Shawsheen River
Shawsheen River
The Shawsheen River runs north through the eastern part of Billerica, the smaller and quieter of the town's two rivers. It rises near Hanscom Field on the Bedford and Lincoln line ("from its rise in Lincoln," as Henry A. Hazen put it) and flows about twenty-seven miles through Bedford, Billerica, Wilmington, Tewksbury and Andover to the Merrimack River at Lawrence. It enters Billerica from Bedford in the town's southern corner, where the Middlesex Turnpike Bridge crosses it at the town line, and winds north through wide meadows east of the Center, past Pinehurst, where Boston Road crosses on the Boston Road Bridge over the Shawsheen River, and the neighborhoods of Riverdale, Riverbank Terrace, Shawsheen Pines and The Pines, then along Cook Street and through the town forest lands of East Billerica. Near the Wilmington line it is crossed by the Whipple Road Bridge, the Lowell Railroad Bridge over the Shawsheen River and the Salem Road Bridge over the Shawsheen River beside the stone piers of the Shawsheen Aqueduct, and it passes into Tewksbury. Hazen wrote that "the Shawshin winds dreamily through its meadows on the east." Its Billerica tributaries include Webb Brook and Heath Brook, and Content Brook, which Hazen says was first called Alewife Brook, and Strong Water Brook join it below the town; Vine Brook comes in above, in Bedford. The United States Geological Survey keeps a stream gauge on the river beside the aqueduct.
The river gave its name to the town before Billerica had one. The territory granted to Cambridge in the 1640s was called Shawshin, and the town kept that name until 1655. John Farmer found the forms "Shawshinock, or Billerica" in the records and "Souhegenock river" on an old plan, and the river has been written Shawshin, Shawshine, Shawshene and, in the town reports since the 1880s, Shawsheen. The meaning of the name is uncertain; Bailey's history of Andover gives it as "great spring." The petitioners of Woburn in the 1640s asked whether they must keep a mile "fro the place called Shawshin, from whence wee conceave the River hath its Denomination," which suggests the name belonged first to a place. Woburn's grant forbade it to come within a mile of "Shaweshin Ryver," and on May 9, 1644 the General Court, to settle Woburn's west bound, "ordered that the ryver at Shawshin shalbe called by the name of Shawshin Ryver, not only belowe, but also above the riveret wch falls into said ryver in Wooburne bounds," that is, above the mouth of Vine Brook.
The "Shawshin house" of the 1642 survey stood on the river in what is now Bedford, probably where Vine Brook comes in. The grant to Cambridge of June 1642 covered "all the land lying upon Shaweshin Ryver, & between that & Concord Ryver, & between that & Merrimack Ryver," and the river shaped the town's bounds: the line with Woburn was run "not to come within a mile of Shawshin riuer," a controversy settled by the survey of Jonathan Danforth, whose line is still the west line of Burlington and the east line of Tewksbury. Along the river lay the great farms granted by Cambridge before the settlement, among them the Church Farm, the College Farm, President Dunster's farm and the Champney and Daniel farms, known together as the Shawshin farms. The settlers prized its meadows above all. The second division of meadow, in 1658, began on the river below the College Farm at a place called the "willow spang" and ran in twenty-four lots on both sides of the river nearly to Strongwater Brook, and the third, the same year, went on down the river to Andover bounds; Shawshin meadow lots appear in Billerica deeds and wills for two hundred years. The road to Woburn crossed it near the Church Farm, where in March 1660 John Parker was appointed to oversee "the work about the bridge and easway at Shawshin," and in 1664 a highway was laid out from the Andover road "to Shawshin Riuer," the present road through Pattenville.
There was water power at the falls of the river in the part that became Bedford. Timothy Brooks owned the mill there in 1675, it was known as Bacon's mill by 1707, and later, under Benjamin Fitch, as Fitch's mill; the road now called Lexington Road was long the road to Bacon's mill or Fitch's mill. A sawmill stood on the river near the canal aqueduct in 1800. The upper river and the falls went to Bedford when that town was incorporated in 1729, the lower river went to Tewksbury in 1734, and a corner east of the river was given to Wilmington soon after that town was incorporated in 1730, leaving Billerica the middle course of the river. The Middlesex Canal crossed it on the Shawsheen Aqueduct, first built of wood about 1797 and rebuilt in stone in 1817 and 1841, and the Boston and Lowell Railroad crossed it in 1835 on a stone arch that still carries the trains.
In the twentieth century the river was valued for its meadows and woods. A special town meeting in 1922 was asked to remove "the obstructions from the channel of the Shawsheen River between the Middlesex Turnpike bridge and the Billerica and Bedford Railroad bridge," and voted to take no action. In 1925 Edgar P. Sellew gave the town about twenty acres of meadow on the river beside Boston Road and Nathaniel R. Jones seventy-five acres of upland and meadow about a mile below Boston Road, "to form the beginning of a Riverside Reservation System" in the town forest. The Jones gift is now the Jones Town Forest, Sellew Park at Riverdale keeps the Sellew name, and the Shaloo Meadow Town Forest, Akeson Field and Shawsheen Woods lie on the river as well. Articles of 1929 to 1935 to build a bathing beach at the Pinehurst bridge were not carried out. In the March 1936 flood the Concord and Shawsheen overflowed and covered many highways with two feet of water, and in the March 2010 flood the Shawsheen overflowed Boston Road in Pinehurst at the Paul Newman Bridge and closed Brown Street and Cook Street.
As the towns along it filled with houses after the Second World War, the river suffered. In 1964 and 1965 Billerica's Conservation Commission met with Bedford's and the other towns of the Shawsheen River basin about "the pollution and encroachment problem," and in 1966 the Legislature, at the commission's request, authorized the state Water Resources Commission to set flood plain encroachment lines on the Shawsheen. In 1966 the Burlington Water and Sewer District took easements on the river in Billerica "for the building of a dam and reservoir," and in 1973 the commission protested Burlington's taking of water from the river to fill its reservoir. The town's sewer interceptor and the Shawsheen River Sewage Pumping Station were built along the river through the Jones lot of the town forest in 1977 and 1978, bringing sewers to Pinehurst and the Shawsheen valley; by 2000 state officials believed that the watershed was drying up for lack of the recharge that septic systems had provided. Upstream, runoff from Hanscom Field reaches the river by Elm Brook. A canoe launch was built at Akeson Field in 2000, the town has bought riverside parcels off Bellflower Road, on Riverbank Terrace for the Robbins Conservation Area of 2016, and at the end of Sheridan Street, where a second canoe and kayak launch was being designed in the 2020s, and it works with the Shawsheen River Watershed Association on the river's care.
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1663 | Will | Ralph Hill Sr. of Billerica, yeoman | Nathaniel Hill, his son (and Jonathan Hill, son, and Margaret Hill, widow) | Names the Shawsheen River: ...ng Meadow and Little Round Meadow and the slips of meadow adjoining, half the meadow bought of Edward Oakes at Shawshin River, an acre in Concord River meadow and half of all later divisions of land. "My son Jonathan Hill ... | Probate #11502 |
Will dated November 18, 1662, "being weak in body but of perfect memory." To his wife Margaret a third part of all his housing, lands and meadows in Billerica for life, a bed, a cow of her choosing and swine. His son Ralph to have 23 pounds from the land bought at Woburn, the rest of his portion; daughter Martha 20 pounds; daughter Rebecca 30 pounds; granddaughters Mary Littlefield 15 pounds and Elizabeth Hill 20 shillings; to his son-in-law Roger Toothaker thirty-three and a half acres in the common field. "My son Nathaniell shall have that parcell of land lying towards Concord which is two half lotts (so called) and bounded as the land ... was exchanged with Benjamin Parker, which is in lieu of land laid to me by the town for highways," with all his meadow in Long Meadow and Little Round Meadow and the slips of meadow adjoining, half the meadow bought of Edward Oakes at Shawshin River, an acre in Concord River meadow and half of all later divisions of land. "My son Jonathan Hill shall have all the rest of my lands and houses with the appurtenances to them belonging," reserving to Nathaniel one third of the improvable land until he has broken up and fenced land of his own. Sons Nathaniel and Jonathan executors; William Tay and John Parker overseers. Signed by mark, witnessed by George Farley and John Parker, who swore to it at Billerica in 1663 before Capt. Gookin; entered and recorded at Cambridge, lib. 2, p. 153, by Thomas Danforth. Ralph Hill died April 29, 1663. The will gives Nathaniel bare land with no buildings, so the house on the site was built by Nathaniel after 1663 (he married in 1667) and was standing by 1706. Middlesex probate case 11502.
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| October 13, 1680 | Execution (levy on the Bird homestead) | Henry Jefts, administrator of Simon Bird (by the county marshal, on executions for legacies) | Legatees of Simon Bird: Mary (Danforth) Parker, Mary Brewer, widow Buttolph, Mrs. Mary Danforth of Roxbury, John Wilson of Medfield, the Church of Christ in Billerica and Samuel Whiting | Names the Shawsheen River: ...ounded "east by the highway, west by the great river," eight poles wide; John Wilson of Medfield meadow on the Shawshin; the church and Samuel Whiting smaller parcels. Henry Jefts kept the south part of the house lot. Bill ... | 8/182 (South) |
Warrants of Aug. 11, 1680, levied Aug. 17 and entered Oct. 13, 1680 "upon the land which Symon Bird dyed seized of" to pay the legacies of his will. Each legatee was set off a strip of the homestead running from the highway to the river, with pieces of meadow: Mary Danforth Jr. alias Parker 1 1/4 acres "of the homestead," two poles wide, bounded north by John Richards and south by Henry Jefts (this record, S. 8/182); Mary Brewer 2 1/2 acres of the homestead and an acre of meadow; the widow Buttolph 2 1/4 acres; Mrs. Mary Danforth of Roxbury "four acres of ye homestead" bounded "east by the highway, west by the great river," eight poles wide; John Wilson of Medfield meadow on the Shawshin; the church and Samuel Whiting smaller parcels. Henry Jefts kept the south part of the house lot. Billerica town book 1, pages 159-165 (the series is recorded at Middlesex South book 8, pages 182-190).
