Lawrence B. Gannon House
Lawrence B. Gannon House
| Address | 34 Wilson St |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.114 |
| Built | 1880 |
| Owners | Lawrence B. Gannon (1860 - 1911) |
The Lawrence B. Gannon House at 34 Wilson Street in North Billerica is a small Victorian house on a long, narrow lot running from Wilson Street down to the Concord River. It was built by Lawrence B. Gannon, an Irish-born overseer at the Talbot mills and North Billerica storekeeper, beside his store at 38-40 Wilson Street, and it stayed in his family for more than ninety years.
The land was part of the "Mill Yard Lot" of the Nathan Mears homestead by the river. After Mears's estate sold it in 1832 it passed to Nathaniel Stearns, whose executor, Marshall Preston, sold "the Northerly lot of the 'Mill Yard Lot'", about an acre, to his neighbor Joel Dix in 1846. When Dix was found insane, his guardian Horace N. Wilson sold the lot at auction on June 23, 1860 to Israel N. Wilson and Lawrence B. Gannon for $281.05. In 1867 Wilson sold his half to Gannon for $150. Neither deed mentions a building. Gannon's store stood on the lot by 1875, and the house was added between then and 1889, according to the town maps (the assessor gives about 1873).
Gannon died in May 1911, and his will left the Wilson Street land in sixths to his children: William H., James F. (called Frank), Elizabeth A. (Lizzie), Hannah and Henrietta F. Gannon, and Catherine A. Kearney. In 1916 Catherine, as conservator for her sister Hannah, sold Hannah's sixth "of a certain lot of land, with the buildings thereon, situate on Wilson street" to Henrietta. The heirs then had the land surveyed by F. W. Huntington and Co. in December 1918 and divided it on April 26, 1919. Lot 1 went to Elizabeth, Lot 3 (the store) to the Kearneys, and Lot 2, the house lot of 18,090 square feet with 56 feet on Wilson Street, to Henrietta. A five-foot strip along its south side was "to be forever kept open as a passageway" to the back land.
Henrietta F. Gannon, who never married, lived here for more than three decades. In 1935, mortgaging the lot to the Middlesex Co-operative Bank, she noted that "the buildings on said premises are now numbered 34 on said Wilson street." In March 1953 she had E. P. Simpson redraw the lot lines, and the plan shows the house as a "Cottage" on a middle lot of 16,050 square feet between a two-tenement house to the north and the old store, by then a two- or three-tenement house, to the south. On April 9, 1953 she sold the cottage to John MacDonald, ending 93 years of Gannon ownership of the land. MacDonald passed it to Jessie J. MacDonald that December. In 1961 she, by then a widow living in Lowell, sold "No. 34 Wilson Street" to a local couple, and their family has owned it since.
The house is part of the North Billerica National Register district (1983) and the local historic district (1992). The 1974 inventory form gives Gannon's death as 1921, but his obituary appeared in May 1911, and deeds from 1914 on refer to him as deceased.
References
- MACRIS BIL.114
- Billerica assessor, 34 Wilson St (parcel 15-24-0): 0.368 acres, Lot 2 of Plan 82-161A, house built about 1873
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| June 24, 1828 | Administration | Estate of Nathan Mears of Billerica, yeoman | His minor children Edwin, Charles, Nathan, Lucy Ann and Elbert Mears; Marshall Preston, administrator | 1828 estate of Nathan Mears, whose homestead included the "Mill Yard Lot" by the river | Probate #14955 |
Nathan Mears died in June 1828 leaving "no widow, nor heirs of twenty one years of age"; at his children's request (and his own before his death) Marshall Preston of Billerica was appointed administrator at Framingham June 24, 1828, bond $30,000. The inventory lists the homestead of about 27 acres with three dwelling houses, the saw mill, "The Woolen Factory, occupied by Francis Faulkner & son", the forge, the old homestead of Thomas Mears, the Patten lot, and "The Zac. Shed Lot, 7 acres" at $210, with no buildings. Real estate $15,245.
