Hill Blacksmith Shop
The Hill Blacksmith Shop stood on the west side of Concord Road, the old road from Billerica to Bedford, where Mill Brook runs under the road in South Billerica, directly across from the machine shop at Hill's Mills. It was a separate little lot, only about 34 feet on the road and 68 feet deep, with the brook along its north side. The shop is gone; parts of its stone foundation can still be seen beside the road, between the town conservation land to the north and the old schoolhouse lot at the corner of Dudley Road.
The ground was part of the farm that Thomas Hall bought from Joseph Hildreth Jr. in 1761, "with all the buildings thereon" on the westerly side of the road to Concord. After Hall died in 1772, Jonathan Hill bought most of the farm from his estate, and in 1785 he and the Commonwealth's agent conveyed it, with the Hall widow's thirds and the dwelling house, to his sons Job Hill and Josiah Hill. Job Hill lived there until his death in 1842 and left the farm to his son, also named Jonathan Hill, who ran the mill across the road.
The shop first appears in the records on October 15, 1853, when Jonathan Hill sold the mill to his wife's younger brother, the machinist Charles Henry Hill, for $3,000. Along with the mill and its water rights from Nutting's Pond the deed included "a certain other piece of land ... with a Blacksmiths shop upon the same", bounded east by the road, north by "the brook that runs from Hill's Mills so called", and south and west by Jonathan Hill's own land, "meaning hereby to convey only the land that the said Blacksmith's shop covers" and the strip between the shop and the brook, with a right to enter the farm to repair it. Charles mortgaged the property back to Jonathan the same day and paid the debt off in 1866. The shop was standing by 1853 and was evidently built while Job Hill or his son Jonathan owned the farm.
From then on the shop lot had its own owner, apart from the farm around it. When Jonathan Hill's widow Laura sold the farm to Thomas E. Perrin in 1871, and in every later deed of the Perrin, Fowler and Barber farm, "the land occupied by the Blacksmith's shop, School house, Burying ground and the cross road" was excepted. The 1906 survey of Charlotte E. Fowler's farm draws the small lot with its building on the road, and the county's 1915 layout of Concord Road labels it "Charles H. Hill". Town reports of the time call the junction "C. H. Hill's corner".
Charles Henry Hill sold the machine shop in 1903 but kept the blacksmith shop. He died before 1913, and his son Charles H. Hill Jr., claiming "under the will of Charles H. Hill", mortgaged the 1853 parcels, among them the land "with a blacksmith shop upon the same", to Arthur S. Cook of Billerica for $250 in October 1913. The loan was never repaid. Cook made a formal entry to foreclose on February 10, 1923, sold the property at auction on the premises on July 3, 1923 and bought it himself for $100. He then sued Margaret E. Hill, Charles Henry Hill's daughter, who held the machine shop, over the same lots.
By the 1930s the deeds to the neighbouring farm describe the site only as "the old blacksmith shop lot", about 130 feet north of the schoolhouse lot. No later deed of the lot has been found. When the surrounding land was surveyed in 1998 the surveyor marked the strip "old Blacksmith Shop lot (Present Owner Unknown)", and the assessor's map has no separate parcel for it. The land north of it became town conservation land in 2006.
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 17, 1764 | Deed | Joseph Hildreth Jr. of Westford, yeoman, and Abigail Hildreth his wife | Thomas Hall of Billerica, husbandman | Thomas Hall buys the farm on the west side of the Concord road, 1761 (later the shop site) | 61/489 (South) |
For 300 pounds (old tenor), "a certain Tract of Land lying and being in Billerica aforesaid on the westerly side of the highway that leads to Concord and by Estimation about fifty acres ... with all the buildings thereon", "bounded Easterly on Concord Road so called", south and west by Samuel Stearns (marked walnut, great black oak, "a great Rock under the end of the wall"), over "the Brook", by Samuel and John Stearns to "a little swamp", to a birch "at Jonathan Hill's Land", and by Hill "in a crooked line to the highway first mentioned"; excepting "a certain piece of meadow & upland ... that is own'd by Jonathan Hill". Signed Feb. 4, 1761; acknowledged Jan. 2, 1764; recorded Dec. 17, 1764. Billerica town book 9, pages 75-77. The earliest deed of the farm found; its buildings are the "House and Barn" of Hall's 1772 inventory.