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| 1698 | Deed | Golden More (Moore) | Caleb Farley Sr. | Names the Shawsheen River: ...estead 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: m ... | 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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| March 28, 1715 | Deed of Gift | Capt. Jonathan Danforth of Billerica | Jonathan Danforth Jr., his son | Names the Shawsheen River: ...n Wilson Junr, which Land containes Twenty acres more or less," with the rest of his Andover meadow lot on the Shawshin, 27 acres by Daniel Shed's, five acres north of Shed's house lot, two acres of meadow at Treble Cove, ... | 17/297 (South) |
Dated Jan. 5, 1708/9. "For the love and affection which I have and do bear unto my son Jonathan Danforth," the surveyor gives his son "all my Land that joynes to his Dwelling house, which is bounded Westward and Southward by ye Country Roads, Eastward by the Land of John Dutton and partly by the Land that was John Trulls, North by the Land of John Baldwins and partly by that I sold to John Wilson Junr, which Land containes Twenty acres more or less," with the rest of his Andover meadow lot on the Shawshin, 27 acres by Daniel Shed's, five acres north of Shed's house lot, two acres of meadow at Treble Cove, ten acres of swamp at Gilson's Hill, a 52 acre second division lot, ten acres of Heath Swamp, fifteen acres of pine plain and a five acre town right. Witnesses Oliver Whiting and Samuel Danforth; acknowledged Jan. 7, 1708/9 before Jonathan Tyng; recorded Mar. 28, 1715. The deed shows the son's house already standing on his father's land. Billerica town book 2, pages 6-8.
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| 1714 | Administration and Inventory | Estate of Doct. John Kittredge of Billerica (intestate) | Hannah Kittredge, widow, and John Kittredge, administrators; the heirs | Names the Shawsheen River: ...e buildings upon it," 200 pounds, followed by about 150 acres "northward of strong water brook," meadow on the Shawshin, land on Content Plain and west of the great river, and "half of a sawmill." Receipts of 1715-1716 fro ... | Probate #13373 |
Dr. John Kittredge, son of the first settler, died in April 1714. His widow Hannah and son John gave bond as administrators on June 14, 1714. The inventory of May 17, 1714 (Samuel Walker, Joseph Davis, George Brown) begins "The homestead about fifty acres of land and medow with the buildings upon it," 200 pounds, followed by about 150 acres "northward of strong water brook," meadow on the Shawshin, land on Content Plain and west of the great river, and "half of a sawmill." Receipts of 1715-1716 from the estate's creditors follow. The house lot of the first John Kittredge was ten acres "on ye south-east of bare hill, on ye west side of the country road" (Hazen); by 1738 the Wilsons called this land "our homestead which was formerly John Kittredges." Papers read, pages 2-5.
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| December 15, 1714 | Deed | Samuel Danforth, Thomas Danforth, Mary Parker, Simeon and Elizabeth Hayward, Edward and Lydia Wright, Oliver and Anna Whiting, William and Sarah French | Oliver Whiting Jr. | Names the Shawsheen River: ...he highway from the Country Road to Enoch Kidder's well, with all the buildings; also 4 acres of meadow on the Shawshin River below Alewife Brook. Signed Nov. 29, 1714; recorded Dec. 15, 1714. Billerica town book 1, pages ... | 17/100 (South) |
The children of Jonathan Danforth sell for 230 pounds "one messuage or tenement ... containing about sixty acres ... being the Homestead or house Lot which belonged to our Honored Father Danforth late of said Billerica deceased," bounded east by the Country Road, north by John Baldwin, west by Concord River (excepting a bridle highway by the river), south by Enoch Kidder and partly by the highway from the Country Road to Enoch Kidder's well, with all the buildings; also 4 acres of meadow on the Shawshin River below Alewife Brook. Signed Nov. 29, 1714; recorded Dec. 15, 1714. Billerica town book 1, pages 561-564.
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| July 14, 1724 | Quitclaim | Thomas, Jonathan, Samuel Jr., Jacob, Elizabeth, Sarah, Nicholas and John Danforth, and Thomas and Rebecca Parker | Oliver Whiting Jr. | Names the Shawsheen River: ...ng to the butts and bounds of the same in Billerica Town Book of Records," plus about 5 acres of meadow on the Shawshin River. Signed Nov. 22, 1715; acknowledged 1716 to 1724; recorded July 14, 1724. Billerica town book 2, ... | 24/47 (South) |
Grandchildren of Jonathan Danforth release for 29 pounds 10 shillings their interest in "the Homestead or House Lott which belonged to our Honoured Grandfather Danforth of said Billerica deceased," about 60 acres "according to the butts and bounds of the same in Billerica Town Book of Records," plus about 5 acres of meadow on the Shawshin River. Signed Nov. 22, 1715; acknowledged 1716 to 1724; recorded July 14, 1724. Billerica town book 2, pages 513-515.
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| 1718 | Administration, Inventory and Dower Agreement | Estate of Nathaniel Patten of Billerica (1668-1718), intestate | Hannah Patten, widow and administratrix (later Hannah Emerson), and their sons Nathaniel and John Patten | Names the Shawsheen River: ...t in the first part of the 2d division"; four acres on Rocky Hill; "about ninety acres of upland and meadow at Shawshin River" at 140 pounds; a hundred acres at Heath Swamp; thirty-one acres on Recompense Plain; thirty-two ... | Probate #17020 |
Nathaniel Patten died early in 1718. On May 12, 1718 his widow gave bond as administratrix, with Thomas Patten and Thomas Ross. The inventory taken April 23, 1718 by Ephraim Kidder, Enoch Kidder and George Brown lists "the homestead about fifty acres of upland and meadow with the buildings" at 240 pounds; thirty-one acres "part of the first lot in the first part of the 2d division"; four acres on Rocky Hill; "about ninety acres of upland and meadow at Shawshin River" at 140 pounds; a hundred acres at Heath Swamp; thirty-one acres on Recompense Plain; thirty-two acres west of the great river; and swamp lots; with a weaver's loom among the goods. On May 18, 1733 Hannah Emerson, "the Relict Widow of Nathaniel Patton," then wife of Joseph Emerson of Haverhill, agreed with her sons Nathaniel and John Patten on her thirds: "the West end of the Dwelling house throughout," the west end of the barn, most of the orchard south of the house and the pasture from "William French southwest corner of his Houselot (which is a Great Rock by the Highway)," part of the field east of the house by John Marshall, "Six Acres of medow at Shawshin River, lying on the Westerly side of the River ... where the two sons agreed upon a line between themselves," and the Recompense Plain lot; acknowledged May 21 and Oct. 19, 1733 and recorded at the court's order (lib. 19, pp. 392-393). The fifty-acre homestead with William French and John Marshall as neighbours was on Allen Road, not Salem Road; the ninety acres at Shawshin River, divided by the two sons, is where the Salem Road house stands, and the eighteen acres Nathaniel sold John the same month (town book 3, pages 451-453) adjoined "said Pattens own land." Middlesex probate case 17020.
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| March 27, 1738 | Gift | Thomas Richardson of Billerica | His son Jonathan Richardson of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...and my own land on the north side of my house"; meadow at the mouth of Strong Water Brook on both sides of the Shawshin bought of Capt. Joseph Tompson; his swamp and meadow in Heath Swamp (reserving seven acres); and two a ... | 39/1 (South) |
"For the Love and affection which I have and do bear unto my son Jonathan Richardson," several parcels: "one parcel of land lying on the northward of said Jonathan's house containing about seven acres ... which I bought of the Town"; one acre of swamp or meadow "lying between Thomas Ross his Pasture and my own land on the north side of my house"; meadow at the mouth of Strong Water Brook on both sides of the Shawshin bought of Capt. Joseph Tompson; his swamp and meadow in Heath Swamp (reserving seven acres); and two acres of meadow on Content Brook "a little above the old saw mill," reserving to himself liberty to set up a saw mill; valued at 57 pounds "in part of his portion in my Estate." Dated 1717/18; recorded March 1738. Billerica town book 4, pages 180-181 (Southern Registry Book 39 Page 1). The deed shows that Jonathan's house already stood on the corner lot by 1717/18.
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| 1732 | Deed | John Baldwin of Billerica, yeoman (1665-1736), and Sarah his wife | William Baldwin of Billerica, husbandman, his son | Names the Shawsheen River: ...Chelmsford line; four acres 144 poles in the Great Swamp; and a quarter of four acres of Andover Meadow on the Shawshin. Billerica town book 4, pages 99-101 (Southern Registry Book 38 Page 74). The other half went the same ... | 38/74 (South) |
Dated March 30, 1732 (5 Geo. II), acknowledged Jan. 8, 1734/5 before Oliver Whiting, recorded 1737. For 362 pounds 10 shillings, "the one half of my now dwelling House and the one half of my Barn and one half of several peices or Tracts of Land," first a piece "containing by estimation Two acres ... on the easterly side of the County Road where my now dwelling House now standeth," bounded westerly on the road, northerly on Thomas Kidder, easterly on land formerly Jonathan Danforth's and south on Danforth's land; also half of 40 acres of plow land and meadow opposite, bounded easterly on the County Road, northerly on Joshua Abbot, westerly on Concord River and southerly on Oliver Whiting; half of nine acres by Thomas Dutton and Thomas Kidder; half of 30 acres 32 poles west of Concord River at the Chelmsford line; four acres 144 poles in the Great Swamp; and a quarter of four acres of Andover Meadow on the Shawshin. Billerica town book 4, pages 99-101 (Southern Registry Book 38 Page 74). The other half went the same day to John Baldwin tertius.
