Samuel C. Oliver House
Samuel C. Oliver House
| Address | 11 Treble Cove Rd |
| Built | 1830 |
| Owners | Edgar F. Twombly (1900 - 1924) |
| Other Lot Structures | John Wallis House (1718 - 1829) |
The Samuel C. Oliver House at 11 Treble Cove Road in North Billerica was built about 1830 on the old Sprake farm west of the Fordway over the Concord River. It is laid out north-south, and replaced the earlier east-west farmhouse on the lot, the John Wallis House, also known as the Isaac Sprague House, which stood from before 1718 until about 1829. Earlier accounts dated this house to 1784 and treated it as Isaac Sprake's; the full history of the lot back to 1718 is told under the older house.
The widow Judith Pollard sold the farm of 37 acres "with all the buildings thereon standing" to William Oliver in 1826, and in November 1832 William Oliver sold it for $1,400 to Samuel C. Oliver of Lowell, a blacksmith, "being the same estate conveyed to me by Judith Pollard". The new house dates from these years. The deeds convey the farm only "with all the buildings thereon standing" and do not say which Oliver built it, but when Samuel C. Oliver sold the farm to Sereno Fiske of Weston in April 1833 the price had risen to $2,000.
The farm then changed hands quickly: Fiske sold it to John Brown in 1836, taking back a $1,200 mortgage; Brown, who described it as the farm "on which I live and now improve containing thirty seven acres", sold to John Mixer in August 1837, and Mixer sold to Abbot Russell in September. In 1847 Russell sold Cyrus Ham, a Lowell machinist, two lots: about 8 acres north of "the road leading to the Canal Mills", now Treble Cove Road, "with the dwelling house and buildings thereon", and a 29-acre field between the road and the river. Ham lived here until his death on March 21, 1891; the 1853, 1875 and 1889 maps mark the house "C. Ham". He sold part of the field in 1888, and his executor sold the rest in 1892.
Just before Ham's death the homestead was put in the name of Jennie S. Twombly, under a declaration of trust of March 11, 1891 that was never recorded. After her death her husband Edgar F. Twombly held it; Frank S. Ham sued him in 1901 to enforce the trust, but the Superior Court dismissed the suit in 1913. Twombly, a North Billerica real estate dealer, mortgaged "the Cyrus Ham Estate ... having three dwelling houses thereon" in 1905, and in 1912 had O. M. Snell lay out the farm as Treble Cove Terrace, with Twombly Avenue, Bond, Hill, Colson and Sprague Streets. The house and a second building were left on Lot A at the corner of Treble Cove Road and Colson Street. In 1924 Twombly sold the northern part of Lot A to Susan Helliwell and the southern part, 17,000 square feet "with a two and one half story dwelling house thereon", to James E. O'Brien.
In the Depression the house was sold for unpaid 1930 and 1931 taxes; no one bid at the 1933 auction, and the Town of Billerica took it. After the Land Court barred redemption in 1939, the Town sold it back to O'Brien in 1941. James and Gertrude O'Brien held it as tenants by the entirety from 1953, and after Gertrude O'Brien's death it passed in 1990 to members of the family. It remains a private home.
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| July 6, 1826 | Deed | Judith Pollard of Billerica, widow | William Oliver of Billerica, yeoman | 1826 Pollard to William Oliver: the Olivers built this house about 1830 | 269/5 (South) |
For $1400, "a certain tract of land ... containing thirty seven acres", with the same bounds (fordway, Charles Cutter's ditch, Mock Meadow road, road to the Canal Mills, back road, Joseph Dows, Oliver Farmer), "with all the buildings thereon standing". Dated June 23, 1826. Billerica town book 13, pages 435-436.
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| December 27, 1832 | Deed | William Oliver; Mary Oliver his wife releasing dower | Samuel C. Oliver of Lowell, blacksmith | 1832 William Oliver to Samuel C. Oliver, the farm with the new house | 319/339 (South) |
For $1400, the same 37 acres "with all the buildings thereon standing, being the same estate conveyed to me by Judith Pollard". Dated Nov. 20, 1832. Billerica town book 16, pages 158-159.
