Structure · Built 1898
Coburn S. Smith House
The two-family house at 39-41 Treble Cove Road in North Billerica stands on a lot of about a quarter acre cut from the farm of Coburn S. Smith, who owned the land from 1882 until 1924. The Billerica assessor dates the house to about 1898, the year Smith mortgaged the farm to George H. Hall, and it was standing by 1924, when the lot was deeded "with the buildings thereon".
Treble Cove Road was long called "the old road leading to Chelmsford". The land along it belonged in the 1840s to Nathaniel Stearns, whose will of 1845 ordered all his real estate sold at auction. In 1846 his executor, Marshall Preston, sold the house lot at the fork of the Lowell and Canal Mills roads, with its outlying lots, to the widow Sarah Stearns, who conveyed them the same day to her son-in-law Anthony Jones. In 1849 Jones sold the farm to Elijah Corliss for $3,800; its second tract was "seventy one acres and one hundred three rods" bounded by Harvey Crosby land and "the old road leading to Chelmsford". Corliss sold the farm in 1874 for $9,000 to Littleton T. Falcon of Lowell, whose deed describes that tract as 85 acres 103 rods. Falcon mortgaged it to the Merrimack River Savings Bank in 1876, fell behind on the interest, and in March 1882 George H. Hall, who had bought the mortgage, sold the farm at auction for $4,000 to Coburn S. Smith.
Smith sold parts of the farm over the following years, including 25 3/4 acres to James and Annie McCluskey in 1900 and the half-acre corner on which the Edward F. Carley House was built in 1897. In August 1924, Smith, "being unmarried", quitclaimed this lot of 9,658 square feet "with the buildings thereon" on the west side of Treble Cove Road to Fred C. Smith, bounded north by Campbell land and west and south by his own land, from an iron pipe "at the foot of an elm tree". Fred C. Smith died on December 11, 1924, aged 54, and the lot passed to his widow Mabelle M. Smith and their daughters Miriam H. Schmelzer and Gwendolyn H. Smith (later Knowles). In 1926 Coburn S. Smith deeded the rest of the farm to the same three women, who sold parts of it along the Boston Road to the Nuttall and Michalek families in 1926 and 1927. No deed of the Treble Cove Road lot was recorded for almost fifty years.
The lot left the family through the estate of Miriam H. Schmelzer: a deed from her executor was recorded in 1971, and in 1979 the property, by then called "39-41 Treble Cove Road", was consolidated in one private owner. In 1963 A.F.L. Caterers was listed at 39 Treble Cove Road. In 1984 the house was sold to G & R Realty Trust for $77,000, together with a strip of about 2,100 square feet on the south, and in 1985 it was resold for $145,000. That owner's mortgage was foreclosed in 1988, and the Connecticut National Mortgage Co. bought the property at auction. Private owners have held it since 1989.
References
- Billerica assessor record, parcel 15-127-0: two-family, built about 1898, 0.271 acres, sales history
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1845 | Will | Estate of Nathaniel Stearns of Billerica, yeoman | Marshall Preston, executor; widow Sarah Stearns; daughters Catharine Wilson, Judith Jones and Emily Stearns | Nathaniel Stearns will: all his land to be sold at auction, including the outlying lots on the old road to Chelmsford | Probate #42239 |
Middlesex probate case 42239 (39 pages). Will dated August 1845: to his wife Sarah his furniture, horse and phaeton, $1,000 and the interest of $2,000 for life in place of dower; $1,000 each to his daughters Catharine Wilson (wife of John Wilson) and Judith Jones (wife of Anthony Jones) and $1,500 to Emily Stearns; the executor "shall in a reasonable time after my decease, sell and dispose of, at public auction all the property, real, personal and mixed", the residue to the widow and daughters. Executor Marshall Preston. The heirs assented to the will on Nov. 2, 1845.
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| April 2, 1846 | Executor's Deed | Marshall Preston of Billerica, executor of the will of Nathaniel Stearns | Sarah Stearns of Billerica, widow | executor to the widow Sarah Stearns, the house lot and outlying lots | 482/3 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 145-147. Signed March 25, 1846, recorded April 2. Nathaniel Stearns, "yeoman, deceased testate", had empowered his executor to sell all his real estate at public auction; for $2,300, the highest bid, Marshall Preston conveys to the widow Sarah Stearns "a certain tract of land, being the house [lot], containing four acres more or less", beginning "at the fork of the Lowell Road and road leading to the Canal Mills, so called", by that road to land of Joseph Dows, westerly by Dows to the Chelmsford Road and "by said road in a curve line to bound first mentioned with all the buildings thereon", with lots of 71 acres 103 rods, 9 acres 88 poles and 10 acres 147 poles.
