Structure · Built 1870
Frederick Rosenthal House
The farmhouse at 171 Lexington Road stands on the west side of the road at the Bedford line, on the Billerica end of a tract that has always run across the town line. The assessor dates it "about 1750", but the deeds and maps tell a later story: the land was open farmland until the late 1860s, and the house was built about 1870 for the Rosenthal family.
In 1838 Thaddeus and Susan Cole and Josiah Hill of Watertown sold John J. Gorham of Dedham "a certain farm situated partly in Bedford and partly in Billerica", about 130 acres in four lots. The largest lot, 116 1/2 acres, ran from Seth Crosby's corner on the Middlesex Turnpike south along the road to Bedford for 128 rods to John P. Merriam's land, and Gorham's house lot stood on the other side of the road. Hales's map of 1831 shows a small house on the west side at the line, but none is drawn there on the Walling maps of 1853 and 1856.
On July 7, 1868, Gorham sold 30 acres of this land "situate in said Billerica and Bedford" to Frederick Rosenthal of Bedford for $900, bounded east by the Lexington road and south by Rosenthal's own land. The deed names no buildings. By 1875 Beers's atlas shows a house here marked "A. Rosenthall", and in 1877 Frederick deeded the 30 acres to Augustus H. Rosenthal, who already owned 40 adjoining acres in Bedford. After Augustus died, his heirs Frederick H. and Annie R. Rosenthal sold both tracts "with the buildings thereon" to Louise E. Merriam in February 1899 for $1,200.
That May Mrs. Merriam sold the farm to William J. Biggerstaff, who moved out from Chelsea. The directories list him as a laborer living on "Lexington rd. n. Bedford line". In 1914 he passed the title through Margaret G. Maguire of Lowell, who mortgaged it to the Washington Savings Institution for $1,800. William died on January 14, 1916, and five days later Maguire deeded "the land and buildings" to his widow, Mary R. Biggerstaff. Mary deeded the farm to her daughter Marian in 1924 and took it back in 1925. In 1941 she conveyed it through Catherine F. Shrigley to another daughter, Grace D. O'Connor. The directories still list Mary at the Bedford line in 1941.
Grace O'Connor gave the property to members of her family about 1971, and the deed was recorded in 1983. It has stayed with that family since. Part of the farm was later taken by the Commonwealth for Route 3, and today's Billerica parcel is about 21 acres. Besides the house there is a large barn behind it, a modern outbuilding, and a small shed.
References
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| April 12, 1838 | Warranty Deed | Thaddeus Cole, gentleman, and Susan Cole his wife in her right, and Josiah Hill, carpenter, all of Watertown | John J. Gorham of Dedham, gentleman | chain of title of the house lot | 371/475 (South) |
Billerica town book 15, pages 453-456. Dated April 1, 1838. For $3,400, "a certain farm situated partly in Bedford and partly in Billerica ... consisting of four different lots of land, containing in all about one hundred and thirty acres more or less, with all the buildings thereon standing": the half-acre "House lot" on the road from Bedford to Billerica; 116 1/2 acres beginning at Seth Crosby's corner and running "southeasterly by the Middlesex turnpike about 46 rods" to the road, then by the road, John P. Merriam, Benjamin Bacon and Josiah Hill and back by Crosby; about 5 1/2 acres by Abner Wheeler; and "about seven acres bounded westerly by the Middlesex turnpike" in the angle of the Bedford road. The 1846 Hill lot was cut from the second parcel. No title recital. The MACRIS form dates this deed 1830; the record is 1838.
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| April 12, 1838 | Mortgage | John J. Gorham of Dedham, gentleman, and Eliza his wife | Susan Cole of Watertown | chain of title of the house lot | 371/477 (South) |
Billerica town book 15, pages 456-457. Purchase-money mortgage of the same day as the Cole and Hill deed: for $1,700 Gorham conveys back "a certain farm situated partly in Bedford and partly in Billerica ... containing in all about one hundred and thirty acres more or less with all the buildings thereon standing, being the same premises this day conveyed to me by Thaddeus Cole, Susan Cole and Josiah Hill", void if he pays $1,700 with interest in one year.
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| July 13, 1868 | Warranty Deed | John J. Gorham of Billerica, with Eliza Gorham releasing dower | Frederick Rosenthal of Bedford | chain of title of the house lot | 63/80 |
Dated July 7, 1868. For $900, "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica and Bedford": beginning on the Lexington road at land of J. J. Bragdon, southerly by the road to land of said Rosenthal, westerly by land of the grantee, "my own land" and land formerly of Seth Crosby, northerly on Gorham and Crosby land, easterly by Crosby and John Fisk to the road, "containing (30) thirty acres more or less". No buildings are named and there is no title recital; it is part of lot 2 of Gorham's 1838 farm.