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| April 29, 1833 | Deed | Samuel C. Oliver of Lowell, blacksmith; Julia Ann Oliver his wife releasing dower | Sereno Fiske of Weston, yeoman | 1833 S. C. Oliver to Sereno Fiske | 321/552 (South) |
For $2000, the same 37 acres "with all the buildings thereon standing, being the land which was conveyed to me by William Oliver by deed dated Nov 30th A.D. 1832 and recorded in Book 319 Page 339". Dated April 26, 1833. Billerica town book 16, pages 268-269.
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| 1836 | Mortgage | John Brown of Billerica, yeoman | Sereno Fiske of Billerica, yeoman | 1836 Brown mortgage to Fiske, $1200 | 358/335 (South) |
Mortgage for $1200, payable in five years, on the same 37 acres "with all the buildings thereon standing, being the same which was this day conveyed by deed to me by said Fisk". Dated Dec. 5, 1836. Billerica town book 15, pages 312-313. Still outstanding in 1847, when Cyrus Ham assumed it.
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| August 17, 1837 | Deed | Sereno Fiske of Billerica, yeoman; Elizabeth T. Fiske his wife releasing dower | John Brown of Billerica, yeoman | 1836 Fiske to John Brown | 365/504 (South) |
For $1700, the same 37 acres "with all the buildings thereon standing, being the land which was conveyed to me by Samuel C. Oliver ... recorded in Book 321 page 552". Dated Dec. 5, 1836; recorded Aug. 17, 1837. Billerica town book 15, pages 423-424.
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| August 17, 1837 | Deed | John Brown of Billerica, yeoman; Irena Brown his wife | John Mixer of Billerica, yeoman | 1837 Brown to John Mixer | 365/505 (South) |
For $450, "a farm or tract of land divided into several lots of mowing, tillage and pasture situated in said Billerica on which I live and now improve containing thirty seven acres", "with all the buildings thereon standing", free of incumbrances "except a mortgage to Sereno Fiske of $1200.00 and interest". Dated Aug. 17, 1837. Billerica town book 15, pages 424-425.
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| October 17, 1837 | Deed | John Mixer of Billerica, yeoman; Nancy Mixer his wife releasing dower | Abbot Russell of Billerica, yeoman | 1837 Mixer to Abbot Russell | 367/255 (South) |
For $2000, the same farm of 37 acres "with all the buildings thereon standing, being the same conveyed by Sereno Fiske to John Brown, and by John Brown conveyed to me Aug 17, 1837, B.365 P.505", subject to the $1200 Brown mortgage "which said Russell is to pay". Dated Sept. 26, 1837. Billerica town book 15, pages 497-499.
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| September 17, 1847 | Deed | Abbot Russell of Billerica, yeoman | Cyrus Ham of Lowell, machinist | 1847 Russell to Cyrus Ham, 8-acre house lot and 29-acre field | 509/512 (South) |
For $1621.50, "two several lots": about 8 acres from the northeast corner at land of Israel A. Colson and "the road leading to the Canal Mills", southerly in a curve by the Canal Mills road and the back road to Joseph Dows, north by Dows to Colson, "with the dwelling house and buildings thereon"; and 29 acres from the fordway up Concord River to the ditch at Charles Cutter's, by the Mock Meadow road, widow Sarah Stearns and the Canal Mills road; subject to the 1836 Brown mortgage (Book 358 page 335), which Ham was to pay. Dated Sept. 10, 1847. Billerica town book 18, pages 348-350. The 8-acre lot north of the road is the house lot (11 Treble Cove Road).
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| September 17, 1847 | Mortgage | Cyrus Ham of Lowell, machinist | Abbot Russell of Billerica, yeoman | 1847 Ham mortgage back to Russell | 509/514 (South) |
Mortgage back to the seller for $1000 payable in eight months, on the same two lots (8 acres "with the dwelling house and buildings thereon" and 29 acres). Dated Sept. 10, 1847. Billerica town book 18, pages 350-351.
