Maryknoll Novitiate
Maryknoll Novitiate
| Address | 77 Dudley Rd |
| Built | 1979 |
| Other Lot Structures | Lt. John Stearns House (Built 1715) |
The Maryknoll Novitiate was the training house of the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, the Maryknoll Fathers, on the old Stearns farm at 77 Dudley Road in South Billerica, on the east bank of the Concord River near the Bedford line. Its mail came through Bedford, and it was known as the Bedford novitiate even though the land is in Billerica. Maryknoll ran it from 1933 to 1964. The site then passed to the Daughters of St. Paul, who replaced the novitiate's converted farm buildings with the brick religious complex that stands west and south of the Lt. John Stearns House today.
The land was the farm of the Stearns family for about two hundred and fifty years. Lt. John Stearns sold a hundred acres on the river to Isaac Stearns in 1761, and in 1810 Timothy Stearns released to John Stearns about ninety-four acres there "with the building thereon". At his death in 1836 John Stearns left "all the rest" of his estate to his son Franklin Stearns, whose inventory listed the homestead of ninety-five acres "with the Buildings thereon". Franklin Stearns farmed it until his death in 1886, and under his will it came to his son John B. Stearns. In January 1911 John B. Stearns sold the "Stearns Farm" of 65.3 acres between Chestnut Street (now Dudley Road) and the river, as drawn on a 1901 plan of his estate by Pierce and Barnes, to E. Geraldine Harrison of Boston. Her $20,000 mortgage to the Liberty Trust Company was foreclosed in 1921, and the farm passed quickly through several hands: Thomas M. Smith of Braintree bought it at the foreclosure sale for $10,000, then Jacob J. Yonkers in 1923, Gabe Rosen and Leslie R. Brown in 1924, and Edward J. O'Connell of Newton in June 1924. In May 1924 Rosen had also bought from John B. Stearns the 15.2-acre field on the east side of the road. On September 10, 1924 O'Connell conveyed both parcels, with a wood lot in Bedford, to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, and the farm was used by seminarians of St. John's Seminary.
On January 9, 1933 the Archbishop, Cardinal William H. O'Connell, deeded the Stearns Farm "with the buildings thereon" to the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America. The society opened its novitiate there that year. The architects were Maginnis and Walsh of Boston, who also designed the Maryknoll headquarters at Ossining, New York, but much of the work was done by the seminarians and brothers themselves under the Rev. Patrick J. Byrne and the Rev. Joseph M. Henry, with the local contractors Charles O'Brien of Bedford and a Mr. Bourque of Billerica. Instead of a new building they converted the farm's outbuildings into an L-shaped novitiate for about fifty people: a wood-frame building that had held the kitchen and living quarters, and the long wagon shed, horse stable, cow shed and hay loft. The cow stalls and hay loft became a dormitory and the stable a chapel, and there were a library, conference room, dining hall, kitchen, recreation hall and guest rooms. The old Stearns house served as the administration building. Brothers Brandon, Gerard and Stanislaus were the first permanent staff. Thirty novices arrived in November 1933 to spend a year in Billerica before four years of study in New York, and Cardinal O'Connell dedicated the novitiate that month, with Bishop James Anthony Walsh, the society's co-founder and Superior General, in attendance.
The novitiate appears in the town directories of the 1940s and 1950s as the Maryknoll Fathers on Dudley Road, with a rector in charge and a staff of priests who taught the novices; the 1949 directory names the Rev. William F. Pheur as rector. Before 1964 the society conveyed 17.9 acres of river meadow at the south end of the farm to the United States for the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
On November 6, 1964 Maryknoll conveyed the property to the Daughters of St. Paul, Inc., a congregation of sisters founded in Italy in 1915, who had opened a convent in Boston in 1953; the deed was recorded at the end of 1965. The sisters called it St. Thecla's Retreat House. In the late 1970s they took down the converted farm buildings, and a new complex of buff brick was built in 1979 and 1980: two-story connected buildings with hipped and gabled roofs, set back from the road, and a separate one-story building on an H-shaped plan. Cardinal Humberto Medeiros dedicated it in 1980. The Stearns house is the only building left from the Maryknoll years. A 1987 plan made the house and complex Lot A of about 41 acres, and in 2017 the Daughters of St. Paul, Inc. transferred it to the Daughters of St. Paul Religious Trust. The property is part of the Two Brothers Rocks-Dudley Road Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.
