Structure · Built 1970
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Billerica Meetinghouse
The meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 70 Concord Road is the home of the church's Billerica Ward. The assessor describes it as a church building with brick veneer walls, built about 1970, on 1.83 acres at the bend of Concord Road west of Kenmar Drive.
The land was part of the "Shed place", a farm of forty-nine acres on the road to Bedford. Mary and Fanny Bowers bought it in shares from Luther French and their brother William Bowers in 1823 and 1831 and left it by will to the Town of Billerica, for the poor, and to the First Baptist Church. In 1871 the town and the church sold it to Charles E. Gorham, who sold it in 1887 to Dudley Foster, who sold it the same year to Moses C. Mitchell. Mitchell moved his boys' school here after the 1888 fire (see Mitchell Boys' School). In 1935 his widow, Mary H. Mitchell, deeded the western part of the estate "with the buildings thereon" to the Mitchell School corporation. That deed used the "Plan of Land of Mitchell Estates" of April 28, 1935. On June 2, 1944, the school, acting through its treasurer Blanche S. Mitchell, sold the land "with the buildings thereon, situated on and off Concord Road" to Edward Votour of Bedford. The sale ran west along the road from the school building and gymnasium to the land of Richard T. Rounds, and Votour gave back a $10,000 mortgage.
The church's members in the area met in various places, including "an old red barn in Billerica", and held fairs and food sales to raise money for a chapel in Billerica. On July 20, 1960, Edward Votour deeded about 81,500 square feet on the easterly side of Concord Road to the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, "a Utah Corporation sole". The lot had 294.97 feet of frontage in four courses and ran back to a right of way 375 feet from the road. The deed also gave a right of way over a sixty-foot strip beside the Rounds land. Ken-Mar Corporation's 1964 subdivision plan of the Mitchell Estates, which laid out Kenmar Drive and Karen Circle on the land behind it, shows the church as the abutter. The town building inspector issued permits for two new churches in 1969, and the assessor dates the present building to about 1970. T. Kent Pugmire of the church gave the invocation at the 1971 Town Meeting, and the 1973 town report lists the "Church of Latter Day Saints and Hall" among the town's churches.
Leaders of the Billerica Ward appear in the town records. Bishop Ned Wheeler gave the Town Meeting invocation in 1976. The 1985 Polk directory lists the "Church Of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints 70 Concord Rd". Bishop Melvin M. Scott Jr. gave the invocations in 1986. He was also a Town Meeting member and chairman of the Municipal Building Use Study Committee, and the selectmen honored him with a proclamation in May 1987, when he resigned from Town Meeting. In 2018 Bishop Jared Koyle joined the Catholic Community of Billerica in founding the Billerica Community Pantry.
The lot has changed only a little. In 1983 the neighbors at 66 Concord Road deeded the church a 204-square-foot strip (Lot B), as shown on a plan made for the church by Richard F. Kaminski and Associates, and that plan also set off 65 square feet (Lot C) for Ken-Mar Corporation. The first deed spelled the church's name "Saings", so a confirmatory deed was recorded in December 1983. In November 2003 the church bought the adjoining lot at 80 Concord Road from the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston for $450,000. That lot held Sunnyside, the former Mitchell School headmaster's house that had been St. Theresa's rectory. On September 8, 2004 the church granted the Town of Billerica two small parcels (530 and 1,244 square feet) along the road for the widening of Concord Road, shown on a plan by Bruce Campbell and Associates recorded that month; the deed was recorded in February 2005.
The Billerica Ward still meets in the building, holding its Sunday service at 10 a.m. When the North Shore Massachusetts Stake was organized on November 6, 2016, from parts of the Cambridge Massachusetts, Exeter New Hampshire and Nashua New Hampshire stakes, the Billerica Ward was one of its six wards.
Plans by the architect Ellsworth H. Tidd of Rowley for a North Middlesex Branch chapel of the church on Concord Road were filed with the state Department of Public Safety in April 1963, and his plans for the church were filed in November 1969.
References
- Billerica assessor, 70 Concord Rd (parcel 61-76-1): 1.829 acres, religious use, church building with brick veneer built about 1970; deed 2678/203; 2005 town taking of 1,774 sq ft
- Church News, Oct. 25, 2003, "Fabric of faith": members met in various places including an old red barn in Billerica and held fairs and food sales for a Billerica chapel
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Billerica Ward, 70 Concord Road, Sunday service 10:00 a.m.
