John Wallis House
John Wallis House
| Also Known As | Isaac Sprague House |
| Address | 11 Treble Cove Rd |
| Built | 1718 |
| Demolished | 1829 |
| Other Lot Structures | Samuel C. Oliver House (Built 1830) |
The John Wallis House, also known as the Isaac Sprague (Sprake) House, was the early farmhouse on the lot at 11 Treble Cove Road in North Billerica, a short way west of the old Fordway over the Concord River. It stood until about 1829, when it was replaced by the present Samuel C. Oliver House. The Sprague family of North Billerica spelled its name Sprake in the town records until about 1780, and the deeds for this house use that spelling throughout. It is named here for John Wallis, the earliest known owner, who sold it in 1718 with "all the buildings"; how and when he acquired the lot is not on record, and the house may be older.
In 1718 John Wallis sold Joseph Wyman "one messuage or house lot of land" of 38 acres on the west side of the river, between Capt. Samuel Hill's land on the north and the road to Chelmsford on the south, with 13 1/2 acres bought of Samuel Danforth, "together with all the buildings, fences and trees thereon". Wyman sold it to John Blanchard in 1729, and Blanchard sold it in 1734 to Christopher Osgood Jr., son of the builder of the mills at the falls. Osgood enlarged the farm and in 1742 sold it to Nicholas Sprake, a clothier: 69 acres "near the fordway over Concord River that leads from Chelmsford to Billerica Town ... with a house and barn thereon standing". The house that the Sprakes later divided room by room ran east-west, with a central chimney, east and west lower rooms with chambers above, garrets, a lean-to and a cellar.
Nicholas Sprake's will of 1761 left "one lot of land with the buildings thereon which I bought of Christopher Osgood" to his son Samuel Sprake, town clerk and selectman, and in 1769 Samuel's brothers released to him "the Wyman lot so called" at the Fordway "with all the buildings thereon". Samuel deeded an undivided half of his land to his son Isaac Sprague in 1782 and the other half to his son Levi in 1784, each to take effect at his death (he was alive in April 1784, so Hazen's death date of 1781 is too early). When his estate was settled in 1785 the commissioners gave Isaac "the east end of the dwelling house, that is to say the lower room and the garrets", Levi "the westerly end of the dwelling house and the east chamber", and the widow Ruth her dower rooms. Ruth sold her dower to Levi in 1787, and in 1791 Levi sold Isaac "all the right, title or interest I have in a dwelling house and barn", so that Isaac owned the whole house. A 1784 deed from William Stickney to Isaac Sprake, once taken as his purchase of this farm, was for a 17-acre woodlot elsewhere in town. Isaac married Rhoda Wilson in 1788, and on January 23, 1789 the first meeting about rebuilding the Fordway Bridge was held "at the house of Isaac Sprake", as Hazen records.
Isaac Sprake died early in 1799 (Hazen's printed "1790" is a misprint; his children were born through 1797). His will left his widow Rhoda "the improvement of all my real estate so long as she shall remain my widow", and his inventory valued "the homestead ... near the Fordway (so called) containing sixty acres of good land with the buildings thereon" at $1,250. Rhoda married Abijah Hodgman of Carlisle about 1801, and in 1811 the farm was divided: Rhoda received the east room on the lower floor "and the chamber over it to the middle of the chimney", and her son Isaac "the westerly part of the house to the middle of the chimney". Young Isaac was placed under a guardian as a spendthrift in 1815; his half of the house passed to his sister Rhoda and her husband David Clark, who sold "the west half of the dwelling house" to William Richardson in 1818. In March 1819 the Sprake heirs sold Richardson the east half that had been "set off to Rhoda Hodgman as part of her dower", and in November 1819 Richardson sold the reunited farm of 34 acres "with all the buildings" to the widow Judith Pollard. She sold it in 1826 to William Oliver, and the old house was replaced about 1829-1830 by the house that stands today.
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Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1718 | Deed | John Wallis of Billerica; Mary Wallis his wife releasing dower | Joseph Wyman of Billerica | 1718 Wallis to Wyman, 38-acre house lot with buildings (first record) | 19/402 (South) |
For 90 pounds, "one messuage or house lot of land" of 38 acres on the west side of Concord River, bounded north by Capt. Samuel Hill, west by Thomas Ross, south by Capt. John Stearns and partly by the road to Chelmsford, east by the way to Osgood's mill and partly by Samuel Danforth; also 13 1/2 acres "which I purchased of Samuel Danforth", "together with all the buildings, fences and trees thereon". Dated May 2, 1718, acknowledged May 9 before Oliver Whiting. Billerica town book 2, pages 184-186. The earliest record of the lot; Wallis's own title is not recorded.