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Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1665 | Deed | James Parker of Groton and Elizabeth Parker | John Stearns of Billerica | 1665: James Parker to John Stearns, the Dudley Farm lots on the river that became the Stearns farms | 4/134 (South) |
Dated Nov. 24, 1665 (recorded 1670). For a valuable sum, James Parker of Groton sells John Sternes of Billerica sundry parcels, "a part of the farme purchased of Thomas Dudly Esqr decd": about fifty acres bounded north by the township line; about fifty acres "on the west end of the farme" bounded southeast by George Farley, south by land bought of Ralph Hill Jr., north by Elder Champney and northwest "the river"; about fifty acres bounded southwest by Mr. Winthrops farm, northwest by the river and east by Crooked Meadow; with meadow lots in Crooked Meadow, Long Meadow, River Meadow and Pond Meadow. These river lots at the south-west corner of the Dudley Farm are the ground of the Stearns homestead. Billerica town book 1, pages 54-56.
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| 1669 | Inventory | Estate of John Stearns of Billerica (died Mar. 5, 1668/9) | His widow Sarah and his children, among them his eldest son John (the later Capt. John Stearns) | 1669: inventory of the first John Stearns | Probate #21259 |
Inventory taken later in March 1669 after John Stearnss death on Mar. 5, 1668/9: "dwelling house, barne, orchard, uplands, meadows" and the lands bought of Parker, in all about 390 pounds. No will or division survives in the file; his son John, then about fifteen, afterward settled on his fathers land at the south-west corner of the Dudley Farm. Papers read, pages 1-2.
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| January 21, 1729 | Deed of Gift | Capt. John Stearns of Billerica and Joanna Stearns | Lt. John Stearns of Billerica, his son | 1728: Capt. John Stearns gives his 250-acre dwelling place to his son Lt. John | 29/200 (South) |
Dated and acknowledged Feb. 21, 1727/8, recorded Jan. 21, 1728/9. For love, Capt. John Stearns gives his son John "one Messuage or tract of Land and medow ... Being The place or scituation That I now Dwell upon Containing about two Hundred and Fifty acres," bounded south by Matthew Whipple, west by the Concord River, north by Ralph Hill and east by the meadow and Nathaniel Hill, "with all The Buildings fences and Trees Thereon," the son "not to be in ye possession of the same untill after my Decease." Witnesses Samuel Hill and Samuel Barron. Capt. Stearns died later in 1728. Billerica town book 3, pages 205-206.
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| June 25, 1765 | Deed | Lt. John Stearns of Billerica, gentleman | Isaac Stearns of Billerica, yeoman, his son | 1761: Lt. John Stearns to Isaac Stearns, the 100-acre river tract of the later farm | 63/75 (South) |
Dated Oct. 23, 1761, acknowledged Dec. 6, 1763 before Thomas Kidder, recorded June 25, 1765. For 100 pounds, John Stearns of Billerica, gentleman, conveys to Isaac Stearns of Billerica, yeoman, "a certain Tract of Land lying and being in Billerica aforesaid on the East Side of Concord River containing one hundred acres be it more or less": beginning at the north-west corner by Concord River at a ditch, east by land of Jonathan Hill to a rock at the end of a stone wall at the upland, by the wall and fence to a white oak, by Hill to a birch stump at the north-east corner, south by Thomas Hall to an old stump, west by Samuel Stearns to a marked white oak near a spring, south by Stearns over a brook to a stake and stones, west by land of Isaac Stearns to the River Meadow, by meadow of Jonathan Hill to the river, and north by the river to the ditch; "but not to come into possession of the above mentioned Premises till after my Decease." No buildings are named. Witnesses John Dunkle[e] and Obed Abbott. This is the land north of the 1752 homestead (96 Dudley Road) on which the Lt. John Stearns House stands. Billerica town book 6, pages 63-65 (Southern Registry Book 63 Page 75).
