Structure · Built 1852 · Demolished 1939
Ephraim Crosby Jr. House
The Ephraim Crosby Jr. House stood on the east side of Baldwin Road in East Billerica, at the road front of a sixty-acre farm that ran back through pasture and woodland to the Shawsheen River. The "R. Cutter" of the 1853 Walling map was Rufus Cutter, the heir, with Sarah Cutter, of Solomon Cutter, who bought the farm in 1815. The present house at 131 Baldwin Road, a Colonial on two acres, was built about 1940 on the same frontage.
The farm was Crosby family land. In April 1793 Ephraim Crosby deeded Ephraim Crosby Jr. "several lots of land" in Billerica, the first beginning "by the highway between my two houses" and conveyed "with all the buildings standing and being thereon", with mowing land by "the Island" in the river and plow land beside "College farm, so called". On February 11, 1815 the younger Ephraim and his wife Sarah sold six pieces to Solomon Cutter of Marblehead, yeoman, for $2,200: "sixty acres ... with all the buildings thereon standing". The first piece began at a stake and stones by the highway and was bounded by land of John Crosby, Joel Baldwin, "the pine woods" and the farm of Asa Holden; the others lay on "the ridge hill bank", along the Shawshin river to the Island bank, in "the plain lot" and beside College Farm. The deed kept a right for Ephraim and John Crosby to pass through the second lot.
Solomon Cutter lived on the farm until his death. The Holden farm across the road (the Samuel Baldwin House) was bounded on the east by his land, and its two-acre orchard "lying opposite the house" sat inside the Cutter land. On March 2, 1846 his heirs divided what he left: Susan Rich of Lowell, a widow, and Anna Cutter, singlewoman, quitclaimed "the homestead farm of the late Solomon Cutter deceased ... with all the buildings thereon standing" to Rufus Cutter, yeoman, and Sarah Cutter, singlewoman, and Rufus and Sarah released to them a house lot in Belvidere village, Lowell.
Rufus and Sarah Cutter held the farm for the next quarter century. He died before May 1873. Sarah and Anna Cutter, both unmarried, then sold the six tracts to Albert R. Richardson for $1,800 (deed of May 6, 1873), and Daniel Swan of Lowell, administrator of Rufus Cutter's estate, released his interest. In October 1873 Richardson sold the farm to John Crosby, the neighbor whose land bounded most of it, for $2,200.
The Crosbys passed the farm around the family. John Crosby deeded it to George C. Crosby in 1880 (recorded 1883), George C. deeded it back in 1883 for $3,500, and in April 1884 John conveyed it to Mary E. Crosby, "a married woman", subject to the Richardson mortgage. In 1887 Frank L. and Mary E. Crosby mortgaged it to the Trustees of Phillips Academy at Andover. After default the trustees sold it at auction, and on May 16, 1891 their treasurer Alpheus H. Hardy deeded the "six certain tracts of land with the buildings thereon" to Elizabeth Lewis of Malden for $1,000. In September 1900, as a widow living in Billerica, she conveyed it to Fred R. Lewis.
Fred R. (Frederick R.) Lewis kept the farm for more than forty years, apart from one parcel he deeded to Frederick A. Lewis in 1928. After his death his administratrix, Elsie M. Spaulding, sold the sixty acres "with the buildings thereon" to Sofie and Nicholai Pichowicz for $2,500 under a probate license of June 1, 1943. The Pichowicz family already owned the old Holden farm across the road. In August 1948 Nicholas M. and Sofija Pichowicz deeded two and a half acres on "the easterly side of Baldwin Road", with "the buildings thereon" and "all courses ... on stone walls", to William Rudy Jr. and Mary M. Rudy, for no money consideration. That 253-foot frontage is the present lot. It was sold to private owners in 1962 and again in 1968, when it was "known as and numbered 26 said Baldwin Road", and it later passed into a family trust.
The deeds correct the date given for the house. The farm already had "all the buildings thereon standing" in 1815, and the 1793 deed shows Crosby houses on the road there, so the Cutter house was older than the 1852 date taken from the Walling map. The assessor dates the present house to about 1940, which fits the record that the old house came down in 1939.
References
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| November 4, 1809 | Deed | Ephraim Crosby of Billerica | Ephraim Crosby Jr. of Billerica | 1793 Ephraim Crosby to Ephraim Jr., lots with buildings by the highway | 185/252 (South) |
Billerica town book 10, page 559. April 22, 1793, recorded Nov. 4, 1809, for 250 pounds, "several lots of land lying in Billerica", the first "beginning at a stake and stones by the highway between my two houses", by a run, a wall, "the bridle way leading to Poulter's Fords", "clover hill, so called", John Baldwin and Samuel Baldwin, "with all the buildings standing and being thereon"; also pasture by the road to the meeting house and Isaac Marshall, mowing land to the river and "the Island", plow land and meadow "on College farm, so called" by Reuben Kendall and Sears Cook, and half of the wood lot by the Cove. Witnesses John Crosby and Jona. Brown. Earliest record of the farm found.
