First Congregational Church of Billerica
First Congregational Church of Billerica
| Also Known As | Dale Parish Hall |
| Address | 18 Andover Rd |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.30 |
| Built | 1829 |
| Other Lot Structures | Dale Parish Hall (Built 1955) |
The First Congregational Church of Billerica stands on the north side of Andover Road, once called Sheldon's Lane, just northeast of the Billerica Common and next to the Sabbath Day House. The congregation was gathered in 1829 by Billerica people who held to the older, orthodox Calvinist theology as the town's First Parish Church in Billerica moved toward Unitarianism; a society was formed on January 17, 1829 and the church was organized on April 30, with Lyman Beecher as moderator of the council and twenty-five members. Such splits were common in New England in the 1820s and 1830s, and the small new societies leaned on regional supporters, as this one plainly did.
The land was once part of the homestead of the innholder David Osgood, which passed after his death in 1768 to Solomon Pollard and his son Francis. In 1810 Francis Pollard sold a lot of 106 square poles on the lane to Francis Kidder, and in 1819 Kidder sold the rest of it, half an acre, to Theophilus Manning. On June 29, 1829 Manning sold "one certain piece of land ... on the north side of Sheldon lane so called containing by estimation fifty six poles", 115 feet on the lane, between his own land and John Baldwin's, for $300 to the Rev. Joseph Bennett, a minister of Woburn. The church's frame was raised on October 28, 1829, and the building, 60 by 40 feet, was dedicated on January 13, 1830.
The meeting-house was Bennett's gift. On April 26, 1830 he deeded the lot "with the meeting house thereon erected", which he had built "for the accommodation of christians professing the Orthodox faith ... & associated together in the Congregational form of government", to three trustees, Samuel Farrar of Andover, Benjamin Wyman of Woburn and the Rev. Amos Blanchard Jr. of Lowell. They were to let "the Church lately gathered in said Billerica & now under the pastoral care of the Revd John Starkweather" worship there "so long as said church shall maintain the orthodox faith", with the deacons renting the pews to pay for repairs, insurance and the minister's salary. If the trust failed, the land and building were to go to the Massachusetts Missionary Society. The trust still held the lot more than a century later.
The building was raised in 1850 to add a vestry story beneath it, remodeled with tall round-headed windows in 1865, and given a chancel addition by the architect Edwin R. Clark in 1928, the year before the society became the incorporated First Congregational Church in Billerica. Its longest pastor, the Rev. J. Harold Dale, served from 1903 to 1953 and lived next door in the Sabbath Day House. When the church planned a parish house, Dale and his wife Katharine gave land behind the church from their own lot in 1952 and 1953, "for the purpose of making the Church lot large enough for a parish house"; in 1954 the First Parish gave part of the back land of its Unitarian parsonage, and on October 14, 1954 the trustees under Bennett's 1830 indenture, acting under a probate license, conveyed the rear of the trust land to the church corporation. Dale Parish Hall was built in 1955. The church added Lot B, the rest of the parsonage back land, in 1965 when the parsonage was sold, and a narrow strip on its west line in 1972. The assessor now carries the combined lots as one parcel of 1.757 acres. The church joined the United Church of Christ in 1961 and is in the Billerica Center local historic district (1990).
References
- MACRIS BIL.30
- Billerica assessor, parcel 51-31-1, 18 Andover Rd: 1.757 acres, combining parcels 51-29, 51-30, 51-31, 51-96 and 51-125
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 271: Congregational Church organized 1829, meeting-house raised Oct. 28, 1829, dedicated Jan. 13, 1830
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| October 17, 1760 | Deed | Thomas Danforth of Billerica, yeoman, and Abigail Danforth | David Osgood of Billerica, innholder | 1760: Danforth to David Osgood, the homestead that included the lot | 57/464 (South) |
Dated Oct. 16, 1760. For 266 pounds 13s. 4d., three lots: first, the homestead "near the Center of the Town" of "about twenty Acres more or less with the Dwelling House and all the other Buildings thereon standing," bounded west and south by the County Road, east by Samuel Sheldon and partly by Ebenezer French, north by Thomas Kidder Esq. "and by land of the said David Osgood and partly William Baldwin in a Crank as the Fence now stands to the County Road"; second, four acres of meadow west of the County Road by the lane to Thomas Kidder's; third, sixteen acres by the County Road near Daniel Shed's barn "as it was laid off to him by a Committee appointed by the Judge of Probate for settling his Father's Estate." Witnesses Isaac Noyes and Elijah Danforth; recorded Oct. 17, 1760. Billerica town book 5, pages 493-495.
