Captain Charles A. Ranlett House
Captain Charles A. Ranlett House
| Address | 287 Concord Rd |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.175 |
| Built | 1851 |
| Demolished | 1994 |
| Owners | Charles A. Ranlett (1862 - 1878) |
The Captain Charles A. Ranlett House stood on the west side of Concord Road in South Billerica, about 150 feet back from the road and north of the old lane that ran west from the road to the Chelmsford road and the Concord River. On Aug. 17, 1847, Susan Adams, widow of Amos Adams, sold to Captain Charles A. Ranlett of Charlestown, "master mariner", for $1500, all her land "on the westerly side of the road leading from Bedford to Billerica Village" north of "the Lane which leads westerly from said road nearly opposite to my dwelling house", bounded north by James F. Marshall and west by Dr. Joseph F. Hill. In August 1850 he added twenty-two acres of back land running to the river, bought from Caroline L. Hill of Hallowell, Maine.
The house itself was built under a contract recorded with the deeds. On Sept. 21, 1850, Nathaniel C. Cutler, housewright, agreed "to build a dwelling house for the said Charles A. in the Town of Billerica on land which he lately purchased of the widow of Amos Adams": a main body 24 by 32 feet with twenty-foot posts, an ell 28 by 16 feet, "a Piazza on one side of the main or front part", twenty-eight windows, fireplaces in all the rooms and mahogany hand rails, "of modern style", for $2000 paid as the frame was raised, the house closed in, the plastering done and the job finished. Ranlett was to have the foundation ready by the middle of October 1850, so the house dates from 1850-51 rather than about 1853. Susan Adams witnessed the contract.
Ranlett (1804-1878) had followed the sea for more than forty years in the China trade; his ship the "Surprise" made a record passage from Shanghai to New York. Hazen says he lived "in the south part of the town, on the Bedford road, since 1862", and from 1876 he was president of the Billerica and Bedford Railroad. In 1865 he and John H. Osgood bought the 75-acre Marshall farm to the north. After his death on April 17, 1878 the estate was held under his will. In 1907 the widow and heirs of his son Seth A. Ranlett released their interest in the homestead, the river land and the Marshall farm to Horace D. and Helen A. Ranlett, and in 1910 the Land Court registered the estate on the petition of Eugene A. Stowell, trustee under the will.
The homestead became Lot B on Land Court Plan 2792-C, "twenty acres more or less" with 748 feet on the road and 1082.5 feet on the lane. In September 1910 it passed through Alice E. Stevens of Boston to Helen L. Stowell, the trustee's wife. On June 14, 1937 the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank took title and sold it the same day to Bertha H. Seymour of South Boston, who kept it for more than forty years before it passed to private owners in 1983. The house was surveyed by the Billerica Historical Commission in 1993 in poor condition and was demolished in 1994; the lot was then divided, and a new house was built at 285 Concord Road in 1995. The house of the captain's grandson, Colonel Charles A. Ranlett House, stands to the north at 305 Concord Road.
References
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 17, 1847 | Warranty Deed | Susan Adams of Billerica, widow | Captain Charles A. Ranlett of Charlestown, master mariner | 1847 Susan Adams sells Ranlett the land north of the lane on the west side of the Bedford road: the house site | 516/269 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 373-375. Dated Aug. 17, 1847. For $1500, land "situated on the westerly side of the road leading from Bedford to Billerica Village & is part of the farm on which I the said Susan now reside", from the corner of the walls at the road and "the Lane which leads westerly from said road nearly opposite to my dwelling house", north on the road to James F. Marshall, west by Marshall to Dr. Joseph F. Hill, south by Hill to the lane and east by the lane: "all the land which I the said Susan own" north of the lane and west of the road, with a right of way over the lane. No buildings named.
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| September 14, 1850 | Warranty Deed | Caroline L. Hill of Hallowell, Maine | Captain Charles A. Ranlett of Charlestown | 1850 Ranlett buys 22 acres of back land to the Concord River from Caroline L. Hill | 587/575 (South) |
Billerica town book 21, page 80. Dated Aug. 29, 1850. For $670.68, "a certain tract or parcel of land situated in the southwesterly part of Billerica ... containing twenty two acres one quarter and seventeen rods", from a corner at land of James Marshall south and southwest "on land of Charles A. Ranlett" to the lane leading from Mrs. Susan Adams's to the Carlisle road, west on the lane and the Carlisle road to the Concord River, northwest by the river and east by Marshall land. Back land behind Ranlett's own lot; no buildings named.
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| October 4, 1850 | Building Agreement | Nathaniel C. Cutler, housewright | Captain Charles A. Ranlett of Charlestown | 1850 building contract: Nathaniel C. Cutler to build Ranlett's house, with a piazza, for $2000 | 596/110 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 477-479. Dated Sept. 21, 1850. Cutler agrees "to build a dwelling house for the said Charles A. in the Town of Billerica on land which he lately purchased of the widow of Amos Adams": a main body 24 by 32 feet with 20-foot posts, an ell 28 by 16 feet, "a Piazza on one side of the main or front part", 28 windows, fireplaces in all the rooms and mahogany hand rails, "of modern style". Ranlett was to have the foundation ready by mid-October and pay $2000 in stages. Witness Susan Adams.
