Structure · Built 1906 · Demolished 1969
Frank A. Fitzgerald House
Frank A. Fitzgerald House
| Address | 480 Boston Rd |
| Built | 1906 |
| Demolished | 1969 |
| Other Lot Structures |
Bowers Homestead (1788 -
1969)
Nathaniel Cheever House (1853 - 1970) Nathaniel Cheever Barn (1853 - 1970) George P. Elliott House (1855 - 1959) Harlow Colby House (1870 - 1969) Shops at Billerica (Built 1975) |
The Frank A. Fitzgerald House stood close to Boston Road at the north end of the land now occupied by the Shops at Billerica, on the five-acre strip the Land Court later called Lot A. The land was part of the homestead farm of Blaney Abbot (1772-1855), the longtime town clerk, who left "all my Estate both Real and Personal" to his nieces Lydia and Betsy W. Wilson of Marblehead by his will of July 2, 1855. How Abbot himself came by the farm has not been found in the deeds or probate records. On March 31, 1866 E. W. Wilson, then of Swampscott, sold the farm, "twenty seven acres two roods sixteen perches ... as the fence now stands", "a certain lot of land and buildings thereon", to Mary H. Crosby, wife of Harvey Crosby, for $2,100. It ran back from the highway between Ordway and Lund on the north and "Mr. Eastman, Fuller, Colby and Tufts" on the south.
Mary H. Crosby, by then a widow, sold the farm to Henry Crosby in 1873 for $2,500 and took back a $1,500 mortgage. After his death on June 28, 1887 his daughter Frances E. Crosby of Malden released it to her, paying off his mortgages. On her death the farm passed to Clara E. Sexton, her "only heir at law". On April 9, 1906 William H. and Clara E. Sexton sold Frank A. Fitzgerald of Tewksbury the south five acres, ten rods wide on Main Street and eighty rods deep, "with the buildings thereon". The house was therefore older than Fitzgerald's purchase, and may have been the old farmhouse itself.
Fitzgerald farmed here; the town listed him as a farmer among its jurors in 1908 and 1909, he sold the town loam in 1911, and in 1917 he served on the town committee on the laying out of new streets. In 1912 Clara E. Sexton had the whole farm registered in the Land Court (case 3956, decree of Nov. 2, 1912). The plan by O. M. Snell of July 1912 divides it into Lot B on the north and Lot A, Fitzgerald's land, 165.24 feet on Boston Road and 1,320 feet deep, and draws a long house with a connected ell near the road at the south side of Lot A. The lot was registered to Fitzgerald on Nov. 11, 1912 (Certificate 347).
Frank Augustus Fitzgerald died at Billerica on Dec. 26, 1920, aged 70. Under his will the lot passed in 1922 to his widow Julia F. Fitzgerald as widow and trustee, and that same year she sold it to George A. Stevens of Arlington. Later owners were Everett H. and Anna Bell Gates of Stoneham (1931), Frederick W. and Jessie C. Flitner (1936), and Harold H. Barter and Elizabeth R. Henderson (1937); the certificate issued to Mabel D. Barter and Elizabeth R. Henderson in 1955 gives the address as 482 Boston Road. Private owners held the house from 1957 until 1970, when James E. and Phyllis C. Farmer bought it. In November 1974 the Farmers sold Lot A with the rest of the 29.79-acre site to Twenty-Fifth Billerica Corp., and the house was gone before the Billerica Mall opened on the land in October 1975.
References
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| August 21, 1855 | Will | Estate of Blaney Abbot of Billerica, yeoman | His nieces Lydia Wilson and Betsy W. Wilson of Marblehead | 1855: Blaney Abbot leaves the farm to his Wilson nieces | Probate #26034 |
Will dated July 2, 1855 (witnesses John Baldwin Jr., James A. Lovejoy, Mahala Lovejoy): "I give and bequeath all my Estate both Real and Personal, to my two nieces Lydia Wilson, and Betsy W. Wilson, of Marblehead", with George Wilson of Marblehead executor. The heirs at law (Joseph, Lydia, Betsy W. and George Wilson) assented July 20, 1855, and the will was proved at Charlestown Aug. 21, 1855. Abbot died July 17, 1855.
