Brown Family Homestead
The Brown Family Homestead at 248 Salem Road, in East Billerica, stands on land that the Brown family farmed for five generations, from the 1690s until 1866. Salem Road was then "the Wilmington road" or "the road leading from Billerica meeting house by Allen's tavern to Patten's Mill", and the farm ran from it back to the Andover road. The present house is a Federal farmhouse with a divided chimney, which the 1973 MACRIS survey dated to about 1800 on style. The wiki's former date of 1765 has no support in the records.
George Brown (about 1667-1738) married Sarah Kidder in 1690 and settled in the east part of town. No deed to him for the house lot has been found, so it probably came by a town grant or division. In 1730 he deeded to his son Samuel Brown "the Southerly part" of his "Homestead", about 48 acres, measured from "a clump of apple trees called the Nursery" across "the old field", "the Turnip ground" and a cove meadow to a white oak "over against the Well". His will of 1734 left Samuel "the other part of my whome stead or house lott with al the buildings upon the same", keeping "the lower room at the west end of my house" for his unmarried daughter Sarah. It also left Samuel a quarter share of the Content sawmill. Capt. George Brown died on September 28, 1738. Hazen's Genealogical Register prints 1728, but the probate inventory and the town's vital records both give 1738.
Lt. Samuel Brown (1701/2-1779) did the same for his own son. In 1777 he sold Samuel Jr. the southerly 48 acres of the homestead, with a line beginning "at the North side of my Dwelling house" and "running South thro' said House", along with "one half the Barn". That year Samuel Jr. also bought out his brother George, who moved to Maine, and his sisters Abigail Marshall and Sarah Farmer. Lt. Samuel's will left "all the Rest of My Estate" to the same son. When that Samuel died in 1790, the 1791 division of his estate valued the "Dwelling House Barn and out House" at 80 pounds and the 70-acre homestead at 168 pounds, and set off rooms in the house to his widow Sarah.
Two public works cut through the farm in this period. In 1794 the widow and her children sold the Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal a strip five rods wide and a hundred rods long. In 1833 Samuel Brown sold the Boston and Lowell Rail Road its right of way "on both sides of the road" to Patten's Mill. The third Samuel Brown (1762-1834) left "The Homestead farm of said deceased, 63 Acres", valued at $1,000, by a will directing that his real estate be sold. Instead, in 1836 his other children released the homestead of "about sixty acres" to their brother Samuel Brown 2d for $1,250. He is the "S. Brown" on the 1853 map, and it was probably this Samuel who wrote the family history quoted by Hazen, in which "the farm has descended in the same, through four generations".
Samuel Brown 2d died intestate before 1866. On May 19, 1866 his only children, George and Mary E. Brown, sold "the homestead of the late Samuel Brown", 65 acres "with the Buildings thereon", to Albert R. Richardson. Richardson split it at once. He sold the southern end to John Keyes, and on June 15 he sold the house with 45 acres to Nathan Fletcher Jr. of Haverhill, who appears as "N. Fletcher" on the 1875 map. Fletcher declared the farm his homestead in 1873 and sold it in 1880 to Herbert A. King. King passed the land at the corner of the Wilmington and Andover roads to Samuel H. King in 1884.
In 1886 Samuel H. King sold the house itself to Herbert B. Kitchen (later spelled Ketchen) of Lowell, with "a dwelling house and barn thereon" and ten acres. The lot ran from the Wilmington road at the schoolhouse land (School District No. 7, later the Richardson School) back "to a bound at the old Middlesex Canal". The Ketchen family kept it for almost eighty years. After Herbert's death his heirs Emma B. and Chester B. Ketchen consolidated it in 1938, and Chester deeded it to his wife Gertrude. After her death the estate sold the ten acres in 1953. In January 1965 the land was divided into three lots on Salem Road (Plan Book 101, Plan 56B), with the house on Lot B, one acre backing on the old canal line ("King's Pines"). Lot B was sold later that year, and the house has been privately owned since.