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| 1729 | Deed | Joseph Wyman of Billerica; Ruth Wyman his wife releasing dower | John Blanchard of Billerica | 1729 Wyman to Blanchard, the house lot | 35/409 (South) |
For 200 pounds, the same "messuage or house lot" of 38 acres (north on Capt. Samuel Hill, west Thomas Ross, south John Stearns and the road to Chelmsford, east the highway to Osgood's mill and Samuel Danforth) and the 13 1/2 acres bought of Samuel Danforth, "together with all the buildings, boards, fences and trees". Dated Feb. 1, 1728/9; recorded at Cambridge 1734. Billerica town book 3, pages 476-478. The tract was still called "the Wyman lot" in 1769.
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| 1734 | Deed | John Blanchard of Billerica; Mary Blanchard his wife releasing dower | Christopher Osgood Jr. of Billerica | 1734 Blanchard to Christopher Osgood Jr., the house lot | 36/617 (South) |
For 170 pounds, "one messuage or house lot of land" of about 38 acres on the west side of Concord River (north Capt. Samuel Hill, west Thomas Ross, south Capt. John Stearns and the road to Chelmsford, east the highway to Capt. Osgood's mill and Samuel Danforth) and 13 1/2 acres "purchased of Samuel Danforth", "together with all the buildings, fences and trees thereon". Dated Nov. 4, 1734. Billerica town book 4, pages 1-2.
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| 1742 | Deed | Christopher Osgood of Billerica; Sarah Osgood his wife releasing dower | Nicholas Sprake Jr. of Billerica, clothier | 1742 Osgood to Nicholas Sprake Jr., 69 acres "with a house and barn" by the fordway | 46/244 (South) |
For 750 pounds (old tenor), several tracts near Osgood's mills on the west side of Concord River, among them "the next tract of land is situate near the fordway over Concord River that leads from Chelmsford to Billerica Town on the west side of said river, sixty nine acres be it more or less with a house and barn thereon standing", bounded north by Deacon Samuel Hill, west by William Crosby, Samuel Barron and heirs of Capt. John Stearns, "south by Chelmsford road leading to the fordway and east by the highway leading to said Osgood's mill". Dated May 19, 1742; recorded 1745. Billerica town book 4, pages 540-542. Osgood had enlarged the Blanchard house lot with land of Samuel Danforth and Andrew Farmer.
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| 1768 | Will | Estate of Nicholas Sprake of Billerica, clothier | His sons Nicholas, Samuel and John Sprake and daughters | 1761/1768 will of Nicholas Sprake: the Osgood lot with buildings to son Samuel | Probate #21112 |
Will dated Sept. 15, 1761, proved 1768 (he died March 31, 1768). To son Nicholas the homestead by Broad Meadow; "to my well beloved son Samuel Sprake ... one lot of land with the buildings thereon which I bought of Christopher Osgood as it may appear bounded by a deed I put upon record of the same", with part of a lot bought of Samuel Hill, the Mock meadow land bought of widow Rebecca Farmer and 2 acres of meadow bought of John Dunkin, "all which joins upon the house lot"; to son John 40 acres in Tewksbury with a grist mill. Sons Nicholas and Samuel executors.
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| October 11, 1785 | Quitclaim | Nicholas Sprake Jr. and John Sprake of Billerica, husbandmen | Their brother Samuel Sprake of Billerica, husbandman | 1769 brothers quitclaim "the Wyman lot ... with all the buildings" to Samuel Sprake | 89/382 (South) |
For 133 pounds 6s 8d, quitclaim of their rights in lots "which belonged to our honoured father Mr. Nicholas Sprake": "The Wyman lot so called, beginning at the road by the Fordway at a stake and stones by the end of a stone wall at the corner of the Hills lot so called, thence running westerly ... to the road leading to Seth Leviston's ... thence bounded westerly and southerly by the said road to the Fordway ... with all the buildings thereon standing and being"; a 9-acre lot toward James Laws; and upland and meadow at Duncan meadow and Mock meadow to Concord River. Dated July 3, 1769, acknowledged before William Stickney; recorded Oct. 11, 1785. Billerica town book 7, pages 499-501.