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| September 29, 1772 | Administration | Estate of Thomas Hall of Billerica, yeoman, intestate (d. May 10, 1772) | Lydia Hall, widow and administratrix | Thomas Hall estate, 1772 | Probate #10188 |
Administration granted Sept. 29, 1772 (sureties Isaac Stearns and Joseph Ruggles). The inventory (sworn Nov. 23, 1772; appraisers Lt. Jonathan Spaulding, Deacon Ralph Hill, Isaac Foster) lists "about 63 acres of Land and meadow with one House and Barn on the same". A summary sheet notes "a mortgage of the whole real estate to Isaac Stearns" of 140 pounds and that the administratrix "must sell 41 1/2 acres on the westerly side of the place". Bond of Jan. 11, 1773 for the sale; account allowed Oct. 7, 1777 (debts 188 pounds, "maintaining 3 children", "repairing the house"). Bond of Nov. 9, 1785: Edward Farmer, authorized by the General Court on Nov. 2, 1785 to sell the part "set off to his widow for her dower", with Jonathan Hill and Zebadiah Rogers sureties.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| March 17, 1777 | Administrator's Deed | Lydia Hall of Billerica, administratrix of the estate of Thomas Hall, intestate | Jonathan Hill of Billerica, yeoman | Hall estate sells 41 1/2 acres to Jonathan Hill, 1773 | 77/362 (South) |
Under a license from the Inferior Court of Common Pleas to sell real estate for debts, for 152 pounds 9 shillings, "forty one Acres and an half of Land lying in Billerica aforesaid in the Southerly part of said Town", from the northwest angle by Jonathan Hill south by Isaac Stearns "to a stake and stones near a little swamp", by Samuel Stearns to the brook, over the brook to the ditch and Benjamin Hutchinson, then by Hill's land, the meadow, the wall and "a bowing line to the Fence about twenty five Feet East of the great Tree to which the Gate hangs". Signed Feb. 20, 1773; acknowledged March 15, 1777. These are the bounds and the price of Jonathan Hill's 1785 deed to Job and Josiah (Book 93, Page 336). The inventory had advised selling "41 1/2 acres on the westerly side of the place" to pay a mortgage of the whole farm to Isaac Stearns. Billerica town book 7, pages 139-140.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| February 27, 1786 | Administrator's Deed | Edward Farmer of Billerica, Esq., empowered by the General Court to sell the dower of Lydia (Hall) Crosby, widow of Thomas Hall | Job Hill and Josiah Hill of Billerica, yeomen | the Hall widow's thirds with the dwelling house to Job and Josiah Hill, 1785 | 93/335 (South) |
Under an act of the General Court of Oct. 10, 1785 to sell "the Thirds or Dower of Lydia the wife of Samson Crosby but heretofore the Widow of Thomas Hall late of said Billerica yeoman", for 110 pounds 6 shillings ("the said Josiah Hill being the highest bidder when sold at Publick auction"), 21 1/2 acres "on the West side of the road leading from Billerica to Bedford": from the road by Jonathan Hill "with a crooked line ... to a rail fence Westerly of the Dwelling House on said Premises", to land sold to pay Hall's debts, to Long Meadow, by Jonathan Hill across the meadow, to Benjamin Hutchinson and back to the road, "with the Dwelling House & that part of the Barn standing thereon". Signed Nov. 13, 1785. Billerica town book 8, pages 45-47. With the 40 1/2 acres their father sold them that year (the rest of the Hall farm, bought by him from Lydia Hall in 1777), this gave the brothers the whole Hall place.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| February 27, 1786 | Deed | Jonathan Hill of Billerica, yeoman | Job Hill and Josiah Hill of Billerica, yeomen | Jonathan Hill to his sons Job and Josiah Hill, 1785 | 93/336 (South) |
For 152 pounds 9 shillings, 40 1/2 acres "in the Southerly part of said Town," beginning at the northwesterly angle by land of said Jonathan Hill, southerly by Isaac Stearns to a little swamp, by Samuel Stearns to the brook, east over the brook to the ditch and by the ditch to Benjamin Hutchinson, northerly by Hutchinson to Jonathan Hill, and westerly, northerly and easterly by Hill's land, the meadow, a wall and "the fence about twenty five feet East of the great tree to which the gate hangs," back to the start. Signed Feb. 25, 1785; acknowledged Nov. 30, 1785 before Edward Farmer. Job (b. 1754) and Josiah were Jonathan's sons. This set off the south end of the farm; the homestead stayed with Jonathan and passed to his son Jonathan (m. 1798, d. 1815), whose south abutter in 1825 was Job Hill. Billerica town book 8, pages 44-45.