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| October 19, 1733 | Deed | Nathaniel Patten Jr. of Billerica, husbandman | His brother John Patten of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...dwins held land north of Salem Road, so this is the east-side land of the brothers' division of their father's Shawsheen River land, adjoining the part John already held. Billerica town book 3, pages 451-453 (also indexed ... | 35/163 (South) |
For 36 pounds paid "by my brother John Patten of Billerica," warranty deed of "One Tract of upland and swamp situate and lying in Billerica aforesaid containing by estimation Eighteen acres be it more or less on the Easterly part of the Town," bounded "by the land of Capt George Brown on the north, on the west by the land of John Baldwin Junr, one the South and East by said Pattens own land"; the north corner a small white oak with stones about it, the west corner a swamp white oak marked, the south and east corners stakes and stones; "excepting a highway upon it." Dated May 21, 1733 (6 Geo. II), witnessed by John Tarbol Jr. and Thomas Hosly, recorded at Cambridge Oct. 19, 1733. Captain George Brown was a partner in the Content Brook saw mill at Pattenville, and the Baldwins held land north of Salem Road, so this is the east-side land of the brothers' division of their father's Shawsheen River land, adjoining the part John already held. Billerica town book 3, pages 451-453 (also indexed under Tewksbury).
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| July 7, 1760 | Deed | John Richardson of Billerica | Samuel Richardson of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: For 221 pounds, "one certain parcel of Land ... lying on the southeast side of Shawshin River a little beneath the College Farm containing Eighty seven acres and a half", bounded by Mr. Samuel Whiting on the east, Samuel C ... | 67/403 (South) |
For 221 pounds, "one certain parcel of Land ... lying on the southeast side of Shawshin River a little beneath the College Farm containing Eighty seven acres and a half", bounded by Mr. Samuel Whiting on the east, Samuel Champney on the west, a meadow on the south, and "at a little Distance from Shawshin Meadow" on the north. No buildings named. Dated Feb. 16, 1732/3, recorded only in 1760. Billerica town book 5, pages 483-485. Probably the first Richardson land here, the "Samuel Richardson Land" that bounded the 1764 Ross farm.
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| October 30, 1744 | Agreement | President and Fellows of Harvard College (Edward Holyoke, Henry Flynt, Nathaniel Appleton, committee) | Jacob Walker of Billerica, yeoman | Names the Shawsheen River: ...parties fixed the line from a rock marked with three C's a little over two rods from the northeast bank of the Shawshin, past "the Close before the said Walker's door," to a hornbeam marked C and W. The copy ends with "A P ... | 44/361 (South) |
Articles of agreement dated Oct. 15, 1744 "with respect to the Easterly bound of the Farm belonging to said College lying in the said Town of Billerica and bordering on the lands of the said Jacob Walker." Earlier plans by Jonathan and Samuel Danforth showed a straight line, but "late renewals" missed by 13 rods "when they come before the said Jacob Walker's house"; the parties fixed the line from a rock marked with three C's a little over two rods from the northeast bank of the Shawshin, past "the Close before the said Walker's door," to a hornbeam marked C and W. The copy ends with "A Plan of a tract of Land lying in Billerica at a Place called Shawshin, belonging to Harvard College ... containing near 230 acres," drawn by Caleb Brooks, surveyor, Sept. 25, 1744. Billerica town book 4, pages 434-437.
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| July 10, 1765 | Gift | William French of Billerica (died by August 1746) | His son William French of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...I had of John Marshall"; also five acres on Fox's Hill laid out to the heirs of "my hond Father John French," Shawshin meadow and two lots at the great swamp in Tewksbury. Dated Jan. 24, 1744/5; proved by the witnesses Wi ... | 63/96 (South) |
"For the Love and affection I have and do bear unto my son William French" and in full of his portion, on condition that the son pay 80 pounds old tenor to his sisters Elizabeth Kidder and Mehetable White within two years of the father's death, several parcels in Billerica and Tewksbury, among them three and a half acres of pasture northwest of the son's dwelling house and "another Parcel of Land lying on the northerly side of Content Brook it containing about twenty acres be it more or less it is the one half of my woodland there and bounded as may appear by my Deed of the same which I had of John Marshall"; also five acres on Fox's Hill laid out to the heirs of "my hond Father John French," Shawshin meadow and two lots at the great swamp in Tewksbury. Dated Jan. 24, 1744/5; proved by the witnesses William French Jr. and Jacob French at the Sessions in Concord in August 1746, the grantor being then dead; recorded July 10, 1765. Billerica town book 6, pages 73-75 (Southern Registry Book 63 Page 96). The twenty acres of woodland north of Content Brook are the land on which the saw mill and house stood by 1766.
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| July 4, 1765 | Deed | Joseph Ross of Billerica, yeoman (Lucy Ross consenting) | Samuel Richardson Jun. of Billerica, husbandman | Names the Shawsheen River: For 146 pounds 13s 4d, "One Messuage or tenement of Land ... on the Southwardly side of Shawshin River containing Eighty eight acres", from a white oak "by the College Farm Line" to the Shawsheen River, by Samuel Richardso ... | 63/84 (South) |
For 146 pounds 13s 4d, "One Messuage or tenement of Land ... on the Southwardly side of Shawshin River containing Eighty eight acres", from a white oak "by the College Farm Line" to the Shawsheen River, by Samuel Richardson's land, the heirs of John Blanchard and Nathaniel Pollard, "with all the Buildings thereon the same being all the Land which I bought of John Blanchard dec'd and of his administrators", reserving "the highway two Rods wide thro the same leading from Billerica to Wilmington". Dated April 21, 1764. Billerica town book 6, pages 67-68. Probably the core of the Richardson farm sold in 1794 and 1802 (same College Farm, river and Wilmington road bounds).
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| December 28, 1776 | Deed | President and Fellows of Harvard College | Solomon Pollard, Jonathan Stickney, Samuel Kidder and Solomon Kidder, all of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...aforesaid containing about two hundred and thirty acres lying in three pieces being divided by the Highway and Shawshin River," bounded southeast on Woburn line, southwest on John Stearns, Nathaniel Pollard, Samuel and Jos ... | 77/263 (South) |
Dated Feb. 22, 1775. For 606 pounds 13 shillings 4 pence, "a certain Farm in Billerica aforesaid containing about two hundred and thirty acres lying in three pieces being divided by the Highway and Shawshin River," bounded southeast on Woburn line, southwest on John Stearns, Nathaniel Pollard, Samuel and Josiah Richardson, northwest on William Tarbell and Ephraim Crosby, north on Samuel Richardson, and northeast on Paul and Sears Cook and William Carter, "being the same Tract of Land a Plan whereof was taken by Caleb Brooks Surveyor which is now on File among the College Papers and which is also pricked off in the College Book No. 3 Page 122," one undivided fourth to each grantee. The college's sale of the farm it had held since the 1640s; no buildings are named. Billerica town book 7, pages 131-133.
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| October 29, 1800 | Deed | Samuel Kidder, Solomon Pollard, Solomon Kidder and Jonathan Stickney of Billerica | Jacob Marshall of Billerica, yeoman | Names the Shawsheen River: Dated Mar. 20, 1775, recorded 1800. For 111 pounds, 22 1/2 acres "on the Westerly side of Shawshin river it being a part of the Colledge farm, so called," bounded by William Tarbell, Ephraim Crosby, Samuel and Josiah Richa ... | 137/511 (South) |
Dated Mar. 20, 1775, recorded 1800. For 111 pounds, 22 1/2 acres "on the Westerly side of Shawshin river it being a part of the Colledge farm, so called," bounded by William Tarbell, Ephraim Crosby, Samuel and Josiah Richardson and the river, with "liberty to transport the produce ... to and from the Colledge ford way across the land we lately sold to William Gleason." The only recorded resale by the four buyers; it proves they had sold Gleason the farm east of the river by March 1775 (his will dates that deed Mar. 18, 1775; it was never recorded). Billerica town book 10, pages 54-56.
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| March 31, 1794 | Warranty | Jonathan Richardson of Billerica, yeoman, and Abigail his wife | His son Thomas Richardson of Billerica, yeoman | Names the Shawsheen River: ...half acres on Fox Hill, seven acres bought of Samuel Whiting Jr. on Marshall's lane, a lot called Graves with Shawshin meadow, and seven acres of Content Meadow above Content Bridge. Dated Feb. 4, acknowledged March 11, 1 ... | 115/269 (South) |
For 560 pounds, "several parcels of Land. The first is my Homestead Farm of about fifty acres," beginning "at a stake and stones by the Road at Ebenezer Richardson's corner," south and east on the road to the land of Col. Tompson, then by his land and "the Thirds of the Widow Hosley," westerly by Capt. Daniel Stickney and Ebenezer Richardson back to the road, "and all the Buildings thereon standing and being Excepting the east end of my Dwelling house which I reserve for my Use and for my Wife during our natural Lives then to revert to him the said Thomas." Also thirty acres in Tewksbury near Jonathan Foster's, about fifteen acres of meadow and upland by Samuel Danforth and William Tarbell, seven acres of pasture on the road to Woburn, two and a half acres on Fox Hill, seven acres bought of Samuel Whiting Jr. on Marshall's lane, a lot called Graves with Shawshin meadow, and seven acres of Content Meadow above Content Bridge. Dated Feb. 4, acknowledged March 11, 1778 before William Stickney; recorded at Cambridge March 31, 1794. Billerica town book 9, pages 84-87 (Southern Registry Book 115 Page 269).
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| February 24, 1800 | Deed | Samuel Richardson Jun. of Billerica (Martha Richardson releasing dower) | His sons Samuel Richardson the third and John Richardson, yeomen of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...es more or less with two dwelling houses and two barns standing thereon", from William Gleason's land near the Shawsheen River, by Samuel Hopkins, "till it comes to the road leading to Wilmington thence across said road" b ... | 135/141 (South) |
For 470 pounds 11 shillings, three tracts: the first "containing one hundred and fifty one acres more or less with two dwelling houses and two barns standing thereon", from William Gleason's land near the Shawsheen River, by Samuel Hopkins, "till it comes to the road leading to Wilmington thence across said road" by John Farmer and James Bennett "till it comes to the Colledge line", by James Jaquith, Samuel Hopkins, Sears Cook and William Gleason, back "across the before mentioned road"; also 25 acres at the corner of Billerica, Woburn and Wilmington, and "the Totingham place", 12 acres. Dated Feb. 5, 1794. Billerica town book 11, pages 12-13. The two brothers split the farm; Samuel's half, "formerly my Father's", went to James Bennett in 1802.
