Structure · Built 1768 · Demolished 1887
Shed Place
Shed Place
| Address | 104 Concord Rd |
| Built | 1768 |
| Demolished | 1887 |
The house that H. F. Walling's 1853 map labels "Polly Bowers" stood on the east side of the Concord road about half a mile south of the meeting house, just north of the graveyard at the fork. It was the farmhouse of the Shed place, the homestead of the Shed family since the first settlement, and it was gone by the 1880s. Its site is today's 104 Concord Rd.
In 1733 John Shed deeded his homestead and all his Billerica land to his son Benjamin Shed. In 1768 Capt. Benjamin Shed passed "my Homestead or House Lot with the Buildings thereon standing containing about forty acres" to his son Joseph Shed, a housewright. Joseph sold the farm in 1791, "it being the same I now live on", to Jonathan Bowers and Jesse French in equal shares. French's half went to his son Luther French in 1794. In 1823 Luther sold it to William, Mary and Fanny Bowers, describing it as land "about half a mile southerly of the meeting house with all the buildings thereon, commonly called the Shed place", about 56 acres.
Jonathan Bowers Esq. kept the other half until he died without children in 1829. In 1831 William Bowers released his share of it to his sister Mary, "with one undivided half of the dwelling house thereon and the whole of the Barn". Mary, known as Polly (1782-1870), and her sisters Priscilla and Fanny were the unmarried daughters of Dr. William Bowers, and they lived in the family homestead at the corner of the Common (the Old Providence House). The Shed place was their farm. A 1905 address remembered Polly in her brother's palm-leaf hat and cowhide boots, and remembered the sisters' gift of their estate to the town for the poor. Priscilla left her share to the Baptist church in 1869, and Mary and Fanny left theirs to the Town.
In 1871 the First Baptist Church and the Town (through its committee, Dudley Foster, Israel A. Colson and David L. Mason) sold the whole farm, 49 acres 81 rods "with an old house thereon", to Charles E. Gorham for $2,450. The money went into the Bowers Fund. The 1875 Beers map marks the house "C. Gorham". In 1887 Gorham sold the land to Dudley Foster, who sold it the same month to Moses C. Mitchell for $1,500. Neither deed mentions any buildings. Mitchell built his school and his house, Sunnyside, farther north on the Concord road frontage, and the old farmhouse does not appear in the records again.
In 1935 Mitchell's widow, Mary H. Mitchell, had the farm laid out as "Mitchell Estates" (Plan Book 59, Plan 16). No building is drawn on the Concord Road lots. The old house site falls on Lot 4 of Block A. Blanche S. Mitchell, who was executrix of Alexander H. Mitchell, sold the lots in the 1940s: the rear Lot 9 on Stuart Road in 1947, and Lot 4, still vacant, to Christos and Rita Zousimas in 1948. A house was built on Lot 4 by 1955 and is now 104 Concord Rd. A second house was built on Lot 9 in 1996, and a 1997 plan moved a strip of Lot 4 into Lot 9. That 1996 house is 106 Concord Rd.
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Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| November 8, 1736 | Deed | John Shed of Billerica | His son Benjamin Shed of Billerica | 1733 John Shed deeds the homestead to his son Benjamin | 37/420 (South) |
Billerica town book 4, pages 43-45. Dated May 8, 1733, acknowledged May 19, 1733 before Oliver Whiting JP, recorded at Cambridge Nov. 8, 1736. For 250 pounds, "all the land which I have in said Billerica": first "my Homestead or Houselot containing twenty one acres more or less bounded eastward and southward by the land of the said Benjamin Shed, westward partly by the land of Henry Jefts and partly by the land of Benjamin Shed and partly by the highway, bounded northward by the highway"; also 15 acres on the south side of Nutting's Pond and 2 1/2 acres on Fox Hill, "with all the Buildings fences and Trees". The earliest recorded deed found for the Shed homestead, the core of the later Shed place.
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| March 29, 1769 | Deed | Capt. Benjamin Shed of Billerica, gentleman (Elizabeth Shed releasing dower) | His son Joseph Shed of Billerica, housewright | 1768 Benjamin Shed to son Joseph, homestead "with the Buildings thereon standing" | 68/576 (South) |
Billerica town book 6, pages 327-329. Dated Feb. 1, 1768, acknowledged Dec. 12, 1768 before William Stickney JP, recorded March 29, 1769. For 400 pounds, first "my Homestead or House Lot with the Buildings thereon standing containing about forty acres", bounded easterly by Capt. Stickney, Lieut. Francis Crosby, Capt. Josiah Bowers, David Parker, David Abbot and Capt. Samuel Whiting Jr. "to the high way", northerly and westerly on the way, and southerly on William and Benjamin Needham; "also about two acres of upland on the west side the abovesaid way against the homestead", bounded by Abraham Jaquith; also 30 acres on Indian Hill, 16 acres near Deacon Hill's, Mock Meadow and Chamberlain Meadow on Concord River, 11 acres west of the river, 10 acres south of Nutting's Pond, and his pew and stable right at the meeting house.