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| April 4, 1832 | Guardian's Deed | John Baldwin of Billerica, guardian of Lucy Ann, Nathan and Elbert Mears, minor children of Nathan Mears | Gardner Parker of Billerica, yeoman | 1832 guardians' auction of the Mears mill yard lot (three fifths) | 312/59 (South) |
Billerica town book 16, pages 48-51. Licensed by the Supreme Judicial Court at Concord, the guardian sold at public vendue on March 20, 1832, to Parker as highest bidder, for $3,325.27, "Three undivided fifth parts" of the Mears saw mill and water privilege at the Canal Mills (with the rights from the Middlesex Canal deed of March 15, 1826), canal and swamp lots in Chelmsford, the Blanchard lot in Broad Meadow, and "another lot of three acres, being lot numbered Ten, on a plan and survey of said deceased's Homestead, taken by S. Livingston": from Concord River and lot 11 (sold to Joel Dix) west 20 rods to the centre of the passage way, south about 33 rods 23 links on it to a hedge fence by lot 9, east 14 rods 22 links to the river and north by the river 28 rods 4 links, "the same being used by said deceased for a mill yard", with the passage way reserved for the other lots. Acknowledged April 2, 1832; witnesses Marshall Preston and Nathaniel Stearns.
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| April 4, 1832 | Guardian's Deed | Nathaniel Stearns of Billerica, yeoman, guardian of Edwin and Charles Mears, minor children of Nathan Mears | Gardner Parker of Billerica, yeoman | 1832 guardians' auction of the Mears mill yard lot (two fifths) | 312/63 (South) |
Billerica town book 16, pages 52-55. Under the same license and the same vendue of March 20, 1832, for $3,325.27, "two undivided fifth parts" of the same parcels, including lot 10 of the Mears homestead, the mill yard by the river.
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| April 4, 1832 | Quitclaim | Gardner Parker of Billerica, yeoman | Nathaniel Stearns of Billerica, yeoman | 1832 Gardner Parker passes the mill yard lot to Nathaniel Stearns | 312/69 (South) |
Billerica town book 16, pages 60-62. Dated March 21, 1832, the day after the auction. For $2,986.21, Parker quitclaims "the saw mill and water privilege lately belonging to the heirs of Nathan Mears, deceased" at the Canal Mills, with the water rights from the Middlesex Canal, the Swamp lot in Chelmsford, the Blanchard lot in Broad Meadow and "another lot of three acres, being number Ten on a plan and survey of said deceased homestead taken by S. Livingston", bounded as in the guardians' deeds, "the same being used by said deceased for a mill yard". Acknowledged April 2, 1832 before Marshall Preston; witnesses Dudley Foster and Marshall Preston.
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| 1845 | Will | Estate of Nathaniel Stearns of Billerica, yeoman | Marshall Preston, executor; widow Sarah Stearns; daughters Catharine Wilson, Judith Jones and Emily Stearns | 1845 will of Nathaniel Stearns orders his land sold at auction | Probate #42239 |
Middlesex probate case 42239 (39 pages). Will dated August 1845: to his wife Sarah his furniture, horse and phaeton, $1,000 and the interest of $2,000 for life in place of dower; $1,000 each to his daughters Catharine Wilson (wife of John Wilson) and Judith Jones (wife of Anthony Jones) and $1,500 to Emily Stearns; the executor "shall in a reasonable time after my decease, sell and dispose of, at public auction all the property, real, personal and mixed", the residue to the widow and daughters. Executor Marshall Preston. The heirs assented to the will on Nov. 2, 1845.
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| December 8, 1846 | Executor's Deed | Marshall Preston of Billerica, executor of the will of Nathaniel Stearns | Joel Dix of Billerica, yeoman | 1846 Joel Dix buys the northerly lot of the Mears mill yard lot, which included this house lot | 498/193 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 252-253. Sold at public auction under the will, for $190, a parcel "containing by estimation one acre": from the northeast corner at Concord River and land of Dix, south up the river about nine and one third rods to land "this day sold to Joseph J. Salter", west by Salter to the centre of the "passageway", north on it about eleven rods to Dix, and by Dix about twenty rods to the river, "being the Northerly lot of the 'Mill Yard Lot' so called", with the passageway reserved for the other lots of the Mears homestead (S. Livingston's plan). Dated March 25, 1846; witnesses Dudley Foster and Anthony Jones.