References
- MACRIS BIL.150
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register pp. 19-20: the Brown family
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| May 20, 1741 | Deed | George Brown of Billerica, husbandman | His son Samuel Brown (Lt. Samuel Brown, 1701/2-1779) | 1730: George Brown deeds the southerly 48 acres of his homestead to son Samuel | 41/496 (South) |
For 200 pounds, "one parcel of upland, swamp and meadow situate in Billerica ... which Land is part of my Homestead to wit the southerly part thereof and it contains about forty eight acres", from a white oak "a little southerly of a clump of apple trees called the Nursery" to Ensign Thomas Baldwin's lot, "allowing two rods wide upon the said head line for a highway", across "the old field" and the meadow by "the Turnip ground", up a Cove meadow to a white oak "over against the Well"; also half his wood lot by Mill Meadow. Signed Sept. 10, 1730, acknowledged June 11, 1733, recorded May 20, 1741. Billerica town book 4, pages 323-325.
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| 1738 | Will | Estate of Capt. George Brown of Billerica (died Sept. 28, 1738) | His son Samuel Brown, executor and residuary devisee | 1738: will of Capt. George Brown; the rest of the homestead "with al the buildings" to Samuel | Probate #3022 |
Will dated July 15, 1734, proved Nov. 20, 1738. Having already deeded "the southerly part of my whome stead or house lott" to Samuel, George gives him "the other part of my whome stead or house lott with al the buildings upon the same, only reserving the use of the lower room at the west end of my house" for his daughter Sarah while unmarried, the other half of the wood lot bought of John Marshall, and his quarter of "the sawmill caled Content sawmill"; Samuel pays the other children's legacies. Inventory Nov. 15, 1738 by John Baldwin, Nathaniel Patten and David Baldwin of the estate not disposed of by will (outlying lots, 102 pounds); sons Joseph, Josiah, William and Ephraim signed receipts for their portions.
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| July 8, 1777 | Quitclaim | George Brown of Billerica, husbandman (son of Lt. Samuel) | His brother Samuel Brown Jr. of Billerica, yeoman | 1775: son George quitclaims his share of Lt. Samuel Brown's estate to brother Samuel | 78/160 (South) |
For 13 pounds 6 shillings 8 pence, "all such Right Title & Interest which I now have or ever had ... in & unto the real or personal Estate of my hond. Father Mr. Saml. Brown of Billerica aforesaid whether by Right of Heirship or by Purchase". Signed Sept. 19, 1775 before Wm. Stickney; George soon moved to Pittsfield, Maine (Hazen). Billerica town book 5, pages 553-554.
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| July 8, 1777 | Deed | Lt. Samuel Brown of Billerica, gentleman | His son Samuel Brown Jr. of Billerica, yeoman (1733-1790) | 1777: Lt. Samuel Brown deeds the southerly 48 acres to Samuel Jr., the line running through the house | 78/161 (South) |
For 120 pounds, 48 acres "being the Southerly part of my Homestead", beginning "at a Stake & Stones at the North side of my Dwelling house thence running South thro' said House about six Rods & half unto the highway", southeast on the way about 120 rods to the Range Way, northeast on the range line 49 rods to Reuben Kendall, by Kendall to "my Little House Field", then by the grantor's land about 98 rods to "the Southeast Corner of my Corn House"; "also the one half the Barn & the other Buildings". Signed June 10, 1777, witnesses Isaac Foster and Jeremiah Allen. Billerica town book 5, pages 554-555.
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| July 8, 1777 | Quitclaim | Isaac Marshall Jr. of Billerica, yeoman, and his wife Abigail (daughter of Lt. Samuel) | Samuel Brown Jr. of Billerica | 1777: Isaac and Abigail Marshall release their share to Samuel Jr. | 78/162 (South) |
For 12 pounds, all their "Right Estate Title Share & Interest" in "all the Estate of our hond. Father Lt. Samuel Brown of Billerica aforesaid both real & personal". Signed June 24, 1777 before Wm. Stickney, witness Edward Farmer. Billerica town book 5, pages 555-556.