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| October 11, 1785 | Deed | Samuel Sprake of Billerica, yeoman | His son Isaac Sprague of Billerica | 1782 Samuel Sprake to son Isaac, undivided half | 89/384 (South) |
For 100 pounds, "one undivided half part of all my lands and buildings" in Billerica, 70 or 80 acres in the whole, Isaac not to come into possession "until the death of his father". Dated July 22, 1782; proved at the Sessions in September 1785, Samuel being "now deceased"; recorded Oct. 11, 1785. Billerica town book 7, pages 502-503.
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| October 11, 1785 | Deed | William Stickney of Billerica, yeoman; Abigail Stickney his wife | Isaac Sprague of Billerica, yeoman | 1783 Stickney woodlot bought by Isaac Sprake (not the house lot) | 89/380 (South) |
For 38 pounds 5s, "a certain piece or parcel of land lying in Billerica on the west side of Concord River in the third range of lots being seventeen acres", from a heap of stones at the range way, west by heirs of William Baldwin, south by Jonas Adams, east by "the thirds of Hannah Stickney". No buildings. Dated July 1, 1783, acknowledged Feb. 16, 1784; recorded Oct. 11, 1785. Billerica town book 7, pages 496-497. This is the woodland later called "the Stickney lot", not the house lot, which the earlier article took it to be.
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| October 11, 1785 | Deed | Samuel Sprake of Billerica, yeoman | His son Levi Sprake of Billerica | 1784 Samuel Sprake to son Levi, undivided half | 89/381 (South) |
For 100 pounds, the other "undivided half part of all my lands and buildings" in Billerica, 70 or 80 acres, Levi not to take possession until his father's death. Dated April 10, 1784; proved September 1785 after Samuel's death; recorded Oct. 11, 1785. Billerica town book 7, pages 497-499. Shows Samuel alive in April 1784, against Hazen's death date of 1781.
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| 1785 | Administration and Division | Estate of Samuel Sprake of Billerica, yeoman | His sons Isaac and Levi Sprake; widow Ruth Sprake (dower) | 1785 Samuel Sprake estate: house divided between Isaac and Levi, widow's dower | Probate #21116 |
Administration to son Isaac, June 8, 1785. Inventory: "the dwelling house" 25 pounds, "the barn" 15, home lot of about 30 acres bounded north by heirs of Nicholas Sprake and elsewhere by the highway, 40 acres south of the house to Concord River, a hill pasture. The commissioners set off widow Ruth's dower (the westerly part of the house, lower room and room above, lean-to) and severed Samuel's half from Isaac's: to Isaac "the east end of the dwelling house, that is to say the lower room and the garrets and the east part of the cellar", half the barn and 6 1/2 acres at the east end of the homestead; to Levi (a minor) "the westerly end of the dwelling house and the east chamber" and the westerly 18 acres. Accepted Nov. 20, 1785.
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| 1787 | Quitclaim | Ruth Sprake of Billerica, widow (her mark) | Levi Sprake of Billerica, yeoman | 1787 widow Ruth Sprake sells her dower to Levi | 97/225 (South) |
For 18 pounds 6s, quitclaim of "that part of the estate of my late husband Mr. Samuel Sprake late of said Billerica deceased which is set off for my dower or thirds", Levi to have possession April 15, 1788. Dated Nov. 13, 1787. Billerica town book 8, page 121.
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| 1791 | Deed | Levi Sprake of Billerica, yeoman; Sally Sprake his wife releasing dower | His brother Isaac Sprague of Billerica | 1791 Levi to Isaac Sprake: his part of the house and barn | 110/75 (South) |
For 107 pounds, "all the right, title or interest I have in a dwelling house and barn and a small piece of land adjoining the barn yard ... all which was formerly the property of my honoured father Samuel Sprake", the small piece running "easterly on the highway to the southeast corner of the shop, thence north within ten foot of the corner of said house"; also 15 1/2 acres from "the road leading to Chelmsford being a bound mark between said Isaac Sprake and myself" to Concord River, and 4 3/4 acres of river meadow. Dated March 21, 1791. Billerica town book 8, pages 372-374. With this deed Isaac held the whole house.