- LDS Church Growth, Nov. 7, 2016: North Shore Massachusetts Stake organized Nov. 6, 2016 from the Cambridge, Exeter and Nashua stakes, including the Billerica Ward
- Billerica town report 1969, building inspector: permits for two new churches and five church additions
- Billerica town report 1971: invocation by T. Kent Pugmire, Church of Jesus Christ Latter Day Saints
- Billerica town report 1976: invocation by Bishop Ned Wheeler of the Billerica Ward
- Billerica town report 1986: invocations by Bishop Melvin M. Scott Jr. of the Billerica Ward, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Concord Road
- Billerica town report 1987: selectmen's proclamation of May 5, 1987 for Melvin Scott
- Mass. Dept. of Public Safety plan record, April 16, 1963, No. 82239: North Middlesex Branch Chapel; architect Ellsworth H. Tidd, Rowley
- Mass. Dept. of Public Safety plan record, Nov. 20, 1969, No. 82261: Church of Latter Day Saints, worship; architect Ellsworth H. Tidd
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1823 | Deed | Luther French of Billerica, yeoman (Sally French releasing dower) | William Bowers, gentleman, Mary Bowers and Fanny Bowers, all of Billerica | 1823: Luther French sells half of the Shed place, later the Mitchell estate, to William, Mary and Fanny Bowers | 250/116 (South) |
Billerica town book 13, pages 250-251. Dated April 22, 1823, acknowledged April 23 before Joseph Locke JP. For $685, "one undivided half of a tract of land situate in said Billerica about half a mile southerly of the meeting house with all the buildings thereon, commonly called the Shed place, containing about fifty six acres more or less", bounded from the lane leading to the house lately owned by Isaac French at land lately of Cyrus French, by that lane and "the road leading from Billerica to Concord" to land of Samuel Whiting Esq., then by Whiting, land lately of Simon Forrester, land of Rev. Jacob Norton and land of Josiah Bowers ("lately the Stickney farm"), and by land lately of Isaac French; "excepting from the above grant, the barn standing on the premises, in which the said Luther has no right". Also an undivided half of "the Shed orchard", about three acres by the same road and land of Col. John Parker, excepting a small burying ground "in which there are two tombs enclosed". The grantees were children of Dr. William Bowers of the Old Providence House.
Title from:
|
|||||
| October 19, 1824 | Quitclaim | Josiah Crosby of Billerica, Esq. | William Bowers, gentleman, Mary Bowers and Fanny Bowers, gentlewomen, all of Billerica | 1824: Josiah Crosby releases his mortgage of the Shed place to the Bowers | 256/348 (South) |
Billerica town book 13, pages 297-298. Dated Oct. 18, 1824, acknowledged the same day before Joseph Locke JP. For one dollar, Crosby quitclaims "a certain farm or tract of land situate in said Billerica with the buildings thereon standing containing about fifty five acres more or less and is the same conveyed to me by mortgage deed from Luther French dated the first day of November A.D. 1819": the release of French's mortgage on the Shed place.
Related:
|
|||||
| June 2, 1842 | Quitclaim | William Bowers of Billerica, yeoman | Mary Bowers of Billerica, singlewoman (his sister) | 1831: William Bowers releases the other half of the Shed place to his sister Mary | 415/471 (South) |
Billerica town book 17, pages 296-297. Dated June 7, 1831, acknowledged July 27, 1831 before Marshall Preston JP; recorded June 2, 1842. For one dollar, "all my right, title, interest, and estate in and to the one undivided half of the Shed place, so called, situate in said Billerica being a part of the Real Estate of Jonathan Bowers Esq. deceased, containing forty nine acres and eighty one rods, more or less, with one undivided half of the dwelling house thereon and the whole of the Barn", bounded from the northeast corner at land of Samuel Whiting Esq. and "the road leading from Billerica to Bedford", by that road to "the road leading by the Grave yard to Isaac French place", by the heirs of Cyrus French and widow Hannah French to "the Causeway lot so called", and back by Josiah Bowers, Jacob Norton, "the Bell meadow so called", John Eames and Whiting, "not including the little pasture on the West side of said road". This was the other half of the farm, from the estate of Jonathan Bowers Esq.