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| April 28, 1866 | Deed | E. W. Wilson of Swampscott, Essex County | Mary H. Crosby of Billerica (wife of Harvey Crosby), to her sole and separate use | 1866: E. W. Wilson to Mary H. Crosby, the 27-acre farm (later Lots A and B) | 48/339 |
For $2,100 (reading of "Twenty one hundred" uncertain), "a certain lot of land and buildings thereon" in Billerica "containing twenty seven acres two roods sixteen perches be it more or less as the fence now stands": "Westerly by the highway, then running Southerly by land of Mr. Eastman, Fuller, Colby and Tufts, easterly by land of Mr. Richardson, Northerly by land of Mr. Ordway and Lund to the first mentioned bound, as per plan." No title recital. Dated March 31, 1866, acknowledged in Essex County the same day. This is the farm later cut into Lots A and B of Land Court Plan 3956-A; the 1866 abutters Colby and Fuller are the H. Colby and Fuller places to the south.
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| June 30, 1873 | Mortgage | Henry Crosby of Billerica | Mary H. Crosby of Billerica, widow | 1873: Henry Crosby mortgage back to Mary H. Crosby, $1,500 | 94/586 |
For $1,500 payable in five years at seven per cent, the same "lot of land and buildings thereon containing twenty seven acres, two roods, sixteen perches", bounded west by the highway, south by Eastman, Fuller, Colby and Tufts, east by Richardson and north by Ordway and Lund, "Being the same premises conveyed to me this day by said Mary H. Crosby"; the buildings to be insured for at least $800. Dated June 28, 1873. Margin: "See Rel Book 149 Page 487."
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| July 7, 1873 | Deed | Mary H. Crosby of Billerica, widow | Henry Crosby of Billerica | 1873: Mary H. Crosby, widow, to Henry Crosby, the 27-acre farm | 95/83 |
For $2,500, "a certain lot of land and buildings thereon containing twenty seven acres, two roods, sixteen perches", "Westerly by the highway, then running Southerly by land of Mr. Eastman, Fuller, Colby and Tufts, Easterly by Mr. Richardson's land, Northerly by land of Mr. Ordway and Lund ... as per plan. Being the same premises conveyed to me by E. W. Wilson, Deed dated March 31st 1866", Book 48, Page 339. Dated June 28, 1873 before Dudley Foster, J.P.
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| August 15, 1887 | Quitclaim | Frances E. Crosby of Malden, unmarried | Mary H. Crosby of Billerica | 1887: Frances E. Crosby, heir of Henry Crosby, releases the farm to Mary H. Crosby | 190/563 |
For the payment of the mortgage debt, a release of "the following named and described lot or parcel of land together with the buildings and improvements thereon", bounded north by land "now or lately of Messrs. Ordway and Lund", east by Richardson, south by "Messrs. Eastman, Fuller, Colby and Tufts" and west by the highway, "containing twenty seven (27) acres two (2) roods and sixteen (16) perches", "being a part of the premises and real estate derived by me by inheritance from my father the late Henry Crosby who died on the 28th day of June A.D. 1887", and the land in Henry Crosby's mortgage to Mary H. Crosby of Dec. 14, 1886 (Book 186, Page 583, reading uncertain), which "and the note secured thereby are intended to be paid by this deed." Dated Aug. 2, 1887.
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| April 9, 1906 | Warranty Deed | William H. Sexton and Clara E. Sexton, his wife, in her own right, of Billerica | Frank A. Fitzgerald of Tewksbury | 1906: Sextons to Frank A. Fitzgerald, five acres "with the buildings thereon" | 388/582 |
For one dollar, "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica, near the center thereof on the easterly side of Main Street so called, containing five acres more or less": from a stone bound at the northwest corner of land "of one Burton, formerly of Martin", east eighty rods by Burton and William H. Fuller to other land of Clara E. Sexton, north ten rods, west eighty rods to the street and south ten rods on the street. "Said premises are conveyed with the buildings thereon. Being a portion of the same premises conveyed by Frances E. Crosby to Mary H. Crosby by deed dated August 2, 1887 ... Book 190 Page 563, and for my title see Probate records of said Mary H. Crosby ... said Clara E. Sexton being the only heir at law of said Mary H. Crosby." Dated April 9, 1906. The ten rods by eighty are Lot A of the 1912 Land Court plan (165.24 by 1320 feet).
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| November 8, 1912 | Land Court Decree | Land Court decree, case 3956 (petition of Clara E. Sexton) | Clara E. Sexton of Billerica, married to William H. Sexton | 1912: Land Court decree for Clara E. Sexton, Lots A and B on Plan 3956-A | Ctf 341 |
Original Certificate of Title 341 on the decree of Nov. 2, 1912 in case 3956: Clara E. Sexton is "the owner in fee simple" of land "Southwesterly by Boston Road three hundred eighty-four and 69/100 (384.69) feet", north by George S. Daniels 2,534.37 feet, northeast by Edwin H. Blakie 379.47 feet, southeast by "Nathaniel R. Jones et al." (756.61, 7 and 386.10 feet), west by Clarence A. Backer 556.98 feet and south by Backer, Walter H. Fuller and Susan E. Burton 1,569.25 feet, as shown on the plan by O. M. Snell, C.E., July 1912 (Land Court Plan 3956-A). The plan copy filed with the certificate divides it into Lot A (165.24 feet on the road, already Fitzgerald's) and Lot B (219.45 feet), with a house drawn near the road on each. Memoranda: Lot A deeded to Frank A. Fitzgerald Nov. 9, 1912 (document 464, Certificate 347); Lot B to William H. Sexton Feb. 1, 1913 (document 510, Certificate 385).