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| 1799 | Will, Inventory and Division | Estate of Isaac Sprague of Billerica, yeoman | Widow Rhoda (later Hodgman); children Polly Dows, Rhoda and Isaac Sprake | 1799 will of Isaac Sprake; 1811 division of the house | Probate #21107 |
Will dated Feb. 7, 1799, proved April 10, 1799: to wife Rhoda "the improvement of all my real estate so long as she shall remain my widow", one third if she remarried; remainder to Polly, Rhoda and Isaac. Inventory: "the homestead ... on the west side of Concord River near the Fordway (so called) containing sixty acres of good land with the buildings thereon" $1250. Division of Dec. 23, 1811: to Rhoda, "late widow, now wife of Abijah Hodgman", "the east room on the lower floor and the chamber over it to the middle of the chimney", the east part of the barn and 15 acres south of the house; to son Isaac "the westerly part of the house to the middle of the chimney together with the garret over the east room", the west part of the barn and the house lot of 6 acres 138 rods; other land to Polly Dows and Rhoda.
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| 1815 | Spendthrift Guardianship | Isaac Sprake Jr. of Billerica, yeoman | Samuel Hopkins of Wilmington, guardian | 1815 spendthrift guardianship of Isaac Sprake Jr. (half the house) | Probate #21109 |
On complaint of the Billerica selectmen that he wasted his estate "by excessive drinking and idleness", Samuel Hopkins was appointed guardian April 25, 1815. Inventory of June 1815: woodland, upland, meadow, and "6 3/4 acres with one half of the house and barn thereon standing" $225. His half of the house passed, by a transfer not found on record, to his sister Rhoda and her husband David Clark by 1818.
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| May 21, 1817 | Deed | Isaac Sprake of Billerica, yeoman | Nathan Mears, yeoman, and Nathaniel Stearns, bricklayer | 1817 Isaac Sprake Jr. sells the 18-acre tillage lot | 222/41 (South) |
For $306, 18 acres of woodland and mowing by the Mock-meadow road and the old road, by land formerly of Levi Sprake and Henry Newman (the 18-acre tillage lot of the 1811 division). Dated April 15, 1817. Billerica town book 12, page 20. Farm land only, not the house.
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| July 30, 1818 | Deed | David Clark of Billerica, yeoman, and Rhoda Clark his wife | William Richardson of Billerica, gentleman | 1818 Clarks to William Richardson, west half of the house | 226/60 (South) |
For $800, "a certain tract of land situate in said Billerica on the road leading from Boston road to the Canal Mills, being part of the homestead of Isaac Sprake late of said Billerica deceased, containing seven acres ... with the west half of the dwelling house and the garret over the east part of said house, with the west part of the barn, together with all the outhouses thereon standing", bounded by the road, Oliver Farmer and Joseph Dows; also 13 acres to the river, 6 acres of woodland and 7 acres of the William Frost estate. Dated April 16, 1818. Billerica town book 12, pages 87-89.
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| April 22, 1819 | Deed | Joseph Dows and Mary (Polly) Dows in her right, David Clark and Rhoda Clark in her right, and Isaac Sprake, all of Billerica | William Richardson of Billerica, gentleman | 1819 Sprake heirs to Richardson, the widow's east half | 229/189 (South) |
For $500, 18 acres on the west side of Concord River from "the ford way so called" up the river to Richardson's land and back by "the road leading to the canal mills to the said fordway"; "also that part of the house and barn with the land and privileges thereunto belonging on the opposite side of the road which was set off to Rhoda Hodgman as part of her dower". Dated March 10, 1819. Billerica town book 12, pages 146-147. The heirs' remainder after their mother's life estate; with the 1818 deed Richardson owned the whole house.
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| January 11, 1820 | Deed | William Richardson of Billerica, gentleman | Judith Pollard of Billerica, widow | 1819 Richardson to widow Judith Pollard, 34 acres with buildings | 232/54 (South) |
For $1250, 34 acres from the fordway up the river to a ditch by Charles Cutter, by the Mock meadow road and the road to the Canal mills, the back road, Joseph Dows and Oliver Farmer, and the southerly side of the road back to the fordway, "with all the buildings thereon standing". Dated Nov. 12, 1819. Billerica town book 13, pages 48-49.
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| July 6, 1826 | Deed | Judith Pollard of Billerica, widow | William Oliver of Billerica, yeoman | 1826 Pollard to William Oliver, 37 acres with buildings (old house replaced about 1829-1830) | 269/5 (South) |
For $1400, "a certain tract of land ... containing thirty seven acres", with the same bounds (fordway, Charles Cutter's ditch, Mock Meadow road, road to the Canal Mills, back road, Joseph Dows, Oliver Farmer), "with all the buildings thereon standing". Dated June 23, 1826. Billerica town book 13, pages 435-436.
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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.