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| 1808 | Will | Hon. Isaac Stearns of Billerica | Timothy Stearns and John Stearns, his sons (each one half of his Billerica lands and buildings) | 1808: will of Isaac Stearns, half his Billerica land and buildings to John | Probate #21251 |
Will dated Oct. 1, 1800, lodged Apr. 13, 1808, proved June 14, 1808. Besides provision for his widow Sarah and legacies to his other children, Isaac Stearns gives "to my son Timothy Stearns ... one half of all my Land & Buildings in Billerica, including the lands mentioned in a Deed already given him," and the other half, "including what he already has a Deed of," to his son John; Timothy and John are executors. Timothys half was the homestead now at 96 Dudley Road, Johns the farm at 77 Dudley Road. Papers read, pages 2-5.
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| April 14, 1823 | Quitclaim Deed | Timothy Stearns of Billerica, gentleman (Sarah Stearns releasing dower) | John Stearns of Billerica, yeoman, his brother | 1810: Timothy Stearns releases the north 94 acres with the building to John Stearns | 247/440 (South) |
Dated and acknowledged Jan. 31, 1810 before Elijah Stearns, recorded Apr. 14, 1823. For $1,000 Timothy Stearns quitclaims to his brother John "a certain tract or parcel of land situate and lying in Billerica aforesaid bounded easterly on land of Job Hill northerly on land of Jonathan Hill westerly on Concord River and southerly on land which he has this day quitted to me the dividing line being particularly described in his deed to me bearing even date ... being about ninety four acres more or less with the building thereon"; with about ten acres near the south end of a mill dam by land of James Vila, and thirteen acres of woodland in Carlisle. Witnesses Elijah Stearns and Hannah Lane. This is the partition of the farm of their father Isaac Stearns (will 1808): John took the northern part with this house, Timothy the southern homestead (the Captain John Stearns House); John's matching deed to Timothy was not put on record. Billerica town book 13, pages 203-205.
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| 1837 | Will | John Stearns, late of Billerica and Woburn, yeoman (died 1836) | Franklin Stearns, his son (residue, including the homestead) | 1837: will of John Stearns, the 95-acre homestead to his son Franklin | Probate #21266 |
Will dated Apr. 12, 1836: to his wife Susannah the furniture she brought; to daughters Mary Whitford and Eliza Ann Billings $100 each; to sons John O. and Onslow Stearns $250 each and Lorenzo and Barnard $300 each; "all the rest, residue & remainder of my estate both real and personal" to his son Franklin Stearns, executor. Witnesses Elijah B. Hill, Jonathan Hill, Sewall Stearns. Proved Jan. 10, 1837; bond of Franklin Stearns of Billerica, yeoman, with Sewall Stearns and Jonathan Hill. Inventory at Billerica Jan. 7, 1837: "Homestead of said deceased situate in Billerica containing ninety five acres with the Buildings thereon" $2,200, meadow and swamp in Bedford, pasture in Ashburnham, half of two pews; real estate $2,807, personal $412.75 (including a cider mill). John Stearns had been killed by a train at Woburn in 1836. Papers read, pages 1-12.