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| March 31, 1855 | Warranty | Simon Blanchard of Billerica, yeoman, and Rebecca Blanchard his wife | Joseph Blanchard of Billerica, yeoman, his son | Names the Shawsheen River: ...and Jeremiah Allen, five acres on Fox Hill bounded southerly on the Rangeway, and three acres of meadow by the Shawsheen River "against a Ford-way." Dated March 20, 1794, acknowledged March 12, 1795 before Isaac Stearns; n ... | 699/564 (South) |
For 400 pounds paid "by my son Joseph Blanchard," "my Homestead farm with the buildings thereon standing being about Sixty acres," bounded northerly by Hezekiah Crosby, Oliver Crosby and Josiah Crosby, westerly by Hezekiah Crosby and the heirs of Thomas Hosley Jr., southerly by Abel Bowman and Oliver Crosby, "thence a Northeasterly course still by said Crosby's land to a highway," again southerly by Isaac Blanchard and eastwardly by Hezekiah Crosby; also about 20 acres of woodland in Bedford by Joseph Otis and the heirs of Joseph Hill, three acres at Content meadow by Capt. William Bowers, Capt. Josiah Bowers and Jeremiah Allen, five acres on Fox Hill bounded southerly on the Rangeway, and three acres of meadow by the Shawsheen River "against a Ford-way." Dated March 20, 1794, acknowledged March 12, 1795 before Isaac Stearns; not recorded until March 31, 1855. Billerica town book 20, pages 503-504 (Southern Registry Book 699 Page 564).
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| February 10, 1795 | Deed | Josiah Danforth of Boston, yeoman, with Ruth his wife | His brother Joseph Danforth of Billerica, yeoman | Names the Shawsheen River: ...stands to the aforesaid road" (the Richardson house lot); also about an acre south of the road by the road to Shawshin River, five acres of wood land in the southerly half of "Grasby's lot," about forty acres "commonly ca ... | 118/295 (South) |
For 300 pounds, "the following lots of land with the buildings thereon situate in Billerica": first, "One piece containing sixteen acres more or less, with a Dwelling house and Barn thereon, bounded Southerly and Easterly on a public road, to land of William Tompson Esqr" and then by Tompson, Thomas Goodwin, Jonathan Stickney, over a brook to Josiah Crosby, to Reuben Kendall and "Southerly by said Kendall as said wall now stands to the aforesaid road" (the Richardson house lot); also about an acre south of the road by the road to Shawshin River, five acres of wood land in the southerly half of "Grasby's lot," about forty acres "commonly called the French lot," and four acres east of the river by Edward Farmer Jr. Warranty. Dated Dec. 31, 1794 (witnesses Caleb Whiting, Lydia Gould), acknowledged in Suffolk and recorded Feb. 10, 1795. Billerica town book 9, pages 188-190.
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| November 11, 1801 | Warranty Deed | Asa Patten of Billerica, yeoman | The Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal | Names the Shawsheen River: ...breadth with the Middlesex Canal extending thro' the premises"; the second "a little south of the Saw Mill on Shawshine river," about half an acre of meadow and upland, beginning "at a large fast rock now in the westerly ... | 143/121 (South) |
For $247.45, "two certain pieces of land situate in northeasterly part of Billerica": the first "about four acres & twenty poles," bounded northwesterly on Samuel Brown's land, northerly or northeasterly by other land of Asa Patten marked out by stakes and stones, southeasterly by land of Reuben Kendall and southerly or southwesterly by other land of Asa Patten, "being a strip of land thro' said Pattens farm north of his house about eighty two & a half rods in length & eight rods in breadth with the Middlesex Canal extending thro' the premises"; the second "a little south of the Saw Mill on Shawshine river," about half an acre of meadow and upland, beginning "at a large fast rock now in the westerly stone pier which supports part of the Canal Aqueduct that goes over Shawshine river," by Reuben Kendall to a white oak and east to Jonathan Beard's land at the river. Dated Jan. 2, 1800, witnessed by Joshua Davis and Ichabod Richardson, acknowledged Jan. 3, 1800 before Timothy Walker, recorded Nov. 11, 1801. This is the earliest deed that places the house: the canal was dug across the Patten farm just north of it. The Proprietors sold the strip back to Theophilus Manning in 1852 (Book 23 Page 211). Billerica town book 10, pages 94-95.
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| 1801 | Deed | Josiah Richardson of Billerica, yeoman (Lydia Richardson joining) | Thomas Goodwin of Billerica, yeoman | Names the Shawsheen River: ...orner by Goodwin's own land, easterly by William Gleason Jr. and Ebenezer Richardson Jr. "to a road leading to Shawsheen river", by Joseph Danforth, by a brook by Josiah Crosby, "by said brook to said river, thence norther ... | 214/264 (South) |
For $2,500, "one tract containing about one hundred acres more or less with the buildings thereon standing", beginning at the southwest corner by Goodwin's own land, easterly by William Gleason Jr. and Ebenezer Richardson Jr. "to a road leading to Shawsheen river", by Joseph Danforth, by a brook by Josiah Crosby, "by said brook to said river, thence northerly as the river runs to land formerly belonging to Ebenezer Richardson", then westerly to the road "a few rods west of the dwelling house" and across the road again back to Goodwin's land; also "the Grimes lot", twelve acres, by Jonathan Stickney and Josiah Hill. Dated Jan. 13, 1801 (the index gives 1804), recorded only in 1815. Billerica town book 11, pages 462-463. Probably the river farm later held by Reuel Goodwin's heirs (same river, road and Gleason bounds); Josiah Richardson's own title is the gap before 1801.
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| April 12, 1802 | Deed | Samuel Richardson Jr. of Billerica, yeoman (with Jamison Richardson) | James Bennett of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...from Billerica to Wilmington" at land of Sears Cook, running to the brook, land of Wm. Gleason and the river (Shawsheen), up the river by Saml. Hopkins, by Ebenezer and John Richardson back to the road, "then across the r ... | 146/60 (South) |
For 507 pounds, "a certain farm which formerly was my Father's but now mine", beginning "at the road leading from Billerica to Wilmington" at land of Sears Cook, running to the brook, land of Wm. Gleason and the river (Shawsheen), up the river by Saml. Hopkins, by Ebenezer and John Richardson back to the road, "then across the road" by John Richardson's land to "the College farm", by the College farm to Wm. Gleason's land and the road; also the Wyman lot at the corner of Billerica, Burlington and Wilmington. No acreage given (about 80 acres in 1842). Witnesses Pamela Winn and Polly Bennett. Billerica town book 10, pages 129-131. This is "the Richardson Farm" of the later Bennett records.
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| March 23, 1809 | Quitclaim | Sally Hurd of Concord, sempstress | Isaac Hurd Jr. of Concord, merchant | Names the Shawsheen River: ...(5 acres), 20 acres of woodland in southwest Billerica and northeast Bedford, and 75 acres in Tewksbury on the Shawshin River. Dated April 1, 1808; acknowledged March 21, 1809. Isaac Jr. deeded other family lands back to S ... | 181/379 (South) |
For $7,235, Sally Hurd releases all her interest in the real estate "of which my late grandfather William Tompson late of Billerica ... Esquire, deceased, died seized and possessed (viz) the homestead place, so called, lying in said Billerica containing about one hundred and fifty acres ... with the buildings," with two pews and a horse stable at the meeting house, the Ross pasture (10 acres), the Dunklee lot (5 acres), 20 acres of woodland in southwest Billerica and northeast Bedford, and 75 acres in Tewksbury on the Shawshin River. Dated April 1, 1808; acknowledged March 21, 1809. Isaac Jr. deeded other family lands back to Sally the same day for $7,671 (town book 10, page 479). William Tompson (1724-1806) was the grandson of Ens. Joseph Tompson, the town's first schoolmaster (1679), whose 1660 house lot of 27 acres "near the most easterly part of Mr. Dudley's farme" Hazen identifies as "now Mr. Tufts' place"; the homestead descended Joseph (d. 1732) > Benjamin (d. 1753) > William without recorded deeds. Sally was a daughter of Dr. Isaac Hurd and Sarah Tompson. Billerica town book 10, pages 478-479.
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| 1826 | Administration | Estate of William Richardson of Billerica, gentleman, died intestate June 1826 | Marshall Preston, administrator; widow Sally (Sarah) Richardson | Names the Shawsheen River: ...censed to sell the real estate. The widow's dower (return of April 3, 1827) was a fifteen-acre lot east of the Shawshin and a pew; no dwelling house is named, since the family lived on Danforth land. | Probate #19191 |
William Richardson, husband of Joseph Danforth's daughter Sally (Sarah), died in June 1826; his widow declined administration and Marshall Preston was appointed June 27, 1826. The inventory (Joseph Blanchard, Josiah Stevens, Ichabod Everett) shows a stage and livery business: ten horses, four stage harnesses, an old stage coach, a covered wagon, a blacksmith shop and a hop house. Debts of more than $20,000 made the estate insolvent, and on Feb. 13, 1827 the administrator was licensed to sell the real estate. The widow's dower (return of April 3, 1827) was a fifteen-acre lot east of the Shawshin and a pew; no dwelling house is named, since the family lived on Danforth land.
