Jonathan Prince Pollard House

Jonathan Prince Pollard House
Address 409 Boston Rd
Built 1797
Demolished 1822
Other Lot Structures Capt. William Richardson House (Built 1822)


The Jonathan Prince Pollard House stood on the west side of Boston Road, about forty rods south of the meetinghouse, on the lot now numbered 409, from 1797 until it was replaced by the present Capt. William Richardson House in 1822. The land was part of the homestead of the Rev. John Chandler, the town's third minister, who bought his house lot on the country road from Jeremiah Abbot in 1748; his 1762 inventory lists "the dwelling house and barn" with an acre and three quarters there. His widow's brother, William White of Boston, bought out Chandler's daughter Elizabeth Plummer in 1785, and on September 11, 1797 White sold the homestead "with all the buildings thereon," with two other pieces in the center, to Reuben Duren, the housewright who was then building the town's new meetinghouse.

Duren divided the homestead at once. He sold the old Chandler house to the south, with half an acre, to Jonathan Bond, a cabinetmaker, and on Christmas Day 1797 he sold Jonathan P. Pollard, "gentleman," for $620, "my dwelling house and shop in Billerica aforesaid together with about three quarters of an acre of land belonging to the same," running from the road by Lieut. John Parker's wall back to Parker's tan house and returning to the road "ten feet north of said Bond's shop." The house and shop were evidently Duren's own work, put up on the new lot that year. Pollard enlarged the lot to an acre and sold it on February 10, 1807 for $1,650, "with the buildings thereon," together with pew 60 in the meetinghouse, to Joseph Lord Low of Boxford. (The tradition that Pollard stayed until after his wife's death in 1820 and then sold to Capt. William Richardson is not borne out by the deeds.)

Low sold a five-rod corner at the south end, with a shed and a shop on it, to John Baldwin, the saddler, in 1808, keeping the use of the well by the road. The rest of the acre passed back and forth as security: Low deeded it to Baldwin in 1809 and to Stephen Lawrence, a lawyer of Mason, New Hampshire, in 1810, each time for $718, and Lawrence deeded it back to Low in 1815. In March 1822, now living in Andover, Low sold the acre "with the buildings thereon," bounded north by the buyer's own corner lot at the Common, to Francis Richardson for $700. The present house carries the date 1822 in its cellar mortar and a chalked note on its beams about wide boards for "Capt. Wm. R.," Francis's brother, the trader, tavern keeper and stage proprietor who married that May. The Pollard house was taken down or rebuilt into the new one that year.

The Richardson brothers' affairs soon ran into debt. Francis mortgaged the house lot and the corner to their brother Asa, a Boston merchant, in 1824 and conveyed both to him in June 1826, the month Capt. William died. That fall, on John Parker's judgment against Francis, a deputy sheriff sold his remaining right in "two dwelling houses, barn and out buildings" on the south side of the Common. In 1827 Asa Richardson sold the house, now an 82-square-pole lot "ten feet south of my barn," to Susan Tarr of Boston, and it passed to Martha Goodridge (1831), George Holbrook (1832) and Emily Holbrook (1833), becoming "the Holbrook place." In 1848 Emily Holbrook sold it to Francis E. Richardson, the captain's nephew, who kept his store in the north wing and the village post office there, as the 1853 map shows. He and his wife Eliza held it for more than fifty years under a series of mortgages, the last of them to Eleanor Bennett. Her daughter's executors foreclosed in 1904, and from then the house belonged to Joshua B. Holden of Boston (1904), Charles C. Johnson (1905), Harry E. Holdridge (1911), Albert C. Lane of Woburn (1914) and his widow and daughter, and from 1925 to Ernest N. and Hattie E. Bartlett. Bartlett, later the town's fire chief, had the 22,100-square-foot lot surveyed in 1928, beside "Town of Billerica Engine House." Later owners are described with the Capt. William Richardson House.