Title from:
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| March 16, 1869 | Will | Estate of Priscilla Bowers of Billerica, singlewoman (d. Feb. 22, 1869) | The First Baptist Church in Billerica (remainder, after the deaths of her sisters Mary and Fanny Bowers) | Will of Priscilla Bowers: remainder to the First Baptist Church | Probate #27759 |
Will of December 9, 1862, allowed at Lowell March 16, 1869, Dudley Foster executor: after a $500 legacy, "to the Baptist Church in Billerica all the remainder of my Property, Real, Mixed or Personal, to be by the Chh. kept as a fund, the interest of which to be expended for the support of Preaching in the Baptist Meeting house", the legacy "not to [be] paid till after the decease of my Sisters Mary & Fanny Bowers". Her heirs at law were those two sisters. The May 1869 inventory lists "1/3 of Homestead undivided 1 1/2 acres" at $1000 and "1/3 of Old Homestead 24 acres" at $800 among $3650 of real estate.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| May 17, 1870 | Will | Estate of Mary Bowers of Billerica, singlewoman (d. 1870) | The Town of Billerica, for the benefit of the poor | Will of Mary Bowers: the Shed place to the Town of Billerica for the poor | Probate #27756 |
Will of December 9, 1862, allowed at Lowell May 17, 1870, Dudley Foster executor: "I give and bequeath to the Town of Billerica, all the Property Real, Mixed or Personal of which I may be possessed at the time of my decease, for the benefit of the poor of said Billerica. This legacy not to be paid untill after the decease of my Sisters Priscilla and Fanny Bowers." The town sold the two-thirds of the Bowers Homestead it received from Mary and Fanny Bowers to William H. Osborn in 1871.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| May 2, 1872 | Quitclaim | The Members of the First Baptist Church and Society in Billerica, by Edward Spaulding and Geo. C. Gilman, committee | Charles E. Gorham of Billerica | 1871: the First Baptist Church sells its 1/18 of the Shed place to Charles E. Gorham | 86/117 |
Dated May 31, 1871, under a vote of a church and society meeting of May 1, 1871; acknowledged before Dudley Foster JP; recorded May 2, 1872. For $119.44, "one undivided eighteenth part of a certain parcel of land known as the 'Shed place' situate in said Billerica, containing forty nine acres & eighty one rods, more or less", from the northeast corner at land formerly of Samuel Whiting and "the road leading to Bedford", by that road to "the road leading by the grave yard to the 'Isaac French place'", by land formerly of the heirs of Cyrus French and of widow Hannah French to "the Causeway lot, so called", and back by land formerly of Josiah Bowers, Jacob Norton, "the Bell meadow, so called", John Eames and Samuel Whiting. "Being part of the real estate devised to said grantors by Priscilla Bowers."
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| May 2, 1872 | Quitclaim | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica, by Dudley Foster, Israel A. Colson and David L. Mason, committee; Dudley Foster, Treasurer | Charles E. Gorham of Billerica | 1871: the town sells its 17/18 of the Shed place to Charles E. Gorham | 86/118 |
Dated May 31, 1871, under a vote of town meeting of May 1871; acknowledged before Charles H. Parker JP; recorded May 2, 1872. For $2,330.56, "seventeen undivided eighteenth parts of a certain parcel of land known as the 'Shed place'", 49 acres 81 rods "with an old house thereon", the same bounds as the church's deed. "Being part of the real estate devised to said grantors by Mary Bowers and Fanny Bowers." The two deeds together brought $2,450 for the whole farm.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| May 19, 1887 | Warranty Deed | Charles E. Gorham of Billerica, unmarried | Dudley Foster of Billerica | 1887: Gorham sells the Shed place to Dudley Foster | 188/149 |
Dated May 17, 1887, acknowledged May 18 before Joseph P. Thompson JP. For $50, "a certain parcel of land known now or formerly as the 'Shed Place'", 49 acres 81 rods, the same bounds. "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Dudley Foster, Treasurer of the Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica, by his deed dated May 31st A.D. 1871 ... Book 86, Page 118." Subject to two mortgages that the grantee assumes, one to Dudley Foster as Treasurer (Book 129 Page 515) and one to Susie E. Burns of Billerica (Book 130 Page 112).