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| April 2, 1846 | Quitclaim Deed | Sarah Stearns of Billerica, widow | Anthony Jones of Billerica, yeoman | Sarah Stearns to Anthony Jones, with the lots on the old road to Chelmsford | 482/5 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 148-150. Signed March 25, 1846, the same day she bought it, recorded April 2. For $2,300 Sarah Stearns quitclaims "a certain tract of land being the House lot, containing four acres more or less", from "the fork of the Lowell road and road leading to the Canal Mills" by Joseph Dows land and "the Chelmsford road ... on a curve line", "with the buildings thereon", and the three outlying lots, "being the same conveyed by Marshall Preston, as Executor of Nathaniel Stearns, deceased, to said Sarah, by deed bearing even date". Witnessed by Emily Stearns and Marshall Preston.
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| April 2, 1846 | Mortgage | Anthony Jones of Billerica, yeoman | Marshall Preston, executor of the will of Nathaniel Stearns | Jones mortgage to the executor, including the outlying lots | 482/7 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 150-152. Dated March 25, 1846. For $2,000 Anthony Jones mortgages back to the executor the same "House lot ... containing four acres", beginning "at the fork of the Lowell road and road leading to the Canal Mills so called", "with all the buildings thereon", and the outlying lots, "being the same conveyed by said Preston as the Executor of the last will and testament of Nathaniel Stearns" to Sarah Stearns. It is the "mortgage given to Marshall Preston dated 25 March A.D. 1846" on which $500 was still due when Elijah Corliss sold in 1874.
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| March 9, 1849 | Warranty Deed | Anthony Jones of Billerica, yeoman (Judith Jones releasing dower) | Elijah Corliss of Billerica, yeoman | Jones to Elijah Corliss: second tract, 71 acres 103 rods on the old road to Chelmsford (Treble Cove Road) | 556/378 (South) |
Billerica town book 20, pages 260-263. Signed February 26, 1849, recorded March 9. For $3,800 Jones sells "the following several tracts": "the first tract the homestead lot containing four acres more or less", beginning "at the fork of the roads leading to Lowell and the Canal Mills so called", northeasterly by the Canal Mills road to land of Joseph Dows, westerly by Dows to the Lowell Road and back by that road, "with the buildings thereon"; 71 acres 103 rods on the old road to Chelmsford; 9 acres 88 poles; and 10 acres 147 rods by the road "from the Ford way to Chelmsford". Subject to public roads and "to a mortgage upon the same to Marshall Preston bearing date the twenty fifth day of March A.D. 1846" for $2,000, which Elijah Corliss assumed. Witnessed by Marshall Preston and Submit Jones.
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| March 9, 1849 | Mortgage | Elijah Corliss of Billerica, yeoman | Anthony Jones of Billerica, yeoman | Corliss mortgage back to Jones | 556/380 (South) |
Billerica town book 20, pages 263-266. Given the same day as his purchase: for $1,300 Corliss mortgages back to Jones the same tracts, "the first tract the home lot contains four acres more or less", beginning "at the fork of the roads leading to Lowell and to the Canal Mills so called". The grantor index records Jones discharging it in 1854 (town book 20, page 266).
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| May 1, 1874 | Warranty Deed | Elijah Corliss of Billerica (Melinda Corliss releasing dower) | Littleton T. Faulcon (Falcon) of Lowell | Corliss to Littleton T. Falcon: 85 acres 103 rods on the old road to Chelmsford | 101/300 |
Signed March 19, 1874, recorded May 1, 1874 (pages 300-301). Elijah Corliss sells "the following several parcels": "The first parcel, the home lot, containing four acres more or less", beginning "at the fork of the roads leading to Lowell and the Canal Mills so called", by the Canal Mills road to land of Joseph Dows, westerly by Dows to the Lowell road and back by that road, "with the buildings thereon"; a second parcel of 85 acres 103 rods on "the old road leading to Chelmsford"; and 9 acres 88 poles by Abbot Russell and Joseph Stearns. Subject to "a mortgage given to Marshall Preston dated 25 March A.D. 1846" with $500 due and a mortgage to Sarah J. Grant with $700 due, which the grantee assumed. A marginal note says the description was copied from an earlier deed recorded in Middlesex South Book 586, Page 578.
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| 1876 | Mortgage | Littleton T. Falcon of Lowell | Merrimack River Savings Bank of Lowell | Falcon mortgage to the Merrimack River Savings Bank, later foreclosed | 121/219 |
Dated October 27, 1876 (pages 219-221). For $2,600, payable in one year at seven percent, Littleton T. Falcon mortgages three parcels in Billerica: about "four acres" beginning "at the fork of the roads leading to Lowell and the Canal Mills so called", by Joseph Dows land and the Lowell road, "with the buildings thereon", which were to be insured for $2,600; 85 acres 103 rods on "the old road leading to Chelmsford"; and 9 acres 88 poles by Abbott Russell and Joseph Stearns. The margin cites the assignment to George H. Hall (Book 129, Page 235) and the foreclosure sale (Book 151, Page 191).
