Structure · Built 1911
Alfred J. Julian House
The Alfred J. Julian House stands on Lot 72 of Riverdale, a tract of camp lots laid out in 1908 on the north side of Allen Road near the Shawsheen River. The lot was cut from a farm of about 140 acres that ran from the road leading to the river down to the Shawsheen, bounded by a brook and by the Pollard farm in the meadow. The farm's buildings stood at the brook on Allen Road, where the 1853 map shows "H. Mackey" and the 1875 map "M. C. Mengis" (see H. Mackey House); no house appears on either map where 200 Allen Road now stands.
In 1801 Josiah Richardson sold the farm, "about one hundred acres ... with the buildings thereon standing", to Thomas Goodwin, who made it his homestead. In 1833 William P. P. and Andrew R. Pollard quitclaimed to Goodwin the strip along the line between their farms, and that year Goodwin sold "my homestead farm" to Haslet Mackay for $3,000. Mackay built "my new wall" on the north line and in 1856 sold the farm, now called 140 acres, to Seth Heaton for $5,150. Heaton died in 1861; his will, written in Saugus in 1852, was disallowed, and his administrators, Dudley Foster and Benjamin F. Judkins, sold his interest at auction in 1862 to his widow Sarah, subject to the mortgages.
The farm then changed hands often. Sarah Heaton sold it in 1863 to Ebenezer A. Twycross, who sold it in 1868 to Sarah L. Adams, wife of Frederick A. F. Adams. The Adamses sold to John R. Farnum of Waltham in 1874, and Farnum sold in 1875 to Mary L. Mengis, wife of Morris C. Mengis, to hold "in her own right and free from the control of her husband"; Morris Mengis had been declared bankrupt that spring, and his assignee released his interest to her. The Mengises sold to Elias Larkin in 1877, Larkin to William L. Bradley the same year, and Bradley to Reuben G. Holmes of Boston in 1887. Holmes mortgaged the farm to the East Bridgewater Savings Bank, which foreclosed in 1892 and in 1893 sold the 140 acres "with the buildings thereon" to Edgar P. Sellew.
Sellew, a civil engineer, drew a plan of "Camp-Lots at Riverdale" on March 19, 1908, with lots along Allen Road, Riverdale Road, Sylvan Road, Dell Avenue, Pine Road and Hillside Road. Lot 72 had 114.5 feet on Allen Road and 22,225 square feet. On June 28, 1911 Sellew sold it to Alfred J. Julian, with restrictions that no dwelling cost less than $250 or stand within 20 feet of the road, and that no "slaughter house, piggery or any offensive, noxious or dangerous trade or business" be carried on. The deed conveyed bare land, but the mortgage Julian gave to John M. Julian, recorded with it on July 12, 1911, covered the lot "with the building thereon" and required the buildings to be insured for at least $200, so the house was built in 1911.
Julian, then of Sturbridge, sold the house in 1919 to Justice V. Balser of Billerica, who sold it in 1922 to Mary R. King, wife of Augustus G. King of Boston. Mrs. King kept it for 35 years and in 1957 conveyed it to private owners. In 1968 their successors' mortgage was foreclosed, and the Worcester County Institution for Savings conveyed the house to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which sold it in 1969 to private owners. The assessor lists the house as an old-style dwelling on 0.51 acres.
References
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1801 | Deed | Josiah Richardson of Billerica, yeoman (Lydia Richardson joining) | Thomas Goodwin of Billerica, yeoman | Josiah Richardson sells the 100-acre farm with buildings to Thomas Goodwin | 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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| 1833 | Quitclaim | William P. P. Pollard and Andrew R. Pollard of Billerica, yeomen | Thomas Goodwin of Billerica, yeoman | Pollards quitclaim the north boundary strip to Goodwin | 332/385 (South) |
Billerica town book 13, pages 581-582. For one dollar the Pollards quitclaim "any and every strip of land on the southerly side of the boundary line between the farms of the said Goodwin and said Pollards", the line beginning "at Shawsheen River at the end of the fence between their farms" and running westerly. This settled the north line of Goodwin's farm (the rail fence in the meadow and the "new wall" of the later deeds) just before he sold it.