Jonathan Prince Pollard House
Plan of Land in Billerica Mass. owned by E. N. Bartlett, Boston Road, June 1928, R. F. Smith C.E., 1928 (Plan 55/89)


Title References

Date Type Grantor Grantee Summary Recorded
January 25, 1729 Deed Ebenezer Dows of Billerica and Mary Dows his wife James Barret [Barrett] of Andover, Essex County 28/144 (South)
November 25, 1729 Deed James Barrit [Barrett] of Billerica Jonathan Brown of Reading 29/529 (South)
October 31, 1732 Deed Jonathan Brown of Billerica and Dorcas Brown his wife William Marshal [Marshall] of Billerica 33/573 (South)
1735 Deed William Marshal of Billerica, joiner (Elizabeth Marshal releasing dower) Jeremiah Abbott of Billerica, sadler 38/59 (South)
1748 Deed Jeremiah Abbot, saddler Rev. John Chandler 48/4 (South)
1762 Administration Estate of the Rev. John Chandler of Billerica (died 1762), Elizabeth Chandler administratrix His widow Elizabeth and daughters Probate #4250
February 16, 1786 Deed Thomas Plummer and Elizabeth Plummer of Haverhill William White of Boston, merchant 81/596 (South)
December 2, 1797 Deed William White of Boston, merchant Reuben Duren, housewright 127/79 (South)
February 7, 1798 Deed Reuben Duren of Billerica, housewright (Mary Duren releasing dower) Jonathan P. Pollard of Billerica, gentleman 127/446 (South)
April 14, 1807 Deed Jonathan Prince Pollard of Billerica, gentleman (Hannah Pollard releasing dower) Joseph Lord Low of Boxford, yeoman 173/104 (South)
1808 Deed Joseph Lord Low of Billerica, yeoman (Sally Low releasing dower) John Baldwin of Billerica, saddler 179/477 (South)
1809 Deed Joseph Lord Low of Billerica, yeoman John Baldwin of Billerica, saddler 184/294 (South)
September 4, 1810 Deed Joseph Lord Low of Billerica, yeoman Stephen Lawrence of Mason, N.H., Esquire 187/504 (South)
1814 Deed William Richardson of Billerica, gentleman Francis Richardson of Billerica, yeoman 225/6 (South)
May 11, 1816 Deed Stephen Lawrence of Mason, N.H., Esquire Joseph Lord Low of Billerica, yeoman 215/183 (South)
March 22, 1822 Deed Joseph L. Low of Andover, gentleman (Sally Low releasing dower) Francis Richardson of Billerica, gentleman 241/463 (South)
August 4, 1824 Mortgage Francis Richardson of Billerica, yeoman Asa Richardson of Boston, gentleman 255/299 (South)
1826 Administration Estate of William Richardson of Billerica, gentleman, died intestate June 1826 Marshall Preston, administrator; widow Sally (Sarah) Richardson Probate #19191
December 27, 1826 Levy of Execution Francis Richardson of Billerica, gentleman (debtor), by Thomas Sumner, deputy sheriff John Parker of Billerica, Esquire (creditor); equity of redemption sold to Josiah Richardson of Roxbury 266/135 (South)
June 15, 1826 Deed Francis Richardson of Billerica, yeoman Asa Richardson of Boston, merchant 267/527 (South)
May 25, 1827 Quitclaim Francis Richardson of Billerica, gentleman (Martha Richardson releasing dower) Asa Richardson of the City of Boston, gentleman 274/319 (South)
May 24, 1827 Warranty Deed Asa Richardson of the City of Boston, gentleman (Elizabeth Richardson releasing dower) Susan Tarr of the City of Boston, singlewoman 274/320 (South)
1827 Mortgage Susan Tarr of the City of Boston, singlewoman Asa Richardson of the City of Boston, gentleman 274/321 (South)
1831 Deed Susan Tarr of the City of Boston, singlewoman Martha Goodridge of the City of Boston, singlewoman 303/355 (South)
September 15, 1832 Deed Martha Goodridge of Billerica, singlewoman George Holbrook of Boston 317/36 (South)
March 9, 1833 Deed George Holbrook of Boston, clerk Emily Holbrook of Boston, singlewoman 321/129 (South)
April 14, 1837 Assignment of Mortgages George Morey of Boston, administrator with the will annexed of Asa Richardson Senior, late of Boston, merchant Eli M. Whitney of Boston, grocer (and by him the same day to George Morey as trustee, Book 361 Page 302) 361/301 (South)
June 24, 1847 Mortgage Francis Richardson of Billerica, gentleman Marshall Preston of Billerica, Esquire 514/76 (South)