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| March 22, 1882 | Mortgagee's Deed | George H. Hall of Billerica, assignee of the Merrimack River Savings Bank mortgage of Littleton T. Falcon | Coburn S. Smith of Billerica | foreclosure sale to Coburn S. Smith, the farm out of which this lot was cut | 151/191 |
Signed March 21, 1882, recorded March 22 (pages 191-194). Foreclosure under the power of sale in the mortgage of Littleton T. Falcon to the Merrimack River Savings Bank of Lowell dated October 27, 1876 (Book 121, Page 219), assigned to Hall May 15, 1878 (Book 129, Page 235). Interest due May 15, 1880 went unpaid, the sale was advertised in the Lowell Weekly Journal, and for $4,000 Hall conveys three parcels: about "four acres" beginning "at the fork of the roads leading to Lowell and the Canal Mills so called", by the Canal Mills road to land of Joseph Dows and back by the Lowell road, "with the buildings thereon"; 85 acres 103 rods on "the old road leading to Chelmsford"; and 9 acres 88 poles by Abbott Russell and Joseph Stearns.
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| March 22, 1882 | Mortgage | Coburn S. Smith of Billerica | George H. Hall of Billerica | Smith mortgage to George H. Hall on the whole farm | 151/195 |
Dated March 21, 1882, recorded March 22 (pages 195-197). For $3,500, Smith mortgages three parcels: about "four acres" beginning "at the fork of the roads leading to Lowell and the Canal Mills so called", running northeasterly by the Canal Mills road to land of Joseph Dows, westerly by Dows to the Lowell road and back by that road, "with the buildings thereon"; 85 acres 103 rods on "the old road leading to Chelmsford"; and 9 acres 88 poles by Abbott Russell and Joseph Stearns. The margin cites the 1897 partial release (Book 291, Page 486) against the four-acre parcel, which is the one the Carley half acre was cut from. Later assigned to Ann B. Hall and Annie B. H. Rindle and discharged in the margin.
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| April 18, 1898 | Mortgage | Coburn S. Smith of Billerica | George H. Hall of Billerica | mortgage of the Smith farm in 1898, the year the house was built | 296/142 |
Dated April 8, 1898, recorded April 18. For $300, payable in one year at five percent, Smith mortgages the same three parcels he bought at the 1882 foreclosure: about four acres "at the forks of the roads leading to Lowell and the Canal Mills" "with the buildings thereon"; 85 acres 103 rods on "the old road leading to Chelmsford" (Treble Cove Road), out of which this lot was later cut; and 9 acres 88 poles, subject to the 1882 mortgage (Book 151, Page 195). The assessor dates the two-family house on this lot to 1898. Discharged May 9, 1900 (Book 319, Page 401).
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| May 10, 1900 | Partial Release | George H. Hall and Ann B. Hall of Billerica | Coburn S. Smith of Billerica | discharge of the 1898 mortgage; release of the McCluskey tract from the Smith farm | 319/401 |
Recorded May 10, 1900 (pages 401-402). Hall first discharges the $300 mortgage of April 8, 1898 (Book 296, Page 142) as paid in full. Then the Halls, owners of Smith's mortgage of March 21, 1882 (Book 151, Page 195), for $2,000 release from it 25 75/100 acres bounded by "Triple Cove Road", Falcon and Trefry land, the Chelmsford Road and the Boston and Lowell Road, the tract Smith sold the same day to James and Annie McCluskey for $2,250. The rest of the farm, including this lot, stayed under the 1882 mortgage.
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| 1924 | Quitclaim Deed | Coburn S. Smith of Billerica, unmarried | Fred C. Smith of Billerica | the house lot cut out of the Smith farm, "with the buildings thereon" | 710/242 |
Dated August 5, 1924. For one dollar Smith quitclaims a lot of 9,658 square feet (the record reads 9,058) "with the buildings thereon" on the west side of Treble Cove Road near North Billerica, bounded north by Campbell land and west and south by the grantor's own land, from an iron pipe "at the foot of an elm tree". "For my title see deed George H. Hall to me dated March, 1882" (the book and page were left blank; it is Book 151, Page 191). Fred C. Smith died four months later, on December 11, 1924, aged 54 (Billerica town report), and the lot passed to his widow Mabelle M. Smith and their daughters Miriam H. Schmelzer and Gwendolyn H. Smith (later Knowles). This is the lot later numbered 39-41 Treble Cove Road.