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| 1842 | Administration (appraisal of real estate) | Estate of James Bennett of Billerica, gentleman, deceased intestate | His heirs | Names the Shawsheen River: ...n Stearns, 1781), the Crosby land, the "Gleason wood land" (23 acres, from Joseph Gleason, 1816), the "Gleason Shawsheen Meadow", the "Richardson Farm" of 80 acres (from Samuel Richardson Jr., 1802), the Wyman lot, the Pea ... | Probate #27289 |
Middlesex probate case 27289, 65 pages (pages 2-4 read). Appraisal, under a warrant of Judge Samuel P. P. Fay, of "all the Real Estate whereof James Bennett late of Billerica ... Gentleman, deceased intestate died seized": thirty parcels, among them the homestead partly in Billerica and partly in Burlington (61 acres, from John Stearns, 1781), the Crosby land, the "Gleason wood land" (23 acres, from Joseph Gleason, 1816), the "Gleason Shawsheen Meadow", the "Richardson Farm" of 80 acres (from Samuel Richardson Jr., 1802), the Wyman lot, the Pear tree lot and the "Fanny Cook land" of 40 acres (1838), with lots in Wilmington. Bennett had sold School District No. 8 its 20-rod lot out of this land in 1841; his family kept the land around it until 1912.
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| December 24, 1853 | Deed | Mary McPherson of Billerica, widow | George Bennett of Burlington, yeoman | Names the Shawsheen River: ..., Containing ninety three acres more or less", from an oak at land of Josiah B. Gleason across the road to the Shawsheen River, by Patrick Mackmanigal and Edward Bennett, "to the lot on which the school house stands", back ... | 667/507 (South) |
For $2,075, "the following parcels of land, with the buildings thereon, situated in the Easterly part of said Billerica, Containing ninety three acres more or less", from an oak at land of Josiah B. Gleason across the road to the Shawsheen River, by Patrick Mackmanigal and Edward Bennett, "to the lot on which the school house stands", back along the road "crossing said road at the road leading to Homestead of James Bennett deceased"; also the Nub, one acre by the river. "Meaning to convey all which was set off to me by Commissioners of my late Father, excepting the James Bennett and Ebenezer Richardson Meadows." Signed June 30, 1845 but recorded only Dec. 24, 1853. Billerica town book 19, pages 563-565.
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| 1848 | Guardianship and Administration | Estate of Seth Crosby of Billerica, yeoman (died intestate 1848, leaving no widow) | His heirs: Augustus Crosby, Harvey Crosby, Betsey Winship and the children of Kendall Crosby; Henry Crosby, administrator | Names the Shawsheen River: ...arm about 100 acres" at 3,600, dollars a swamp lot of about 30 acres, the five-acre Willoughby lot and eight acres of Shawsheen meadow (real estate 4,180 dollars), 3,630 dollars in notes, and the furniture of a ho ... | Probate #29996 |
In April 1848 his son Augustus had the court declare Seth Crosby "a non compos mentis person", and Jeremiah Crosby was made his guardian (May 16, 1848). He died within months; on Sept. 5, 1848 Henry Crosby of Billerica was appointed administrator at the request of the heirs. The inventory of Sept. 20, 1848 (John Baldwin, Josiah Rogers, Benjamin L. Judkins) lists the "Homestead farm about 100 acres" at $3,600, a swamp lot of about 30 acres, the five-acre Willoughby lot and eight acres of Shawsheen meadow (real estate $4,180), $3,630 in notes, and the furniture of a house with southwest, southeast, northwest and northeast rooms and chambers, a hall room and "Cranberries in Garret", with a yoke of oxen, five cows and a horse. The real estate was not divided by the court: the heirs sold the farm by deed in November 1849.
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| March 23, 1848 | Deed | Daniel Richardson of Woburn, blacksmith (Louisa G. Richardson releasing dower) | Benjamin F. Beard of Billerica, yeoman | Names the Shawsheen River: ...e Road leading from said Billerica to Wilmington, South Westerly by land of William Gleason, North Westerly by Shawsheen River, and North Easterly by land of Caroline Goodwin"; also about thirty acres with the barn opposit ... | 528/88 (South) |
For $600, "meaning to convey the proportion of seven to twenty two parts" of "about fifty eight acres of land with the buildings thereon", "bounded South Easterly by the Road leading from said Billerica to Wilmington, South Westerly by land of William Gleason, North Westerly by Shawsheen River, and North Easterly by land of Caroline Goodwin"; also about thirty acres with the barn opposite, by Wm. Gleason, Joshua Bennett and the heirs of Ruel Goodwin, and a two-acre lot at the county road from Boston to Lowell; "saving to the aforesaid Caroline Goodwin all the right and interest in and to the dwelling and land under and adjoining the same ... being a part of her legacy out of her father's estate as set off by Commissioners". Dated Feb. 26, 1848. Billerica town book 20, pages 23-24.
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| October 9, 1849 | Quitclaim | Harvey Crosby of Billerica, yeoman | John S. Edgerly of Somerville, trader, and Henry Crosby of Billerica, trader | Names the Shawsheen River: ...e, "said eight pieces ... being parts of the Home Place so called," and lots in Chelmsford, on the Concord and Shawsheen rivers and on Gibson's Hill, and his quarter of the estate of Seth Crosby. Subject to mortgages to Be ... | 567/298 (South) |
Dated Oct. 8, 1849. For one dollar and other consideration, eight pieces "with all the buildings thereon standing," among them "a certain farm situated about one mile south of the Unitarian Meeting house ... known by the name of the Hill Farm containing thirty three acres" (bought of Joseph Bowers) and "a certain tract of land containing thirty acres more or less bounded by the lands now or late of Isaac Hurd, of Zadock Allen, of Walter Carr Jr., of Benjamin Bowers and by the County road and a certain piece of land containing eight acres ... bounded by land now or late of Benjamin Bowers and by the County Road, the last two named being the premises to me conveyed by Josiah Crosby Jr. administrator of Isaac Kendall ... and by Joseph Bradley Deputy Sheriff"; with the Valley Orchard, a sheep pasture, 16 acres from Bernard Tufts, 10 acres from Sereno Fiske and the northerly half of the Bowers Foster Place, "said eight pieces ... being parts of the Home Place so called," and lots in Chelmsford, on the Concord and Shawsheen rivers and on Gibson's Hill, and his quarter of the estate of Seth Crosby. Subject to mortgages to Betsey Crosby, to the heirs of Kendall Crosby ($5,300), to Blaney Abbott and to Rhodes G. Lockwood. In effect a transfer of all of Harvey Crosby's real estate to a trustee for his creditors and a family member; Harvey went on living on the farm. Billerica town book 20, pages 331-339.
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| March 27, 1860 | Quitclaim | The Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal (Ebenezer Chadwick, president) | Theophilus Manning of Billerica, yeoman | Names the Shawsheen River: ...onathan Beard, to "a large fast rock in the westerly stone pier which supports part of the canal aqueduct over Shawshine river," and back by "the land which the said Proprietors bought of Asa Patten on the southeast" along ... | 23/206 |
For $250, "certain pieces or parcels of land lying in the Towns of Billerica and Wilmington": first, the land the Proprietors bought of Reuben Kendall by deed of Jan. 2, 1800, from "the road that leads to Salem over Logging Bridge, so called," along the northeasterly side of the canal by Kendall's land, to land bought of Jonathan Beard, to "a large fast rock in the westerly stone pier which supports part of the canal aqueduct over Shawshine river," and back by "the land which the said Proprietors bought of Asa Patten on the southeast" along the Kendall and Patten line; second, the half acre "a little south of the Saw mill on Shawshine river" bought of Asa Patten by deed of Jan. 2, 1800 (Book 143 Page 121); third, the "Mill lot" in Wilmington and Billerica bought of Jonathan Beard, from the southeasterly stone abutment of the aqueduct, with "the full seven eighth parts of a mill privilege ... formerly known as Beards mills." Manning was within six months after the canal's discontinuance to "take down and remove the bridge now over the Canal commonly called or known as Kendalls bridge" and grade the road, subject to all canal easements until the canal was lawfully discontinued. Dated Jan. 1, 1852, acknowledged at Boston Jan. 6, 1852, approved by the directors William R. Lawrence and William Sturgis; recorded March 27, 1860. Book 23 Pages 206-209.
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| May 19, 1859 | Warranty Deed | William S. Gleason of Billerica, yeoman, and his wife Mary B. Gleason | Norton Newcomb of Medford | Names the Shawsheen River: ...y leading from Billerica to Wilmington" at a stone wall, bounded southwest by George Bennett about 98 rods to "Shawshin River," northwest by the river to John Crosby, northeast by Crosby and "the road leading to Tewksbury, ... | 19/353 |
Dated Apr. 28, 1859. For $4,500, "one tract containing ninety one acres & three quarters," beginning at "the highway leading from Billerica to Wilmington" at a stone wall, bounded southwest by George Bennett about 98 rods to "Shawshin River," northwest by the river to John Crosby, northeast by Crosby and "the road leading to Tewksbury," southeast by the highway, "with a dwelling house and barn thereon standing being my homestead"; also ten acres on the south side of the highway bounded by Abel W. Harrington and J. B. Gleason; reserving one year to remove wood already cut. The Gleason family's sale of the College Farm homestead after 84 years. Witnesses Dudley Foster, Sarah Gleason.
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| September 8, 1865 | Warranty Deed | Norton Newcomb of Medford and his wife Lydia | John B. Cross of Boston | Names the Shawsheen River: ...ereon standing," the same 91 3/4 acres between the Billerica-Wilmington highway, the road to Tewksbury and the Shawshin, and the ten acres south of the highway, "being the same premises conveyed to me by Wm. S. Gleason by ... | 44/252 |
Dated Sept. 7, 1865. For $3,500, "a certain piece or parcel of land together with the Buildings thereon standing," the same 91 3/4 acres between the Billerica-Wilmington highway, the road to Tewksbury and the Shawshin, and the ten acres south of the highway, "being the same premises conveyed to me by Wm. S. Gleason by deed dated April 28th 1859 ... Lib. 19 Fol. 353."
