Structure · Built 1950
Foster House
The Foster House stands on the north side of Andover Road at Pattenville in East Billerica, at 352 Andover Road. The lot is the 89-foot strip between the Samuel H. King House and the old E. K. Richardson place (the Field House), and the present Cape-style house on it was built about 1950 by Bertha M. Singer, the daughter of Charles A. Foster.
The land was part of the Pattenville holdings of Deacon Aaron H. Patten, whose saw mill and cabinet works on Content Brook gave the neighborhood its name. When he died in 1866 his will left "all the rest residue and remainder" of his estate to his son Thomas Patten. Thomas sold several house lots along the road in the 1870s, later moved to Appleton, Wisconsin, and died there before 1890; his widow, Fannie J. Patten, administered his estate in the Middlesex probate court. Writing from Stockton, California, on 28 August 1894, she sold Charles E. Sheafe of Billerica, for seventy-five dollars, about two acres at the corner of the Andover and Whipple roads, "a portion of the premises left to me by my late husband Thomas Patten". No buildings are named.
Five weeks later, on 6 October 1894, Sheafe sold the western end of that land, a bare lot running 89 feet on the Billerica and Andover road and about 300 feet back beside the land of E. K. Richardson, to Charles A. Foster. That August Foster had bought the older house next door, which had been built for Samuel H. King. In 1916 the county commissioners took a strip of Foster's frontage when Andover Street was relocated. On 13 November 1929 Foster deeded both lots to Bertha M. Foster.
In 1946, as Bertha M. Singer, she had the property surveyed by E. P. Simpson. His plan divided it into the old house lot of about 44,000 square feet, which she sold that November, and this lot of 25,500 square feet, which she kept along with a garage standing on the line. The plan shows only a small building here, and the assessor dates the present house to about 1950, so she built it after the sale of the old house. She lived here for the rest of her life, latterly as Bertha M. Wood. After her death her administrator, Herbert L. Foster of Lowell, sold the lot "with the buildings thereon" in January 1966 for $8,500. It was sold again in 1976 and 1998 to private owners.
An earlier account gave this house a date of 1883 and the chain of title of Samuel H. King, Jennie T. Smith, Stillman H. Church and Charles A. Foster. Those deeds belong to the King house at 350 Andover Road. This lot was bare land from Thomas Patten's estate until Foster's daughter built on it about 1950.
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Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1866 | Will | Estate of Deacon Aaron H. Patten of Billerica | His son Thomas Patten, residuary devisee and executor | Aaron H. Patten leaves the residue of his Pattenville land to his son Thomas | Probate #39072 |
Will of 11 February 1864: five dollars to each child, his widow the use for life of "any of my houses with the garden connected therewith", she to select it, and "all the rest residue and remainder of my estate real personal and mixed" to his son Thomas Patten. Aaron H. Patten died 10 September 1866. The heirs named in October 1866 included Aaron H. Patten Jr., then of Reading.
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| June 7, 1890 | License to Sell | Middlesex Probate Court; Fannie J. Patten, administratrix of the estate of Thomas Patten late of Appleton, Wisconsin | James W. Bennett of Lowell (the quitclaim) | Thomas Patten dead by 1890; widow Fannie J. Patten administers his estate | 216/101 |
License of 27 May 1890 from Judge George M. Brooks to "Fannie J. Patten, administratrix of the estate of Thomas Patten late of Appleton in the State of Wisconsin deceased" to sell a lot on Fletcher Street in Lowell for not less than $2,400 for his debts, followed by her quitclaim of dower and homestead in that lot to James W. Bennett as "widow of Thomas Patten". Other land; it shows that Thomas Patten had died by 1890 and that his widow administered his Middlesex estate, from which she later sold the Pattenville land.
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| September 5, 1894 | Warranty Deed | Fannie J. Patten of Stockton, California, widow of Thomas Patten | Charles E. Sheafe of Billerica | Fannie J. Patten sells the land to Charles E. Sheafe | 257/304 |
For seventy-five dollars, "a certain lot of land situated in the Easterly part of said Billerica" from the intersection of the westerly line of the Whipple road with the northerly line of the Billerica and Andover road, west along the road to land of one Curtis, around the Curtis land and along land of one Richardson to the road, west on the road 89 feet, then north about 305 feet and back to the Whipple road, with a two-rod strip beside the Curtis land "to be forever kept open for the benefit of the abutters"; "being a portion of the premises left to me by my late husband Thomas Patten and containing two acres 5085 square feet". No buildings named. Signed and acknowledged at Stockton 28 August 1894, recorded 5 September 1894. The 89-foot frontage is the lot Sheafe sold to Charles A. Foster on 6 October.