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| June 30, 1836 | Warranty Deed | Thomas Goodwin of Billerica, yeoman | Haslet Mackay of Billerica, yeoman | Goodwin sells his homestead farm to Haslet Mackay | 353/521 (South) |
Billerica town book 15, pages 264-265. April 27, 1833, for $3,000, "my homestead farm situate in said Billerica, containing one hundred acres more or less, with the buildings thereon standing": from the southwest corner at land of Capt. Oliver Crosby, easterly by Josiah Rogers "to the road leading from my house to Shawsheen River", across the road to Harvey Crosby, by Harvey's and Oliver Crosby's land to a brook, by the brook to the river, northerly by the river to William P. P. and Andrew R. Pollard, by "the rail fence between said farm and the Pollard farm in the meadow" to "the east end of my new wall", along the wall, southerly to "the road leading to Shawsheen River", about ten rods by the road, across it and back by Pollard and Oliver Crosby to the start. No title recital. Witnesses Marshall Preston and Charles Goodwin.
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| April 24, 1856 | Warranty Deed | Haslet Mackay of Billerica, yeoman, A. Nancy Mackay his wife releasing dower and homestead | Seth Heaton of Billerica, yeoman | Mackay sells the 140-acre homestead farm to Seth Heaton | 4/331 |
Pages 331-332. April 1, 1856, for $5,150, "My Homestead Farm situate in said Billerica containing one hundred & forty acres more or less with the buildings thereon standing", with the 1833 bounds (Oliver Crosby's land at the southwest corner "now owned by me", Josiah B. Gleason, George Proctor, "the road leading from said buildings to Shawsheen River", Harvey Crosby, the brook, the river, the Pollards, "the east end of my new wall"); "it being Real Estate conveyed to [me] by Thomas Goodwin", Middlesex Registry Book 353, Page 521. Subject to a $1,500 mortgage that the grantee agreed to pay. Witnesses Dudley Foster and Francis D. Foster. Mackay is the "H. Mackey" of the 1853 Walling map.
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| 1862 | Administration | Estate of Seth Heaton of Billerica | Dudley Foster and Benjamin F. Judkins, administrators | Seth Heaton estate; will disallowed, administration | Probate #34026 |
Middlesex probate case 34026 (1861-1862, 46 pages). Seth Heaton's will, written Sept. 21, 1852 while he lived in Saugus, left legacies to his children William, Elizabeth Danforth, Mary Ann Bridden, Maria, Henry, Charles, Jane, Josephine and George B. Heaton, with Benjamin F. Newhall of Saugus as executor. Newhall renounced on Nov. 16, 1861, and the will, filed Nov. 18, 1861, was "Disallowed at Cambridge, Dec. 24, 1861". Dudley Foster and Benjamin F. Judkins were made administrators and licensed on May 6, 1862 to sell the real estate.
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| June 17, 1862 | Administrator's Deed | Dudley Foster and Benjamin F. Judkins of Billerica, administrators of Seth Heaton | Sarah Heaton of Billerica, widow of Seth | administrators sell Heaton's interest to his widow Sarah | 31/243 |
Pages 243-245. Under the probate court's license of May 6, 1862, after notice in the Lowell Weekly Journal, the administrators sold at public auction on June 2, 1862, to the widow as highest bidder, for $40, "all the right, title and interest which said Seth Heaton had at the time of his decease" in the land "with buildings thereon", with the same bounds as the 1856 deed; "subject to any rights of dower and homestead and incumbrances of mortgages existing on said real estate, and which mortgages and the debt secured thereby said grantee is to assume, pay and discharge".