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| April 12, 1926 | Quitclaim Deed | Coburn S. Smith of Billerica | Mabelle M. Smith, Miriam H. Schmelzer and Gwendolyn H. Smith, all of Billerica | Coburn S. Smith to Mabelle M. Smith, Miriam H. Schmelzer and Gwendolyn H. Smith: the rest of the farm around this lot | 735/122 |
Dated April 10, 1926 and recorded about April 12, 1926 (pages 122 to 124). Coburn S. Smith, "being unmarried", conveys four parcels: about four acres with the buildings at the fork of the roads to Lowell and to the "Canal Mills"; "a certain piece or parcel of land containing eighty-five (85) acres and one hundred and three (103) rods", from land of Harvey Crosby along "the old road leading to Chelmsford" to land of Joseph Dow's and by land formerly of Benjamin Frost and Michael McGlone, less 26 acres sold to James and Ann McCluskey and half an acre to Carley; nine acres and 88 poles on the old road to Chelmsford by Abbott Russell and Joseph Stearns; and "the dam swamp, containing about ten (10) acres", by land of William Frost, Joseph Dow, William Manning and the heirs of Joseph Wilson. The first three parcels had been mortgaged by Smith to George H. Hill on March 21, 1902 (Book 352, Page 195).
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| June 14, 1926 | Quitclaim Deed | Mabelle M. Smith, "being unmarried", and Miriam H. Schmelzer (husband H. Raymond Schmelzer releasing curtesy), both of Billerica | John J. Nuttall and Amy Isabel Nuttall, husband and wife, of Billerica | the Fred C. Smith heirs (widow and daughters) selling other farm land in 1926 | 737/443 |
Dated June 11, 1926, recorded June 14. Two undivided thirds of 39,796 square feet on the easterly side of the Boston Road in North Billerica, shown on a plan "belonging to Mrs. Mabelle M. Smith" (John T. Brown, May 15, 1926), bounded south by "land of Mabelle M. Smith and others", part of the first parcel in Coburn S. Smith's deed of April 10, 1926 (Book 735, Page 122). The remaining third was sold the same day by Mabelle M. Smith as guardian of her minor daughter Gwendolyn H. Smith under a Probate Court decree of June 9, 1926 (Book 737, Page 444, $1,000). Not this lot, but it shows Mabelle as the widow of Fred C. Smith and Gwendolyn as her ward, the family that held the Treble Cove Road lot after his death in 1924.
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| August 20, 1971 | Deed | Executor of the estate of Miriam H. Schmelzer (Middlesex probate 438383) | A private owner | the lot passes out of the Smith family through the Schmelzer estate | 1974/210 |
Recorded August 20, 1971 (document 13100), one page, consideration $1, referencing the estate of Miriam H. Schmelzer, Middlesex probate 438383. The registry index gives the parties and the probate number; the page image is unavailable at the registry. The 1979 deed (Book 2363, Page 537) cites this deed and the Schmelzer estate as the sources of title to 39-41 Treble Cove Road, the other share being held by Miriam's sister Gwendolyn H. Knowles; in 1979 the two owners put the lot into joint tenancy and later that year into the private owner's sole name (Book 2391, Page 318).
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| September 17, 1984 | Deed | A private owner of Winthrop, Maine | The trustee of G & R Realty Trust | sale of the two-family to a realty trust, with the strip added on the south | 2850/93 |
Dated September 17, 1984. For $77,000, two parcels: the 9,658 square feet "with the buildings" at 39-41 Treble Cove Road (Campbell land north, land formerly of Coburn S. Smith west and south), title from the 1979 deeds (Book 2363, Page 537 and Book 2391, Page 318); and a strip of about 2,100 square feet on the south, taken by a deed from a Schmelzer heir of even date, which squared off the lot. In 1985 the trust sold both parcels to a private owner for $145,000 (Book 3301, Page 302).
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| 1988 | Mortgagee's Foreclosure Deed | Connecticut National Mortgage Co., successor to Provident Financial Services, mortgagee | Connecticut National Mortgage Co. | bank foreclosure in 1988; later private sales summarized | 4759/60 |
Foreclosure of the 1985 purchase mortgage of the private owner (Book 3301, Page 304). Sold at public auction November 4, 1988 to the mortgagee itself for $156,132.51: "39-41 Treble Cove Road", the 9,658 square feet with the buildings and the strip of about 2,100 square feet south of the Fred C. Smith lot (Book 710, Page 242). Later transfers (private owners, not named): 1989 from the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Book 5081, Page 110), 2001 (Book 11704, Page 79), 2015 (Book 29288, Page 163) and 2022 (Book 36870, Page 285, the current deed).
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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.