Structure · Built 1886
Elmer E. Cole House
Elmer E. Cole House
| Also Known As | Arthur E. Allen House |
| Address | 345 Boston Rd |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.155 |
| Built | 1886 |
The Elmer E. Cole House at 345 Boston Road is a Queen Anne house with a round bay and a wraparound porch, standing on a narrow lot cut in 1886 from the old Caldwell farm north of the Billerica Centre meeting house. It was built by Arthur W. Allen between 1886 and 1889 and takes its name from Elmer E. Cole, a Billerica grain dealer who bought it in 1902 and remodeled it soon after; his family kept it for eighty years.
The land was part of the thirty-eight acre farm that ran from the road leading from Lowell to Billerica and Boston west to the Concord River, the homestead of Robert Caldwell and his widow Frances Caldwell. Her will ordered all her real estate sold, and in 1839 her executor Joseph Locke sold the farm, "a short distance Northwardly from the Congregational Meeting House," to John Baldwin, Francis Faulkner, James R. Faulkner and John Baldwin Jr. for $2,200. In 1842 they sold it for $2,750 to Stephen Parker and his wife Caroline of Lowell. Stephen Parker died in 1861, leaving "all my property both real estate and personal" to Caroline, and in 1871 she sold the farm "with the buildings and remains of a house thereon" to Harlin Pillsbury of Lowell for $1,602.
Harlin Pillsbury died within a few years, and his son Samuel L. Pillsbury held the farm as his heir, mortgaging it in 1879 and again in 1880, the second time to Andrew C. Wheelock of Lowell for $3,500. Wheelock foreclosed and in February 1883 sold the farm at auction to Edmund R. Fowler for $1,850. On April 3, 1886, Charlotte E. Fowler and her husband sold it to Charles B. Wood of Billerica for $2,500.
Wood at once began selling house lots along the road. On May 10, 1886 he sold three lots, each 83 feet on Main Street and 524 feet deep: the northern one to Herbert C. Sweetser and Arthur W. Allen together, the middle one to Sweetser for $400, and the southern one to Allen, then of Chelmsford, for $425. None of these deeds mentions a building. The rest of the farm, with the Pillsbury house, went to Orra H. Fletcher. Allen built his house on the southern lot, and in September 1889 he bought Sweetser's middle lot for $500. The same day he exchanged the house and both lots, "with the buildings thereon," with Philander D. Howe, deeding them to Howe's wife Rozina for $3,000 and taking the Howes' house on Andover Street.
Rozina Howe left the property to her husband by a will proved in 1895, and Philander D. Howe left it to Clara S. Sargent of Lawrence by a will proved in 1896 and upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court that December. In January 1897 Clara S. Sargent and her husband Warren sold it to Laurence B. Gannon, who kept a market in North Billerica, for $3,000. Gannon sold it to Elmer E. Cole on April 25, 1902.
Cole added the round bay on the north and the elaborate porch, and his daughter was born in the house. It passed from him to his daughter Esther E. Spillane, who returned to live there after her mother's death and still owned it in 1974. She left it by will to Suffolk University, which sold the house and its 1.96 acres in 1982 for $100,000. After a bank foreclosure the house was sold in 1984 to a private owner for $95,000, and it has stayed in that family since. In 2019 the deep lot was divided, and a new house was built on the rear lot at 343 Boston Road.
The deeds correct some details of earlier accounts: the man who divided the farm in 1886 was Charles B. Wood, not "Weed"; the owner in 1883 was Edmund R. Fowler; the 1889 buyers were Rozina and Philander D. Howe; and Cole bought the house in 1902, not about 1896.
References
- MACRIS BIL.155
- Billerica assessor, parcel 41-21-1: 0.918 acres, Lot 1 on Plan Book 247 Plan 17; 2019 lot split
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1804 | Will | Estate of Robert Caldwell of Billerica, gentleman | His widow Frances Caldwell | Robert Caldwell leaves the farm to his widow Frances | Probate #3862 |
Will signed April 6, 1804, witnessed by Samuel Whiting, Joseph Locke and Francis Baldwin, proved May 1, 1804. After debts and $5 to each child (Frances Barnard, William Mackay Caldwell, Mary, Jane Hallett, Ruth, Tristram Barnard and Elisabeth Barnard Caldwell), "I give, devise, and bequeathe unto my beloved wife, Frances Caldwell, and her heirs, all my Estate, whether real, personal, or mixed." Executors Frances Caldwell and her brother William Mackay of Boston, merchant; bond $30,000, May 2, 1804. Carries the farm around the academy lot to Frances Caldwell.