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| March 8, 1899 | Quitclaim | Frederick H. Rosenthal and Annie R. Rosenthal of Billerica, heirs of Augustus H. Rosenthal | Louise E. Merriam, wife of Frank H. Merriam, of Billerica | chain of title of the house lot | 305/435 |
Dated February 21, 1899 (South 2719/532). For $1,200, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon situated in said Billerica and Bedford": the 30 acres, "being the same premises conveyed to Augustus H. Rosenthal by Frederick Rosenthal by deed dated Mar. 29th 1877" (South 1430/442), and 40 acres in Bedford beginning on the road at Frederick Rosenthal's land, "being the same premises conveyed to Augustus Rosenthal by Charles C. Corey by deed dated Dec. 20th 1873" (South 1430/443).
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| June 5, 1899 | Warranty Deed | Louise E. Merriam of Billerica, with Frank H. Merriam releasing curtesy | William J. Biggerstaff of Chelsea | chain of title of the house lot | 307/298 |
Dated May 9, 1899 (South 2736/3). For one dollar and other valuable considerations, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon situated in said Billerica and Bedford": the 30-acre tract on the Lexington road and the 40-acre Bedford tract, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of Frederick H. Rosenthal et al. dated February 21, 1899"; the grantee assumes the taxes from May 1, 1899.
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| May 6, 1914 | Quitclaim | William J. Biggerstaff of Billerica, with Mary R. Biggerstaff releasing dower | Margaret G. Maguire of Lowell | chain of title of the house lot | 519/445 |
Dated April 11, 1914 (South 3880/344). For consideration paid, "the land in Billerica and Bedford ... with the buildings thereon": the same 30 and 40 acres, "being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of Louise E. Merriam dated May 9th, 1899". A conveyancing step: Maguire mortgaged the farm and deeded it to Biggerstaff's widow in 1916.
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| May 6, 1914 | Mortgage | Margaret G. Maguire of Lowell | Washington Savings Institution, Lowell | chain of title of the house lot | 519/446 |
Dated April 29, 1914. For $1,800, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon, situated in Billerica and Bedford", the same two tracts. Discharged in May 1916 (Book 554, Page 578).
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| April 8, 1916 | Quitclaim | Margaret G. Maguire of Lowell, unmarried | Mary R. Biggerstaff of Billerica | chain of title of the house lot | 551/394 |
Dated January 19, 1916, five days after William J. Biggerstaff's death. "The land and buildings in Billerica and Bedford", the same two tracts, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by William J. Biggerstaff by his deed dated April 11, 1914"; consideration less than one hundred dollars.
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| March 27, 1925 | Quitclaim | Mary R. Biggerstaff of Billerica, unmarried | Her daughter Marian G. Biggerstaff of Billerica | chain of title of the house lot | 719/456 |
Dated November 18, 1924. "All my right, title and interest in and to all the land with the buildings thereon, lying in the towns of Billerica and Bedford", as described in the Maguire mortgage of April 29, 1914 (Book 519, Page 446).
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| November 7, 1934 | Quitclaim | Marian G. Biggerstaff of Billerica, unmarried | Mary R. Biggerstaff of Billerica | chain of title of the house lot | 855/480 |
Dated April 8, 1925, recorded 1934. "A certain tract of land with the buildings thereon, situated in Billerica and Bedford", the 30 and 40 acres, "the same premises conveyed to me by Mary R. Biggerstaff by her deed dated Nov. 18, 1924"; consideration less than fifty dollars.
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| May 23, 1941 | Quitclaim | Mary R. Biggerstaff of Billerica, unmarried | Catherine F. Shrigley of Lowell | chain of title of the house lot | 961/24 |
Dated March 13, 1941. "The land and buildings in Billerica and Bedford", the same two tracts. "For my title to the above premises see deed of Margaret G. Maguire dated January 19, 1916". A straw conveyance: Shrigley deeded the farm to Mary's daughter the next day.
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| December 12, 1950 | Deed | Catherine F. Shrigley of Lowell | Grace D. O'Connor (born Biggerstaff) | chain of title of the house lot | 1158/345 |
Dated March 14, 1941 and recorded at Cambridge (South 7688/282), then at Lowell on December 12, 1950 ("Lexington Rd. See record", Billerica and Bedford). Book 1158 is not online at the registry; the terms come from the 1971 deed, which recites "the same premises conveyed to me by Catherine F. Shrigley by deed dated March 14, 1941".
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| May 9, 1983 | Quitclaim | Grace D. O'Connor of Bedford, unmarried | Two members of her family, as joint tenants | chain of title of the house lot | 2609/720 |
Signed about 1971, recorded 1983. "The land and buildings in Billerica and Bedford": the 30-acre tract on the Lexington Road "containing thirty acres more or less" and the 40-acre Bedford tract, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Catherine F. Shrigley by deed dated March 14, 1941", excepting the land taken by the Commonwealth for Route 3. The assessor lists no later sale; the family still holds it.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.