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| 1768 | Will | Estate of David Osgood of Billerica, innholder | His widow Sarah Osgood and Elijah Danforth, executors (real estate to be sold) | 1768: David Osgood's will, land to be sold | Probate #16271 |
Will dated June 15, 1767, proved Feb. 16, 1768 (witnesses Jonathan Kidder, Samuel Danforth, Nathaniel Davidson). All real estate to be sold; to his wife Sarah "Eight Rods Square of Land off my Homestead for to Build a House on and a Garden Spott, at the Corner of the Stone Wall at the Lane Leading to Mr. Samuel Sheldon's"; his pew "in the Meeting House in Billerica Shall not be Sold". Inventory April 21, 1768: "1/2 an Acre of Land Given to the Widow by Will", 10 pounds; "nineteen Acres and one Half Acre of the Homestead with all the Buildings thereon Excepting the Pott ash House", 395 pounds; ten acres near the centre; 760 bushels of ashes and potash barrels.
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| April 26, 1769 | Executors' Deed | Sarah Osgood, widow and innholder, and Elijah Danforth, blacksmith, executors of David Osgood | Solomon Pollard of Billerica, tanner | 1768: Osgood's executors to Solomon Pollard | 69/122 (South) |
Dated Oct. 26, 1768. For 484 pounds lawful money, "one Lot or Parcel of Land situate in Billerica aforesaid near the Centre of the Town it being the whole of the Homestead of the said David Osgood dec'd," except half an acre at the corner of Sheldon's Lane left to the widow by the will, "and also excepting & reserving Liberty for John Baldwin John Patten & others their Sabbath Day House as it now stands"; bounded "Westerly & Southwardly by the County Road, Easterly by Land of Samuel Shelden and partly by Land of Ebenezer French, Northerly by Land of Thomas Kidder Esq. and partly by land of Mr Oliver Abbot and partly by Land of the heirs of William Baldwin ... in a Crank as the fence now stands to the County Road," "with all the Buildings Edifices and out Houses thereon." Witnesses Nathaniel Davidson and Timothy Whiting; acknowledged before Thomas Kidder; recorded Apr. 26, 1769. Billerica town book 6, pages 348-350.
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| 1803 | Will | Capt. Solomon Pollard of Billerica | Francis Pollard, his son and executor | 1803: Solomon Pollard's will, to his son Francis | Probate #17692 |
Will dated May 17, 1802, proved Oct. 5, 1803. "I give and bequeath to my son, Francis, all my real estate and landed-interest in the town of Billerica and elsewhere, with all the buildings"; his wife to have the improvement of a third; his son Isaac already provided for by deed; legacies to daughters Hannah Russ, Mary Bowers and Alice Bridge, with pasture for a cow for Alice. Papers read, pages 1-7.
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| November 12, 1819 | Warranty | Francis Kidder of Billerica, gentleman, and Nancy Kidder his wife | Theophilus Manning of Billerica, yeoman | 1819: Francis Kidder to Theophilus Manning, the half acre the church lot was cut from | 231/222 (South) |
For $210, "a certain piece of land with the buildings thereon standing, situate in said Billerica on the north side of Sheldon's lane so called, containing half an acre more or less," beginning at the southwesterly corner at the lane, northerly by land of John Baldwin nine rods, easterly by land of Ichabod Everett eight rods "to land of said Manning," southerly by Manning's land six and a half rods to the lane and westerly by the lane to the beginning. Dated March 17, acknowledged April 13, recorded Nov. 12, 1819. Billerica town book 13, pages 126-127 (Southern Registry Book 231 Page 222). ASSUMPTION: part of Manning's purchase of the proprietors' interests, which MACRIS dates to 1818; the deed does not mention the Sabbath Day house.