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| May 21, 1867 | Warranty Deed | Gustavus L. West of Tisbury | John Crosby of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...d other valuable considerations," land "with the buildings thereon": the 91 3/4 acres bounded northwest by the Shawsheen River "to land of said Crosby," northeast partly by Crosby's land and partly by the road to Tewksbury ... | 56/249 |
Dated Apr. 23, 1867. For "four hundred dollars and other valuable considerations," land "with the buildings thereon": the 91 3/4 acres bounded northwest by the Shawsheen River "to land of said Crosby," northeast partly by Crosby's land and partly by the road to Tewksbury, "with the dwelling house and barn thereon standing being the homestead formerly of William Gleason," and the ten acres, "conveyed to me by David P. West of Boston by deed dated Jan. 8, 1867," subject to three mortgages ($2,500) that Crosby assumed. Crosby already owned the land next door; he is the "Crosby" of local tradition.
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| November 17, 1868 | Quitclaim | Asa P. Manning of Billerica | William Manning of Chelmsford | Names the Shawsheen River: ...ad to Salem Road; the second of one hundred acres on the southerly side of Salem Road from Joel Baldwin to the Shawsheen River; the third of forty acres on the southerly side of the road near land formerly of Ebenezer Page ... | 65/12 |
After the death of Theophilus Manning on June 30, 1868, his son Asa P. Manning, for $1,000, released to his brother William Manning of Chelmsford his interest in three tracts "with the buildings thereon": the first "situated on the Northerly side of the Salem Road so called, contains seventy acres more or less," from the road at land formerly of Orin Hutchinson north to Col. John Baldwin, across the Boston and Lowell Railroad to land formerly of Aaron H. Patten, east to "a new road leading to Lowell," and back across the railroad to Salem Road; the second of one hundred acres on the southerly side of Salem Road from Joel Baldwin to the Shawsheen River; the third of forty acres on the southerly side of the road near land formerly of Ebenezer Page. Dated Nov. 17, 1868. Theophilus Manning's will (probate 36944, allowed March 16, 1869) left all his real estate to his widow Polly, and on March 29, 1869 she deeded the house tract north of the road to their daughters Hannah P. Chandler and Polly Manning (Book 66 Page 241) and the land south of the road to William (Book 66 Page 243), so this release gave William no title to the house.
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| April 3, 1869 | Warranty Deed | Polly Manning of Billerica, widow of Theophilus Manning | William Manning of Chelmsford, her son | Names the Shawsheen River: ...d of Joel Baldwin," southeasterly by Baldwin about 240 rods to land of Lucius Holden, by Holden to a stake at "Shawsheen River," northeasterly by the river about 140 rods to Salem Road, and westerly by the road about 200 r ... | 66/243 |
For $3,000, two tracts south of Salem Road: the first from "the Salem Road so called at the end of the wall at land of Joel Baldwin," southeasterly by Baldwin about 240 rods to land of Lucius Holden, by Holden to a stake at "Shawsheen River," northeasterly by the river about 140 rods to Salem Road, and westerly by the road about 200 rods; the second beginning at Salem Road at land of James Page, by the "Morse lot," Anne Cox, J. S. Loring, Mrs. Harvey Crosby, the "Marshall orchard" and John Crosby back to James Page. Dated March 29, 1869, acknowledged April 3, 1869 before Dudley Foster. The same day the house tract north of the road went to William's sisters Hannah P. Chandler and Polly Manning (Book 66 Page 241), so William never owned the house itself. Book 66 Pages 243-245.
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| April 15, 1870 | Quitclaim Deed | George Bacon of Billerica (Sophronia G. Bacon releasing dower and homestead) | Sylvester E. Beard of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...the road leading from said Billerica to Wilmington, Southwesterly by land of Wm. S. Gleason, Northwesterly by Shawsheen river and Northeasterly by land of Caroline Goodwin"; one of about thirty acres "with a barn thereon" ... | 72/591 |
For $600, three tracts: "one tract of land with the buildings thereon containing about fifty eight acres, bounded Southerly or Southeasterly by the road leading from said Billerica to Wilmington, Southwesterly by land of Wm. S. Gleason, Northwesterly by Shawsheen river and Northeasterly by land of Caroline Goodwin"; one of about thirty acres "with a barn thereon" opposite, by Wm. S. Gleason, Joshua Bennett and the heirs of Ruel Goodwin; and about two acres at the county road from Boston to Lowell. "Being premises conveyed by Benjamin F. Beard to Daniel Richardson by mortgage deed dated March 10th 1848 and by said Richardson assigned to said Bacon, and also the rights of Caroline Goodwin as mentioned in a bond of said Bacon to said Beard dated April 14, 1868." Dated April 8, 1870.
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| September 28, 1876 | Quitclaim (partition) | Sarah Baldwin, John Baldwin, Lucy A. Baldwin, Francis Baldwin, Rachel A. Baldwin and Elizabeth C. Baldwin, heirs of John Baldwin | Mary C. Morey, Clara B. Reed, Frederick A. Parker, Charles W. Parker and Lucy B. Parker, "heirs of the late Mary B. Parker deceased" | Names the Shawsheen River: ...bout 47 acres, the Middle Bridge lot of about 12 acres west of Concord River, and 1 3/4 acres of meadow on the Shawsheen River. "All of the above mentioned premises are a portion of the estate of the late John Baldwin, dec ... | 120/235 |
For one dollar and other consideration, quitclaim of "The piece or parcel of land in the Center of said Billerica, near the Town House, with the buildings thereon, it being the same premises conveyed by Charles H. Parker to John Baldwin by deed dated March 12th A.D. 1868 ... Book 60, Page 495," except the lot "south of the house" that John Baldwin sold to Doct. George A. Monroe on Sept. 10, 1873 and the Academy Lot; with the Fox Hill lot of about 47 acres, the Middle Bridge lot of about 12 acres west of Concord River, and 1 3/4 acres of meadow on the Shawsheen River. "All of the above mentioned premises are a portion of the estate of the late John Baldwin, deceased; and are deeded for the purpose of partition between the heirs." Dated Sept. 14, 1876, recorded Sept. 28, 1876; Charles H. Parker, guardian of his minor children Charles W. and Lucy B., released their shares in the other Baldwin lands by the deed before it. Book 120 Pages 235-236.
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| January 13, 1891 | Quitclaim | Haslet Mackay of Billerica | Edward B. Haskell of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...cy Noyes, 1874), 21 acres on the back road from the Seth Heaton place (from John Crosby, 1858) and 12 acres at Shawsheen Bridge (from Josiah B. Gleason, 1865). Haskell's 1907 deed says Mackay's wife, Haskell's mother, died ... | 221/259 |
Dated and acknowledged Nov. 11, 1884 before Dudley Foster, recorded Jan. 13, 1891. For $5 and other consideration, "my Homestead, situated in said Billerica with the buildings thereon, containing nine acres & twenty rods," beginning at the northeasterly corner at the Boston Road and land of Harvey (Hervey) Crosby, westerly by Crosby to the first cross wall running south, southerly by the wall 34 rods 18 links by David L. Mason, easterly by Mason to the Boston Road: "Being real estate conveyed to me by Lowell F. Jennison deed dated May 18th 1856" (that deed was never recorded). Also the Carr Place of 11 acres on the opposite side of Boston Road (from Nancy Noyes, 1874), 21 acres on the back road from the Seth Heaton place (from John Crosby, 1858) and 12 acres at Shawsheen Bridge (from Josiah B. Gleason, 1865). Haskell's 1907 deed says Mackay's wife, Haskell's mother, died in Mackay's lifetime.
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| May 27, 1890 | Quitclaim | George H. Bennett (Mary L. Bennett his wife releasing dower) and Sarah R. Bennett, of Burlington | Edwin A. Bennett of Burlington | Names the Shawsheen River: ...ing seventy acres": from the northeasterly corner on the westerly side of the Shawshin road, by Gleason to the Shawshin River, by Quinn and Sylvester Beard, "thence easterly again still by land of Quinn to the School house ... | 215/90 |
Signed and acknowledged April 14, 1890 before John W. Johnson, J.P. Releases several Burlington lots and two Billerica parcels, among them "a certain tract of wood land situated in the easterly part of said Billerica, containing seventy acres": from the northeasterly corner on the westerly side of the Shawshin road, by Gleason to the Shawshin River, by Quinn and Sylvester Beard, "thence easterly again still by land of Quinn to the School house lot; thence northerly and then easterly to the Shawshin road aforesaid", and around Quimby back along the road. "Being a portion of the premises conveyed to George Bennett by" a deed of June 30, 1845 (Middlesex South Book 667 Page 507). The Bennett wood lot that surrounded the District No. 8 schoolhouse lot.
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| June 9, 1890 | Quitclaim | Trustees of Phillips Academy (by Alpheus H. Hardy, Treasurer) | Herbert B. Richardson and Frank H. Richardson of Woburn | Names the Shawsheen River: ...situated in Billerica," from the highway to Wilmington at a stone wall, by George Bennett about 98 rods to the Shawsheen River, by the river to land now or formerly of John Crosby, and by Crosby and the road to Tewksbury, ... | 216/30 |
Dated May 31, 1890. For $1,500, "a certain tract or parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in Billerica," from the highway to Wilmington at a stone wall, by George Bennett about 98 rods to the Shawsheen River, by the river to land now or formerly of John Crosby, and by Crosby and the road to Tewksbury, "containing ninety one & three quarters acres," with the parcel south of the highway, "intending to convey the same premises ... as conveyed to the above named corporation by Chas. Blake ... Book 189 Leaf 127 and also as conveyed to said corporation by Francis L. Crosby by mortgage deed dated November 17, 1869 ... Book 71 Page 61 now foreclosed by possession taken May 3, 1879." The Richardson purchase of local tradition ("about 1890").
