James Abbott House
James Abbott House
| Also Known As | Jonathan Bowers' House |
| Address | 432 Boston Rd |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.23 |
| Built | 1796 |
| Owners |
Henry Baldwin
(1818 - 1846)
Jasper F. Bruce (1881 - 1925) |
| Tenants | |
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Billerica Motor Sales (1944 - 1944)
Mazmanian Rugs (1968 - 1970) Beauty Creators Of Billerica (1985 - 1985) Center Cafe (1994 - 2025) J.T. Inc. (2014 - 2015) |
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| Other Lot Structures |
T.F. Lyons Post Office
(Built 1900)
Old BATV Building (Built 1950) |
The house at 432 Boston Road stands on the east side of the Common, one lot south of the corner of Andover Road (the old Sheldon's Lane). It has long been called the James Abbott House and dated to 1796, but the deeds tell a different story: James Abbott, the merchant and representative, owned the corner lot next door to the north (later the Fletcher Hotel) from 1797 to 1798 and again from 1803 to 1809, but he never owned this one. The deeds do not name a builder. They show that buildings stood here by March 1818, and that from 1818 to 1925 this was the home and store of the Baldwin and Bruce families.
The land was part of the homestead east of the Common that Golden More gave his son-in-law Caleb Farley in 1698, and that the Farleys sold to Joshua Abbott in 1714, bounded west by the county road and north by "the road leading to Andover". In 1757 Joshua Abbot sold thirty acres here, between Long Street and East Street, to his son Oliver Abbot, a trader. When Oliver Abbot died early in 1796, the appraisers valued "the mantion House" at $750 and described the homestead of eight acres as bounded "Westerly by the meeting House common & by land of Charles Hammock", the corner he had sold the year before. In June 1797 the probate court settled the whole homestead on his daughter Dorcas, who "appears to take the same on herself", because dividing it would be "prejudicial to the premises". Dorcas was the wife of Jonathan Bowers, who became Billerica's first postmaster on October 7, 1797. That is the likely source of the house's other name, "Jonathan Bowers' House", and of the tradition that the first post office was here; the deeds show the Bowers family owned this land from 1797 to 1810, but they do not say where the office stood. Jonathan Bowers died in 1804, leaving his widow the use of half his real estate and the rest to their son Alexander. Oliver Abbot's mansion house itself more likely stood further south: Hazen places him at what was later Paul Hill's place.
In 1810 Alexander and Dorcas Bowers sold "a certain messuage and parcel of land near the meeting house", running south from the town house lot along the road, to George Bruce of Boston, merchant. On March 11, 1818 Bruce sold the north end of it, "three fourths of an acre ... with all the buildings thereon", six rods and twenty links (112 feet) along the great road and bounded north by the widow Lucy H. Foster's tavern lot, to the brothers John Baldwin and Henry Baldwin for $1,150. That frontage is the same 112.20 feet the lot still has. Since the buildings first appear in this deed, they were probably put up by Bruce, a merchant, between 1810 and 1818. The rest of Bruce's land, thirteen acres to the south and east, went to Fitch Tufts in 1827; the 1853 map's "F. Tufts" belongs to that land, not to this lot.
In 1836 John Baldwin released his half to his brother for $4,000, and Henry Baldwin, a trader, kept store here until he died in 1846. His will left his widow Anne "my house, store, out buildings & land under & adjoining them" for life, and then to their three sons. Henry A. Baldwin left his share to his mother in 1853, and by 1881 the surviving son, Samuel W. Baldwin, held the whole. His will, probated in March 1881, left it to Jasper F. Bruce, the merchant whose store Hazen places "east of the common". Bruce's 1881 mortgage describes "a dwelling-house & store connected and a barn" on about an acre. In 1896 he leased "the store in the northerly side of my dwelling house" to Fred H. Parker, on condition that no liquor be sold. By 1914 the lot held his house, a grocery and provision store leased to Harry G. Watts, a barber shop, and a small building "now occupied by T. F. Lyons as a Post Office", the T.F. Lyons Post Office.