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| February 21, 1792 | Deed | Joseph Shed of Billerica, husbandman (Rebeckah Shed releasing dower) | Jonathan Bowers, gentleman, and Jesse French, blacksmith, both of Billerica, in equal shares | 1791 Joseph Shed sells the farm he lives on to Jonathan Bowers and Jesse French | 107/17 (South) |
Billerica town book 8, pages 349-350. Dated and acknowledged Aug. 30, 1791 (before James Underwood JP at Hillsborough, N.H.), recorded Feb. 21, 1792. For 200 pounds, "a certain Farm in said Billerica containing Forty Acres more or less, it being the same I now live on", beginning at the northeast corner by "the highway leading from Billerica Meeting House to Concord", southerly by the highway to Benjamin Needham, easterly and southerly by Needham to Jonathan Stickney, then by Stickney, Josiah Bowers, Jonathan Bowers, William Bradford and Samuel Whiting to the first bound; also two acres on the westerly side of the highway bounded by Joseph Jaquith, "together with the Buildings and Improvements". The start of the Shed place as two halves.
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| April 15, 1795 | Deed | Jesse French of Billerica, yeoman; Abigail French releasing dower | Luther French of Billerica, yeoman | 1794 Jesse French gives his half to son Luther | 118/312 (South) |
For 600 pounds, "the following parcels or pieces of land," described only by the deeds under which they were held: Jacob French to Ebenezer French (1737/8, 1756), Samuel and Abiel Kidder (1762), Timothy and Elizabeth Thornton (1748), John Needham (1762), Thomas Chandler (1773), John Dutton Jr. (1738), Samuel Sheldon (two of 1742), William French Jr. (1752), Thomas Kidder (1731), Samuel Dutton (1732), John Dutton (1731/2), Jacob French to Jesse (Dec. 26 and Nov. 9, 1785), Joseph Shed to Jonathan Bowers and Jesse French in equal shares (1791, the half "excepting the half of the barn standing on the said premises") and Amos and Sarah Foster (1793), "with all the buildings on the above described lands excepting the above exception." Dated and acknowledged Sept. 22, 1794 before Isaac Stearns, recorded April 15, 1795. Billerica town book 9, pages 199-200.
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| 1823 | Deed | Luther French of Billerica, yeoman (Sally French releasing dower) | William Bowers, gentleman, Mary Bowers and Fanny Bowers, all of Billerica | 1823 Luther French sells his half of the Shed place to the Bowers siblings | 250/116 (South) |
Billerica town book 13, pages 250-251. Dated April 22, 1823, acknowledged April 23 before Joseph Locke JP. For $685, "one undivided half of a tract of land situate in said Billerica about half a mile southerly of the meeting house with all the buildings thereon, commonly called the Shed place, containing about fifty six acres more or less", bounded from the lane leading to the house lately owned by Isaac French at land lately of Cyrus French, by that lane and "the road leading from Billerica to Concord" to land of Samuel Whiting Esq., then by Whiting, land lately of Simon Forrester, land of Rev. Jacob Norton and land of Josiah Bowers ("lately the Stickney farm"), and by land lately of Isaac French; "excepting from the above grant, the barn standing on the premises, in which the said Luther has no right". Also an undivided half of "the Shed orchard", about three acres by the same road and land of Col. John Parker, excepting a small burying ground "in which there are two tombs enclosed". The grantees were children of Dr. William Bowers of the Old Providence House.
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| October 19, 1824 | Quitclaim | Josiah Crosby of Billerica, Esq. | William Bowers, gentleman, Mary Bowers and Fanny Bowers, gentlewomen, all of Billerica | 1824 release of Luther Frenchs mortgage | 256/348 (South) |
Billerica town book 13, pages 297-298. Dated Oct. 18, 1824, acknowledged the same day before Joseph Locke JP. For one dollar, Crosby quitclaims "a certain farm or tract of land situate in said Billerica with the buildings thereon standing containing about fifty five acres more or less and is the same conveyed to me by mortgage deed from Luther French dated the first day of November A.D. 1819": the release of French's mortgage on the Shed place.