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| March 8, 1899 | Deed in Trust | Charles W. Parker of Billerica, unmarried | Mary C. Morey and Frederic A. Morey of Billerica, trustees | Names the Shawsheen River: ...Book 60, Page 495," less the lot south of the house and the Academy Lot, with the Fox Hill, Middle Bridge and Shawsheen meadow lots, "a portion of the Estate of John Baldwin deceased," in trust to apply the income and pri ... | 305/423 |
For one dollar and other consideration, all his right in the lots "described in deed of Sarah Baldwin and others to Mary C. Morey and others dated September 14, 1876": "The piece or parcel of land in the center of said Billerica near the Town House with buildings thereon it being the same premises conveyed by Charles H. Parker to John Baldwin by deed dated March 12, 1868 ... Book 60, Page 495," less the lot south of the house and the Academy Lot, with the Fox Hill, Middle Bridge and Shawsheen meadow lots, "a portion of the Estate of John Baldwin deceased," in trust to apply the income and principal to his support after the death of his father, pay a mortgage made the same day to Frederic A. Morey, and at his death convey to his appointees or heirs, with power of sale. Dated Nov. 30, 1895, witnessed by Charles H. Parker, acknowledged Dec. 2, 1895, recorded March 8, 1899. Book 305 Pages 423-425.
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| 1896 | Warranty Deed | Heirs of Lyman Haynes and Dudley Foster: Cyrus H., Charles R., William H. and John Haynes, Abby Haynes, Caroline H. Jenkins, Adeline H. Hickey, John H. Foster, Frank D. Foster and Mary A. Foster | George W. McFarland of East Boston | Names the Shawsheen River: ...ated December 2nd A.D. 1865 ... Book 47 Page 337"; also ten acres of meadow and upland bounded westerly by the Shawsheen River, conveyed to Dudley Foster by Lyman Haynes April 21, 1865 (Book 42, Page 307). | 280/585 |
Signed Dec. 2, 1896, acknowledged Dec. 3 and (Mary A. Foster) Dec. 12, 1896 (pages 585-586; recorded December 1896, day not read). The heirs of Lyman Haynes and Dudley Foster (Cyrus H., Charles R., William H. and John Haynes of Springfield, Abby Haynes of Boston, Caroline H. Jenkins of New York, Adeline H. Hickey of Boston, John H. Foster of Billerica, Frank D. Foster of North Andover and Mary A. Foster of Pasadena), for $450, "a certain parcel of land situate in said Billerica, containing nine and three quarters acres and twenty rods more or less, known as the Ditson Plain, being all and the same premises conveyed to Lyman Haynes and Dudley Foster by Moses P. Greenwood by deed dated December 2nd A.D. 1865 ... Book 47 Page 337"; also ten acres of meadow and upland bounded westerly by the Shawsheen River, conveyed to Dudley Foster by Lyman Haynes April 21, 1865 (Book 42, Page 307).
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| October 13, 1902 | Warranty Deed | George W. McFarland of Billerica | Emma E. Varnum of Lowell | Names the Shawsheen River: ...burn": from a stake at land of one Mixon N 88 30 W 1456.90 feet, N 44 W 257.50 feet and N 80 W 615 feet to the Shawsheen River, along the river about 750 feet to an old ditch, S 71 30 E 350 feet to land of one Harndon, S 6 ... | 349/18 |
Recorded Oct. 13, 1902. George W. McFarland of Billerica, for one dollar, to Emma E. Varnum of Lowell, "a certain parcel of land situate in said Billerica on the westerly side of the road leading from Billerica to Woburn": from a stake at land of one Mixon N 88 30 W 1456.90 feet, N 44 W 257.50 feet and N 80 W 615 feet to the Shawsheen River, along the river about 750 feet to an old ditch, S 71 30 E 350 feet to land of one Harndon, S 6 W 242.5 feet, S 87 15 E 954 feet to land of the grantor, S 7 15 E 343.25 feet and S 88 30 E 415 feet along the grantor to the road, and along the road 210.50 feet to the beginning. "Being a part of the same premises conveyed to me by Cyrus H. Haynes and others by deed dated December 2nd, A.D. 1896 ... Book 280, Page 585." "The above described premises are delineated on a plan drawn by O. F. Osgood, Surveyor for Emma E. Varnum, dated September, 1902, which plan is to be recorded" (Pinehurst Annex, Plan Book 19, Plan 42).
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| 1910 | Warranty Deed | Morris Carter of Woburn | Nathaniel R. Jones of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...": "a certain lot of land situated in the southerly part of Billerica ... containing about 77 acres", from the Shawsheen River at land of Perkins Holden, by land of Lynde, John Crosby, Frank Crosby, John Baldwin's heirs an ... | 450/228 |
Signed and acknowledged March 14, 1910, recorded May 1910, for "One Dollar and other valued consideration": "a certain lot of land situated in the southerly part of Billerica ... containing about 77 acres", from the Shawsheen River at land of Perkins Holden, by land of Lynde, John Crosby, Frank Crosby, John Baldwin's heirs and George Carter, and down the centre of a brook at land of Patten and Bowman to the river, "Being lot 21 in deed of partition of estate of Ruel Carter deceased and recorded in Middlesex So. Dist. Deeds Book 1588 Page 561". Jones gave Carter back a $500 mortgage the same day (Book 450, Page 229).
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| 1918 | Deed | Maria Beard of Billerica, widow of Sylvester E. Beard | Her son Sylvester P. (Percy) Beard | Names the Shawsheen River: ...farm on the road from Billerica to Wilmington (Cook Street), about fifty-eight acres between the road and the Shawsheen River and the thirty-acre lot with the barn across the road. Sylvester E. Beard's estate falls after ... | 618/27 |
The Beard farm on the road from Billerica to Wilmington (Cook Street), about fifty-eight acres between the road and the Shawsheen River and the thirty-acre lot with the barn across the road. Sylvester E. Beard's estate falls after 1871, beyond the online probate index (see the HELD note).
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| 1925 | Deed of Gift | Edgar P. Sellew of Billerica | Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica (Town Forest Committee) | Names the Shawsheen River: ...L. c.45, ss.19-23) as Billerica Town Forest Area No. 25: "Edgar P. Sellew to Town of Billerica. Meadow land on Shawsheen River. The Southerly line is 200 feet from, and parallel to the Boston Road. The Easterly line is on ... | ?/? |
Accepted by the annual town meeting of 1925 (unanimous vote under G.L. c.45, ss.19-23) as Billerica Town Forest Area No. 25: "Edgar P. Sellew to Town of Billerica. Meadow land on Shawsheen River. The Southerly line is 200 feet from, and parallel to the Boston Road. The Easterly line is on the center of the Shawsheen River to Webb's Brook. The Northeasterly line is on the center of Webb's Brook. The Northwesterly line is 200 feet from Hillside Road and parallel to it. The Westerly line follows the Westerly side of Intervale Road to the line first described, from which the road is extended to the width of 75 feet to the Boston Road." The committee's 1925 report: "Mr. Edgar P. Sellew has deeded 20 acres ... on the Shawsheen River". Its 1926 report says the deeds were recorded, but no deed from Sellew to the town appears in the Sellew grantor indexes for 1916-1925 (p.215) or 1926-1940 (pp.174-175).
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| March 2, 1926 | Quitclaim Deed | Nathaniel R. Jones of Billerica and Edith F. Jones | Inhabitants of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...part of said Billerica, containing about seventy-seven (77) acres", beginning at the southeasterly corner "on Shawsheen River and at land of Perkins Holden" and following the same bounds as the 1910 deed back down the bro ... | 733/497 |
Signed January 14, 1926, recorded March 2, 1926. Accepted by the 1925 town meeting as Billerica Town Forest area No. 5. "For the purposes of public parks, public playgrounds, and a public domain, or any of such purposes, in accordance with Chapter 45 of the General Laws", with quitclaim covenants, "a certain lot of land situated in the southerly part of said Billerica, containing about seventy-seven (77) acres", beginning at the southeasterly corner "on Shawsheen River and at land of Perkins Holden" and following the same bounds as the 1910 deed back down the brook and "by said river to the point of beginning", "Being Lot Twenty-one (21) in deed of partition of estate of Ruel Carter, deceased ... Book 1588, Page 561, and being the same premises conveyed to me by Morris Carter by his deed dated March 14, 1910 ... Book 450, Page 228." Edith F. Jones, his wife, releases dower and homestead.
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| March 13, 1942 | Affidavit | Henry F. Long, Commissioner of Corporations and Taxation | Lawrence E. Desmond, Treasurer of the Town of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: ...he treasurer sell the tax titles or take the land for the town; the town meeting article to accept land on the Shawsheen from Mrs. Sellew "or acquire the land in any way" and "clarify the title" followed. | 975/1 |
Recorded March 13, 1942. Affidavit under General Laws chapter 60, section 79, "that in my opinion the value of each parcel of land held by The Town of Billerica under a tax title deed or instrument of Taking as hereinafter listed ... is insufficient to meet the taxes, interest and charges" and the cost of foreclosure, listing many owners; the grantor index lists it under Edgar P. Sellew for his tax deeds 889-471, 473, 477, 480, 484, 486, 488, 490 and 494. It let the treasurer sell the tax titles or take the land for the town; the town meeting article to accept land on the Shawsheen from Mrs. Sellew "or acquire the land in any way" and "clarify the title" followed.
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| October 30, 1942 | Deed | Mary A. Hopkinson of Billerica, widow | Doris H. Dignon of Billerica, her daughter | Names the Shawsheen River: ...bed and towpaths of the canal and "the bed of the old dock which lay at the westerly end of the acqueduct over Shawsheen River," which the Proprietors had sold to Theophilus Manning in January 1852 (Book 23 Pages 206 and 2 ... | 985/430 |
Mary A. Hopkinson, widow, gave her daughter Doris H. Dignon ("no money consideration is given for this deed") the same tract "with the buildings thereon" on Salem Road that she had from Erastus A. Bartlett and others in 1914 (Book 519 Page 413), "excepting a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon conveyed this day by me to my son, Raymond Hopkinson," and also the strip "formerly the property of the Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal," with the bed and towpaths of the canal and "the bed of the old dock which lay at the westerly end of the acqueduct over Shawsheen River," which the Proprietors had sold to Theophilus Manning in January 1852 (Book 23 Pages 206 and 209), less the land east of a line twenty feet west of the westerly abutment of the aqueduct and a lot sold to Caroline A. Pheeney in 1941. In 1965 the house lot was drawn as Lot 2, 55,240 square feet, on a plan by K. J. Miller Co. (Plan Book 102 Plan 57). The Dignons still owned it in 1973. After the deaths of Doris H. Dignon and Frank T. Dignon, the executor of Frank's will sold "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon now supposed to be numbered 308 Salem Road," Lot 2, bounded northerly by the Middlesex Canal, to a private owner in July 1988 for $185,000 (Book 4602 Page 255), who uncovered the early nineteenth century murals the next year.
