated September 14, 1961", Book 1528 Page 462. With Lot B, bought the same day, it became the site of the 1971 Mobil station.
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| September 8, 2010 | Deed | ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, successor to Mobil Oil Corporation | Global Companies LLC of Waltham | 2010: ExxonMobil to Global Companies LLC | 24249/1 |
For $1,769,000 (four stations in Billerica, Chelmsford and Tewksbury), with quitclaim covenants, "the land together with the buildings, structures, fixtures, equipment, tanks and improvements located thereon": in Billerica, Lots A and B on the February 1970 Mobil plan (Plan Book 110 Plan 59), "Being the same property conveyed to ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, formerly known as Mobil Oil Corporation", Book 1916 Pages 215 and 217. The deed reserves a repurchase right and requires slab-on-grade building and vapor barriers because of petroleum contamination. Global Companies LLC (Global) still owns the station.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted; Probate # is a Middlesex probate case, Ctf a Land Court certificate of title.