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| July 7, 1829 | Deed | Theophilus Manning of Billerica, yeoman (Polly Manning releasing dower) | Rev. Joseph Bennett of Woburn, clerk | 1829: Manning sells the meeting-house lot to Rev. Joseph Bennett | 291/47 (South) |
For $300, "one certain piece of land situated in said Billerica on the north side of Sheldon lane so called containing by estimation fifty six poles": from the southwest corner at land of John Baldwin easterly with the lane 115 feet, northerly at a right angle "by my other land" to land of Ichabod Everett, westerly by Everett's land to Baldwin and southerly by Baldwin's land to the lane. Warranty. Dated June 29, 1829 (witnesses Benjamin Wyman, Sally Wyman, John Chandler Jr.); recorded July 7, 1829. Billerica town book 14, pages 202-203. No buildings: the meeting-house was raised on October 28, 1829.
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| January 15, 1831 | Deed of Trust | Rev. Joseph Bennett of Woburn, clerk (Mary Bennett releasing dower) | Samuel Farrar of Andover, Benjamin Wyman of Woburn and Rev. Amos Blanchard Jr. of Lowell, trustees | 1830: Bennett deeds the meeting-house in trust for the orthodox church | 302/16 (South) |
Indenture of two parts. Bennett, "the owner of a piece of land in Billerica ... on which he has erected a Meeting house which he has expressly designed and intended for the accommodation of christians professing the Orthodox faith ... & associated together in the Congregational form of government", for $1 conveys the lot "with the meeting house thereon erected" on the north side of Sheldon's Lane, 56 poles, as bought from Theophilus Manning (Book 291, page 47), to the three as joint tenants, in trust to let "the Church lately gathered in said Billerica & now under the pastoral care of the Revd John Starkweather" worship there "so long as said church shall maintain the orthodox faith"; the deacons to let the pews, the rents going to repairs and insurance and then to the pastor's salary; vacancies among the trustees to be filled by the survivors; if the trust fails, land and meeting-house go to the Massachusetts Missionary Society. Dated April 26, 1830; recorded January 15, 1831. Billerica town book 14, pages 359-362.
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| July 17, 1952 | Gift | Rev. J. Harold Dale and Katharine Eastman Dale | The First Congregational Church of Billerica, a religious corporation | 1952: the Dales give land behind the church for a parish house | 1200/287 |
A lot behind the church: from a drill hole on the stone wall at the corner of the Church lot, land of Agnes T. Lyons et al. and "the Unitarian parsonage lot, formerly of Lyman Haynes", northerly by the parsonage lot 153.29 feet, easterly 57.76 feet and southerly 100 feet by the grantors' land to the northeast corner of the Congregational Church lot, westerly 4.45 feet by the Church lot; 6,712 square feet (survey for Agnes T. Lyons et al., November 1944, by E. P. Simpson). "Being a part of the premises to us conveyed by deed of [Mary] Katherine Tyler dated 1943" (Book 998, Page 130). "This is a deed of gift for the purpose of making the Church lot large enough for a parish house for church purposes. There is no monetary consideration involved." Recorded July 17, 1952.