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| November 3, 1944 | Easement | Edith C. Richardson and Bertha R. Richardson, both single, and Florence B. Shinquin, widow, all of Billerica | Colonial Beacon Oil Company | Names the Shawsheen River: ...herly from lands now or formerly of Dominick Flaherty to lands now or formerly of the Town of Billerica at the Shawsheen River, crossing intervening highway called Cook Street," within the westerly edge of the 1928 power l ... | 1015/393 |
Dated May 25, 1944. A perpetual 30-foot right of way for a pipeline "for the transportation of refined petroleum products" through their land "Extending northerly from lands now or formerly of Dominick Flaherty to lands now or formerly of the Town of Billerica at the Shawsheen River, crossing intervening highway called Cook Street," within the westerly edge of the 1928 power line strip. Herbert B. Richardson signed a separate grant the same day.
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| May 6, 1952 | Deed | John A. Akeson of Woburn | Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica | Names the Shawsheen River: Gift, for one dollar, of 200,000 square feet "bordering on the Shawsheen River in Pinehurst", about 400 feet along the river and bounded southerly by land of the Pinehurst Amusement Association, for playground purposes as ... | 1194/430 |
Gift, for one dollar, of 200,000 square feet "bordering on the Shawsheen River in Pinehurst", about 400 feet along the river and bounded southerly by land of the Pinehurst Amusement Association, for playground purposes as voted by the special town meeting of Nov. 24, 1951, "on condition that any playground located thereon shall be called the 'John A. Akeson Playground'", with "Plan of John A. Akeson Playground and Right of Way", James B. Monahan, December 1951 (not found in the plan books). Signed Feb. 29, 1952; part of the land Akeson bought at his foreclosure sale (Book 929, Page 162).
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| March 30, 1966 | Taking | Owners of record (private) and others | Burlington Water and Sewer District | Names the Shawsheen River: ...preserving and conveying of water and for the building of a dam and reservoir," and one parcel in fee, on the Shawsheen in Billerica, shown on a September 1965 plan. Two parcels were taken from the owner of the old Colleg ... | 1744/251 |
Order of Taking adopted Feb. 28, 1966 by the Board of Water and Sewer Commissioners of the Burlington Water and Sewer District: easements "for the collecting, storing, purifying, preserving and conveying of water and for the building of a dam and reservoir," and one parcel in fee, on the Shawsheen in Billerica, shown on a September 1965 plan. Two parcels were taken from the owner of the old College Farm, who was awarded $1,000 and $2,000; other parcels belonged to the Town of Billerica, New England Power Company and neighbors.
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| March 8, 1967 | Taking | The supposed owners of record (private) and Woburn Cooperative Bank, mortgagee | Shawsheen Valley Regional Vocational Technical School District | Names the Shawsheen River: ...d," bounded by Cook Street 680 and 1,200 feet, Alexander Road 1,400 feet, Lots 1 to 68 of Shawsheen Pines, the Shawsheen River, and lots of The Pines and the end of Montrose Street, "for constructing thereon a school build ... | 1787/345 |
Order of Taking adopted by the Regional School District Committee at Burlington Feb. 14, 1967: "taken in fee by the exercise of the power of eminent domain ... certain land in the Town of Billerica ... including the trees and structures thereon, situated on Cook Street and Alexander Road," bounded by Cook Street 680 and 1,200 feet, Alexander Road 1,400 feet, Lots 1 to 68 of Shawsheen Pines, the Shawsheen River, and lots of The Pines and the end of Montrose Street, "for constructing thereon a school building and conducting a regional vocational/technical high school." Damages of $50,000 were awarded to the supposed owners, the heirs of Florence B. Shinquin, and their mortgagee. Secretary Wallace B. Haigh. This is the land north of Cook Street on which the farmhouse stood.
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| December 12, 1968 | Confirmatory Deed of Taking | The owners of record (private) | Shawsheen Valley Regional Vocational Technical School District | Names the Shawsheen River: ...Road 1,400 feet, by Lots 1 to 68 of the Shawsheen Pines plan of 1927 (Plan Book 50 Plan 61) 1,780 feet, by the Shawsheen River, by lots of The Pines plan of 1912 (Plan Book 30 Plan 13), and by the end of Montrose Street, " ... | 1870/212 |
Confirmatory quitclaim of "a certain parcel of land in the Town of Billerica," bounded southerly by Cook Street 680 feet, southeasterly by Cook Street 1,200 feet, by Alexander Road 1,400 feet, by Lots 1 to 68 of the Shawsheen Pines plan of 1927 (Plan Book 50 Plan 61) 1,780 feet, by the Shawsheen River, by lots of The Pines plan of 1912 (Plan Book 30 Plan 13), and by the end of Montrose Street, "being the same property described in the Order of Taking adopted by the Shawsheen Valley Regional Vocational/Technical School District Committee on February 14, 1967 and recorded ... on March 8, 1967 in Book 1787, Page 345," subject to power line, oil pipeline and Burlington water district easements. "This deed is given to confirm the aforesaid taking." Acknowledged Nov. 26, recorded Dec. 12, 1968. The owners were relatives of the Richardson family, who had owned the farm since about 1890; the farmhouse was moved across Cook Street to its present site and the school opened in 1970.
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| April 30, 1971 | Trustees' Deed | Evelyn Frances Akeson, Herbert K. Reynolds, Warren E. McCarthy and State Street Bank and Trust Company, Trustees under indenture of John A. Akeson; and Evelyn Frances Akeson individually | Warren E. McCarthy of Winchester | Names the Shawsheen River: ...ess, the last two lines being by land now or formerly of the Town of Billerica; Generally Northwesterly by the Shawsheen River; and Northeasterly by land now or formerly of Walter C. McBeth", 57.68 acres, subject to the 19 ... | 1957/30 |
Under a Probate Court decree of Nov. 5, 1970 (Docket 462983; see also Estate of John A. Akeson, Middlesex Probate No. 386142), thirteen parcels in Billerica, Burlington and Tewksbury sold for $330,000. Parcel One, "Plan of Land in Billerica, Mass." by Emmons, Fleming & Bienvenu, June 1967 (Plan Book 112, Plan 49): "Southerly and Southeasterly by Cook Street, 1,237.87 feet; Southwesterly by land pertaining to Land Court Case 20869, 623.18 feet; Northwesterly 400 feet; Southwesterly 500 feet more or less, the last two lines being by land now or formerly of the Town of Billerica; Generally Northwesterly by the Shawsheen River; and Northeasterly by land now or formerly of Walter C. McBeth", 57.68 acres, subject to the 1931 taking of Cook Street; Parcel Two, 25.04 acres across Cook Street. Signed in April 1971.
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| October 16, 1995 | Quitclaim Deed | William E. McCarthy of Lynnfield | William E. McCarthy and Ann L. McCarthy, Trustees of Cook Street Realty Trust | Names the Shawsheen River: ...from the northeast corner of Lot A 1,705 feet, by Cook Street and a series of courses, and "along the edge of Shawsheen River two thousand five hundred (2,500) feet, more or less to the point of beginning"; and Parcel Two ... | 7698/51 |
For $10, "PARCEL ONE" on Plan Book 112, Plan 49, now "44.3 acres, more or less" (see also Plan Book 148, Plan 47 and Plan Book 158, Plan 70), running from the northeast corner of Lot A 1,705 feet, by Cook Street and a series of courses, and "along the edge of Shawsheen River two thousand five hundred (2,500) feet, more or less to the point of beginning"; and Parcel Two less Lots 4 and 5 sold to John E. Farmer in 1993. Title: Book 2484, Page 92.
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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.
References
- Hazen: the 1642 report (the "Shawshin house") and grant of Shawshin to Cambridge
- Hazen: 1644 order that the river be called "Shawshin Ryver"; Woburn petition on the river's name
- Hazen: 1658 second and third divisions of meadow on the Shawshin
- Hazen: the Woburn line run a mile east of Shawshin River
- Hazen: Lexington Road, the road to Bacon's mill or Fitch's mill
- Hazen: Timothy Brooks's mill at the falls of the Shawshin, east part of Bedford
- Hazen: Bacon's mill at the falls of the Shawshin (1707), later Fitch's mill
- Hazen: "The Shawshin winds dreamily through its meadows on the east"
- Farmer, Historical Memoir (1816): Shawshin, "Shawshinock" and "Souhegenock river"
- Billerica town report 1925: Sellew and Jones gifts on the Shawsheen River, Riverside Reservation System
- Billerica town report 1936: March flood of the Concord and Shawsheen Rivers
- Billerica town report 1965: Shawsheen River Basin towns on pollution and encroachment
- Billerica town report 1966: flood plain encroachment lines authorized on the Shawsheen River
- Billerica town report 1973: Conservation Commission on Burlington's taking of Shawsheen water
- Billerica town report 1978: Shawsheen River Sewage Pumping Station completed
- Billerica town report 2000: canoe put-in at Akeson Field on the Shawsheen River
- Billerica town report 2010: Shawsheen River overflows at the Paul Newman Bridge, Pinehurst
- USGS stream gauge 01100600, Shawsheen River near Wilmington
- Wikipedia: Shawsheen River (length, course, name)