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| June 3, 1887 | Warranty Deed | Dudley Foster of Billerica (Mary P. Foster releasing dower and homestead) | Moses C. Mitchell of Billerica | 1887: Dudley Foster sells the Shed place to Moses C. Mitchell | 189/55 |
Pages 55-56. Dated May 25, 1887. For $1,500, "a certain parcel of land known as the 'Shed Place', situated in said Billerica, containing forty-nine acres and eighty-one rods, more or less", beginning at the northeast corner at land formerly of Samuel Whiting and "the road leading to Bedford", westerly and southwesterly by that road to "the road leading by the grave yard to the Isaac French Place", southerly 30 rods to land formerly of the heirs of Cyrus French, around their land and land formerly of Hannah French to "the Causeway lot, so called", and northerly by land formerly of Josiah Bowers, Jacob Norton, John Eames and Whiting to the beginning. "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Charles E. Gorham deed dated May, 1887" (book and page left blank). Mitchell moved his boys' school here after the 1888 fire.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| December 7, 1935 | Mortgage | Mary H. Mitchell of Billerica, widow | Anna Zisman of Boston | 1935: Mitchell mortgage to Anna Zisman (partial release 1944) | 876/243 |
Pages 243-245. Dated Nov. 22, 1935. To secure $20,000 in one year at five per cent, the same western land "with the buildings thereon" on the Mitchell Estates plan, with the same exceptions. Margin notes: assignments Book 921 Page 51 and Book 938 Page 162 (to Blanche S. Mitchell), partial releases Books 985, 997, 1005, 1008, and releases on sale Book 1014 Page 84 and Book 1031 Page 174.
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| December 7, 1935 | Deed | Mary H. Mitchell of Billerica, widow | Mitchell School, a Massachusetts corporation | 1935: Mary H. Mitchell deeds the western Mitchell estate to the Mitchell School | 876/245 |
Pages 245-247. Dated Nov. 22, 1935, acknowledged in Suffolk County the same day; consideration less than $100. The land "with the buildings thereon" in Billerica Centre on the 1935 Mitchell Estates plan, west of the line to Alexander H. Mitchell: bounded by Concord Road, French Street, land of Paris, McElligott, unknown owners and Mason, excepting the house lots of Blocks A, B and C along Concord Road and Campbell Road. "For my title see records of Probate Court, Estate of Moses C. Mitchell, Docket #98722." Subject to taxes for 1935 and "to a mortgage given by the said grantor to Anna Zisman in the sum of $20,000".
Title from:
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| June 6, 1944 | Quitclaim Deed | Mitchell School, a Massachusetts corporation of Billerica, by Blanche S. Mitchell, Treasurer | Edward Votour of Bedford | 1944: the Mitchell School sells the land west of the school along Concord Road to Edward Votour | 1008/31 |
Pages 31-33. Dated June 2, 1944, under a vote of the trustees the same day; acknowledged in Suffolk County; revenue stamps $12.10. "The land with the buildings thereon, situated on and off Concord Road, Billerica Centre", on the "Plan of Land of Mitchell Estates, Billerica Centre, Mass., April 28, 1935" (Plan Book 59 Plan 16): from a stone bound at the northeast corner of "the location of the Mitchell School building and gymnasium" west along Concord Road (165.70, 98.19 and 134.32 feet and a 96.95-foot curve) to land of Richard T. Rounds, around the Rounds land (plan by E. P. Simpson, Sept. 4, 1941), southwest along the road to Mitchell Road and back by other land of the grantor. "Conveyance shall include landlord's fixtures." The school reserved a right of way from Concord Road to Mitchell Road "by the Mitchell School and Gymnasium and Farm House". No title recital; the school held under the 1935 deed from Mary H. Mitchell. The church lot of 1960 was cut from this land.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| June 6, 1944 | Mortgage | Edward Votour of Bedford | Blanche S. Mitchell of Billerica | 1944: Votour mortgage back to Blanche S. Mitchell | 1008/33 |
Pages 33-34, recorded with the deed from the Mitchell School. "To secure the payment of Ten thousand ($10,000.00) Dollars in or within twenty years with three (3%) per cent interest", the same "land with the buildings thereon, situated on and off Concord Road": a purchase-money mortgage back to the school's treasurer.