After Bruce's death his trustee sold the house lot, 34,325 square feet as shown on a 1925 plan "belonging to Cordelia Bruce", to A. Warren Stearns in December 1925 for $8,500. Stearns conveyed it in 1932 to the Billerica Trust Company, which had its banking rooms here; in 1944 the bank shared the buildings with the Billerica Motor Sales Company. The bank, which had by then closed its Billerica office, deeded the property back to Stearns and his wife Frances in September 1945. After A. Warren Stearns died in 1959, the property stayed in the family until 1993, when it was sold to a real estate trust; it was sold again in 1997 and is a commercial building today. Later tenants included Mazmanian Rugs and the Center Cafe.
References
- MACRIS BIL.23
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 349: first post office Oct. 7, 1797, Jonathan Bowers postmaster; Genealogical Register, Abbot 3 and Bowers 5
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1698 | Deed | Golden More (Moore) | Caleb Farley Sr. | 1698: Golden More gives his homestead east of the Common to Caleb Farley | 12/242 (South) |
For love of "my Son in Law Caleb ffarley Senr" and 20 pounds to be paid to More's creditors, all his land, housing, malt house, orchard and town right, "particularly all my homestead whereon my dwelling house stands with all ye building upon it, and ye orchard," with his meadows on the Shawshin River, the further Great Meadow and Mill Swamp. Farley must keep "his aged ffather in Law" for life: meat, drink, clothing, a horse, a room and firewood in More's house or his own, three barrels of cider a year, the fruit of one pear tree and two apple trees, and half an acre of the orchard to plant. More had daughters but no son; Hazen notes the 1660 horse sheds stood by "Goldinge More's barn," which was on Paul Hill's land. Billerica town book 1, pages 247-249.
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| 1714 | Deed | Ebenezer Farley and Elizabeth Farley | Joshua Abbott | 1714: the Farleys sell the More homestead to Joshua Abbot | 30/516 (South) |
For 150 pounds, "One Messuage or Tenement" bounded west by the County Road, north by the road leading to Andover, east by Deacon Sheldon and south by Joshua Abbott's own land, "with all the Buildings, Fences and Trees," plus 18 acres on the highway from William Patten's to Joseph Davis's, 38 1/2 acres by the Great Swamp, 37 acres in the second range east of the swamp and meadow near Prospect Hill. Ebenezer was Caleb Farley Sr.'s son. Acknowledged 1714, recorded 1730. Abbott had already bought William Patten's old 7 acres, bounded north by Ebenezer Farley, from Kendal Patten in 1710 (same book, page 236). Billerica town book 3, pages 237-239.
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| February 11, 1762 | Deed | Joshua Abbot, cordwainer, and Dorcas Abbot | Oliver Abbot, retailer | 1757: Joshua Abbot sells 30 acres east of the Common to his son Oliver | 59/357 (South) |
For 270 pounds, about 30 acres "near the Meeting house," from a stone at the southwest corner easterly by David Abbot, northeasterly by marked trees and the grantor's land, north by Samuel Sheldon "to the highway called East Street," then westerly by East Street "to the highway called Long Street," then southward by Long Street "and the Commons" to the first bound, "with all the Buildings thereon." Signed April 26, 1757. East Street was the street granted to Golden More. Hazen's 1776 tax list places Oliver Abbot at "Paul Hill's place, east of Common." Billerica town book 8, pages 19-21.
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| 1796 | Administration | Estate of Oliver Abbot of Billerica, trader | Simon Winship of Lexington, miller, administrator; heirs Abigail Abbot (widow), Joanna Winship, Dorcas Bowers, Abigail Abbot Jr. and Elizabeth Abbot | 1796-97: Oliver Abbot's homestead is settled on his daughter Dorcas Bowers | Probate #49 |
Oliver Abbot died intestate early in 1796, months after selling the corner half acre. His heirs asked on April 28, 1796 that Simon Winship of Lexington administer. The inventory of May 27, 1796 values "A Dwelling House" at $700 and "The homsted called 26 acres Bounded Westerly on the meeting house common and the County Road leading to Boston, Southerly on Mr David Abbots land and Easterly on Benj. Abbots & Josiah Bowerses Land And Northerly on the Road leading to Andover", divided by the fences into three lots, "The north lot taking in the Buildings" being nine acres. The hotel corner was the northwest corner of this homestead; the rest of the north lot passed to the heirs, among them Dorcas Bowers, later an abutter on the east and south.