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| July 8, 1777 | Quitclaim | Edward Farmer of Billerica, gentleman, and his wife Sarah (daughter of Lt. Samuel) | Samuel Brown Jr. of Billerica | 1777: Edward and Sarah Farmer release their share to Samuel Jr. | 78/162 (South) |
For 12 pounds, the same release of their share in the estate of "our hond. Father Lt. Samuel Brown". Signed June 24, 1777, witnesses Wm. Stickney and Isaac Marshall Jr. Recorded with the Marshall release under the same Southern Registry page. Billerica town book 5, pages 556-557.
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| 1779 | Will | Estate of Lt. Samuel Brown of Billerica, gentleman (died July 6, 1779) | His son Samuel Brown, executor and residuary devisee | 1779: will of Lt. Samuel Brown; residue to son Samuel | Probate #3181 |
Will dated June 23, 1777 (witnesses Isaac Foster, Thomas Allen, Asa Patten), proved Sept. 1, 1779. Legacies to his wife Elizabeth and daughters Mary Lewis, Sarah Farmer, Anna, Rebeckah Lewis, Abigail Marshall and Martha Stickney; "all the Rest of My Estate Real, Personal or Mixed I give unto my son Samuel Brown and his Heirs". Bond 10,000 pounds (wartime currency) with Isaac Foster and Thomas Allen.
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| 1791 | Inventory and Division of Real Estate | Samuel Brown of Billerica, yeoman, deceased intestate (d. 1790) | Sarah Brown, widow (dower); Samuel Brown, only son; daughters Sarah, Mary and Susanna | Division of Samuel Brown's estate: the house and 70-acre homestead shared by widow, son and daughters | Probate #3183 |
Middlesex probate case 3183, 16 pages (pages 2-5 read). Warrant of March 8, 1791 to Samuel Thompson of Woburn, Capt. James Lewis and Hezekiah Crosby of Billerica to appraise and divide the real estate. Inventory: "Dwelling House Barn and out House all Prised at Eighty Pounds"; "Seventy Acres of Land called the Homestead Bounded Southward by Saml. Brown & Reuben Kendell Southeast on Asa Patten Northeast on John Patten and Else where on the Town Roads," 168 pounds; a ten-acre wood lot, fifteen acres "called the Allen field," five acres in Tewksbury swamp, three acres "called Content Lot" and 120 acres at Vassalborough near the Kennebec River; total 341 pounds 10 shillings. To the widow Sarah: "The East lower Room in the Deceasd House the bed room adjoining, half the back chamber over the kitchen," half the garret and cellar and a third of the kitchen, the west end of the barn to the middle of the floorway, and 22 acres "beginning at a Stake and Stones before the Door near the Road" running "thro' the middle of the Chimney" and north to the road and "the Bridge." To "Samuel Brown the only Son of the Deceasd": the west lower room, the small back room, west chambers, cellar and garret and a third of the kitchen, the east end of the barn and the corn house, and three acres around the house. To the three daughters Sarah, Mary and Susanna in common: the rest of the house, the Allen field, the wood lot and "Forty Acres more or less being the Eastward part of the Homestead."
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| July 2, 1803 | Deed | Sarah Brown, widow, Samuel Brown, yeoman, Sarah Brown Jr. and Mary Brown, singlewomen, of Billerica (Elizabeth Brown releasing dower) | Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal | 1794: Middlesex Canal strip across the Brown farm (later the rear line of the house lot) | 152/115 (South) |
For 18 pounds 15 shillings, a strip "of the length of One hund. rods and of the breadth of Five rods", "Northwesterly by the road leading from Jeremiah Allen's house to Pattens Mill, Southeasterly by land of Asa Patten", about three acres and twenty rods, or the same quantity wherever the Directors lay out the canal through "our lands", at six pounds an acre. Signed Aug. 18, 1794. The canal became the rear line of the later 10-acre house lot. Billerica town book 10, pages 181-182.