Title from:
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| April 12, 1842 | Will | Estate of Job Hill of Billerica, yeoman (d. Feb. 5, 1842) | His son Jonathan Hill, residuary legatee and executor | will of Job Hill: the farm to his son Jonathan Hill, 1842 | Probate #34231 |
Will dated April 20, 1837 (witnesses Marshall Preston, John Baldwin and John Baldwin Jr.): $700 each to his daughters Asenath Hill and Susan Lane Hill and the household furniture except one bed and the clock; $250 to his daughter Lucretia, wife of Sewall Stearns, less $200 paid at her marriage; $50 to his son Daniel Hill if he came to Billerica in person within three years; and "to my son Jonathan Hill, the Bed & Clock above mentioned, together with all the rest & residue of my estate, real & personal, of whatever name or nature and wherever situated", Jonathan to be sole executor. Petition Feb. 18, 1842 ("late of Billerica, yeoman"); proved at Concord April 12, 1842; executor's bond of $20,000 the same day, Jonathan Hill "Gentleman" principal with David P. Whiting and Franklin Stearns as sureties, "being residuary legatee". No inventory is filed. The homestead farm passed under this residuary clause to Jonathan Hill.
Title from:
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| May 22, 1854 | Warranty | Jonathan Hill of Billerica, yeoman, and Laura W. Hill | Charles Henry Hill of Billerica, machinist | Jonathan Hill sells the mill and the blacksmith shop to Charles Henry Hill, 1853 | 677/561 (South) |
For $3,000, "a certain Grist Mill or Machine shop situate in the Southerly part of said Billerica called Hills Mills," beginning "at the road leading from Billerica to Bedford" at a stone marked B, easterly to another stone near the corner of the wall, south-easterly "to the upper side of the dam," westerly by the water course and back to the road, "together with all the water privileges belonging to said Mills which consists of the water running from Nuttings Pond so called and elsewhere of raising the dam meaning the upper dam six inches" without liability for flowing the farm of William Whitford, of deepening and widening the water course from Nutting's Pond to the mill, "of making a creek from the upper dam on the south side of the Mill Pond to said lower dam," and of taking stone and gravel from Whitford's land to keep the creek and dams in repair; also a piece of land "with a Blacksmiths shop upon the same," bounded east by the road and north "by the brook that runs from Hill's Mills so called"; and a two acre lot "on the easterly side of said road near said Mills with the buildings thereon," 250 feet on the road at the Whitford line. Dated Oct. 15, 1853, witnessed by L. I. Fletcher, acknowledged May 13 and recorded May 22, 1854. Next on the record Charles Henry Hill mortgaged the grist mill back to Jonathan Hill for $2,005.80 (Southern Registry Book 677 Page 563), a mortgage Jonathan Hill discharged on May 28, 1866 (Middlesex North Book 50 Page 241). Billerica town book 20 pages 361-363.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| May 22, 1854 | Mortgage | Charles Henry Hill of Billerica, yeoman | Jonathan Hill of Billerica | Charles Henry Hill mortgages the mill and "a Blacksmith shop" back to Jonathan Hill, 1853 | 677/563 (South) |
For $2,005.80, mortgage given back to the seller the same day as the deed of the mill (Book 677 Page 561): "a certain Grist Mill situate in the Southerly part of said Billerica called Hills Mills," bounded by the stones marked B as in "the deed of same premises to me by said Jonathan Hill of even date herewith"; the land "with a Blacksmith shop upon the same," bounded east by the road and north by "the Brook that runs from Hills Mills"; a lot "on the easterly side of said road near said Mills with the Buildings thereon," 250 feet on the road from the line between Jonathan Hill and Whitford, about two acres; and a house lot on Norfolk Street in Cambridgeport. Void on payment of "Two Thousand and five dollars and 80/100ths on demand with interest." Dated Oct. 15, 1853; recorded with the deed. Jonathan Hill discharged it on May 28, 1866 (Middlesex North Book 50 Page 241). Billerica town book 20, pages 363-365.
