Structure · Built 1852 · Demolished 1929
Robert Call House
Robert Call House
| Address | 6 Call St |
| Built | 1852 |
| Demolished | 1929 |
| Other Lot Structures | Florence R. Ritchie House (Built 1930) |
The R. Call House was the farmhouse of Robert Call at the corner of Call Street and Pollard Street (the old Fordway Road) in North Billerica, on land running down to the Concord River. It stood from at least 1852 until about 1929, and the present house at 6 Call Street was built on the same corner lot about 1930.
The land was part of the Jonathan Pollard home farm on the east side of the river. John Pollard gave half the homestead to his son Jonathan in 1762 and conveyed the 80-acre homestead to him in 1772; at Jonathan's death in 1806 it passed to his only heir, his daughter Olive Barrett, who sold the farm "which I inherited from my father Jonathan Pollard" to Samuel Rogers in 1848.
On March 6, 1852, Samuel Rogers sold sixty acres "with the buildings on the same", "being a part of the farm owned by said Samuel Rogers", to Robert Call of Billerica, yeoman, for $2,750. The deed bounded the land by the "Ford way Road" and the Concord River and reserved to Call a right of way "from the house of Call" easterly to the road from the Billerica Mills to the centre of the town, so a house was already standing on the land when Call bought it. Call mortgaged the farm in 1854 and went through insolvency in 1856: his assignee, Nathaniel Heath, conveyed it to Joseph H. Call, who in November 1856 released "the homestead occupied by said Robert Call" back to him for $75.
Robert Call laid out "the new road" through his farm, the street that now carries his name, and sold outlying pieces of the farm, including ten acres to Owen Murningham in 1880. On November 3, 1883, "being unmarried", he sold to Joseph H. Call for $900 the homestead tract of about twenty acres "with the buildings thereon", running from the corner of the Fordway road and the new road to the river and north to the Talbot land at the Fordway, with six acres south of the road and one acre more. Joseph H. Call mortgaged "all of my farm" to The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank in 1909 and held it until his death; his will was probated at Cambridge in February 1917.
Under the will the farm went to Ella A. Ruth, who had it surveyed in 1918 by Smith and Brooks of Lowell as house lots on Hillside Avenue, Concord Avenue and Myrtle Street. The plan shows the old house on Lot 1, a lot of 39,104 square feet at the corner of Fordway Road and Call Street. Ella Ruth sold the northern part of Lot 1 to Florence R. Ritchie in 1925, and on January 17, 1930 sold her the corner "with the buildings thereon", with most of the remaining lots. Florence Ritchie mortgaged the corner to The Merrimack River Savings Bank on January 28, 1930; the old Call house was taken down about 1929 and the present house went up about 1930.
Florence R. Ritchie, then of Concord, New Hampshire, sold the house "with the buildings thereon" and the rest of Lot 1, with lots 2 and 13, to Edwin T. Meaney in September 1948. After a family conveyance, the house was sold in 1955 under the foreclosure of two 1954 mortgages held by the Esplanade Realty Co. Since then it has been in private hands; the present lot is Lots 1, 2 and 13 of the 1918 plan, about 1.09 acres.
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Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| February 28, 1769 | Deed | John Pollard of Billerica, husbandman | His son Jonathan Pollard | 1762 John Pollard to his son Jonathan, half the homestead that later became the Call farm | 68/509 (South) |
Billerica town book 6, pages 323-325. For 200 pounds lawful money paid by "Jonathan Pollard my son", with warranty, "the one half of my Lands situate in Billerica lying on the East side of Concord River it being my Homestead with all my Buildings thereon", about eighty acres, bounded southeasterly by land of Edward Pollard and David Osgood, easterly by "the highway leading to the Widow Toothaker's" till coming to her land, northerly by the Widow Toothaker's land to the river, then by the river to the highway and on the highway to Edward Pollard's land. Signed March 24, 1762 (witnesses Benjamin Lewis and Isaac Foster); acknowledged Sept. 22, 1768 before William Stickney; recorded at Cambridge Feb. 28, 1769. No title recital.
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| December 8, 1772 | Deed | John Pollard of Billerica, yeoman | Jonathan Pollard of Billerica, yeoman | 1772 John Pollard to Jonathan Pollard, the 80-acre homestead | 73/479 (South) |
Billerica town book 6, pages 515-517. For 133 pounds 6 shillings 8 pence, with warranty, "several Tracts of Land Viz my home stead Containing by Estimation Eighty Acres", bounded southeasterly by land of Edward Pollard and land lately belonging to David Osgood deceased, easterly by the highway leading to the Widow Toothaker's, northerly by land of the heirs of Doctor Toothaker deceased and by Concord River, southwardly by the highway; also two acres in Broad Meadow by the river and land of Zebediah and Samuel Rogers, nine and a quarter acres of Butterfield's Meadow, sixty-one acres 91 poles on the west side of the river by the Chelmsford line and the Range Way, and "my Right in a stable standing near the West End of the Meeting house". Signed June 26, 1772 (witnesses Isaac Foster and Edward Pollard); acknowledged June 29, 1772 before William Stickney; recorded Dec. 8, 1772. Recorded on the same page as a deed of June 1, 1772 from Roger and Allen Toothaker to Jonathan of two acres of "the Island" by Carleton's Mill Pond (other land).