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| 1833 | Deed | Samuel Brown of Billerica | Boston and Lowell Rail Road Corporation | 1833: Boston and Lowell Railroad strip across the Brown farm | 325/312 (South) |
For $215.62, a strip "in the easterly part of said Billerica on both sides of the road leading from Billerica meeting house by Allen's tavern to Pattens Mill", from Jeremiah Allen's land two rods from the centre line of the railroad, 504 feet "on and by other land of said Brown", then 1,838 1/2 feet "crossing the highway above mentioned" to Joseph and Reuben Kendall. The railroad became the northeast line of the Brown farm. Billerica town book 16, page 281.
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| 1835 | Will (probate) | Samuel Brown of Billerica, yeoman, deceased | Samuel Brown 2nd, executor | Will of Samuel Brown proved; his son Samuel executor | Probate #3196 |
Middlesex probate case 3196, 10 pages. Will of Samuel Brown of Billerica, yeoman, dated Feb. 5, 1825 (witnesses Harriet B. Allen, John Allen, Marshall Preston): his wife to have her apparel and best bed; the executor to sell "at public or private sale ... all my real estate", the proceeds to support his wife for life and then to be "equally divided among all my children"; son Samuel Brown Jun. sole executor. Notice ordered Feb. 17, 1835; Samuel Brown 2d gave bond April 14, 1835 with Henry Allen and Joel Baldwin. Inventory appraised March 2, 1835 by John Richardson 2d, Henry Allen and Joel Baldwin: "The Homestead farm of said deceased, 63 Acres, $1000.00", a wood lot near Content Brook, the Allen Field on both sides of the railroad and the Tewksbury swamp lot ($1,254 in real estate), with the cooper tools and stock of his shop. The other heirs released the homestead to Samuel 2d in 1836.
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| June 19, 1837 | Quitclaim | Heirs of Samuel Brown: Timothy W. Brown of South Reading (Mahala Brown releasing); Jeremiah and Ruby Hartshorn; Sarah P. Brown; Leonard and Mary Stratton; Joseph and Elizabeth Cram; James and Lucy B. Cram | Their brother Samuel Brown 2d of Billerica, yeoman | 1836: heirs of Samuel Brown release the 60-acre homestead to Samuel Brown 2d | 365/283 (South) |
For $1,250, all their interest in "the lands and tenements of which our late father Samuel Brown late of said Billerica deceased died seized ... and consisting of the homestead of said deceased situate in said Billerica, containing about sixty acres", the seven-acre pasture "called the Allen lot", four acres of woodland "called the Content Lot" and a five-acre swamp in Tewksbury. Signed Dec. 31, 1836; witnesses Mary Chandler, Eliza M. Allen, Hannah C. Joslin, Abigail Marshall. Billerica town book 15, pages 410-411.
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| 1853 | Guardianship | Mary E. Brown and George Brown, minors under fourteen, of Billerica | Their father Samuel Brown of Billerica, guardian | 1853: Samuel Brown guardian of his children George and Mary E., the 1866 sellers | Probate #28251 |
Petition at Groton, May 3, 1853: the two children "have recently inherited property from a deceased half brother"; Samuel Brown appointed guardian with Henry Allen and Joel Baldwin as sureties. Inventory June 24, 1853 by George Bacon, Henry Allen and Francis Baldwin: each child half of a note of Stephen and Samuel C. Winter and bank money (about $268 each); no real estate. These are the children who sold the homestead in 1866.
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| June 11, 1866 | Deed | George Brown and Mary E. Brown, single woman, of Billerica | Peter B. Bohonan of Billerica | 1866: Brown heirs sell an outlying 3/4 acre to Peter B. Bohonan | 50/26 |
For $45, about three quarters of an acre in the easterly part of Billerica on the road from Allen's to the Depot, bounded by the heirs of Allen, Bohonan and the road from Billerica to Tewksbury. Signed May 19, 1866 before Dudley Foster, the same day as their sale of the homestead; another piece of their father's estate.