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| April 14, 1829 | Administration | Estate of Jonathan Bowers, Esq., of Billerica | His heirs at law | 1829 estate of Jonathan Bowers, holder of the other half | Probate #2295 |
Joshua Simonds of Lexington, yeoman, petitioned that Jonathan Bowers, Esq., "within six months last past died intestate ... leaving no widow nor children", and that the heirs at law had declined the administration; he was appointed April 14, 1829, with Jeremiah Crosby of Billerica (the guardian of the deceased since 1822) and Thomas Carter as sureties. His first account (April 12, 1831) covers the personal estate, $1,741.52 by the inventory, sales of grass, corn and standing wood on the Chelmsford, Baldwin, Davis, Nutting and Spaulding lots, and pasture and pew rents. The real estate passed to the heirs.
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| June 2, 1842 | Quitclaim | William Bowers of Billerica, yeoman | Mary Bowers of Billerica, singlewoman (his sister) | 1831 William Bowers to his sister Mary (Polly), half the dwelling house and the barn | 415/471 (South) |
Billerica town book 17, pages 296-297. Dated June 7, 1831, acknowledged July 27, 1831 before Marshall Preston JP; recorded June 2, 1842. For one dollar, "all my right, title, interest, and estate in and to the one undivided half of the Shed place, so called, situate in said Billerica being a part of the Real Estate of Jonathan Bowers Esq. deceased, containing forty nine acres and eighty one rods, more or less, with one undivided half of the dwelling house thereon and the whole of the Barn", bounded from the northeast corner at land of Samuel Whiting Esq. and "the road leading from Billerica to Bedford", by that road to "the road leading by the Grave yard to Isaac French place", by the heirs of Cyrus French and widow Hannah French to "the Causeway lot so called", and back by Josiah Bowers, Jacob Norton, "the Bell meadow so called", John Eames and Whiting, "not including the little pasture on the West side of said road". This was the other half of the farm, from the estate of Jonathan Bowers Esq.
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| March 16, 1869 | Will | Estate of Priscilla Bowers of Billerica, singlewoman (d. Feb. 22, 1869) | The First Baptist Church in Billerica (remainder, after the deaths of her sisters Mary and Fanny Bowers) | Will of Priscilla Bowers (1869): her share to the Baptist church | Probate #27759 |
Will of December 9, 1862, allowed at Lowell March 16, 1869, Dudley Foster executor: after a $500 legacy, "to the Baptist Church in Billerica all the remainder of my Property, Real, Mixed or Personal, to be by the Chh. kept as a fund, the interest of which to be expended for the support of Preaching in the Baptist Meeting house", the legacy "not to [be] paid till after the decease of my Sisters Mary & Fanny Bowers". Her heirs at law were those two sisters. The May 1869 inventory lists "1/3 of Homestead undivided 1 1/2 acres" at $1000 and "1/3 of Old Homestead 24 acres" at $800 among $3650 of real estate.
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| May 17, 1870 | Will | Estate of Mary Bowers of Billerica, singlewoman (d. 1870) | The Town of Billerica, for the benefit of the poor | Will of Mary (Polly) Bowers (1870): her share to the Town for the poor | Probate #27756 |
Will of December 9, 1862, allowed at Lowell May 17, 1870, Dudley Foster executor: "I give and bequeath to the Town of Billerica, all the Property Real, Mixed or Personal of which I may be possessed at the time of my decease, for the benefit of the poor of said Billerica. This legacy not to be paid untill after the decease of my Sisters Priscilla and Fanny Bowers." The town sold the two-thirds of the Bowers Homestead it received from Mary and Fanny Bowers to William H. Osborn in 1871.
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| May 2, 1872 | Quitclaim | The Members of the First Baptist Church and Society in Billerica, by Edward Spaulding and Geo. C. Gilman, committee | Charles E. Gorham of Billerica | 1871 Baptist church share to Charles E. Gorham | 86/117 |
Dated May 31, 1871, under a vote of a church and society meeting of May 1, 1871; acknowledged before Dudley Foster JP; recorded May 2, 1872. For $119.44, "one undivided eighteenth part of a certain parcel of land known as the 'Shed place' situate in said Billerica, containing forty nine acres & eighty one rods, more or less", from the northeast corner at land formerly of Samuel Whiting and "the road leading to Bedford", by that road to "the road leading by the grave yard to the 'Isaac French place'", by land formerly of the heirs of Cyrus French and of widow Hannah French to "the Causeway lot, so called", and back by land formerly of Josiah Bowers, Jacob Norton, "the Bell meadow, so called", John Eames and Samuel Whiting. "Being part of the real estate devised to said grantors by Priscilla Bowers."