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| 1806 | Administration | Estate of Jonathan Pollard of Billerica, yeoman, intestate | His only heir at law, his daughter Olive Barrett (then Olive Rogers); Stephen Barrett of Billerica, administrator | 1806 Jonathan Pollard estate: the farm to his only heir Olive (Barrett) | Probate #17690 |
Jonathan Pollard of Billerica, yeoman, died intestate within two months before Sept. 18, 1806. That day his widow Olive Pollard (by her mark) and "the only heir at law", Olive Rogers of Chelmsford, renounced administration and asked that Lieut. Stephen Barrett of Billerica be appointed; the court at Chelmsford appointed him the same day, on a $30,000 bond with Zaccheus Shed and Peter Marshall. The inventory taken Oct. 6, 1806 by Oliver Crosby, Jeremiah Patten and Josiah B. Richardson lists "The Homestead of said Deceased situated in said Billerica containing about 91 Acres with the Buildings thereon" at $3,072, the Dutton lot of about 50 acres, Butterfield Meadow in Chelmsford, 18 acres, Broad Meadow, about 7 acres, half a pew and half a stable at the meeting-house: real estate $5,607, the whole $6,674.47. Accepted at Concord Oct. 7, 1806.
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| 1848 | Deed | Olive Barrett of Billerica, widow | Samuel Rogers of Billerica, Esquire | 1848 Olive Barrett to Samuel Rogers, the Pollard farm | 539/511 (South) |
Billerica town book 20, pages 149-150. Dated Aug. 24, 1848. For $3,000, "My home farm with the buildings thereon containing about eighty acres more or less situate in said Billerica in the Northerly part thereof near the Canal Mills so called, bounded in part on land of Joel Dix, land of William Pollard, land of Misses Faulkner, by the road leading from Billerica Meeting-house to said mills, also partly on Concord river", with about 48 acres of woodland crossed by the Middlesex Turnpike and all her personal property; "both said home farm and wood land being land which I inherited from my father Jonathan Pollard deceased being the farm on which I now live with said Rogers". Warranty.
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| March 8, 1852 | Deed | Samuel Rogers of Billerica, gentleman; Sarah Rogers, his wife, releasing dower | Robert Call of Billerica, yeoman | 1852 Samuel Rogers to Robert Call, 60 acres with the buildings; the Call homestead | 626/205 (South) |
Billerica town book 19, pages 215-217. "In consideration of Twenty seven hundred and fifty dollars", "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings on the same" in Billerica "containing sixty acres more or less", bounded by other Rogers land, the wall of William Pollard, the "Ford way Road", other Pollard land and the Concord River. "The premises hereby conveyed being a part of the farm owned by said Samuel Rogers." Reserves to Call a right of way forever open from his house easterly to the road from Billerica Mills to the centre of the town. Call assumes mortgages to Jonas Parker (Nov 25, 1844, $1,099.53) and Albert Marshall (Nov 29, 1851, $500). Dated March 6, 1852. The six-acre lot that became the school site was part of this farm.
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| September 25, 1854 | Mortgage | Robert Call of Billerica, yeoman; Mehitable G. Call, his wife, releasing dower | David Tenney of Somerville | 1854 Robert Call mortgage of the farm to David Tenney | 694/33 (South) |
Billerica town book 20, pages 449-451. "In consideration of Two hundred and fifty dollars", "a certain lot of land with the buildings thereon" in Billerica "containing sixty acres more or less", same bounds as the 1852 deed, "being a part of the farm owned by said Samuel Rogers and by said Rogers conveyed to Call by deed dated March 6th 1852". Subject to the Parker and Marshall mortgages and to two more by Call, to Gilman Farley and John Dinsmoore and to James K. Barker. Void if Call pays $250 in two years with interest. Dated Sept 22, 1854.
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| November 28, 1856 | Quitclaim | Joseph H. Call of Billerica | Robert Call of Billerica | 1856 the homestead returns to Robert Call after his insolvency | 7/352 |
"In consideration of seventy five dollars", Joseph H. Call releases "all my right title and interest in and to all the Real Estate of the above named Robert Call situate in said Billerica but more especially ... the homestead occupied by said Robert Call", "said title having been acquired by me by deed from Nath'l Heath assignee of Robt Call dated the first day of November A.D. 1856". The farm thus passed through Robert Call's insolvency assignee and returned to him. Dated Nov 28, 1856.