Related:
|
|||||
| July 20, 1960 | Quitclaim Deed | Edward Votour of Billerica (his wife releasing dower) | Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Utah corporation sole, of Salt Lake City | 1960: Edward Votour sells about 81,500 sq ft to the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop; the meetinghouse lot | 1482/339 |
Pages 339-340. Signed and recorded July 20, 1960 (#944), "for consideration paid". Land "on the Easterly side of the Concord Road" from the junction with land of one Rounds: by Concord Road in four courses of 93.82, 53.66, 83.60 and 63.89 feet (294.97 feet), south 287 feet and southwest by other land of the grantor to a right of way "three hundred seventy-five ... feet from said Concord Road", northwest by the right of way 175 feet, and by the Rounds land 215.50 and 195.73 feet to the beginning, "approximately 81,500 square feet". "Being part of the premises to me conveyed by deed recorded in Middlesex North District Registry of Deeds, Volume 1008, Page 31." With a right of way "for all purposes of travel" over a sixty-foot strip from Concord Road beside the Rounds land. The church built its Billerica meetinghouse here about 1970.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| October 6, 1983 | Quitclaim Deed | The private owners of 66 Concord Rd (abutters) | Corporation of Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Utah corporation sole | 1983: 204 sq ft strip (Lot B) added from the 66 Concord Rd lot | 2659/107 |
Dated Sept. 27, 1983, recorded Oct. 6, 1983 (#28801); consideration $1. "Lot B on Plan of Land in Billerica, Massachusetts, prepared for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints by ... Richard F. Kaminski & Associates, Inc., dated April 19, 1983", "approximately Two Hundred and Four (204) square feet", a strip on the line between the church lot and the house lot at 66 Concord Road (Plan Book 141 Plan 59). For the grantors' title, Book 2062 Page 34. The deed spelled the grantee "Latter Day Saings".
Related:
|
|||||
| December 8, 1983 | Confirmatory Deed | The private owners of 66 Concord Rd (abutters) | Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a Utah corporation sole, of Concord Road, Billerica | 1983: confirmatory deed of Lot B; the assessor's current deed reference | 2678/203 |
Acknowledged Oct. 29, 1983, recorded Dec. 8, 1983 (#35594); $1. The same Lot B of 204 square feet on the Kaminski plan of April 19, 1983 (Plan Book 141 Plan 59). "We are recording a confirmatory deed because in the original deed at Book 2659, Page 107, the word 'Saints' was spelled 'Saings'", and "also to put in the address of the Grantee". The assessor gives this book and page as the lot's current deed reference.
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| November 5, 2003 | Deed | Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, a corporation sole | Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | 2003: the church buys the adjoining 80 Concord Rd lot (Sunnyside) from the Archbishop of Boston | 16492/132 |
Recorded Nov. 5, 2003 (doc. 131214), 2 pages; consideration $450,000. 80 Concord Road (Plan Book 64 Plan 49), the lot of Sunnyside, the former Mitchell School headmaster's house that had been the rectory of St. Theresa's parish since 1974, adjoining the meetinghouse lot on the east; the Archbishop's title was a 1973 deed, Book 2088 Page 9 (registry index details). The church named this deed with 1482/339 and 2678/203 as its title in the 2004 grant to the town.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| February 3, 2005 | Grant Deed | Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a Utah corporation sole, of Salt Lake City | The Town of Billerica | 2004: grant of two strips to the town for the widening of Concord Road | 18377/21 |
Executed Sept. 8, 2004 in Salt Lake County ("August" struck out), recorded Feb. 3, 2005 (doc. 7106), 3 pages; "consideration of less than One Hundred Dollars", without covenants. Parcels C-T-1 (about 530 square feet) and C-T-2 (about 1,244 square feet) along the southerly line of Concord Road at 70 Concord Road, on a "Plan Showing The Widening Of A Portion Of Concord Road" by Bruce Campbell and Associates, May 2004, recorded as Plan Book 215 Plan 123 (Sept. 21, 2004). "Being a portion of premises conveyed to Grantor by deeds recorded ... at Book 1482, Page 339; Book 2678, Page 203; and Book 16492, Page 132." The plan's acquisition summary gives the church's two lots as 25,840 and 81,457 square feet before the taking. The assessor notes "TOB TOOK 1774 SF OF LAND 2/3/05".
Title from:
|
|||||
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.