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| 1839 | Will | Estate of Frances Caldwell of Billerica, widow | Her executor Joseph Locke, with power of sale | Frances Caldwell will orders the farm sold | Probate #3854 |
Will signed Sept. 23, 1828 (witnesses Henry Baldwin, Thomas Shed, Hannah Upton), proved at Concord April 9, 1839 by Joseph Locke, now of Lowell. Money legacies to daughter Mary Caldwell, son Tristram B. Caldwell (in trust), grandchildren William Caldwell and Moses and Frances Barnard, and others; "all the remainder of my estate, both real and personal" to be sold by the executors "at private or public sale." Inventory of April 12, 1839 by John Baldwin, Thomas Shed and Thomas Sumner: "Real estate appraised at $3000," the furnished house, barn and stock, bank shares, and "1 Pew in the old meeting house in Billerica." Locke's first account charges "Farm &c in Billerica 2200.00" from the sale.
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| 1839 | Executor's Deed | Joseph Locke of Lowell, Esq., executor of the will of Mrs. Frances Caldwell | John Baldwin and Francis Faulkner, Esquires, James R. Faulkner and John Baldwin Jr., all of Billerica | executor sells the 37-acre Caldwell homestead farm | 385/432 (South) |
Billerica town book 14, pages 552-553. For $2,200, under the will's power of sale, "a certain farm with the dwelling house & other buildings thereon, being the homestead of the said late Mrs Caldwell," on the westerly side of the road from Lowell to Billerica and Boston "a short distance Northwardly from the Congregational Meeting House, containing about thirty seven acres," from the road at land of John Foster to Concord River, by the river to W. H. Nash and Stephen Winters, by them to the road and by the road to the start (about 189, 36, 189 and 36 rods), "Meaning to convey hereby all the right title & interest that said Mrs Caldwell had." Unlike the 1800 deed there is no exception: the old academy quarter acre at the Foster (formerly Abbot) corner lies within these bounds.
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| February 22, 1843 | Deed | Francis Faulkner, John Baldwin and James R. Faulkner | Stephen Parker and Caroline Parker | farm sold to Stephen and Caroline Parker | 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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| 1861 | Will | Estate of Stephen Parker of Billerica, yeoman | His widow Caroline J. Parker | Stephen Parker leaves everything to Caroline J. Parker | Probate #38952 |
Will dated January 20, 1861 (witnesses Louisa Jaquith, George C. Bickford, H. C. Bickford): "I give and bequeathe to my wife Caroline J. Parker, after paying all my legal debts, all my property both real estate and personal, to be hers forever." Stephen Parker died in February 1861 leaving no children; his heirs at law were his brothers Daniel and Gardner Parker and his sisters. Caroline declined the executorship and George Simonds of Bedford was appointed administrator with the will annexed (bond April 2, 1861); the will was allowed at Lowell in April 1861. The inventory lists only personal estate ($304.60). Confirms Caroline J. Parker's sole title to the farm the couple bought in 1842.
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| February 2, 1871 | Deed | Caroline J. Parker | Dr. Harlin Pillsbury | Caroline J. Parker sells the farm to Harlin Pillsbury | 77/464 |
Caroline J. Parker of Billerica, widow, for $1,602 sells to Harlin Pillsbury of Lowell "a certain farm with the building and remains of a house thereon, being the farm formerly owned and occupied by Mr. & Mrs. 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, William H. Nash and Stephen Winter, and the road, the lines about 189, 36, 189 and 36 rods 2 links by John Bennett's survey and plan of June 14, 1837. Signed Feb. 2, 1871, witnessed by Geo. H. Pillsbury and Joseph Jaquith. Title from Middlesex South Book 425 Page 226. The old farmhouse was already in ruins. The 1875 Beers atlas shows "Dr. H. Pillsbury" here.