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| June 16, 1866 | Deed | Albert R. Richardson of Billerica, yeoman | John Keyes of Billerica, yeoman | 1866: Richardson sells the southern part of the Brown farm to John Keyes | 50/27 |
The southern part of the Brown farm, from a stake and stones in a ditch at the corner of Keyes's land about 38 rods from the Salem Road, east 41 rods to the Boston and Lowell Railroad, by the railroad to one Baldwin, by Mark R. Wilson and Keyes back 34 rods; "Being same premises in part which were conveyed to me ... by deed of George Brown and Mary E. Brown dated May 19th 1866 ... said George and Mary being the only children and heirs of late Samuel Brown deceased intestate, and the premises hereby granted being part of the farm and homestead estate of the late Samuel". Signed June 13, 1866 (pages 27-29).
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| June 16, 1866 | Deed | Albert R. Richardson of Billerica, yeoman (no wife living) | Nathan Fletcher Jr. of Haverhill | 1866: Richardson sells the house and 45 acres to Nathan Fletcher Jr. | 50/30 |
For $1,650, "the following described and bounded piece of land with the buildings thereon situated in the east part of said Billerica", about 45 acres: from the road leading to Wilmington at John Keyes's land, 38 and 41 rods by Keyes to the Boston and Lowell Railroad, 113 rods along the railroad to the road to A. H. Patten's house, "called the Andover road", to its corner with the Wilmington road, around the School District No. 7 lot and back; "being part of the late homestead of late Samuel Brown deceased intestate and conveyed to me by deed of George Brown and Mary E. Brown dated 19th May 1866". Signed June 15, 1866. This is the "N. Fletcher" house of the 1875 map.
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| June 16, 1866 | Deed | George Brown and Mary E. Brown, single woman, of Billerica | Albert R. Richardson of Billerica | 1866: George and Mary E. Brown sell the 65-acre homestead to Albert R. Richardson | 50/32 |
For $1,500, "a certain tract of land with the Buildings thereon being the homestead of the late Samuel Brown deceased situated in the easterly part of said Billerica containing sixty-five acres", from the south corner on the road to Wilmington at John Keyes's land, by Keyes, Mark R. Wilson and one Baldwin to the Boston and Lowell Rail Road, by the railroad 113 rods to "the road from Billerica to A. H. Patten's house", to the corner of the Wilmington road, around "land of School District No. Seven" and back along the road; subject to fencing the railroad. Signed May 19, 1866. George (b. 1843) and Mary Elizabeth (b. 1840) were the children of Samuel Brown 2d and Nancy, who died intestate. The 2002 Superior Court judgment (Book 14870 Page 205) gives his death as April 7, 1866.
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| June 16, 1866 | Mortgage | Nathan Fletcher Jr. of Haverhill | Albert R. Richardson of Billerica | 1866: Fletcher mortgage back to Richardson | 50/36 |
Mortgage for $1,000 of the same 45 acres "with the Buildings thereon ... late part of the homestead of Samuel Brown deceased intestate", "the same premises conveyed to me this day by said Albert". Discharged in the margin by Richardson. Assumed by Herbert A. King in 1880.
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| June 26, 1873 | Declaration of Homestead | Nathan Fletcher of Billerica | Nathan Fletcher (homestead exemption) | 1873: Nathan Fletcher declares the farm his homestead | 94/552 |
"It is my design to hold the land on which I now reside in Billerica aforesaid as a homestead", with the same bounds as the 1866 deed: the Wilmington road at John Keyes, by Keyes to the Boston and Lowell Railroad, 113 rods along the railroad to the road to A. H. Patten's, the Andover road to the Wilmington road, and around the School District No. 7 lot.
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| September 4, 1880 | Deed | Nathan Fletcher of Billerica (Mary Fletcher releasing dower and homestead) | Herbert A. King of Billerica | 1880: Nathan Fletcher sells the 45-acre homestead farm to Herbert A. King | 141/281 |
For $2,000, "my Homestead farm situate in the easterly part of said Billerica, containing about forty-five acres more or less with all the buildings thereon", same bounds; subject to the railroad fence and "to a mortgage of $1000 running to Albert R. Richardson, which the grantee agrees to pay and discharge". "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Albert R. Richardson, deed dated June 15, 1866 ... Book 50, Page 30." In 1884 King deeded the land at the corner of the Wilmington and Andover roads to Samuel H. King (Book 169 Page 369, index entry; the page image is unavailable at the registry).