Related:
|
|||||
| June 29, 1866 | Discharge of Mortgage | Jonathan Hill of Billerica, mortgagee | Charles H. Hill of Billerica, mortgagor | the 1853 mortgage discharged, 1866 | 50/241 |
Release written on the 1853 mortgage (Southern District Book 677 Page 563): Jonathan Hill, for "[two] thousand and five dollars to me paid by C. H. Hill the within mortgager," acknowledges "full and complete satisfaction and payment of the within described note and mortgage and hereby discharge the same." Dated May 28, 1866, witnessed and acknowledged before Charles H. Parker, justice of the peace, at Billerica; recorded June 29, 1866 (pages 241-242). With it Charles H. Hill held the mill and shop free of debt.
Related:
|
|||||
| 1870 | Will | Jonathan Hill of Billerica (d. May 17, 1870) | Laura W. Hill, his widow and executrix (legacies to son James W. Hill and daughter Laura Hill) | will of Jonathan Hill (the farm around the shop lot to his widow), 1870 | Probate #34235 |
Will dated Sept. 10, 1869, witnessed by William B. Stearns, Dudley Foster and Louisa P. Foster: $100 each to his son James W. Hill and his daughter Laura Hill, and "all the rest and residue of my property and estate" to his wife Laura W. Hill, executrix without bond. He died May 17, 1870; the will was proved at Lowell on July 19, 1870 (Judge William A. Richardson), the estate sworn at not over $37,000. Jonathan Hill had bought the grist mill from John Nichols in 1835, began the leather-splitting machine business there, and sold the mill and shop to Charles H. Hill in 1853, taking back a mortgage that was assigned in 1858. Middlesex probate case 34235.
Title from:
Title passed to:
Related:
|
|||||
| January 5, 1871 | Warranty Deed | Laura W. Hill of Billerica, widow (of Jonathan Hill) | Thomas E. Perrin of Andover | Hill farm sold to Perrin "excepting the land occupied by the Blacksmith's shop", 1871 | 77/167 |
For $7,000 ($7 in revenue stamps), "a certain parcel of land situate in said Billerica with the buildings thereon", beginning "at the corner of the wall nearly opposite the house of Thos. Lyons on the Billerica and Bedford road", north by Lyons and Susan Hamilton to the Chelmsford and Bedford road, west by that road to Francis Wheeler, then by Wheeler and Henry Desmarzes ("several angles being formed by the walls, ditches, brook and dam, the bounds formed by the dam being its westerly side") back to the Billerica and Bedford road; "Excepting the land occupied by the Blacksmith Shop, School House, Burying ground, and the cross road", and reserving the right of carting hay across the west end of "the meadow, deeded by F. O. Whitford, May 16, 1864". Also the pasture opposite the burying ground (Franklin Stearns, Moses P. Greenwood) and river meadow "a few rods from Hills Bridge". Signed Jan. 2, 1871 before Dudley Foster. No title recital: Mrs. Hill held it under her husband's will (probate 34235), and he under his father Job Hill's will (probate 34231).