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| March 4, 1815 | Deed | Ephraim Crosby of Billerica, yeoman, Sarah his wife releasing dower | Solomon Cutter of Marblehead, yeoman | 1815 Ephraim Crosby to Solomon Cutter, 60 acres with buildings | 212/85 (South) |
Feb. 11, 1815, recorded March 4, 1815, for $2,200, pieces of land in Billerica: the first from a stake and stones by the highway at the southwest corner, "all by land of John Crosby", north by Joel Baldwin to "the pine woods", west by John Crosby to the highway, by the highway to Asa Holden and around his land; the second to Isaac Marshall and "the road leading to the meeting house", reserving a way for the grantor and John Crosby; the third to "the ridge hill bank" and the "Shawshin river" at the island bank; the fourth "called the plain lot"; the fifth beside "College farm so called"; the sixth by Joel Baldwin on the river. "The whole ... contains sixty acres ... with all the buildings thereon standing." No title recital.
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| 1846 | Quitclaim | Susan Rich of Lowell, widow, and Anna Cutter of Billerica, singlewoman | Rufus Cutter and Sarah Cutter, singlewoman, of Billerica | 1846 heirs release the Solomon Cutter homestead to Rufus and Sarah Cutter | 480/71 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, page 132. March 2, 1846, for one dollar, all their right "in and to the following pieces of land it being the homestead farm of the late Solomon Cutter deceased situated in Billerica", the six pieces of 1815 (the first by the highway, John Crosby, Joel Baldwin and Asa Holden; "the plain lot"; "Cottage farm so called" on the Shawsheen), "with all the buildings thereon standing". Witnesses Jno. Eames and John Crosby. Division of Solomon Cutter's estate among his heirs; no Middlesex probate file for him is online.
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| 1846 | Quitclaim | Rufus Cutter of Billerica, yeoman, and Sarah Cutter, singlewoman | Susan Rich of Lowell, widow, and Anna Cutter of Billerica | 1846 Rufus and Sarah Cutter release the Lowell house lot (division) | 480/73 (South) |
March 1846, for one dollar, "a certain piece or parcel of land with all the buildings standing thereon situated on the corner of two streets" in "Belvidere Village so called in said Lowell": the other half of the 1846 division of Solomon Cutter's estate, made the same day as the release of the Billerica homestead to Rufus and Sarah.
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| August 9, 1873 | Deed | Sarah Cutter and Annie (Anna) Cutter of Billerica, singlewomen | Albert R. Richardson of Billerica | 1873 Sarah and Anna Cutter to Albert R. Richardson | 96/28 |
Pages 28-31. May 6, 1873, recorded Aug. 9, 1873, for $1,800, "six certain tracts of land with the buildings thereon, situated in said Billerica": the first from the stake and stones at the southwesterly corner on the highway, "all on land, now or formerly, of John Crosby's", by Joel Baldwin, the pine woods and the Holden land; "Plain lot"; "College Farm"; "sixty acres more or less, Being the same premises conveyed to Solomon Cutter by Ephraim Crosby by his deed dated February 11th A.D. 1815". Witness and justice Dudley Foster.
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| August 11, 1873 | Release | Daniel Swan of Lowell, administrator of the estate of Rufus Cutter, late of Billerica, deceased | Albert R. Richardson | 1873 administrator of Rufus Cutter releases to Richardson | 96/31 |
May 5, 1873, acknowledged May 8, recorded Aug. 11, 1873, for one dollar, "all my right title and interest as administrator aforesaid, in and to the within described premises" (the Cutter farm deeded the same week by Sarah and Anna Cutter). Shows that R. Cutter, Rufus Cutter, had died by May 1873.
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| 1873 | Deed | Albert R. Richardson of Billerica | John Crosby of Billerica | 1873 Richardson to John Crosby | 97/531 |
Oct. 25, 1873, for $2,200, "six certain tracts of land with the buildings thereon situated in said Billerica", the same six tracts and sixty acres, "Being the same premises conveyed to Solomon Cutter by Ephraim Crosby ... 1815 ... Book 212, Page 85 ... Intending to convey the same premises conveyed to me by Sarah Cutter, Anna Cutter and Daniel Swan, admr. Deed dated May 6th 1873", recorded in Book 96.
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| January 3, 1883 | Deed | John Crosby of Billerica, unmarried | George C. Crosby of Billerica | 1880 John Crosby to George C. Crosby | 157/221 |
April 1, 1880, acknowledged May 14, 1880, recorded Jan. 3, 1883, for $2,200, "Six certain tracts of land with the buildings thereon", the first bounded "all on land formerly owned by me" and by Joel Baldwin and the Holden land, sixty acres, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Albert R. Richardson; deed dated October 25th 1873". "The same is subject to a mortgage to A. R. Richardson of Eighteen Hundred Dollars which the grantee is to pay and discharge." Witness Dudley Foster.