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| 1879 | Mortgage | Samuel L. Pillsbury of Billerica | Elbridge G. Parker of Lowell | Samuel L. Pillsbury, heir of Harlin, mortgages the farm | 133/299 |
Dated about May 2, 1879. For $900, a mortgage in warranty form of "a certain farm with the buildings thereon, being the farm formerly owned and occupied by" the Caldwells, on the westerly side of the road from Lowell to Billerica and Boston, about thirty-eight acres, bounded by the late John Foster, Concord River, William H. Nash and Stephen Winters, and the road, by John Bennett's survey of June 14, 1839. "Being the same premises conveyed to Harlin Pillsbury (my father) now deceased by Caroline J. Parker by deed dated Feb. 2, 1871" (Book 77 Page 464). Discharged July 21, 1879 (Book 135 Page 35).
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| July 21, 1879 | Discharge of Mortgage | Anthony Jones, mortgagee | Caroline Parker and Samuel L. Pillsbury, "the present owner" | the 1850 Parker mortgage discharged to Pillsbury, the present owner | 135/34 |
Signed July 19, 1879, acknowledged July 21 before Dudley Foster, recorded July 21, 1879. Jones acknowledges full payment of the mortgage given him by Stephen Parker and Caroline Parker dated December 18, 1850 (Middlesex South Book 595 Page 435) and releases the premises to the Parkers and "Samuel L. Pillsbury the present owner".
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| July 21, 1879 | Discharge of Mortgage | Elbridge G. Parker of Lowell, mortgagee | Samuel L. Pillsbury | Pillsbury 1879 mortgage discharged | 135/35 |
Signed and acknowledged July 21, 1879. Parker acknowledges full payment of the mortgage given him by Samuel L. Pillsbury dated May 2, 1879 (Book 133 Page 299) and releases the farm. Pillsbury refinanced the same day with a mortgage to Romanzo L. Nutting, recorded next.
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| September 10, 1880 | Discharge of Mortgage | Romanzo L. Nutting, mortgagee | Samuel L. Pillsbury | Nutting mortgage discharged | 141/360 |
Recorded September 10, 1880, at the foot of the page. Nutting acknowledges full payment of the mortgage given him by Samuel L. Pillsbury dated July 17, 1879 (Book 135 Page 35) and releases the premises; Pillsbury mortgaged the farm to Andrew C. Wheelock the same day.
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| September 10, 1880 | Mortgage | Samuel L. Pillsbury of Billerica | Andrew C. Wheelock of Lowell | Pillsbury mortgages the farm to Wheelock, foreclosed 1883 | 141/361 |
Dated and recorded September 10, 1880. For $3,500, "a certain farm with the buildings thereon being the farm formerly owned and occupied by one Caldwell and another", on the westerly side of the road from Lowell to Billerica and Boston, about thirty-eight acres, the lines about 189, 36, 187 and 36 rods 2 links by John Bennett's plan and survey of June 14, 1839; "Being the same premises described in a deed of Caroline J. Parker to Harlin Pillsbury" (Book 77 Page 464). Foreclosed by sale in 1883 (Book 158 Page 171).
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| February 23, 1883 | Foreclosure | Andrew C. Wheelock, mortgagee of Samuel L. Pillsbury | Edmund R. Fowler | mortgagee sale of the farm to Edmund R. Fowler | 158/171 |
Dr. Harlin Pillsbury had died by 1877, when his executors were active in the registry, and the farm passed to Samuel L. Pillsbury of Winchester; no deed or probate transfer was found. Samuel mortgaged it to Andrew C. Wheelock of Lowell on Sept. 10, 1880 (Book 141 Page 361). On default Wheelock advertised it in the Lowell Daily Citizen and sold it at auction on the premises on Feb. 5, 1883 for $1,850 to Edmund R. Fowler of Billerica: "a certain farm with the buildings thereon, being the farm formerly owned and occupied by one Caldwell and another," the same 38 acres, "being the same premises described in a deed of Caroline J. Parker to Harlan Pillsbury" (Book 77 Page 464). Fowler mortgaged it back to Wheelock (Book 158 Page 322). In 1885 Prentiss Webster conveyed "same as 77-464" to Fowler's wife Charlotte E. Fowler (Book 175 Page 259, index only).