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| 1859 | Guardianship and Administration | Joel Dix of Billerica, "an insane person"; his estate after his death in December 1860 | Horace N. Wilson of Billerica, guardian; Edwin A. Alger of Lowell, administrator | 1859 guardianship of Joel Dix, whose guardian sold the lot in 1860 | Probate #30707 |
On his daughter Mary Dix's petition Joel Dix was found "an insane person" and Horace N. Wilson was appointed his guardian at Groton May 24, 1859. The inventory of June 7, 1859 lists about four acres "known as the Homestead" with buildings ($3,200), the "Tavern Stand," 4 acres ($3,667), and meadow and wood lots. The guardian's license of February 7, 1860 to sell for maintenance covered only meadow and wood lots. After Dix's death the administrator was licensed April 1, 1862 to sell real estate, including the two thirds of the tavern stand.
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| December 22, 1860 | Guardian's Deed | Horace N. Wilson of Billerica, guardian of Joel Dix, "an insane person" | Israel N. Wilson and Lawrence B. Gannon, both of Billerica | 1860 the Dix guardian sells the lot to Israel N. Wilson and Lawrence B. Gannon at auction | 26/405 |
Licensed by the Probate Court at Lowell Feb. 7, 1860, and after notice in the Lowell Weekly Journal and Courier, sold at public auction June 23, 1860 to Wilson and Gannon, highest bidders, for $281.05, "A certain lot of land situate in said Billerica": from the northeast corner at Concord River and land of Joel Dix, south up the river about nine and one third rods to land of C. P. Talbot and Co., west by Talbot land in a straight line to the street, north on the street about eleven rods to Dix, and by Dix about twenty rods to the river. No buildings are named. Dated Dec. 12, 1860.
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| June 25, 1867 | Warranty Deed | Israel N. Wilson of Billerica | Lawrence B. Gannon of Billerica | 1867 Israel N. Wilson sells his half, making Gannon sole owner; no buildings named yet | 57/282 |
For $150 (50 cents in revenue stamps), "one undivided half" of the lot from the corner at Concord River and land of Joel Dix, about 9 1/3 rods up the river to land of C. P. Talbot and Co., west by Talbot land to the street, about eleven rods north on the street to Dix and about twenty rods by Dix to the river, "Being the same premises conveyed to said Gannon and myself by Guardian's deed of Horace N. Wilson dated the 12th day of December A.D. 1860" (26/405). No buildings are named; the store stood here by the 1875 map.
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| August 16, 1905 | Quitclaim | Lawrence B. Gannon of Billerica (Kate Gannon releasing dower and homestead) | The Talbot Mills | 1905 Gannon owned the land on both sides of the Mahoney lot, including this lot to the south | 379/439 |
For $1 and other valuable considerations, "all the right title and interest" in the Mahoney tract "with the buildings thereon situated on the easterly line of Wilson Street", 351.70 feet by the grantor's land, the river, 320.40 feet by his other land and 80.45 feet on the street, "Being the same premises shown on a 'Plan of land and buildings bought by the Talbot Mills from Mrs Eliza Mahoney' surveyed by H. W. Sheldon". "This conveyance is made for the purpose of establishing the bounds and boundary lines between said Mahoney land and lands of my own adjoining the same on the north and south." Dated Aug. 4, 1905.
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| 1916 | Conservator's Deed | Catherine A. Kearney of Billerica, conservator of Hannah Gannon, daughter of Lawrence B. Gannon | Her sister Henrietta F. Gannon of Billerica | 1916 Hannah Gannon's sixth of the Wilson Street lot sold by her conservator to her sister Henrietta | 557/140 |
Dated June 24, 1916, under a Probate Court license of June 19, a private sale for $1,819.99 of Hannah Gannon's shares in her father's real estate, among them "one undivided sixth interest in and to a certain lot of land, with the buildings thereon, situate on Wilson street", the lot conveyed to "Lawrence B. Gannon et al., by deed of Joel Dix estate, dated Dec. 12, 1860" (26/405), and a sixth of the old engine-house lot (227/281). Also shares of 58.43 acres of the late Joseph Dows farm, Mock Meadow, Fordway Park lots and Lowell house lots. The sixths show the Wilson Street land passed under Gannon's will (he died in May 1911) to his six children.