November 15, 1848 Deed Emily Holbrook of Boston, singlewoman Francis E. Richardson of Billerica 546/146 (South)
March 15, 1850 Deed Francis E. Richardson of Billerica, trader Francis Richardson of Billerica, yeoman 579/241 (South)
March 15, 1850 Mortgage Francis E. Richardson of Billerica, trader George Bacon of Billerica, gentleman 579/242 (South)
October 18, 1856 Mortgage Francis E. Richardson of Billerica, trader, and Eliza M. Richardson his wife in her right George Bacon of Billerica, yeoman 7/230
October 31, 1860 Mortgage Francis E. Richardson of Billerica, trader (Eliza M. Richardson releasing dower and homestead) Alden B. Richardson of Lowell 26/84
1863 Mortgage Francis E. Richardson of Billerica, trader Josiah Rogers of Billerica 36/5
May 25, 1876 Mortgage Francis E. Richardson of Billerica, trader Emily Farwell of Billerica 118/316
November 5, 1877 Warranty Deed Francis E. Richardson of Billerica Dudley Foster of Billerica 126/305
November 5, 1877 Quitclaim Dudley Foster of Billerica Eliza M. Richardson of Billerica, wife of Francis E. Richardson 126/306
1880 Mortgage Francis E. Richardson of Billerica, and Eliza M. Richardson his wife in her own right Emily Farwell of Billerica 142/59
January 17, 1887 Assignment of Mortgage Emily Farwell, mortgagee Eleanor Bennett of Billerica 186/595
1888 Mortgage Francis E. Richardson of Billerica Eleanor Bennett of Billerica 194/274
February 27, 1904 Mortgagee's Deed Rebecca B. Warren, and Joshua B. Holden and George H. Tinkham, executors of the will of Ellen B. Holden, assignees of the Bennett mortgage Thomas F. Lyons of Billerica 363/115
February 27, 1904 Quitclaim Thomas F. Lyons of Billerica (Bridget B. Lyons releasing dower and homestead) Joshua B. Holden of Boston 363/120
June 1, 1905 Quitclaim Joshua B. Holden of Boston (Ida M. Holden releasing dower and homestead) Charles C. Johnson of Billerica 378/53
March 25, 1911 Quitclaim Charles C. Johnson of Billerica (Lottie B. Johnson releasing dower and homestead) Harry E. Holdridge of Billerica 465/1
March 6, 1914 Quitclaim Harry E. Holdridge of Billerica (Louise W. Holdridge releasing dower and homestead) Albert C. Lane of Woburn 518/322
January 16, 1918 Quitclaim C. Guy Lane of Woburn, unmarried Estella J. Lane of Woburn, widow, his mother 582/424
June 25, 1925 Quitclaim Estella J. Lane and Sadie B. Lane, both of Woburn, unmarried Ernest N. Bartlett and Hattie E. Bartlett of Billerica, husband and wife 724/443
April 10, 1931 Mortgage Ernest N. Bartlett and Hattie E. Bartlett of Billerica, tenants by the entirety Walter F. Champney of Senahu, Guatemala 801/88
July 11, 1946 Quitclaim Ernest N. Bartlett and Hattie E. Bartlett of Billerica, husband and wife James Sweet and Beatrice B. Sweet of Billerica, husband and wife 1048/95
July 11, 1946 Mortgage James Sweet and Beatrice B. Sweet of Billerica Ernest N. Bartlett and Hattie E. Bartlett of Billerica 1048/96
February 1, 1950 Mortgage James Sweet and Beatrice B. Sweet of Billerica Ernest N. Bartlett of Billerica 1133/211
December 29, 1955 Quitclaim James Sweet and Beatrice B. Sweet of Billerica Two private owners of Billerica, husband and wife 1322/10
December 29, 1955 Discharge of Mortgage Ernest N. Bartlett, executor under the will of Hattie E. Bartlett James Sweet and Beatrice B. Sweet 1322/18
May 24, 1976 Quitclaim The two private owners of 1955 Trustee of the Billerica Center Trust (declaration of trust of May 1976) 2195/492
March 14, 1986 Quitclaim Trustee of the Blanchard Realty Trust Billerica Center Realty, Inc. 3387/265
April 22, 2016 Deed Billerica Center Realty, Inc. Marcellos Renovations Inc. 29977/84
December 21, 2016 Deed Marcellos Renovations Inc. Boston Green House Insulations LLC 30774/215
April 24, 2019 Tax Taking Billerica Town Collector (land assessed to Boston Green House Insul LLC; subsequent owner a private individual) Town of Billerica 32917/270
September 22, 2023 Deed A private owner Design Billerica LLC 38086/226
March 11, 2026 Special Permit Billerica Planning Board Design Billerica LLC 39914/86

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.