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| September 20, 1887 | Warranty Deed | Samuel H. King of Billerica (Lucetta J. King releasing dower and homestead) | Herbert B. Kitchen (Ketchen) of Lowell | 1886: Samuel H. King sells the house, barn and 10 acres to Herbert B. Kitchen | 190/157 |
For $1,000, "a certain tract of land with a dwelling house and barn thereon containing ten acres more or less situated in the easterly part of said Billerica", beginning on the Wilmington road at the school house land, northeast by the school house land and the grantor's land about twenty rods "to a bound at the old Middlesex Canal so called", southeast by the canal about sixty rods, southwest by the grantor's land about twenty-four rods to the Wilmington road, northwest on the road about sixty rods. Signed March 13, 1886 before Dudley Foster; no title recital. King kept the rest of the Fletcher farm.
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| June 2, 1898 | Mortgage | Herbert B. Kitchen | Lowell Co-operative Bank | 1898: Kitchen mortgage to the Lowell Co-operative Bank, reciting the 1886 deed | 298/23 |
Mortgage for $600 on three shares of the 27th series, "a certain tract of land with a dwelling house and barn thereon containing ten acres more or less situated in the easterly part of said Billerica", the same bounds on the Wilmington road, the school house land and the old Middlesex Canal; "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Samuel H. King by his deed dated Mar. 13, 1886 ... Book 190 Page 157"; buildings to be insured for $600. Discharged 1910 (Book 458 Page 200). It replaced an 1887 mortgage to the same bank (Book 192 Page 191).
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| February 18, 1938 | Quitclaim | Emma B. Ketchen of Somerville, unmarried | Chester B. Ketchen of Lowell | 1938: Emma B. Ketchen releases her half to Chester B. Ketchen | 909/498 |
For a nominal sum, "one undivided half interest in and to a certain tract or parcel of land with the buildings thereon, situated on Wilmington Road", about ten acres, beginning at the schoolhouse land, by "land formerly of Samuel H. King" to "the old Middlesex Canal so-called", sixty rods by the canal, twenty-four rods by King back to the road. "For my title see Probate of estate of Herbert Ketchen, Middlesex Probate 165551." Signed Jan. 8, 1938.
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| February 18, 1938 | Quitclaim | Chester B. Ketchen of Lowell | His wife Gertrude E. Ketchen | 1938: Chester B. Ketchen to his wife Gertrude E. Ketchen | 909/499 |
Consideration under $100, the same ten acres "with the buildings thereon, situated on Wilmington Road" between the schoolhouse land, the old Middlesex Canal and King's land. "For my title see Probate of estate of Herbert Ketchen, Middlesex Probate 165551, and also deed from Emma B. Ketchen to me to be recorded herewith." Signed Feb. 17, 1938.
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| June 10, 1953 | Administrator's Deed | Estate of Gertrude Emma Ketchen, by its administrator with the will annexed | A family member (private) | 1953: Gertrude E. Ketchen estate sells the 10 acres; 1965 Lot B (the house) sold | 1225/426 |
Under a license of the Middlesex Probate Court dated May 18, 1953 (no. 313972), for $3,250, "A certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in said Billerica on Wilmington Road" from the schoolhouse land to "the Old Middlesex Canal", sixty rods by the canal and back to the road, "Containing 10 acres more or less". Signed May 22, 1953. In January 1965 the ten acres were divided into Lots A, B and C (Plan Book 101, Plan 56B), and on Oct. 1, 1965 Lot B, one acre "with the buildings thereon" on the northeasterly side of "Salem Road, formerly Wilmington Road", was sold to private owners (Book 1719 Page 254). The house has since passed through several private owners (1979, 1990, 1996, 2006, 2016, 2020).
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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.