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| October 16, 1913 | Mortgage | Charles H. Hill Jr. of Billerica, unmarried | Arthur S. Cook of Billerica | Charles H. Hill Jr., heir under his father's will, mortgages the blacksmith shop to Arthur S. Cook, 1913 | 512/428 |
For $250 payable in one year at six per cent, a mortgage with power of sale of "two certain lots of land with the buildings thereon": the Hills Mills lot from the stone marked B at the road from Billerica to Bedford, with the Nutting's Pond water privileges, and "a certain other piece of land, situated in said Billerica, with a blacksmith shop upon the same", bounded "easterly by the road aforesaid; northerly by the brook; southerly by land owned by Jona. Hill, now or formerly; westerly by said Hill land, meaning hereby to convey and hereby conveying only the land on which said blacksmith shop stands", both "as described in a deed of Jona. Hill to Charles Henry Hill dated October 15, 1853". "My title being derived under the will of Charles H. Hill." Margin: possession Book 676 Page 114; mortgagee's sale Book 686 Page 324.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| February 16, 1923 | Certificate of Entry | Charles H. Hill Jr. (mortgagor) | Arthur S. Cook of Billerica, mortgagee | mortgagee Arthur S. Cook enters to foreclose, Feb. 1923 | 676/114 |
Melvin G. Rogers and Frederick S. Harvey certify that on February 10, 1923 they saw Arthur S. Cook, the mortgagee named in the mortgage from Charles H. Hill Jr. dated October 1913 (Book 512 Page 428), "make an open, peaceable and unopposed entry on the premises described in said mortgage, for the purpose ... of foreclosing said mortgage for breach of the condition thereof". Sworn at Lowell; recorded February 16, 1923.
Title from:
|
|||||
| July 26, 1923 | Notice of Suit | Arthur S. Cook of Billerica (plaintiff) | Margaret E. Hill of Billerica (defendant) | Cook sues Margaret E. Hill over the mill and shop lots, 1923 | 686/295 |
Notice under General Laws chapter 184 section 15 that a bill in equity was brought in the Superior Court for Middlesex County by Arthur S. Cook against Margaret E. Hill on July 26, 1923, affecting the two lots he had just taken by foreclosure: the Hills Mills lot with the Nutting's Pond water privileges and "a certain other piece of land, situated in said Billerica, with a Blacksmith shop upon the same", east by the road, north by the brook, south and west by Jona. Hill land, "Being the premises to Charles H. Hill conveyed by Jonathan Hill, by deed dated October 15, 1853". Signed for Cook by his attorneys Qua, Howard and Rogers. Margaret E. Hill, Charles Henry Hill's daughter, held the machine shop under a 1907 deed from her father.
Related:
|
|||||
| July 18, 1923 | Mortgagee's Deed | Arthur S. Cook of Billerica, holder of the mortgage from Charles H. Hill Jr. | Arthur S. Cook of Billerica (highest bidder) | foreclosure sale: Arthur S. Cook takes the blacksmith shop lot, 1923 | 686/324 |
Under the power of sale in the mortgage of Charles H. Hill Jr. dated October 10, 1913 (Book 512 Page 428), "for One hundred Dollars paid", Cook grants to himself "the premises conveyed by said mortgage": the Hills Mills lot with the Nutting's Pond privileges, and "a certain other piece of land, situated in said Billerica, with a Blacksmith shop upon the same", easterly by the road, northerly by the brook, southerly and westerly by land of Jona. Hill now or formerly, "only the land on which said Blacksmith shop stands", as in the 1853 deed; subject to unpaid taxes. Signed July 17, 1923. Affidavit: the debt and taxes unpaid; notice in the Woburn Daily Times June 12, 19 and 25, 1923; auction on the premises July 3, 1923 at 8:30 in the morning.