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| September 12, 1888 | Deed | Cyrus Ham of Billerica; Julia Ham his wife releasing dower and homestead | Savill D. Metcalf of Billerica | 1888 Ham sells 6 acres of the field to Metcalf | 199/490 |
For $1800, 6 acres in North Billerica from the northeast corner "on the Mills road and at a fence at my other land", by "my land" to the river, by the river to a stone wall at "my other land", and by the wall to the Mills road: the northern part of Ham's 29-acre field between the road and Concord River near the fordway. Dated Aug. 4, 1888. Not the house lot.
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| January 26, 1892 | Executor's Deed | Foster Ham of Billerica, executor of the will of Cyrus Ham and trustee thereunder | James Ellis of Billerica | 1892 Ham executor sells the rest of the field to Ellis | 230/431 |
For $3000, 23 acres from a stone wall at Savill Metcalf's land and Concord River, up the river to the ditch at land formerly of Charles Cutler, by the Mock meadow road, land formerly of Sarah Stearns and the road leading to Canal Mills, "Being part of a lot of land conveyed to said Cyrus Ham by Abbot Russell by deed dated September 10, 1847 ... Book 509 Page 512". Dated Jan. 20, 1892. The rest of the field south of the road; Cyrus Ham had died March 21, 1891. Not the house lot.
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| October 15, 1901 | Lis Pendens | Frank S. Ham of Lowell | Edgar F. Twombly, individually and as executor of the will of Jennie S. Twombly | 1901 Frank S. Ham suit over Jennie S. Twombly's 1891 trust (house lot) | 336/523 |
Memorandum of notice that on Sept. 3, 1901 Frank S. Ham filed a bill in equity in the Superior Court to have Edgar F. Twombly declared a trustee and compelled to convey to him four parcels "in accordance with a certain written declaration of trust executed by said Jennie S. Twombly on March 11, 1891", among them "about eight acres ... beginning at the northeast corner at land of Israel A. Colson and the road leading to the Canal Mills ... with the dwelling-house and buildings thereon" (the Ham house lot) and the 29-acre field. So by March 1891 the Ham homestead stood in the name of Jennie S. (Swain) Twombly.
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| June 26, 1905 | Mortgage | Edgar F. Twombly of Billerica | James Howarth of Billerica | 1905 Twombly mortgage of "the Cyrus Ham Estate" | 379/305 |
Mortgage for $700 on demand on "the Real Estate known as the Cyrus Ham Estate, containing about fifteen acres and having three [3] dwelling houses thereon, situate at the junction of Wilson St. and Triple Cove Road in North Billerica". Discharged on the margin Nov. 15, 1910.
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| January 27, 1914 | Court Decree | Superior Court in Equity (Frank S. Ham v. Edgar F. Twombly) | Edgar F. Twombly | 1913 decree dismissing the Ham suit | 516/391 |
Docket record of the 1901 suit: filed Sept. 3, 1901, answer and replication, and "1913, Oct. 29. Final Decree Bill dismissed", leaving Twombly's title to the Ham estate undisturbed. Recorded Jan. 27, 1914.
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| May 2, 1924 | Deed | Edgar F. Twombly of Billerica, unmarried | Susan Helliwell of Billerica | 1924 Twombly sells the north part of Lot A (second building) | 705/359 |
Quitclaim of "a certain lot of land with the buildings thereon" on the westerly side of Treble Cove Road, 10,209 square feet, from a stone bound 41.8 feet southeasterly from Twombly Avenue, by lot 49, other land of the grantor and "the centre of the cement walk", "being a part of lot A" on the 1912 Treble Cove Terrace plan (Plan Book 30, Plan 69). Dated May 2, 1924. The northern part of Lot A with the second building; the cement walk is the line between it and the old house.