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| 1863 | Warranty Deed | Sarah Heaton of Billerica, house keeper | Ebenezer A. Twycross (E. Austin Twycross), interlined as of Lincoln County, Maine | Sarah Heaton to Ebenezer A. Twycross | 34/211 |
Pages 211-212. April 27, 1863, for $4,500, "a certain piece or parcel of land situated in said Billerica with the buildings thereon standing", with the same bounds (Oliver Crosby, Josiah B. Gleason, George Proctor, "the road leading from said buildings to Shawshene River", Harvey Crosby, the brook, the river, W. P. P. and Andrew R. Pollard, "a new wall", Harlet Mackay); "Said farm comprises about one hundred and forty acres ... and is identically the same premises, neither more nor less, deeded about five or six years since by said Mackay to the late Seth Heaton". Acknowledged before Dudley Foster.
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| August 28, 1868 | Warranty Deed | Ebenezer A. Twycross of Billerica | Sarah L. Adams, wife of Frederick A. F. Adams of Lexington | Twycross to Sarah L. Adams | 63/434 |
Pages 434-435. August 1868, for $5,300, "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in said Billerica", the same bounds ("the road leading from said buildings to Shawshene River", Harvey Crosby, W. P. P. and Andrew R. Pollard, "a new wall", Harlet Mackay); "Said farm comprises about one hundred and forty acres"; "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Sarah Heaton by deed dated April 27, 1863", Book 34, Page 211. Sarah L. Adams gave back a mortgage to Twycross the same day.
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| 1874 | Warranty Deed | Frederick A. F. Adams and Sarah L. Adams his wife, in her right, of Billerica | John R. Farnum of Waltham | Adams to John R. Farnum | 99/215 |
Pages 215-216. January 1874, for $7,500, "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in said Billerica", the same bounds; "Said farm comprises about one hundred and forty acres"; "Being the same premises conveyed to said Sarah L. Adams by Ebenezer A. [Twycross] by deed dated August 26th 1868", Book 63, Page 434, subject to her mortgage back to him of the same date "on which only two thousand dollars is now due".
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| October 7, 1875 | Assignee's Deed | John M. Lane of Medford, assignee in bankruptcy of Morris C. Mengis | Mary L. Mengis, wife of Morris C. Mengis | Mengis bankruptcy assignee releases to Mary L. Mengis | 112/578 |
Pages 578-580. Sept. 27, 1875, for one dollar. Morris C. Mengis, "now of Billerica", had been adjudged a bankrupt in the U.S. District Court on May 11, 1875; his assignee quitclaims to Mrs. Mengis "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon" with the 140-acre bounds, "intending to convey the same premises described in a mortgage from Frederick A. F. and Sarah L. Adams dated August 26, 1868". Recorded the same morning as William H. Gordon's discharge of that Adams mortgage, paid by "Mary L. Mengis who claims to own the estate of the mortgagor".
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| October 7, 1875 | Quitclaim | John R. Farnum of Waltham, Henrietta M. Farnum releasing dower and homestead | Mary L. Mengis, wife of Morris C. Mengis of Billerica, in her own right | Farnum to Mary L. Mengis | 112/580 |
Pages 580-581. Oct. 1, 1875, for $7,500, "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in said Billerica", the same bounds; "For evidence of title, see Middlesex North Dist. Deeds Lib. 99 Page 215", subject to the 1868 Adams mortgage of $621.90; "Said farm comprises about one hundred and forty acres"; to hold "in her own right and free from the control of her husband". The house is "M. C. Mengis" on the 1875 Beers map.
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| March 13, 1877 | Quitclaim | Mary L. Mengis of Boston, Morris C. Mengis assenting and releasing curtesy | Elias Larkin of Boston | Mengis to Elias Larkin | 122/351 |
Pages 351-352. Jan. 24, 1877, for $4,250, "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon situate in Billerica", the same 140-acre bounds; "Being the same premises conveyed to me by John R. Farnum by deed dated October 1st 1875", Lib. 112, Page 580.