Title from:
|
|||||
| 1907 | Quitclaim Deed (heirs) | Ellen B. Ranlett, widow, Foster P. Ranlett and Katherine M. Ranlett of Jersey City, and Charles A. Ranlett of Watertown, the widow and heirs of Seth A. Ranlett | Horace D. Ranlett of Ione, California, and Helen A. Ranlett of New York City | 1907 Seth A. Ranlett's heirs release their share of the Capt. Ranlett place to Horace D. and Helen A. Ranlett | 401/270 |
For $1 and other consideration, three Billerica parcels of the estate of Seth A. Ranlett's father, Capt. Charles A. Ranlett: the tract on the west side of the road from Bedford to Billerica, "part of the farm on which Susan Adams formerly resided", bought Aug. 17, 1847 (Book 516 Page 269); the 22 acres from Caroline L. Hill (Book 587 Page 575); and the 75-acre farm bought in 1865 (Book 44 Page 511). They release "all the right, title interest or remainder" in the estate, including any interest after the death of E. Minnie Ranlett of Billerica.
Title from:
|
|||||
| August 9, 1910 | Land Court Decree | Heirs of Charles A. Ranlett | Eugene A. Stowell, trustee under the will of Charles A. Ranlett | 1910 Land Court decree (Case 2792) registers the Ranlett estate, including the house lot (Lot B) | Ctf 176 |
Original Certificate of Title 176, entered on the Land Court decree of Aug. 1, 1910 in Case 2792 on the petition of Eugene A. Stowell, "Trustee under the will of Charles A. Ranlett, late of Billerica." The registered tract runs from Chelmsford Road along the Concord River to the "Main Road from Bedford to Billerica" (today's Concord Road), bounded by Roland A. Hobbs, Jeannette Nelson, Amanda Shepard and the Town of Billerica: the Ranlett farm bought in 1865. Plans 2792-A and C (Ernest W. Branch, Nov. 1909) cut it into river lots and Lot A on the main road. Owner's address 7 Temple Pl., Boston.
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| September 26, 1910 | Certificate of Title | Eugene A. Stowell, trustee under the will of Charles A. Ranlett | Alice E. Stevens of Boston, unmarried | 1910 the Ranlett homestead (Lot B, 20 acres) passes to Alice E. Stevens of Boston | Ctf 180 |
Partial transfer certificate from Original Certificate 176 (registered Aug. 9, 1910). Alice E. Stevens owns Lot B on the subdivision plan by C. B. Humphrey dated Dec. 29, 1909 (Plan 2792-C): east by the main road from Bedford to Billerica 748 feet, north and west by land of Eugene A. Stowell, trustee, and south by the lane to the Chelmsford road 1082.50 feet, "Estimated to contain twenty acres", with the right of way over the lane. This is the Capt. Ranlett homestead. Cancelled for Certificate 181.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| 1910 | Certificate of Title | Alice E. Stevens of Boston | Helen L. Stowell of Billerica, wife of Eugene A. Stowell | 1910 Helen L. Stowell, wife of the Ranlett trustee, takes the homestead lot | Ctf 181 |
Transfer certificate from Certificate 180 (registered Sept. 26, 1910). Helen L. Stowell of South Billerica, wife of the trustee Eugene A. Stowell, owns Lot B on Plan 2792-C, the twenty-acre Ranlett homestead between the main road from Bedford to Billerica (748 feet) and the lane to the Chelmsford road, with the right of way over the lane. Alice E. Stevens appears to have been a straw for the transfer. Cancelled for Certificate 5066.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| June 14, 1937 | Certificate of Title | Helen L. Stowell (Certificate 181) | Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank | 1937 the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank takes title to the Ranlett homestead | Ctf 5066 |
Transfer certificate from Certificate 181, entered June 14, 1937. The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank owns Lot B on Plan 2792-C, the Ranlett homestead between the main road from Bedford to Billerica (748 feet) and the lane to the Chelmsford road, with the right of way over the lane: the bank took the property from the Stowell ownership, apparently under a mortgage. Cancelled the same year for Certificate 5067.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| June 14, 1937 | Certificate of Title | Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank | Bertha H. Seymour of Boston, wife of Joseph C. Seymour | 1937 the bank sells the Ranlett homestead to Bertha H. Seymour | Ctf 5067 |
Transfer certificate from Certificate 5066, entered June 14, 1937, a minute after the bank's own certificate. Bertha H. Seymour of 534 Broadway, South Boston, owns Lot B on Plan 2792-C, the Ranlett homestead, with the same bounds and the right of way over the lane. A margin note records that part of Lot B was later subdivided on Plan 2792-R (Certificate 9511).
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| December 7, 1983 | Certificate of Title | The 1937 owner (Certificate 5067) | Private owners | 1983 Lot B passes to private owners; sold 1993, house demolished 1994 | Ctf 25568 |
Partial transfer certificate from Certificate 5067, entered Dec. 7, 1983: Lot B on Plan 2792-C at 287 Concord Road, excepting the small Parcel I-T on Plan 2792-R (Certificate 9511). Later private transfers: Certificate 27917 (1987) and a sale in 1993; the house was demolished in 1994 and Lot B was cut up on Land Court subdivision plans, with a new house on Lot 437 (285 Concord Road) in 1995.
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.