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| October 15, 1886 | Deed | Mary J. Reed, Sarah M. Duren, Lucretia A. Davis, Sally L. Stearns (widow) and John B. Stearns, heirs of Franklin Stearns | William H. Marston of Billerica | 1886: Franklin Stearns's heirs sell an out-lot; they held the farm under his will | 184/338 |
Dated and acknowledged Oct. 2, 1886, recorded Oct. 15, 1886. For $500 the widow and children of Franklin Stearns (Mary J. Reed of Elizabeth, N.J., widow, Sarah M. Duren and Lucretia A. Davis of Carlisle, Sally L. Stearns, widow, and John B. Stearns, both of Billerica) convey "a certain tract of land with a house thereon" of about one acre at the corner of the highway leading to Moses P. Greenwood's house and the road to Bedford, bounded otherwise by the grantors' land; husbands Asa Duren and John P. Davis assent. A small out-lot of the Stearns farm; it shows the family holding the farm together in the months after Franklin Stearns's death in 1886. Marston gave back a $525 mortgage to Sally L. Stearns.
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| January 13, 1911 | Warranty Deed | John B. Stearns of Billerica, unmarried | E. Geraldine Harrison, wife of R. Stanley Harrison of Boston | The dairy-farm outbuildings later converted to the novitiate: john B. Stearns sells the Stearns Farm to E. Geraldine Harrison | 461/549 |
Dated and acknowledged Jan. 12, 1911, recorded Jan. 13, 1911. For one dollar and other considerations, "a certain tract of land with the buildings thereon situated in the Town of Billerica ... known as the 'Stearns Farm' as shown on a 'plan of estate of John B. Stearns Billerica Mass. Feb. 1901, Pierce and Barnes Civil Engineers'" (Plan Book 28 Plan 32): from the thread of the Concord River at land of M. P. Greenwood south-east to the "meadow" lot, by Greenwood to a point 202 feet from Chestnut Street, south to Chestnut Street, along the street, and west by Greenwood back to the river, excepting "the Island" sold to Prince Smith in 1906, 65 3/10 acres. "For my title see will of Franklin Stearns duly proved and allowed by the Probate Court for the County of Middlesex." The sale ended the Stearns family's ownership of the farm; John B. Stearns kept the 15.2-acre field east of the road until 1924.
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| January 13, 1911 | Mortgage | E. Geraldine Harrison of Boston | John B. Stearns of Billerica | 1911: Harrison's purchase-money mortgage | 461/550 |
Same date as the deed. Purchase-money mortgage of the "Stearns Farm" "with the buildings thereon" for $3,000 in three years at five per cent, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by this grantee by deed of even date herewith." Marginal note: discharged Book 481 Page 364 (1912).
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| 1920 | Mortgage | E. Geraldine Harrison of Boston, married | Liberty Trust Company of Boston | 1920: Harrison mortgages the farm to Liberty Trust Company | 627/597 |
Dated Aug. 25, 1920. Mortgage to secure $20,000 in six months at six per cent of "A certain tract of land together with the buildings thereon in the town of Billerica Mass, known as the 'Stearns Farm'" (the 1911 bounds, the Island excepted, 65.3 acres), "Being the same premises conveyed to me by deed of John B. Stearns ... Jan. 12, 1911," with the Price Lot of wood and meadow in Bedford and land in Newbury, Vermont. Margin notes refer to the 1921 entry, sale and the bank's ratifying vote.
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| July 25, 1921 | Foreclosure Deed | Liberty Trust Company (by George B. Wason, president, and J. Henry Miley, assistant treasurer), mortgagee of E. Geraldine Harrison | Thomas M. Smith of Braintree | The dairy-farm outbuildings later converted to the novitiate: liberty Trust Company forecloses and sells to Thomas M. Smith | 647/406 |
Dated and acknowledged July 20, 1921, recorded at Cambridge July 21 and at Lowell July 25, 1921. After default and notices in the Lowell Courier-Citizen and the Bedford Enterprise in June and July 1921, the bank, under the power of sale in Harrison's 1920 mortgage and "in consideration of the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars," sells to Thomas M. Smith "A certain tract of land together with the buildings thereon in the town of Billerica, Mass. known as the 'Stearns Farm'" (65.3 acres, the Island excepted), "Being the same premises conveyed by deed of John B. Stearns ... Jan. 12, 1911," and the Bedford Price Lot. The same day the bank recorded its peaceable entry to foreclose (page 405) and the affidavit of sale (page 408).