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| November 11, 1912 | Certificate of Title | Clara E. Sexton (document 464, deed of Nov. 9, 1912) | Frank A. Fitzgerald of Billerica, married to Julia F. Fitzgerald | 1912: Certificate 347, Lot A registered to Frank A. Fitzgerald | Ctf 347 |
Partial Transfer Certificate from Original Certificate 341: Frank A. Fitzgerald owns Lot A on Land Court Plan 3956-A, "Southwesterly by Boston Road one hundred sixty-five and 24/100 (165.24) feet; Northerly by Lot B thirteen hundred twenty (1320) feet; Northeasterly by said Lot B one hundred forty-three and 06/100 (143.06) feet; Southeasterly by land now or formerly of Clarence A. Backer forty-nine and 94/100 (49.94) feet; and Southerly by land now or formerly of Walter H. Fuller and land now or formerly of Susan E. Burton twelve hundred seventy-six and 08/100 (1276.08) feet." Owner's address "Boston Road, Billerica Centre." Entered Nov. 11, 1912. The same bounds run through every later certificate to 1970.
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| August 5, 1912 | Notice of Land Court Petition | Land Court, case 3956 (petition of Clara E. Sexton of Billerica) | Clara E. Sexton of Billerica | 1912: notice of the Sexton Land Court petition | 490/24 |
Notice that Clara E. Sexton filed a petition July 5, 1912 to register land southwest by Boston road 381.87 feet, north by land of George S. Daniels 2,559.87 feet, northeast by Edwin H. Blakie, southeast by Edith Jones and Nathaniel R. Jones, and southwest, west and south by Clarence A. Backer (the Howe farm), Walter H. Fuller and Susan E. Burton, "Containing thirty-one and 328/1000 (31.328) acres". The margin refers to the notice of disposal, Book 496, Page 300 (the decree, Certificate 341).
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| July 14, 1922 | Certificate of Title | Estate of Frank A. Fitzgerald (by his will) | Julia F. Fitzgerald of Billerica, widow, one third as widow and two thirds as trustee under the will | 1922: Lot A to Julia F. Fitzgerald, widow and trustee under Frank A. Fitzgerald's will | Ctf 1872 |
Transfer Certificate from Certificate 347, issued "by order of Court, pursuant to the provisions of Section 97 of Chapter 185": Julia F. Fitzgerald, not married, owns "one undivided third part as widow and also of two undivided third parts as Trustee, under the will of Frank A. Fitzgerald, late of Billerica, deceased", Lot A on Plan 3956-A with the same bounds. Entered July 14, 1922. The will (Middlesex probate after 1871) was not available to read.
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| June 14, 1922 | Certificate of Title | Julia F. Fitzgerald, widow and trustee | George A. Stevens of Arlington, not married | 1922: Lot A to George A. Stevens of Arlington | Ctf 1893 |
Transfer Certificate from Certificate 1872: George A. Stevens owns Lot A on Land Court Plan 3956-A (165.24 feet on Boston Road, 1,320 feet deep, bounded by Lot B, Clarence A. Backer, Walter H. Fuller and Susan E. Burton). Entered in Registration Book 12, Page 203; the face reads "June 14, 1922", which must be an error for a date after July 14, 1922, when Certificate 1872 was entered. Owner's address Billerica.
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| April 10, 1931 | Certificate of Title | George A. Stevens | Everett H. Gates and Anna Bell Gates of Stoneham, husband and wife | 1931: Lot A to Everett H. and Anna Bell Gates of Stoneham | Ctf 4126 |
Transfer Certificate from Certificate 1893: the Gateses own Lot A on Plan 3956-A as tenants by the entirety, same bounds (Boston Road 165.24 feet, Lot B, Clarence A. Backer, Walter H. Fuller and Susan E. Burton). Owners' address 50 Elm Street, Stoneham. Entered April 10, 1931.