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| May 9, 1919 | Quitclaim | Bernard W. Kearney and Catherine A. Kearney, husband and wife, and Elizabeth A. (Lizzie A.) Gannon, unmarried, all of Billerica | Henrietta F. Gannon of Billerica, daughter of Lawrence B. Gannon | 1919 division of the Gannon estate: Lot 2, the house lot, to Henrietta F. Gannon | 604/36 |
Part of the division of the Gannon estate on April 26, 1919: "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on the easterly side of Wilson Street", from land "this day conveyed to Elizabeth A. Gannon" east 77 and 263 feet to Concord River, 58 feet along the river to other land of the Gannon heirs, west 250 feet and 77 feet through the centre of "a proposed passageway ten feet wide" to Wilson Street, and 56 feet on the street; 18,090 square feet, "lot number (2)" on the "Plan of Land in Billerica belonging to L. B. Gannon Estate, Dec. 1918, F. W. Huntington and Co." (Plan 36/20). A five-foot strip on the southwest side "to be forever kept open as a passageway." Acknowledged at Lowell before John J. Hogan JP.
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| May 17, 1935 | Mortgage | Henrietta F. Gannon of Billerica, unmarried | Middlesex Co-operative Bank, Lowell | 1935 Henrietta F. Gannon mortgages Lot 2, "now numbered 34 on said Wilson street" | 862/108 |
For $800 (four shares in the 113th series, $8 a month), "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situate on the southeasterly side of Wilson street, being Lot 2" on Plan 36/20: 56 feet on Wilson Street, 77 and 263 feet by Lot 1, 58 feet on the Concord River, 77 and 250 feet by Lot 3, 18,090 square feet, with the five-foot passageway strip. Title "acquired under the will of said Lawrence B. Gannon, late of said Billerica, deceased, testate", the conservator's deed of 1916 (557/140) and the heirs' deed of 1919 (604/36). "The buildings on said premises are now numbered 34 on said Wilson street." Discharged (margin, Book 1095, Page 383).
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| April 10, 1953 | Quitclaim | Henrietta F. Gannon of Billerica, unmarried | John MacDonald of Billerica | 1953 Henrietta F. Gannon sells the house on the middle lot of her new plan to John MacDonald | 1220/392 |
Acknowledged at Lowell April 9, 1953. "The land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on the easterly side of Wilson Street": from other land of the grantor east 77 and 260 feet to Concord River, about 50 feet along the river to land of Agnes V. Stuart, west 250 feet to a stone bound and 77 feet through the centre of the passageway to Wilson Street, and 50 feet on the street; 16,050 square feet, "the middle lot" on E. P. Simpson's "Plan of Land in Billerica, Mass., belonging to Henrietta F. Gannon", March 1953 (Plan 82/161A), on which the house is drawn as a "Cottage". The passageway strip is kept. "Being a portion of the premises to me conveyed by Bernard W. Kearney and others" (604/36). MacDonald mortgaged it the same day to the Merrimack River Savings Bank for $6,000. This sale ended 93 years of Gannon ownership.
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| January 11, 1954 | Quitclaim | John MacDonald of Billerica, unmarried | Jessie J. MacDonald of Billerica | 1953 John MacDonald passes the house to Jessie J. MacDonald | 1245/97 |
Dated December 30, 1953 (acknowledged at Boston), for a consideration under $100: "the land in said Billerica, with the buildings thereon, situated on the easterly side of Wilson Street", the middle lot of 16,050 square feet on the March 1953 Simpson plan, with the five-foot passageway strip, "the same premises conveyed to me by deed of Henrietta F. Gannon" (1220/392), subject to the Merrimack River Savings Bank mortgage.
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| November 28, 1961 | Quitclaim | Jessie J. MacDonald of Lowell, a widow | Private owners (a husband and wife of Billerica) | 1961 Jessie J. MacDonald sells 34 Wilson Street to private owners, whose family still holds it | 1538/92 |
Acknowledged in Suffolk County November 24, 1961: "The land, with the buildings thereon, situated in Billerica, being No. 34 Wilson Street", the middle lot of 16,050 square feet on Plan 82/161A, bounded north by land "now or formerly of Gannon" and south by Agnes V. Stuart, with the passageway strip; "For title see ... Book 1245, Page 97." The buyers' family kept the house for six decades: a nominal transfer between the spouses in 1968 (1832/162) and a transfer to a family trust in 2022 (37528/214). The assessor gives about 1873 for the house.
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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.