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| September 26, 1923 | Quitclaim Deed | Thomas M. Smith of Braintree, unmarried | Jacob J. Yonkers of Boston | The dairy-farm outbuildings later converted to the novitiate: smith sells to Jacob J. Yonkers | 688/45 |
Dated and acknowledged Sept. 6, 1923, recorded Sept. 26, 1923. For consideration paid, with quitclaim covenants, "the land in Billerica, Mass. known as the 'Stearns Farm'" per the 1901 plan, 65.3 acres, excepting the Island and "a parcel of land containing 2 a. and conveyed by me by deed dated Aug. 29, 1923," with the Bedford Price Lot, subject to the 1923 taxes and "to a mortgage on which there is now due $14,000."
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| April 16, 1924 | Quitclaim Deed | Jacob J. Yonkers of Boston, unmarried | Gabe Rosen of Brookline | The dairy-farm outbuildings later converted to the novitiate: yonkers sells to Gabe Rosen | 701/505 |
Dated, acknowledged and recorded Apr. 16, 1924. For consideration paid, with quitclaim covenants, "the land in Billerica Mass, known as the 'Stearns Farm'" per the 1901 plan (Plan Book 28 Plan 32), 65.3 acres, less the Island and the two acres sold in 1923, with the Bedford Price Lot, subject to the 1924 taxes and "to a mortgage on which there is now due $20,000."
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| June 2, 1924 | Quitclaim Deed | John B. Stearns of Billerica, unmarried | Gabe Rosen of Brookline | 1924: John B. Stearns sells the 15.2-acre field east of the road to Rosen | 707/72 |
Dated and acknowledged May 28, 1924, recorded June 2, 1924. For one dollar and other considerations John B. Stearns quitclaims "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon" of 15.2 acres shown on the 1901 plan, on the easterly side of Dudley Road, formerly Chestnut Street, from the corner of M. P. Greenwood 817 and 486.1 feet to Marston, 400 feet by Marston to Charlotte Fowler, then 132.2 and 687 feet and 824 feet to the beginning. The field across the road from the house, which Stearns had kept when he sold the farm in 1911; with this deed the two parts were joined again.
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| June 2, 1924 | Quitclaim Deed | Gabe Rosen of Brookline | Leslie R. Brown of Watertown | The dairy-farm outbuildings later converted to the novitiate: rosen sells the farm and field to Leslie R. Brown | 707/73 |
Stamps dated May 29, 1924, recorded June 2, 1924. For one dollar and other considerations Gabe Rosen quitclaims three parcels: the "Stearns Farm" (65.03 acres, less the Island and the two acres Thomas M. Smith sold in 1923), "the same conveyed to me by Jacob J. Yonkers by deed dated April 16, 1924"; the Price Lot of 11 acres 40 poles in Bedford, subject to the right of way in the 1825 deed of Sewall Stearns to John Stearns; and the 15.2 acres east of Dudley Road, "the same premises conveyed to me by John B. Stearns by deed dated May 28, 1924, and recorded herewith."
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| June 24, 1924 | Quitclaim Deed | Leslie R. Brown of Watertown (Jennie L. Brown releasing dower) | Edward J. O'Connell of Newton | The dairy-farm outbuildings later converted to the novitiate: brown sells to Edward J. O'Connell, who deeds it to the Archbishop | 708/72 |
Dated and acknowledged June 19, 1924, recorded June 24, 1924. For consideration paid, with quitclaim covenants: "1. A certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon known as the 'Stearns Farm'" per the 1901 plan, 65.3 acres, the Island excepted; "2. A certain lot or parcel of land with the buildings thereon containing 15.2 acres more or less, situated on said Chestnut Street ... Said Chestnut Street is now known as Dudly Road"; and 3. the Bedford Price Lot, subject to the old right of way "to pass and repass acrost this in the now trod way with horses and teams but not with loose cattle." "Being the same land and premises conveyed to me by one Gabe Rosen." On Sept. 10, 1924 Edward J. O'Connell deeded the same premises to the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston (recorded at Cambridge, Southern District Book 4790 Page 175), the title recited in the 1933 Maryknoll deed.