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| February 28, 1895 | Warranty Deed | Charles E. Sheafe of Billerica (Augusta E. Sheafe releasing dower) | Charles A. Foster of Billerica | Sheafe sells the bare 89-foot lot to Charles A. Foster | 261/485 |
For one dollar and other valuable considerations, "a certain lot of land situated in the Easterly part of said Billerica" on the northerly side of the Billerica and Andover road at the southwest corner of land of E. K. Richardson, about 279 feet west of the Whipple Road: 89 feet on the road, 305 7/10 feet deep, "being a portion of the premises conveyed to me by Fannie J. Patten by her deed dated Aug 28, A.D. 1894". No buildings are named. Signed 6 October 1894, recorded 28 February 1895. The west lot beside the King house.
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| March 3, 1916 | Taking | Middlesex County Commissioners | Middlesex County (highway) | county takes part of Foster frontage for the Andover Street relocation | 551/91 |
"In the matter of the relocation of Andover street, in the Town of Billerica," the Commissioners' return dated Feb. 19, 1916 takes land "for highway purposes" from the owners listed, with a plan (Plan Book M-100); the list includes many King's Corners lots and "John C. Currie et al., 1 parcel, [Lot] 34, [Block A], Indefinite area." Signed March 2, recorded March 3, 1916 (pages 91-93). Later deeds of Lot 34 are made subject to this taking.
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| January 20, 1940 | Deed | Charles A. Foster of Billerica | Bertha M. Foster | Charles A. Foster deeds this lot (and the King house) to Bertha M. Foster | 940/578 |
Two parcels in the easterly part of Billerica: a lot of 89 feet on the northerly side of the Billerica and Andover road at the land of E. K. Richardson, about 279 feet west of the Whipple Road (his deed of 6 October 1894, Book 261, Page 485), and "another certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon": 102 feet on Andover Street, 302 1/2 feet by land late of Patten, 148 and 227 feet by land late of King, and 45 and 106 feet by land of Shuman, lately Brady (his deed of 11 August 1894, Book 258, Page 404). Signed 13 November 1929, recorded 20 January 1940.
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| November 8, 1946 | Quitclaim Deed | Bertha M. Singer, formerly Bertha M. Foster, widow, of Billerica | Francis A. Crawford and his daughter Gladys K. Crawford, of Billerica, joint tenants | Bertha M. Singer sells the old house next door and keeps this lot | 1056/366 |
"The land with the buildings thereon", 114.45 feet on the northerly side of Andover Street from land of Pattenden to other land of Singer, running back about 302 feet to land of Kamislian (formerly Franz), about 44,000 square feet on the plan of land belonging to Bertha Foster Singer by E. P. Simpson, 12 October 1946 (Plan Book 69, Plan 85), "being a portion of the premises conveyed to the said Bertha M. Foster by deed of Charles A. Foster" (Book 940, Page 578). She kept a 10 by 18 foot garage standing on the line, with the right to move it. Signed 5 November 1946.
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| January 11, 1966 | Administrator's Deed | Herbert L. Foster of Lowell, administrator of the estate of Bertha M. Wood (formerly Bertha M. Foster and Bertha M. Singer) of Billerica | Two private buyers (husband and wife) of Tewksbury | estate of Bertha M. Wood sells the lot with the house she built | 1734/449 |
For $8,500, by license of the Middlesex Probate Court of 5 January 1966 (docket 400658), "the land in Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on the northerly side of Andover Street": 79 feet on the street, 280.35 feet by land formerly of E. K. Richardson, 98.80 feet at the rear and 302 feet by land of the Crawfords, "the Lot marked Area-25,500 sq. ft." on Plan Book 69, Plan 85, subject to the 1916 county taking, "being a part of the premises conveyed to the said Bertha M. Wood, under the name of Bertha M. Foster, by Charles A. Foster" in 1929 (Book 940, Page 578). The buyers sold it with the buildings for $16,500 in May 1976 (Book 2194, Page 468), and it was sold again in November 1998 for $164,000 (Book 9679, Page 199); both later owners are private.
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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.