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| 1883 | Mortgage | Edmund R. Fowler of Billerica | Andrew C. Wheelock of Lowell | Fowler mortgage back to Wheelock, paid off by Wood 1886 | 158/322 |
February 1883. For $1,200, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon, being the farm formerly owned and occupied by one Caldwell and another" on the westerly side of the road from Lowell to Billerica and Boston, about thirty-eight acres, same bounds, "Being the same premises described in a deed of Caroline J. Parker to Harlin Pillsbury" (Book 77 Page 464). The purchase-money mortgage back to the foreclosing mortgagee. Margin: assigned (Book 160 Page 330, to Judith Jones) and released Book 180 Page 350, when Charles B. Wood paid it off in April 1886.
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| April 14, 1886 | Deed | Charlotte E. Fowler and Edmund R. Fowler | Charles B. Wood | Fowlers sell the farm to Charles B. Wood, who divides it | 180/350 |
For $2,500, Charlotte E. Fowler, in her own right, with her husband Edmund R. Fowler, sells to Charles B. Wood of Billerica "a certain farm, being the farm formerly owned and occupied by one Caldwell and another," about 38 acres on the westerly side of the road from Lowell to Billerica and Boston, same bounds and Bennett survey, "being the same premises described in a deed of Caroline J. Parker to Harlin Pillsbury," reserving the rights of the Boston and Lowell Railroad Corporation through the farm and Hill and Ellenwood's right to remove soil. Subject to a $1,200 mortgage held by Judith Jones, assignee of the 1883 Wheelock mortgage, which Wood assumed. Signed April 3, 1886. Wood mortgaged the farm to Philander D. Howe for $2,000 (Book 180 Page 351).
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| May 10, 1886 | Warranty Deed | Charles B. Wood of Billerica (wife Lizzie Annie Wood releasing) | Herbert C. Sweetser of Chelmsford | Wood sells the middle 83-ft lot to Sweetser | 181/301 |
Signed and recorded May 10, 1886, acknowledged before Dudley Foster. For $400, a lot "beginning on Main Street at land this day conveyed by me to Sweetser & Allen", westerly by their land 524 feet to a bound at other land of the grantor, southerly 83 feet, easterly 524 feet by the grantor's land to Main Street, and northerly on the street 83 feet. No buildings. The same day Philander D. Howe, holding a mortgage on Wood's land, released the lots sold to Sweetser and Allen ("being a partial release of my mortgage", $900, top of the page). Sweetser sold this middle lot to Arthur W. Allen in 1889.
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| May 10, 1886 | Warranty Deed | Charles B. Wood of Billerica (wife Lizzie Annie Wood releasing) | Arthur W. Allen of Chelmsford | Wood sells Arthur W. Allen the bare southern house lot | 181/302 |
Signed and recorded May 10, 1886. For $425, a lot "beginning on Main Street at land this day conveyed by me to Herbert C. Sweetser", westerly by Sweetser 524 feet to a bound at other land of the grantor, southerly 83 feet to a bound, easterly 524 feet by the grantor's land to Main Street, and northerly on the street 83 feet. No buildings are named: Allen built the house on this southern lot between 1886 and 1889.
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| September 28, 1889 | Warranty Deed | Herbert C. Sweetser of Billerica | Arthur W. Allen of Billerica | Sweetser sells the middle lot to Allen | 209/421 |
Signed and recorded September 28, 1889. For $500, the middle lot: "Beginning on Main Street at land now of one D. W. Fitch", westerly by Fitch 524 feet to land of Ora A. Fletcher, southerly 83 feet, easterly 524 feet "by land of said Allen" to Main Street, and northerly on the street 83 feet; "Being the same premises described in a deed from Charles B. Wood to said Herbert C. Sweetser dated May 10th 1886." Above it on the page Philander D. Howe discharged Sweetser's 1886 mortgage. The same day Allen deeded both lots with the house to Rozina Howe (Book 209 Page 422).
