Nathaniel Davidson House
Nathaniel Davidson House
| Also Known As | William Hardy's Inn |
| Address | 419 Boston Rd |
| Built | 1720 |
| Other Lot Structures | Sarah Blanchard House (1837 - 1965) |
The Nathaniel Davidson House stands on the west side of Boston Road just south of the Common, on a lot that has held buildings since at least 1725. It has not been inventoried by the Massachusetts Historical Commission, and its story rests on the deeds.
The earliest deed found, from Ebenezer Dows to James Barrett in 1725, calls the place an "orchard and mowing lot" but conveys buildings, fences and trees with it. Barrett and the owners who followed him, Jonathan Brown (1729), William Marshall (1732) and Edward Jewett (1736), were tanners or had tanning gear on the lot, and it stood next to John Parker's tan yard. In 1741 Jewett sold to Nathaniel Davidson, the first owner to stay long. On Oct. 18, 1758 Davidson, a yeoman, sold to Ebenezer French Jr., a blacksmith, "One Messuage or Small Parcel of Land ... near the Center of the Town containing by Estimation one Acre," bounded east by the County Road, south by the heirs of Capt. Jonathan Bowers, and west and north by John Parker's land, tan yard and lane, "together with the House and Barn & other Buildings thereon." This is the first deed to name a house. French called it his homestead when he sold it to John White in 1777.
After White's death the place changed hands quickly: to Elnathan Duren in 1813, to Henry Homes and George Homer in 1816, to Abel Duren and then to Nehemiah Lovejoy, a housewright, in 1821, to the Eagle Manufacturing Company, and in 1824 to David Rogers. Lovejoy may have rebuilt or remodeled the house. In the 1830s it was called the "Wheat House" because Joel Wheat rented it from Rogers; David Parker bought it in 1833, cut off the corner for the Sarah Blanchard House in 1837, and sold the Wheat House to William Blanchard, who sold it in 1838 to Arza Page, a carpenter who built several houses to the south and lived here until 1845.
In 1845 William Hardy, a hotel keeper, bought the house and ran it as an inn, "W. Hardy's Hotel" on the 1853 map, before moving on to the Fletcher Hotel at the corner of Andover Road. It passed through Charles Fletcher and John F. Baldwin to Leonard Osborn, and when Osborn sold it to George W. Wilson of Chelsea in March 1872 the deed made it a condition "that no public house, hotel, or tavern, inn, or house of entertainment whatever, shall be kept upon the premises hereafter." The Wilsons were here in 1875 and 1889. In 1916 Frank M. and S. Maud Lapham had the title registered in the Land Court, and the survey shows the house and a second building on a lot of 162 feet on Boston Road. The lot was divided in the 1940s, and the house has been privately owned since.
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 18, 1759 | Warranty | Nathaniel Davidson of Billerica, yeoman | Ebenezer French Jr. of Billerica, blacksmith | Davidson to Ebenezer French Jr.: one acre with house and barn | 56/548 (South) |
For 86 pounds 13 shillings 4 pence, Nathaniel Davidson sold "One Messuage or Small Parcel of Land situate and lying in Billerica aforesaid near the Center of the Town containing by Estimation one Acre be the same more or less bounded Eastwardly by the County Road Southerly by Land of the Heirs of Captn Jonathan Bowers Deceased Westerly by John Parker's Land and Tan yard Northwardly by John Parker's Lane to the County Road first mentioned together with the House and Barn & other Buildings thereon standing." Signed Oct. 18, 1758, witnessed by Peleg Stearns and William How, acknowledged and recorded at Cambridge Oct. 18, 1759. Mary Davidson, his wife, released her dower on May 30, 1767, witnessed by Oliver Crosby and William Davidson. Billerica town book 5 pages 465-467.
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| April 8, 1872 | Warranty | Leonard Osborn of Sterling, Worcester County | George W. Wilson of Chelsea | Osborn to George W. Wilson, with a ban on any inn or tavern | 85/425 |
For $1,500, "a piece of land with the buildings thereon situated in Billerica ... containing one half acre, more or less," beginning at the northerly corner "at the Boston road & land of the late Wm. Bowers," by Bowers's land to land of the heirs of the late William Bowers and to James A. Lovejoy, and back by the road, "upon the express condition that no public house, hotel, or tavern, inn, or house of entertainment whatever, shall be kept upon the premises hereafter"; and a second piece adjoining it, from the road at land of William Hardy by Hardy and David Parker to the heirs of William Bowers, 102 feet "to a stake by the Great Rock," being the estate deeded by John F. Baldwin (Book 55 Page 562). Dated March 27, 1872, recorded April 8, 1872.
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| October 30, 1916 | Original Certificate | Land Court decree, Case 6077 (petition of Frank M. Lapham et al.) | Frank M. Lapham and S. Maud Lapham of Billerica | Registered to Frank M. and S. Maud Lapham, Certificate 852 | Ctf 852 |
Original Certificate of Title 852, entered on the Land Court's decree of Oct. 30, 1916 in Case 6077, confirms Frank M. and S. Maud Lapham, husband and wife, as owners of a parcel "northeasterly by Boston Road one hundred and sixty-two (162) feet," bounded by Edward A. Barker (the Sarah Blanchard house lot), Albert C. Lane, Martha H. Sage and Thomas Thoresen, shown with two buildings on F. W. Huntington and Co.'s plan of July 28, 1916 (Land Court plan 6077-A). Part of the land is subject to the condition in John F. Baldwin's deed to Lucia S. Little of Dec. 20, 1864 (Book 38 Page 417), and it has a right of drainage granted by Samuel Sage to George W. Wilson in 1876 (Book 118 Page 362). Mortgages to the Central Savings Bank, Lowell ($3,500) and to Willey Clark Swinington ($700) were registered with it; the certificate was later cancelled. The lot was divided again on Land Court plans 6077-B (1944) and 6077-C (1948), and the house remains on registered land, privately owned (Lot A2 by 1996).
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| August 4, 1944 | Certificate of Title | Elizabeth H. Stone (subdivision of Certificate 3836) | Private owners of Billerica (a married couple) | 1944 subdivision: the house kept on Lot A, Lot B set off | Ctf 6499 |
Transfer Certificate of Title 6499 for Lot B on subdivision plan 6077-B (Brooks, Jordan and Graves, C. Eng'rs., June 13, 1944), "Subdivision of Land shown on plan 6077-A Filed with Cert. of Title No. 852," Elizabeth H. Stone, owner (Certificate 3836): bounded "Northeasterly by Boston Road, sixty-seven and 46/100 (67.46) feet," southeasterly 165.75 feet and easterly 50.31 feet by Lot A, southwesterly 93.55 feet and westerly 137 feet by land of Martha H. Sage, and northerly 214.24 feet by land of Thomas Thoresen, subject so far as it lies within John F. Baldwin's 1864 deed to Lucia S. Little (Book 38 Page 417) to the condition in that deed. The plan shows a building on Lot B (now 415 Boston Road) and the old house on Lot A (Certificate 6498, now 419). The plan was received for registration Aug. 4, 1944 with Certificate 6498 (Registration Book 35 Page 207). Later owners of Lot B are private.
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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.