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| January 11, 1936 | Certificate of Title | Everett H. and Anna Bell Gates | Frederick W. Flitner and Jessie C. Flitner of Billerica, husband and wife | 1936: Lot A to Frederick W. and Jessie C. Flitner | Ctf 4839 |
Transfer Certificate from Certificate 4126: the Flitners own Lot A on Plan 3956-A as tenants by the entirety, same bounds. Owners' address "Boston Road, Billerica." Entered Jan. 11, 1936.
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| June 10, 1937 | Certificate of Title | Frederick W. and Jessie C. Flitner | Harold H. Barter (married to Mabel D. Barter) and Elizabeth R. Henderson, both of Somerville, joint tenants | 1937: Lot A to Harold H. Barter and Elizabeth R. Henderson (Certificate 9659, 1955) | Ctf 5063 |
Transfer Certificate from Certificate 4839: Lot A on Plan 3956-A, same bounds, to Harold H. Barter and Elizabeth R. Henderson "as joint tenants." Owners' address 152 Curtis Street, Somerville. Entered June 10, 1937. Cancelled by Certificate 9659 (Registration Book 51, Page 121), entered Aug. 31, 1955, which names Mabel D. Barter and Elizabeth R. Henderson of Billerica, "both not married", joint tenants, at 482 Boston Road.
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| July 24, 1970 | Certificate of Title | Private owners of Lot A (Certificate 10378) | James E. Farmer and Phyllis C. Farmer of Billerica, tenants by the entirety | 1970: Lot A to James E. and Phyllis C. Farmer (after private owners 1957-1970) | Ctf 17455 |
Transfer Certificate from Certificate 10378: the Farmers own Lot A on Land Court Plan 3956-A, "Southwesterly by Boston Road, one hundred sixty-five and 24/100 (165.24) feet; Northerly by Lot B, thirteen hundred twenty (1320) feet", northeast by Lot B 143.06 feet, southeast by Clarence A. Backer 49.94 feet and south by Walter H. Fuller and Susan E. Burton 1,276.08 feet. Owners' address 2 Lorraine Terrace. Entered July 24, 1970; cancelled by Certificate 20573 (Registration Book 105, Page 345) on the 1974 sale for the mall. Between 1955 and 1970 Lot A passed from Mabel D. Barter and Elizabeth R. Henderson (Certificate 9659) to private owners of 482 Boston Road in 1957 (Certificate 10378, Registration Book 54, Page 367), who sold to the Farmers.
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| November 20, 1974 | Deed | James E. Farmer (also known as J. Everett Farmer) and Phyllis C. Farmer of Billerica | Twenty-Fifth Billerica Corp., a Massachusetts corporation | 1974: Lot A sold with the mall site | 2133/294 |
For $1,148,241, with quitclaim covenants, "a certain parcel of land situated on the easterly side of Boston Road", 29.79 acres, being registered Lot A on Land Court Plan 3956-A (Certificate 17455) and Parcel 1 on the Garcia, Hanack & Richard plan of July 3, 1974 (Plan Book 119, Plan 65). Bounded north by Elvah Farmer (Lot 1, Land Court Plan 6093-B) and the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston (part of Lot B on Plan 3956-A), east by remaining land of the Farmers and Lots 8 and 9 of Tower Farm Estates (Plan Book 110, Plan 42), south by the north line of Tower Farm Road and other Farmer land, Jeremiah J. O'Connor and the Town of Billerica, and west by Boston Road. The deed lists its sources: Lot A (Certificate 17455), "all the land acquired by Grantor from John J. Baraldi" (Book 1925, Page 131), part of the land of Musgrave's Tower Farm, Inc. (Book 1915, Page 241), all the land of Evelyn R. Musgrave (Book 1915, Page 239) and part of the Jones farm bought of Jonathan Barrington et al. (Book 1876, Page 78). Storm-drain easement over Easement E (Plan Book 119, Plan 149). Dated and acknowledged Nov. 15, 1974.
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| November 20, 1974 | Quitclaim | J. Everett Farmer (sometimes known as James E. Farmer) and Phyllis C. Farmer of Billerica | Twenty-Fifth Billerica Corp. | 1974: confirmatory release of the road strip | 2133/298 |
Confirmatory release, with no separate consideration, of "all our right, title and interest" in the strip between Boston Road and Lot A and Parcel 1 on Plan Book 119, Plan 65, "to vest in the grantee title to all the land lying between the parcels shown on said plan and the actual legal limit of said Boston Road." Also extinguishes the drainage and sewer easement between Lots 5 and 6 of Tower Farm Estates (Plan Book 110, Plan 42) and along Lot 6A (Plan Book 116, Plan 103A), replaced by the easements to the Town of Billerica of Aug. 15, 1974 (Book 2131, Pages 521 and 525).
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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.