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| September 28, 1889 | Warranty Deed | Arthur W. Allen of Billerica (Jessie C. Allen releasing) | Rozina Howe of Billerica, wife of Philander D. Howe | Allen deeds the house and both lots to Rozina Howe | 209/422 |
Signed and recorded Sept. 28, 1889. For $3,000, Allen's house and land on Main Street, Billerica, 524 by 83 feet, by land of Herbert C. Sweetser and of one Wood, with an adjoining lot bought of Sweetser by deed of even date. The other half of the Howe and Allen exchange; it does not concern the Andover Street lot.
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| February 1, 1897 | Warranty Deed | Clara S. Sargent in her own right and Warren Sargent her husband, of Lawrence | Laurence B. Gannon of Billerica | Sargent sells the house and both lots to Laurence B. Gannon | 283/203 |
Dated in January 1897. For $3,000, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon": the southern Main Street lot, 83 by 524 feet (Wood to Allen, May 10, 1886, Book 181 Page 302), and "another lot adjoining" by D. W. Fitch and O. A. Fletcher (Sweetser to Allen, September 28, 1889). Title: conveyed "to Rozina Howe wife of Philander D. Howe by Arthur W. Allen" (Book 209 Page 422), "and by the said Rozina Howe to the said Philander D. Howe by her will proved and allowed ... on the twenty second day of October A.D. 1895; and by the said Philander D. Howe to Clara S. Sargent ... by his will proved and allowed ... on the twelfth day of May A.D. 1896 and on appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court affirmed by decree dated December 18, 1896."
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| April 29, 1902 | Warranty Deed | Laurence B. Gannon of Billerica (wife Cathrine Gannon releasing) | Elmer E. Cole of Billerica | Gannon sells the house to Elmer E. Cole | 342/167 |
Signed and acknowledged at Lowell April 25, 1902, recorded April 29. For one dollar (50 cents in revenue stamps), "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in said Billerica": the same two Main Street lots, each 83 by 524 feet, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Clara S. Sargent et al. by their deed dated January 1[6], 1897" (Book 283 Page 203). Free of all encumbrances. Cole remodeled the house soon after, adding the round bay and porch; he and then his daughter Esther E. Spillane owned it until 1982.
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| October 1, 1982 | Quitclaim Deed | Suffolk University, Inc., devisee under the will of Esther E. Spillane (Middlesex Probate 513569) | A private buyer | Suffolk University, under Esther E. Spillane will, sells | 2561/183 |
Recorded October 1, 1982. Suffolk University, Inc., of 41 Temple Street, Boston, "owner of the below described premises under the will of Esther E. Spillane, late of Billerica", for $100,000, "the land with the buildings thereon ... now known and numbered, 345 Boston Road", by a plan of April 5, 1982 (Plan Book 137 Plan 130): 165.75 feet on Boston Road, 524 feet deep, by Robert E. Donnellan, Forrest W. and Etta Todd, and Ellen K. and Mary P. Keaney, "Containing 1.96 acres". "For the title of Esther E. Spillane, see deed to Elmer E. Cole, Middlesex deeds book 342, page 167 and the probate" of the Cole estate. Her estate released its estate tax lien the same day (Book 2561 Page 180).
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| March 30, 1984 | Quitclaim Deed | East Boston Savings Bank | A private owner | bank sells after foreclosure; later family transfers and 2019 split | 2714/19 |
Recorded March 30, 1984. The bank, for $95,000, "the land, with the buildings thereon" at 345 Boston Road, the same 1.96 acres on Plan Book 137 Plan 130, "Being the same premises conveyed to the East Boston Savings Bank, by Foreclosure Deed" after the 1982 buyer defaulted; federal tax liens against that buyer were released the same day (Book 2714 Page 16). Later transfers were within the same family: a deed in 2011 and a deed to a family trust in 2025, both for nominal consideration; in 2019 the lot was divided under a zoning variance into Lot 1 (40,000 square feet, the house and barn) and Lot 2 at the rear (Plan Book 247 Plan 17), where 343 Boston Road was built.
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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.