Title from:
|
|||||
| September 13, 1935 | Quitclaim Deed | Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, a corporation sole (by William H. O'Connell, Archbishop) | Margaret A. Barber, wife of Giles K. Barber, of Billerica | farm deed excepting "the old blacksmith shop lot", 1935 | 872/312 |
For consideration paid ($1.50 in revenue stamps), with quitclaim covenants, "two certain parcels of land with the buildings thereon": the first parcel of 20 1/2 acres south of Chestnut Avenue (the Bedford-Billerica Road, Austin, Grady, the brook, Wheeler and the stone wall and ditch); the second parcel of 30 acres north of it (the Bedford-Billerica Road, "the school house lot, so-called", Chestnut Avenue, the stone wall 947.49 feet from the Chelmsford and Billerica Road, and the Lyons Estate), "Excepting herefrom the old blacksmith shop lot, distant from the above named school house lot in the northerly direction approximately 129.96 feet, situated on the aforesaid Billerica and Bedford Road"; Plan Book 23, Plan 25; "Being the same premises conveyed to the above named grantor by deed of Thomas W. Lynch, dated July 7, 1927 ... Book 751, Page 525"; subject to the current taxes. Signed Aug. 30, 1935.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| April 27, 1948 | Quitclaim Deed | Margaret A. Barber, a widow, of Billerica | Barbara Galvin of Billerica | farm deed excepting "the old blacksmith shop lot", 1948 | 1089/364 |
For consideration paid ($2.75 in revenue stamps), with quitclaim covenants, "the land in said Billerica" (no buildings named): "Easterly by the Bedford-Billerica Road, so-called; Southerly and Easterly by the school house lot", southerly by Chestnut Avenue in several courses, westerly by the stone wall 947.49 feet from the Chelmsford and Billerica Road, northerly by land now or formerly of the Lyons Estate, "Excepting herefrom, the old blacksmith shop lot, distant from the above-named school house lot in the northerly direction approximately 129.96 feet", 30 acres, Plan Book 23, Plan 25; "Being a part of the premises conveyed to me by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, by deed dated August 30, 1935 ... Book 872, Page 312". Signed April 24, 1948. This is the north parcel on which the Job Hill house had stood. Barbara Galvin (died April 13, 1994) and her husband Frank Galvin (died April 4, 1974) kept it for half a century: in 1964 they deeded it, with land across Concord Road, to a family member for less than $100, "Reserving, however, a life estate in the aforesaid premises to the grantors and their survivor". After Barbara Galvin's death the parcel was divided (Plan Book 196, Plan 143, April 1998), and in August 1998 Lot 2 on that plan, 57,473 square feet on the north side of Dudley Road, was sold for $60,000 to the private owners who had moved the Captain John J. Gorham House onto the old Job Hill house site on June 28, 1998.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
| October 27, 1964 | Quitclaim Deed | Frank Galvin and Barbara Galvin of Billerica | A member of the family (private) | family deed of the farm, again excepting the old blacksmith shop lot, 1964 | 1670/572 |
Signed Aug. 31, 1964, for less than $100, two parcels: the 20 acres "with the buildings thereon" on the east side of the Bedford road (W. P. Hadley, heirs of Jonathan Hill, the Boston and Maine Railroad, the brook and mill pond, Charles H. Hill's machine shop lot), from Margaret E. Hill in 1936 (Book 882 Page 80), and 30 acres north of Chestnut Avenue; "Reserving, however, a life estate in the aforesaid premises to the grantors and their survivor." The family had the land surveyed into Lot A (3 acres with the house) and Lot B (10 acres) in 1969 (Plan Book 109 Plan 161) and kept the house until 2005, when family trustees sold it to a private owner. The Mansard house burned on Dec. 4, 2005; the 3-acre lot was divided in 2007 into Lot 1 (332 Concord Road) and Lot 2 (330 Concord Road) on Plan Book 224 Plan 29, and a new house was built at 332 about 2008. The assessor lists later private sales in 2005, 2007 and 2012.
Title from:
Title passed to:
|
|||||
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.