James R. Faulkner
James R. Faulkner
| Born | 1801-04-14 |
| Died | 1877-01-07 |
| Select Board | |
| In Office | 1829 - 1830 |
| Howe School Trustee | |
| In Office | 1852 - 1875 |
| Deacon of the First Parish | |
| In Office | 1853 - 1877 |
| North Billerica Postmaster | |
| In Office | 1855 - 1866 |
| Preceded by | Joseph A. Burt |
| Succeeded by | James Whittemore |
| Father | Francis Faulkner |
James Robbins Faulkner was born on April 14, 1801, a son of Francis Faulkner. On April 10, 1811, his father came from Acton to North Billerica and began carding, coloring and dressing cloth and making woolen goods at the falls of the Concord River. On November 22, 1825, James married Catharine Rogers, a daughter of Josiah Rogers of Billerica.
He carried on his father's mill. The business passed to the sons James and Luther W. Faulkner and ran under the firm name of J. R. Faulkner & Co.; Luther later withdrew to manufacture on his own in Fisherville, New Hampshire, and Lowell. The Talbot brothers had used the old Stearns sawmill on the northeast side of the falls for their dyewood business until it burned in 1853; Hazen wrote that "they then sold this site to Mr. Faulkner." By 1883 the mill, begun with a single set of cards, ran eight sets and employed seventy-two hands, with a monthly payroll of about $2500, and in 1880 the firm was incorporated as the Faulkner Manufacturing Company.
The magazine Billerica remembered him in 1913 as "an active and esteemed citizen" who, "aside from his numerous manufacturing interests, found time to give attention to town and church affairs." He served one year as a selectman, in 1829. He was a deacon of the First Parish church, and after Dr. Zadok Howe died in 1851 he was one of the seven original trustees of the Howe School, with John Baldwin, Dudley Foster, William H. Odiorne, Marshall Preston, Amos Spaulding and George H. Whitman. He was long the board's treasurer and served on it from 1852 until 1875; his brother Luther joined the board that year. On July 26, 1855, James Faulkner was appointed postmaster at North Billerica, succeeding Joseph A. Burt; James Whittemore followed him in 1866.
James R. Faulkner died on January 7, 1877. Of his children, Catherine married George H. Preston, a Boston lawyer and son of Marshall Preston, and Henry died in Boston in 1868. In 1897 his daughters, at the initiative of Miss Abby Faulkner, founded the Faulkner Kindergarten "in memory of their parents Catharine Rogers and James Faulkner." It opened on December 1, 1897, in the Faulkner homestead on Spaulding Street, free to any child of Billerica, and was still running there in the 1940s.
References
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 52, FAULKNER 2, James Robbins
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 281 (Faulkner mill; site sold to Mr. Faulkner, 1853)
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 258 (first trustees of the Howe School)
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 307, Selectmen (James R. Faulkner, 1829)
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 308, Postmasters (North Billerica: James Faulkner, July 26, 1855)
- Billerica (magazine), 1913, p. 10, Faulkner Mills (James Robbins Faulkner)
- Sage, Old Families of the First Parish (1898), p. 12 (Deacon James Faulkner)
- Catalogue of Howe High School, 1897, Board of Trustees (James R. Faulkner, 1852-75)
- Billerica Town Report 1922, p. 145, Faulkner Kindergarten (founded 1897 in memory of James and Catharine Faulkner)
- Billerica Town Report 1944, p. 177, The Faulkner Kindergarten (Faulkner homestead, Spaulding Street)
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Property | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 22, 1843 | Deed | Francis Faulkner, John Baldwin and James R. Faulkner | Stephen Parker and Caroline Parker | Details | Samuel Manning Homestead Dr. Harlin Pillsbury House |
425/226 (South) |
Francis Faulkner and John Baldwin, Esquires, and James R. Faulkner, gentleman, all of Billerica, with their wives releasing dower, sell for $2,750 to Stephen Parker and his wife Caroline, of Lowell, "a certain farm with a dwelling house & other buildings thereon being the homestead of the late Mrs. Francis Caldwell," on the westerly side of the road from Lowell to Billerica and Boston, about 38 acres, bounded by the late John Foster, Concord River, land lately of William H. Nash and Stephen Winters, and the road, the lines about 189, 36, 189 and 36 rods. No deed from Robert Caldwell to his widow, or into the three sellers, was found. Signed Oct. 31, 1842. The Parkers, then of Dracut, mortgaged it for $600 to Louisa Jaquith of Billerica (Middlesex South Book 425 Page 228), discharged by her administrator to Samuel L. Pillsbury et al. in 1879 (Middlesex North Book 135 Page 378). The 1853 Walling map labels the place "S. Parker." Billerica town book 17, pages 421-424.
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| August 12, 1859 | Deed | Calvin Rogers and Ann Rogers | James R. Faulkner, manufacturer, and Charles Faulkner of Boston, merchant | Details | Roger Toothaker House William Rogers House |
20/390 |
For $3,500, "all that tract of land with the buildings now standing thereon" in the northerly part of Billerica, beginning at the northwesterly corner "at the junction of two roads leading from North Billerica so called, one to Billerica Centre and sometimes called Mill Street, and the other to Tewksbury and sometimes called North Street," southerly by Mill Street past "a barn or building on said premises" and by a curve to the Boston and Lowell Railroad, northwesterly by the railroad to North Street and by North Street back to the start, 6 acres 95 square rods; also a tract opposite on the westerly side of Mill Street, running to the Concord River, down the river to a willow tree "on what was formerly the Middlesex Canal," and by the canal back to Mill Street, 1 acre 130 square rods; with his right of way over the railroad. Both tracts are on a plan of the land of Calvin Rogers and Gov. Talbot by Samuel Sage Jr., 1858. Signed July 1, 1859; Ann, a daughter of Francis Faulkner, released dower. The MHC form puts the Faulkner takeover "between 1853 and 1875." The steps from the Faulkners to the Faulkner Manufacturing Co. have not been traced.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.