Structure · Built 1887 · Demolished 1912
Jessie E. Stinehour House
The Jessie E. Stinehour House was a small dwelling on the south side of the old Middlesex Turnpike beside the railroad, on the lot next to Turnpike Station. The lot was about eight rods along the turnpike and ten rods deep. It was bounded by the Keith land on the southeast, by the railroad on the west and by the railroad land "on which is located the Turnpike Station" on the northwest. Its bounds match the present lot at 429 Middlesex Turnpike.
The lot was part of the estate of Francis Bacon Cowdry, who left it to his widow Lydia Cowdry. On November 14, 1887 she released it to Granville Cowdrey of Billerica as "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon," a lot of ten by eight rods on the turnpike beside the land of one Keith. He had to keep a lawful fence around it. The house was therefore standing by 1887. Its shape, cut off at the back by the railroad, dates from the narrow-gauge line of 1877 or the branch of 1885.
Granville Cowdrey sold the place, "with the buildings thereon," to Dudley Hartford of Bedford by a deed dated February 1, 1893, which was not recorded until 1897. Hartford mortgaged it to Thomas B. Hosmer in 1897 and paid off the mortgage in March 1906. On March 10, 1906 he sold it to Mabel A. Luke of Billerica, who with her husband Edward Luke mortgaged it the same month to Arthur S. Cook for $250. On September 17, 1909 the Lukes sold the house and lot to Jessie E. Stinehour of Cambridge.
In its day-book for June 28, 1912, the magazine Billerica reported that "Mrs. Jessie Stinchour's dwelling at Turnpike Station burned to the ground." The registry indexes the family under both Steinhour and Stinehour. By 1932 the land south of the station was held by Frederick P. Morris. The present house on the lot was built in 1965.
References
- Billerica (magazine), July 1912, Billerica Day-Book, June 28, 1912: "Mrs. Jessie Stinchour's dwelling at Turnpike Station burned to the ground"
- Billerica assessor, 429 Middlesex Tpke: present house built 1965 on the same lot
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| November 19, 1887 | Quitclaim | Lydia Cowdrey of Billerica, widow | Granville Cowdrey of Billerica | Lydia Cowdrey releases the lot "with the buildings thereon" to Granville Cowdrey, 1887 (first record of the house) | 193/135 |
Signed November 14, 1887, before Dudley Foster JP. For $25 and other consideration, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon", beginning at a point on the old Middlesex Turnpike between the land conveyed and land of one Keith, westerly by Keith ten rods, northerly at right angles eight rods to a fence, easterly ten rods to the turnpike and by the turnpike eight rods to the start. The grantee was to "maintain a lawful fence around said conveyed premises as a condition of this deed." "It being a part of the real estate of the late Francis B. Cowdrey and bequeathed to me in his last will." The first record of the house.
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| March 29, 1897 | Warranty Deed | Granville Cowdrey of Billerica | Dudley Hartford of Bedford | Granville Cowdrey sells the house lot to Dudley Hartford of Bedford, 1893 (recorded 1897) | 284/209 |
Signed February 1, 1893, acknowledged July 22, 1893 before Charles A. Corey JP, recorded March 29, 1897 (pages 209-210). For $1 and other consideration, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon", northeasterly by the old Middlesex Turnpike eight rods, southeasterly by land now or late of Keith ten rods, southwesterly by land now or late of Hill nineteen feet, westerly by the Boston and Lowell Railroad about eight rods and northwesterly "by land of said Railroad on which is located the Turnpike Station."
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| March 14, 1906 | Warranty Deed | Dudley Hartford of Bedford | Mabel A. Luke of Billerica | Dudley Hartford sells the house lot to Mabel A. Luke, 1906 | 388/66 |
Signed March 10, 1906, before Herbert A. King JP (pages 66-67). For $1 and other consideration, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon", northerly by the old Middlesex Turnpike eight rods, southeasterly by land now or late of Keith ten rods, southwesterly by land now or late of Hill nineteen feet, westerly by the Boston and Lowell Railroad about eight rods and northwesterly by land of the railroad "on which is located the Turnpike station", "the same premises as conveyed to me ... by deed of Granville Cowdrey dated Feby 1, 1893 ... Book 284 Page 209." Recorded directly after the discharge, on the same page, of Hartford's 1897 mortgage to Thomas B. Hosmer (Book 217, Page 583).
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| March 14, 1906 | Mortgage | Edward Luke and Mabel A. Luke, his wife, of Billerica | Arthur S. Cook of Billerica | the Lukes mortgage the house to Arthur S. Cook for $250, 1906 | 388/67 |
For $250, a mortgage of "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon", northerly by the old Middlesex Turnpike eight rods, the same lot bought from Dudley Hartford. The margin notes the discharge at Book 435, Page 74.
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| September 17, 1909 | Warranty Deed | Mabel A. Luke of Billerica, with her husband Edward Luke | Jessie E. Stinehour of Cambridge | the Lukes sell the house to Jessie E. Stinehour of Cambridge, 1909 | 439/557 |
Signed September 17, 1909, before John H. Devine, notary public. For $1 and other consideration, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon", northerly by the old Middlesex Turnpike eight rods, southeasterly by land now or late of Keith ten rods, southwesterly by land now or late of Hill nineteen feet, westerly by the Boston and Lowell Railroad eight rods, and northwesterly "by land of said Railroad on which is located the Turnpike Station", "the same premises conveyed to me by Dudley Hartford of Bedford ... Book 388, Page 66." Indexed under Steinhour / Stinehour. The house burned in June 1912.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.