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| June 5, 1804 | Will | Estate of Jonathan Bowers Jr. of Billerica, gentleman | His widow Dorcas Bowers (use of half the real estate while a widow); his son Alexander Bowers (residue) | 1804: will of postmaster Jonathan Bowers, husband of Dorcas (Abbot) Bowers | Probate #2293 |
Will dated July 8, 1799, made when he was "bound to sea": to "my beloved wife Dorcas Bowers, the improvement of the one half of all my Real Estate" while she remained his widow, and a third of the personal estate; to "my son Alexander Bowers & to his heirs & assigns forever all the residue". Executors Isaac Stearns Esq. and Alexander Bowers; witnesses Isaac Wilkins, Elizabeth Abbot, Nancy Simonds. Proved at Concord June 5, 1804. Jonathan Bowers, Billerica's first postmaster (appointed Oct. 7, 1797), had married Oliver Abbot's daughter Dorcas, who took her father's homestead in 1797; mother and son joined in selling it to George Bruce in 1810.
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| April 7, 1810 | Deed | Alexander Bowers of Charlestown and Dorcas Bowers of Boston, widow | George Bruce of Boston, merchant | 1810: Alexander and Dorcas Bowers sell the Abbot homestead to George Bruce | 187/213 (South) |
For $2,000, "a certain messuage and parcel of land situate in Billerica ... near the meeting house," beginning at the southwest corner by the highway from Chelmsford to Boston at the wall by the grantors' other land, northerly on the highway 29 6/10 rods to land of the town, then by courses of 32 2/10, 25 8/10 and 26 rods back; also the third wall pew in the meeting house. Signed April 6, 1810. Dorcas was Oliver Abbot's daughter (m. 1783 Jonathan Bowers); Oliver's estate passed through her (see the 1798-1803 Abbot estate releases to J. Bowers, S 130/55, 133/30, 152/503). Billerica town book 10, pages 515-517.
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| January 29, 1819 | Deed | George Bruce of Billerica, merchant | John Baldwin and Henry Baldwin, both of Billerica, gentlemen | 1818: George Bruce sells the three-quarter acre "with all the buildings" to John and Henry Baldwin | 225/500 (South) |
Billerica town book 12, pages 83-84. Dated March 11, 1818. For $1,150, "a certain tract of land situate in Billerica aforesaid containing three fourths of an acre be it more or less with all the buildings thereon", beginning at the northwest corner and running by the great road "six rods and twenty links" (112.2 feet, the same frontage as the 1925 plan), then easterly by the grantor's land 18 rods 10 links to a stone wall, then northerly "as the wall now stands" six rods 20 links "to land owned or lately owned by widow Lucy H. Foster" (the tavern lot at the corner of Sheldon's Lane), then westerly 17 rods 16 links to the first corner. No title recital; the lot was cut from the Bowers land Bruce bought in 1810. The 1925 trustee's deed recites this deed as the root of the title.
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| October 8, 1827 | Deed | William Bruce, Charles Bruce, Hannah Upton, Abigail Bruce and Martha B. Wait | Fitch Tufts of Boston, distiller | 1827: the Bruce heirs sell the land south and east of this lot to Fitch Tufts | 277/218 (South) |
For $3,400, "a tract of land situate in Billerica aforesaid near the meeting house containing about thirteen acres ... with all the buildings thereon," bounded westerly by the highway from the meeting house to Boston, southerly by Col. John Parker, easterly by land formerly of Nahum Baldwin, northerly by the heirs of Capt. Josiah Bowers, Asa Richardson and John and Henry Baldwin; also the third wall pew. Signed June 6, 1827 by the heirs of George Bruce. Billerica town book 11, pages 508-509.
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| November 29, 1836 | Quitclaim | John Baldwin of Billerica, Esquire (Clarissa Baldwin releasing dower) | Henry Baldwin of Billerica, gentleman | 1836: John Baldwin releases his half of the house and store lot to Henry Baldwin | 357/403 (South) |
Billerica town book 15, pages 303-304. Dated Nov. 4, 1836. For $4,000, John Baldwin releases "one undivided half of a certain lot of land situate in said Billerica on the easterly side of the common containing three fourths of an acre more or less with all the buildings thereon": by the great road six rods twenty links, easterly "by land of Fitch Tufts" 18 rods 10 links to a stone wall, northerly six rods 20 links "to land of Lyman Haynes" (the tavern stand), westerly by Haynes 17 rods 16 links; also half of the 39-acre Nahum Baldwin Pasture. The preceding instrument (town book 15, pages 301-302) is Henry's reciprocal release to John of other lands the brothers held together. From 1836 Henry Baldwin owned the lot alone.