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| December 23, 1953 | Gift | Rev. J. Harold Dale and Katharine Eastman Dale, husband and wife | The First Congregational Church of Billerica, a religious corporation | 1953: second Dale gift for the parish house | 1243/516 |
About 4,060 square feet on the northerly side of but not adjoining Andover Street: from a stone bound set August 1953 at the land they had already given the Church, westerly 57.76 feet to land of the Unitarian Parsonage, northerly by the parsonage 92.09 feet to a wall at land of Leroy Spaulding et al., easterly on the wall 41.70 feet and southerly 81.77 feet by their other land; part of the 1943 Tyler deed (Book 998, Page 130; see Books 816/18 and 697/553); survey by E. P. Simpson, December 1953. Again "a deed of gift for the purposes of making the Church lot large enough for a Parish House", without monetary consideration. Recorded December 23, 1953.
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| August 17, 1954 | Deed | The First Parish Church in Billerica | The First Congregational Church of Billerica | 1954: the Unitarian parish gives part of its parsonage back land | 1265/490 |
Dated August 1954, with the vote of a special parish meeting. For one dollar, the "easterly part of the Unitarian Parsonage back land", abutting the Congregational Church: south on Agnes T. Lyons et als. 53.50 feet, east on the Congregational Church 196.18 feet, north on Spaulding 75.60 feet, west on the remaining parsonage land 201.96 feet, 10,785 square feet, per a July 1954 plan by E. P. Simpson of the "Trustees of First Parish Church - Unitarian - Parsonage Lot". Signed by A. Warren Stearns, president, and Louise B. Messer, treasurer. This is the piece excepted in the 1965 sale.
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| October 21, 1954 | Trustees' Deed | John A. Holman, Carl R. Humphreys and Arthur C. Barnard, trustees under the instrument of April 26, 1830 | The First Congregational Church in Billerica, a church corporation | 1954: the 1830 trustees convey the rear piece to the church corporation | 1272/560 |
"Trustees under a certain instrument in writing dated April 26, 1830 and recorded with Middlesex So. Dist. Deeds, Book 302, Page 16, by power conferred by Middlesex Probate Court by license dated September 30, 1954", for $1: a parcel bounded northerly by land of J. Harold and Katherine T. Dale 84.45 feet, easterly by other land of Dale 16.25 feet, southerly by "land of the First Congregational Church of Billerica in trust" 79.71 feet and westerly by that land 33.50 feet, the rear of the trust land, conveyed outright for the parish house. Signed and acknowledged October 14, 1954; recorded October 21, 1954, with the church's votes of April 21, 1954 authorizing a loan of up to $50,000 to build the Parish House. The meeting-house lot itself stayed "in trust" under the 1830 indenture.
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| March 15, 1965 | Quitclaim | The private buyers of the Unitarian parsonage (husband and wife) | The First Congregational Church in Billerica, a religious corporation | 1965: Lot B, the rest of the parsonage back land | 1688/243 |
Lot B on the February 1965 Emmons and Fleming plan "Surveyed for The First Congregational Church In Billerica" (Plan Book 101, Plan 99): southerly by a stone wall by two courses 81.36 and 142.01 feet, easterly by land of the Grantee 201.96 feet, northerly by land of Barber 159.00 feet, westerly by two courses 112.50 and 87.64 feet; 37,867 square feet, "being a portion of the same premises conveyed by deed of The First Parish Church in Billerica to the Grantors recorded herewith" (Book 1688, Page 240). The rest of the parsonage back land, recorded March 15, 1965, the same morning the parish sold the parsonage house (Lot A).
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| November 8, 1972 | Quitclaim | The owners of the adjoining lot to the west | The First Congregational Church of Billerica, 18 Andover Road | 1972: a 227 sq ft strip along the west line | 2039/118 |
For $1, "a narrow triangular strip of land containing 227 square feet at the Easterly end of land now owned by the Grantors": from a point on the northerly side of Andover Road where the grantors' land and the Church's meet, northerly along the Church land 151.24 feet to a stone wall, westerly by the wall 3 feet, and southerly by the grantors' remaining land 151.27 feet to the beginning; shown on a July 1972 plan by Emmons, Fleming and Bienvenu, recorded with the deed. Signed October 1972; recorded November 8, 1972. The last addition; the assessor now carries the combined lots as parcel 51-31-1, 1.757 acres.
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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.