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| January 9, 1933 | Deed | The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, a corporation sole (by William H. O'Connell) | Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America (Maryknoll) | Maryknoll novitiate built on the Stearns Farm | 842/359 |
For one dollar and other considerations, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon known as the 'Stearns Farm' shown on plan of estate of John B. Stearns, Billerica, Mass., February, 1901, Pierce and Barnes, Civil Engineers" (Plan Book 28 Plan 32): beginning at the thread of the Concord River at land of M. P. Greenwood, by Greenwood to Chestnut Street, along the street and by Greenwood back to the river, "excepting ... the land known as the 'Island' conveyed by John B. Stearns to Prince Smith" (Book 389 Page 101), 65.3 acres; "also a certain lot or parcel of land with the buildings thereon containing 15.2 acres more or less, situated on said Chestnut Street," bounded by Greenwood, Marston and Joseph Boucher (formerly Charlotte Fowler), "said Chestnut Street is now known as Dudley Road"; and the "Price Lot" of 11 acres 40 poles of wood and meadow in Bedford, subject to a right of way in the deed of Sewall Stearns to John Stearns (Southern Registry Book 310 Page 397). "Being the premises conveyed to it by deed of Edward J. O'Connell, dated September 10, 1924, and recorded Middlesex South District Deeds, Book 4790, Page 175." Dated Jan. 9, 1933, recorded at Cambridge Jan. 23, 1933 (Southern Registry Book 5703 Page 14) and in the Northern District March 31, 1934.
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| December 30, 1965 | Deed | Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, Inc. (by Rev. Thomas Brack) | Daughters of St. Paul, Inc. | Novitiate building to the Daughters of St. Paul | 1733/65 |
The Maryknoll society conveyed to the Daughters of St. Paul the same "Stearns Farm" with the buildings, the 15.2 acre lot on Chestnut Street (Dudley Road) and the Price Lot in Bedford, "excepting ... a parcel of land containing 17.9 acres, more or less, conveyed by the grantor to the United States of America," running from a stone wall about 0.4 mile south of Route 4 and Dudley Road to the center of the Concord River on the Carlisle line, "acquired for administration by the Secretary of the Interior through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service" (the Great Meadows refuge). Being the premises conveyed by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston on Jan. 9, 1933 (Book 842 Page 359). Signed Nov. 6, 1964, recorded Dec. 30, 1965. The house lot was redrawn as Lot A on a 1987 plan for the Daughters of St. Paul (Plan Book 159 Plan 94), and in 2017 the Daughters of St. Paul, Inc. conveyed "the buildings and other improvements thereon" at 77 Dudley Road, Lot A, 41.046 acres, to the trustees of the Daughters of St. Paul Religious Trust (Book 31691 Page 153).
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| December 1, 2017 | Deed | Daughters of St. Paul, Inc. | Trustees of the Daughters of St. Paul Religious Trust | The dairy-farm outbuildings later converted to the novitiate: daughters of St. Paul transfer Lot A to their religious trust | 31691/153 |
Recorded Dec. 1, 2017 (document 54058, four pages, consideration $100). The Daughters of St. Paul, Inc. convey 77 Dudley Road, Lot A on the 1987 plan (Plan Book 159 Plan 94), about 41 acres "with the buildings and other improvements thereon," to the trustees of the Daughters of St. Paul Religious Trust; the deed refers back to the 1964 Maryknoll deed (Book 1733 Page 65).
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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.