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| June 30, 1846 | Will | Estate of Henry Baldwin of Billerica, trader | His widow Anne Baldwin for life, then his sons Henry A., Samuel W. and George F. Baldwin | 1846: Henry Baldwin leaves his "house, store" to his widow for life, then to his three sons | Probate #26760 |
Will dated May 18, 1846, proved June 30, 1846: "I give bequeath & devise to my wife Anne Baldwin my house, store, out buildings & land under & adjoining them, also all my farm, being about forty acres ... during her natural life, & at her decease, to my three children, to be equally divided between them." Executors Augustus Whiting of Charlestown and Henry A. Baldwin, who might sell "the Old Town house (so called)" and the Lowell lots. The inventory (appraisers Dudley Foster, Lyman Haynes, Gardner Parker) lists "The Homestead of said deceased situate in said Billerica" at $3,360 and the "Town house lot and building" at $550. George F., a minor, chose his mother as guardian (probate 26757).
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| June 30, 1846 | Guardianship | George F. Baldwin, minor above fourteen, son of Henry Baldwin late of Billerica, trader | His mother Anne Baldwin of Billerica, widow, guardian | 1846: guardianship of George F. Baldwin, one of the three remaindermen | Probate #26757 |
On June 27, 1846 George F. Baldwin chose his mother as guardian (before Marshall Preston); she was appointed June 30, 1846 with Harriet Whiting and Henry A. Baldwin as sureties ($2,000 bond). George F. was one of the three sons to whom the house and store passed after his mother's life estate.
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| May 17, 1853 | Will | Estate of Henry A. Baldwin of Billerica | His mother Anne Baldwin (residue); his brother Samuel W. Baldwin ($50) | 1853: Henry A. Baldwin's third of the house and store goes to his mother | Probate #26761 |
Will dated Oct. 4, 1852 (witnesses Fred. Dickinson, Mathew Casey, Mary Casey), proved at Cambridge May 17, 1853, executor Dr. Augustus Whiting of Charlestown: $100 to his aunt Harriet Whiting, $50 to "my brother Samuel W. Baldwin", and "to my dear mother Anne Baldwin all the remainder of my estate of every description both real & personal", which included his third of the remainder in the house and store under his father's will.
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| May 20, 1881 | Mortgage | Jasper F. Bruce of Billerica, trader (Cordelia Bruce releasing dower and homestead) | Moses P. Greenwood of Billerica | 1881: Jasper F. Bruce, heir of Samuel W. Baldwin, mortgages the "dwelling-house & store connected" | 145/358 |
Dated April 21, 1881. For $1,500 in three years at 5 1/2 percent, "a certain parcel of land situated in the centre of said Billerica with a dwelling-house & store connected and a barn upon the same": from the southwest corner at land of Paul Hill on the Boston road, east and north by Hill to Mrs. Mary Casey, west by Casey "and land now or formerly of Albert R. Richardson" (the hotel lot) to the road, and by the road to the first bound, "containing about one acre more or less, being the same premises bequeathed to me by the late Samuel W. Baldwin, in his last will, Probated at Cambridge Middlesex County, March 15th 1881." Discharged in 1896 (Book 278 Page 478).
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| July 20, 1896 | Lease | Jasper F. Bruce of Billerica | Fred H. Parker of Billerica | 1896: Bruce leases the store on the north side of his dwelling house | 277/104 |
Dated June 1, 1896. Bruce leases "the store in the northerly side of my dwelling house on Main Street in said Billerica and also the cellar under the whole of said dwelling house" (except the part under the kitchen), with the barn and shed connected with the house and the right to draw water from the well, for five years (renewable for five more) at $15 a month, "on the condition that no intoxicating liquors are to be sold on the premises".