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| September 15, 1877 | Warranty Deed | Elias Larkin of Charlestown District, Boston, Lucy E. Larkin releasing dower and homestead | William L. Bradley of Chelsea | Larkin to William L. Bradley | 125/490 |
Pages 490-491. Aug. 27, 1877, for $7,000, "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in the town of Billerica", the same bounds ("the road leading from said buildings to Shawshein River", "the Pollard farm in the meadow", "a new wall"); "said farm comprises about one hundred & forty acres more or less", the same premises Mary L. Mengis had from John R. Farnum. Preceded by Lucy E. Larkin's discharge of a Mengis mortgage of 1875.
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| November 8, 1887 | Warranty Deed | William L. Bradley of Boston, unmarried | Reuben G. Holmes of Boston | Bradley to Reuben G. Holmes | 193/24 |
Pages 24-25. Nov. 8, 1887, for $6,000, "A certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon, situated in the Town of Billerica", the same 140-acre bounds; "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Elias Larkin by deed recorded ... Book 125, Page 491"; subject to the 1887 taxes.
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| November 8, 1887 | Mortgage | Reuben G. Holmes of Boston | East Bridgewater Savings Bank | Holmes mortgage to East Bridgewater Savings Bank | 193/26 |
Pages 26-27. Nov. 4, 1887, $3,000 in three years at 6 percent, "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon", the same bounds, the buildings to be insured for $3,000; the premises Bradley conveyed to Holmes "by deed to be recorded herewith". The bank later foreclosed it.
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| October 14, 1892 | Foreclosure Deed | East Bridgewater Savings Bank, mortgagee of Reuben G. Holmes | East Bridgewater Savings Bank | bank forecloses the Holmes mortgage | 237/538 |
Pages 538-540. Oct. 12, 1892. Under the power of sale in Holmes's 1887 mortgage (Book 193, Page 26), after notice once a week for three weeks, the bank as highest bidder bought for $1,000 "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in the town of Billerica", the same bounds; "Said farm comprises one hundred & forty acres more or less". Affidavit of I. N. Nutter, treasurer.
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| September 5, 1893 | Quitclaim | East Bridgewater Savings Bank, by Charles F. Mann, treasurer | Edgar P. Sellew of Somerville | bank sells the farm to Edgar P. Sellew | 248/113 |
Sept. 1, 1893, for one dollar and other consideration, "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in the Town of Billerica", the same bounds; "Comprising 140 acres more or less. For title see Middlesex No. Dist. Deeds Book 237 Page 538". The trustees had voted on April 3, 1893 to sell "the real estate in Billerica formerly owned by R. G. Holmes and acquired by the Bank at foreclosure sale".
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| September 5, 1893 | Mortgage | Edgar P. Sellew of Somerville | East Bridgewater Savings Bank | Sellew purchase-money mortgage | 248/114 |
Sept. 1, 1893, $1,000 on the same 140 acres "with the buildings thereon", the purchase-money mortgage for the farm, later released.
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| July 12, 1911 | Warranty Deed | Edgar P. Sellew of Billerica, not married | Alfred J. Julian | Sellew sells Lot 72 of Riverdale to Alfred J. Julian | 470/427 |
Pages 427-429. June 28, 1911, for one dollar and other considerations, "a certain parcel of land situated in that part of said Billerica called Riverdale, being a portion of the property conveyed to me by the East Bridgewater Savings Bank by deed dated September 1, 1893", Book 248, Page 113: Lot 72 on Sellew's plan of March 19, 1908 (Plan Book 25, Plan 12), westerly on Allen Road 114.50 ft, northerly by Lot 71 202.20 ft, easterly by Lot 91 105 ft, southerly by Lot 73 201.70 ft, 22,225 square feet. No dwelling to cost less than $250 or stand within 20 feet of the side line of the road, and no "slaughter house, piggery or any offensive, noxious or dangerous trade or business". No buildings are named.