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| January 3, 1883 | Mortgage | George C. Crosby of Billerica | John Crosby of Billerica | 1880 George C. Crosby mortgage to John Crosby | 157/222 |
Recorded with the deed of the same date (index: "See deed fr. John Crosby to sd. George C. Crosby Apr. 1, 1880"), for $700, "Six certain tracts of land with the buildings thereon": a mortgage back for part of the price; discharged on the margin when George C. Crosby reconveyed the farm in 1883.
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| 1883 | Deed | George C. Crosby of Billerica, unmarried | John Crosby of Billerica | 1883 George C. Crosby back to John Crosby | 166/64 |
Pages 64-66. May 10, 1883, for $3,500, the six tracts with the buildings, sixty acres, "Being the same premises conveyed to Solomon Cutter by Ephraim Crosby by his deed dated Feb. 11th 1815 ... Book 212, Page 85, together with all the rights, privileges and easements mentioned and described in said deed". Subject to "a mortgage of eighteen hundred dollars to Albert R. Richardson, and one of seven hundred dollars to said John Crosby, both of which he assumes". Witness Dudley Foster.
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| May 15, 1884 | Deed | John Crosby of Billerica, unmarried | Mary E. Crosby of Billerica, a married woman | 1884 John Crosby to Mary E. Crosby | 166/549 |
April 25, 1884, recorded May 15, 1884, for $2,000, "six certain tracts of land with the buildings thereon" (the 1815 description, citing "a deed from Ephraim Crosby to Solomon Cutter, dated Feb. 11th 1815"), sixty acres, "being the same premises conveyed to me by Geo. C. Crosby", Book 166, Page 64; free of incumbrances "except a mortgage of eighteen hundred dollars to Albert R. Richardson, which she assumes and is to pay". Witness and justice Dudley Foster.
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| May 21, 1891 | Foreclosure Deed | The Trustees of Phillips Academy, by Alpheus H. Hardy, Treasurer | Elizabeth Lewis of Malden | 1891 Phillips Academy foreclosure sale to Elizabeth Lewis | 224/55 |
Pages 55-57. Frank L. Crosby and Mary E. Crosby his wife "in her right" had mortgaged the farm to the Trustees of Phillips Academy (Andover) by deed of Jan. 11, 1887 (Book 186, Page 87). After default, notice and a public auction, the trustees on May 16, 1891, for $1,000, granted "Six certain tracts of land with the buildings thereon situate in said Billerica", the same sixty acres, "the same conveyed to said Mary E. Crosby by John Crosby by deed dated April 25, 1884". Acknowledged May 19, recorded May 21, 1891.
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| 1900 | Deed | Elizabeth Lewis of Billerica, widow | Fred R. (Frederick R.) Lewis of Billerica | 1900 Elizabeth Lewis to Fred R. Lewis | 336/167 |
Pages 167-168. Sept. 24, 1900, for $1,000, warranty, "Six certain tracts of land with the buildings thereon situate in said Billerica", the same description (the highway, John Crosby, Joel Baldwin, the pine woods, "Asa Holdens heirs", "the Plain Lot", "College Farm"), sixty acres, "the same premises as conveyed by Alpheus H. Hardy to me by deed dated May 16, 1891". Witness Margaret A. Lewis.
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| June 26, 1943 | Administratrix Deed | Elsie M. Spaulding, administratrix of the estate of Frederick R. Lewis (Fred R. Lewis) | Sofie Pichowicz and Nicholai Pichowicz, husband and wife | 1943 Lewis estate to Pichowicz, 60 acres with buildings | 993/248 |
Pages 247-250. Under a probate license of June 1, 1943 (Record Book 1447, Page 14) to sell "A certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon" from Elizabeth Lewis's 1900 deed, "excepting therefrom that parcel" deeded by Fred R. Lewis to Frederick A. Lewis in 1928 (Book 764, Page 205), she sold for $2,500 "six certain tracts of land with the buildings thereon", the old description (the third tract "as described in deed from Ephriam Crosy to Solomon Cutter dated February 11, 1815"), 60 acres, "Being the same premises as conveyed to Fred R. Lewis by deed of Elizabeth Lewis". Recorded June 26, 1943.
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| August 17, 1948 | Quitclaim | Nicholas M. (Nicholai) Pichowicz and Sofija (Sofie) Pichowicz, husband and wife | William Rudy Jr. and Mary M. Rudy, husband and wife | 1948 Pichowicz to Rudy, the 2.5-acre house lot | 1098/351 |
Pages 351-352. Aug. 16, 1948, "No money consideration", "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon": from the northwest corner at a stone wall by land conveyed to John R. Pichowicz and "on the easterly side of Baldwin Road", south on the road 253 feet, then 139, 34, 322, 200, 96, 96 and 380 feet; "All courses are on stone walls"; two and one-half acres, "a part of the premises described in the First Parcel" of the 1943 administratrix deed. This is the present lot at 131 Baldwin Road. It was sold to private owners in 1962 and again in 1968, when it was "now known as and numbered 26 said Baldwin Road", and passed to a family trust in 2010.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.