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| July 16, 1900 | Mortgage | Jasper F. Bruce of Billerica | First Orthodox Congregational Society in Billerica | 1900: Bruce mortgages the place to the Orthodox Congregational Society | 321/114 |
For $700 in one year at 6 percent, the same one-acre parcel (Paul Hill south and east, Mary Casey and the former Albert R. Richardson land north, the Boston road west), "being the same premises bequeathed to me by Samuel W. Baldwin late of said Billerica deceased in his last will which was probated at Cambridge ... in March 15, 1881". Discharged (Book 412 Page 163).
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| March 20, 1915 | Lease | Jasper F. Bruce of Billerica | Harry G. Watts of Billerica | 1914: Bruce leases the grocery store; T. F. Lyons's post office and a barber shop also on the lot | 535/329 |
Dated May 1, 1914, for ten years from Jan. 1, 1912 at $264 a year: "that portion of the premises now occupied as a grocery and provision store in the building owned by the said Bruce", with the barn, storehouses and sheds and the land behind, "on the easterly side of the Common in Billerica (Centre)", Bruce keeping a clothes yard "at the rear of his present home". Watts had options on "the building between the store house and street ... now occupied by J. F. Verner as a barber shop" and "the building between the said store house and street now occupied by T. F. Lyons as a Post Office" when those tenancies ended. The 1925 deed is subject to this lease.
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| December 11, 1925 | Trustee's Deed | Harry W. Conant of Boston, trustee under a Middlesex Probate decree of Nov. 24, 1925 to convey the real estate of Jasper F. Bruce, late of West Windham, N.H., deceased | A. Warren Stearns of Billerica | 1925: Jasper F. Bruce's trustee sells the house lot to A. Warren Stearns | 731/507 |
Dated Dec. 1, 1925. For $8,500, "A certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated on the East side of the Common in Billerica Center": from a stone bound on Boston Road at land of Knox, south along the 1917 County Commissioners' street line 112.20 feet, east by S. A. Bull "by an iron pipe fence and stone wall" 310.25 feet, north by Bull 112.20 feet, west by Nancy A. Evans heirs and Knox 291.61 feet, 34,325 square feet, as shown on the plan "belonging to Cordelia Bruce" surveyed Oct. 16, 1925 by John Thomas Brown (Plan Book 47 Plan 100, recorded herewith), "being the same premises described in deed of George Bruce to John and Henry Baldwin, dated March 11, 1818" (Middlesex South Book 225 Page 500). Subject to "any outstanding lease given by Jasper F. Bruce to Harry G. Watts".
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| May 4, 1932 | Quitclaim | A. Warren Stearns of Billerica (Frances M. Stearns releasing dower and homestead) | Billerica Trust Company | 1932: Stearns conveys the building to the Billerica Trust Company | 813/46 |
Dated March 29, 1932. "For consideration paid", the land "with the buildings thereon, situated on the east side of the Common in Billerica Center", the same 34,325 square feet (Knox, S. A. Bull, Nancy A. Evans heirs; Plan Book 47 Plan 100), "being the same premises conveyed to me by the Trustee of Jasper F. Bruce ... by deed dated December 1, 1925", subject to a mortgage to the B. F. Butler Co-operative Bank (Book 776 Page 144). The bank, which had opened in the building in 1929, now held title.
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| October 17, 1945 | Quitclaim | Billerica Trust Company, "formerly having a place of business in Billerica", by Everett R. Brigham, treasurer | A. Warren Stearns and Frances J. (M.) Stearns, husband and wife, of Billerica | 1945: the bank, closed, reconveys the building to the Stearnses; later owners summarized | 1031/159 |
Dated Sept. 28, 1945. "Without any money consideration", the land "with the buildings thereon, situated on the east side of the Common in Billerica Center", the same 34,325 square feet (Plan Book 47 Plan 100), being the premises Stearns conveyed to the bank in 1932. The directors' vote of Oct. 24, 1944 describes "the land and buildings on Boston Road ... occupied by the Billerica Trust Company and the Billerica Motor Sales Company, Inc." Later transfers (not separate rows): Dr. Stearns died Sept. 24, 1959; his widow Frances M. Stearns sold to a family member in 1972 (Book 2032 Page 728, $70,000), who sold "430 and 432 Boston Road" to D & D Realty Trust in 1993 (Book 6604 Page 39, $250,000); D & D Realty Trust sold to J & T Realty Trust in 1997 (Book 8550 Page 215, $450,000), the owner in 2024.
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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.