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| July 12, 1911 | Mortgage | Alfred J. Julian of Somerville, May Julian his wife releasing dower and homestead | John M. Julian | Julian mortgage, first record of the building | 470/429 |
Pages 429-432. $150 in one year at 10 percent on "a certain parcel of land with the building thereon situated in that part of Billerica called Riverdale", Lot 72 on Plan 25-12, subject to the restrictions in Sellew's deed "to be recorded herewith"; the mortgagor "shall keep the buildings on said premises insured against fire in a sum not less than two hundred dollars". The first record of a building on the lot. Discharged in the margin.
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| February 19, 1919 | Warranty Deed | Alfred J. Julian of Sturbridge, Mary E. Julian releasing dower and homestead | Justice V. Balser of Billerica | Julian to Justice V. Balser | 598/159 |
Pages 159-160. Feb. 17, 1919, for consideration paid, "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, which was conveyed to me by Edgar P. Sellew by deed dated June 28, 1911", Book 470, Page 427, "Being Lot #72" on Sellew's 1908 plan, same bounds, 22,225 square feet, with the 1911 restrictions running with the land.
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| February 19, 1919 | Mortgage | Justice V. Balser of Billerica | Alfred J. Julian | Balser purchase-money mortgage to Julian | 598/160 |
Pages 160-161. Feb. 17, 1919, $500 at 6 percent on the same land "with the buildings thereon", the purchase-money mortgage; still outstanding in 1922 and later discharged.
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| May 17, 1922 | Warranty Deed | Justice V. Balser of Billerica, Sarah Balser releasing dower and homestead | Mary R. King, wife of Augustus G. King, of Boston | Balser to Mary R. King; later private owners | 660/274 |
Pages 274-275. May 15, 1922, for consideration paid, "the land with the buildings thereon, situate in said Billerica being lot numbered seventy-two (72)" on Sellew's plan, same bounds, 22,225 square feet; "being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of Alfred J. Julian, dated February 17, 1919", Book 598, Page 159, subject to the restrictions, the 1922 taxes and "a prior mortgage for the sum of five hundred dollars". Mary R. King, by then of Billerica and unmarried, conveyed the house without monetary consideration to private owners in 1957 (the deed was re-recorded the same year to correct a name). Those owners sold it in 1967; the buyers' mortgage to the Worcester County Institution for Savings was foreclosed in May 1968, and the house passed through the Department of Housing and Urban Development to private owners in 1969, whose family sold it in 1998.
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| May 17, 1922 | Mortgage | Mary R. King of Boston, Augustus G. King releasing curtesy | Justice V. Balser | King purchase-money mortgage to Balser | 660/275 |
May 15, 1922, $300 in one month at 6 percent on Lot 72 "with the buildings thereon", subject to the $500 prior mortgage; a purchase-money mortgage, discharged.
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| August 9, 1968 | Quitclaim | Worcester County Institution for Savings | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | foreclosed property to HUD | 1854/64 |
Pages 64-65. Aug. 5, 1968. The bank, which had acquired Lot 72 Allen Road (Plan 25-12, same bounds) by foreclosure deed of May 10, 1968 under a 1967 mortgage given by private owners, conveys the FHA-insured property to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, under a board vote of Nov. 9, 1965 to convey such foreclosed premises to the department.
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| March 31, 1969 | Quitclaim | George Romney, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, by the Federal Housing Commissioner | Private owners of Allen Road | HUD sells to private owners | 1880/228 |
March 25, 1969, Lot 72 Allen Road, Plan 25-12, same bounds, "200 Allen Road"; "BEING the same property acquired by the grantor pursuant to the provisions of the National Housing Act ... by deed dated AUGUST 5, 1968" (Instrument 12048). Sold to private owners living on Allen Road; their family sold the house in 1998.
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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.