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| May 28, 1924 | Deed | Edgar F. Twombly of Billerica, unmarried | James E. O'Brien of Billerica | 1924 Twombly to James E. O'Brien, the 2 1/2 story house (south part of Lot A) | 706/337 |
Quitclaim of "a certain lot of land with a two and one half story dwelling house thereon, situated at Treble Cove in North Billerica", 17,000 square feet, from a stone bound on the northerly line of Treble Cove Road 255.32 feet from the corner of Sprague and Hill Streets, along the road and its curve "to a nail in the cement walk at land heretofore sold by me to one Helliwell", by the Helliwell land, and by a 20-foot passageway "to be forever kept open for the use of all abutters"; on the 1912 Treble Cove Terrace plan (southern part of Lot A). Dated May 27, 1924. O'Brien mortgaged it the same day to the Middlesex National Bank of Lowell. This parcel is 11 Treble Cove Road.
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| June 29, 1933 | Collector's Tax Deed | Patrick J. Mahoney, Collector of Taxes for Billerica (James E. O'Brien, owner) | Town of Billerica | 1933 collector's tax deed to the Town | 826/21 |
James E. O'Brien was assessed $252.20 for the 1930 and 1931 taxes; after demand and advertisement in the Billerica News, no one bid at the auction of June 9-10, 1933 and the collector bought for the Town for $290.95 "17,000 square feet of land more or less with buildings thereon being part of lot A" on Plan Book 30, Plan 69, subject to redemption. Dated June 10, 1933.
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| December 8, 1938 | Notice of Tax Lien Petition | Town of Billerica (Lawrence E. Desmond, Treasurer) | James E. O'Brien | 1938 Land Court petition to foreclose the tax lien | 923/283 |
Notice that on Nov. 15, 1938 the Town filed in the Land Court a petition against James E. O'Brien "to foreclose a tax lien acquired under a certain tax deed" of June 10, 1933 (Book 826, Page 21) on the 17,000 square feet "with buildings thereon, being part of lot A" of Treble Cove Terrace.
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| May 31, 1939 | Land Court Decree | Land Court Case No. 14098 (Town of Billerica v. James E. O'Brien, Gertrude O'Brien and Middlesex National Bank) | Town of Billerica | 1939 Land Court decree foreclosing redemption | 929/431 |
Notice of disposal in tax lien case: the petition filed Nov. 22, 1938 to foreclose the tax lien under the 1933 tax deed (Book 826, Page 21) ended "on January 27, 1939, [with] a decree forever foreclosing and barring all rights of redemption under said deed". The Town now held full title.
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| March 19, 1941 | Deed | Town of Billerica (Lawrence E. Desmond, Treasurer) | James E. O'Brien of Treble Cove Road, North Billerica | 1941 Town sells the house back to O'Brien | 957/567 |
Quitclaim of "17,000 square feet of land, more or less, with buildings thereon being part of Lot A" on the Treble Cove Terrace plan (Plan Book 30, Plan 69), under the vote of the Town Meeting of Feb. 8, 1941, Article 15, authorizing the selectmen "to sell the property taken by the Town under Tax Title procedure". Dated March 6, 1941. Recorded with the bank receiver's discharge of O'Brien's 1924 mortgage (same page) and his new mortgage to the Lowell Co-operative Bank (page 568): O'Brien bought back his house from the Town.
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| January 20, 1953 | Deed (straw reconveyance) | A straw grantee of Lowell (after a deed from James E. O'Brien, Book 1215, page 230) | James E. O'Brien and Gertrude M. O'Brien, tenants by the entirety | 1952 straw deeds to O'Brien and wife; later family ownership | 1215/231 |
Two deeds of Dec. 31, 1952, recorded Jan. 20, 1953: James E. O'Brien conveyed the 17,000 square feet "with the buildings thereon" to a straw, who reconveyed it to him and his wife as tenants by the entirety, "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Edgar F. Twombly, by deed dated May 27, 1924 ... Book 706, Page 337. See also deed of the Town of Billerica to me dated March 6, 1941." After Gertrude M. O'Brien's death her estate and heirs conveyed the house in 1990 to members of the family; it has since remained in private hands.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.