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| November 8, 1883 | Quitclaim | Robert Call of Billerica, unmarried | Joseph H. Call of Billerica | 1883 Robert Call to Joseph H. Call, the 20-acre homestead tract with the buildings | 163/547 |
"In consideration of Nine hundred dollars", three tracts: (1) "a certain piece of land with the buildings thereon" at the Fordway road and the new road (now Call Street), running to the Concord River, about twenty acres; (2) "one other tract of land containing six acres more or less" beginning at the northeast corner at the new road and land of the Rogers heirs, southerly to land of Patrick Riley, westerly by Riley land to land of Owen Murningham, northerly by Murningham land to the new road and easterly by the road (the school lot); (3) about one acre at the Fordway road and new road by land of Hannah Salter. Dated Nov 3, 1883; acknowledged before Dudley Foster JP.
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| 1909 | Mortgage | Joseph H. Call of Billerica | The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank | 1909 Joseph H. Call mortgage of his farm with the buildings to the Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank | 436/269 |
"In consideration of One Thousand Dollars", "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon situated in the northerly part of said Billerica": beginning at the intersection of Fordway Road and "the new road known as Call Street", northerly by Fordway Road, westerly by a wall to low water on the Concord River, by the river to land of C. P. and Thomas Talbot at the Fordway, easterly by Talbot land and a wall to land formerly of the heirs of Samuel Rogers, and back by the new road, "about twenty acres"; also six acres south of the road (Rogers heirs, Patrick Riley, Owen Murningham). "Intending hereby to convey all of my farm situated in the northerly part of said Billerica." Title: deed of Robert Call dated November 3, 1883, Book 163, Page 547. Subject to rights of way granted for railroad tracks. One year at five percent. Signed July 1909. The margin notes partial releases (1918 to 1925, as the Ruth lots were sold) and a discharge in Book 735, Page 429.
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| June 25, 1925 | Warranty Deed | Ella A. Ruth of Billerica, married; James A. Ruth, her husband, releasing curtesy | Florence R. Ritchie of Billerica | 1925 Ella A. Ruth to Florence R. Ritchie, the northern part of Lot 1 (no buildings) | 724/434 |
"For consideration paid", "the land in said Billerica ... situated on the southerly side of Hillside Avenue and the easterly side of Pollard Street": 155 feet on Pollard Street from the corner, then northeasterly 133.95 feet "to a drill hole in a stone" and northerly 87.30 feet along other land of Ruth, and 155.45 feet on Hillside Avenue. "Being part of Lot #1" on the 1918 Smith and Brooks plan of Ella A. Ruth (Plan Book 35, Plan 43), "being a portion of premises conveyed to Joseph H. Call by Robert Call by deed dated Nov. 3, 1883". "For my title to the granted premises see will of Joseph H. Call duly allowed by the Probate Court." Dated May 29, 1925. This is the northern part of Lot 1, without buildings; the corner with the house followed in 1930.
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| 1930 | Quitclaim | Ella A. Ruth of Billerica; James A. Ruth, her husband, releasing curtesy | Florence R. Ritchie of Billerica | 1930 Ella A. Ruth to Florence R. Ritchie, the corner of Call and Pollard Streets with the buildings, on which the old Call house stood | 786/266 |
"For consideration paid", "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon situated on the northerly side of Call Street, on the easterly side of Pollard Street (formerly known as Fordway Road) and the southerly side of Hillside Avenue": 75 feet on Pollard Street from the corner, along the land sold to Ritchie in 1925, 30.48 feet on Hillside Avenue, 200 feet along lots 13 and 2, and 192 feet on Call Street; "a portion of lot No. 1" on Plan Book 35, Plan 43, subject to a mortgage to The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank for $800. Also lots 2 to 13 and 17 to 40 on the plan, and land on the northwest side of Call Street and Myrtle Street to the Talbot Mills line. "A portion of the premises conveyed to Joseph H. Call by Robert Call by deed dated November 3, 1883 ... my title to the granted premises being derived under the will of said Joseph H. Call." Subject to the 1929 taxes. Dated January 17, 1930. Ritchie mortgaged the corner to The Merrimack River Savings Bank on January 28, 1930, when the present house was built in place of the old Call house.
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| September 22, 1948 | Warranty Deed | Florence R. Ritchie of Concord, New Hampshire; John J. Ritchie, her husband, releasing curtesy and homestead | Edwin T. Meaney of Billerica | 1948 the house lot (site of the Call house) to Edwin T. Meaney | 1100/375 |
"For consideration paid" ($8.80 in revenue stamps), "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon situated on the Northerly side of Call Road and the Easterly side of Pollard Street formerly called Fordway Road, and the Southerly side of Hillside Avenue": 110 feet on Pollard Street from the corner, 130 feet northeasterly and 60 feet northerly along other Ritchie land, 85.93 feet on Hillside Avenue, 200 feet along lots 13 and 2, and 192 feet on Call Street; "a portion of Lot 1" on Plan Book 35, Plan 43, "a part of the same premises conveyed to me by two deeds both given by Ella A. Ruth" (1925 and 1930). Subject to the 1948 taxes. Dated September 21, 1948. Recorded with the discharge of Ritchie's 1930 mortgage to The Merrimack River Savings Bank. Meaney mortgaged the house to The Lowell Five Cent Savings Bank for $7,600 the same day (Book 1100, Page 376).
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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.