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| May 2, 1872 | Quitclaim | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica, by Dudley Foster, Israel A. Colson and David L. Mason, committee; Dudley Foster, Treasurer | Charles E. Gorham of Billerica | 1871 Town sells the farm "with an old house thereon" to Charles E. Gorham | 86/118 |
Dated May 31, 1871, under a vote of town meeting of May 1871; acknowledged before Charles H. Parker JP; recorded May 2, 1872. For $2,330.56, "seventeen undivided eighteenth parts of a certain parcel of land known as the 'Shed place'", 49 acres 81 rods "with an old house thereon", the same bounds as the church's deed. "Being part of the real estate devised to said grantors by Mary Bowers and Fanny Bowers." The two deeds together brought $2,450 for the whole farm.
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| May 19, 1887 | Warranty Deed | Charles E. Gorham of Billerica, unmarried | Dudley Foster of Billerica | 1887 Gorham to Dudley Foster | 188/149 |
Dated May 17, 1887, acknowledged May 18 before Joseph P. Thompson JP. For $50, "a certain parcel of land known now or formerly as the 'Shed Place'", 49 acres 81 rods, the same bounds. "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Dudley Foster, Treasurer of the Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica, by his deed dated May 31st A.D. 1871 ... Book 86, Page 118." Subject to two mortgages that the grantee assumes, one to Dudley Foster as Treasurer (Book 129 Page 515) and one to Susie E. Burns of Billerica (Book 130 Page 112).
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| June 3, 1887 | Warranty Deed | Dudley Foster of Billerica (Mary P. Foster releasing dower and homestead) | Moses C. Mitchell of Billerica | 1887 Foster to Moses C. Mitchell (no buildings named) | 189/55 |
Pages 55-56. Dated May 25, 1887. For $1,500, "a certain parcel of land known as the 'Shed Place', situated in said Billerica, containing forty-nine acres and eighty-one rods, more or less", beginning at the northeast corner at land formerly of Samuel Whiting and "the road leading to Bedford", westerly and southwesterly by that road to "the road leading by the grave yard to the Isaac French Place", southerly 30 rods to land formerly of the heirs of Cyrus French, around their land and land formerly of Hannah French to "the Causeway lot, so called", and northerly by land formerly of Josiah Bowers, Jacob Norton, John Eames and Whiting to the beginning. "Being the same premises conveyed to me by Charles E. Gorham deed dated May, 1887" (book and page left blank). Mitchell moved his boys' school here after the 1888 fire.
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| December 7, 1935 | Mortgage | Mary H. Mitchell of Billerica, widow | Anna Zisman of Boston | 1935 Zisman mortgage of the Mitchell land | 876/243 |
Pages 243-245. Dated Nov. 22, 1935. To secure $20,000 in one year at five per cent, the same western land "with the buildings thereon" on the Mitchell Estates plan, with the same exceptions. Margin notes: assignments Book 921 Page 51 and Book 938 Page 162 (to Blanche S. Mitchell), partial releases Books 985, 997, 1005, 1008, and releases on sale Book 1014 Page 84 and Book 1031 Page 174.
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| December 7, 1935 | Deed | Mary H. Mitchell of Billerica, widow | Mitchell School, a Massachusetts corporation | 1935 Mitchell Estates plan; Block A house lots excepted from the school deed | 876/245 |
Pages 245-247. Dated Nov. 22, 1935, acknowledged in Suffolk County the same day; consideration less than $100. The land "with the buildings thereon" in Billerica Centre on the 1935 Mitchell Estates plan, west of the line to Alexander H. Mitchell: bounded by Concord Road, French Street, land of Paris, McElligott, unknown owners and Mason, excepting the house lots of Blocks A, B and C along Concord Road and Campbell Road. "For my title see records of Probate Court, Estate of Moses C. Mitchell, Docket #98722." Subject to taxes for 1935 and "to a mortgage given by the said grantor to Anna Zisman in the sum of $20,000".
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| November 24, 1939 | Assignment of Mortgage | Anna Zisman | Blanche S. Mitchell | 1939 assignment of the mortgage to Blanche S. Mitchell | 938/162 |
Recorded Nov. 24, 1939, entered in the grantee index (1926-1940, Mitchell, p. 218) as "Asst. 876-243": the assignment of the 1935 Zisman mortgage of the Mitchell School grounds to Blanche S. Mitchell, who sold the field lots in 1947 and 1948.
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| October 16, 1947 | Deed | Blanche S. Mitchell of Billerica, individually and as executrix of the will of Alexander H. Mitchell | James B. and Irene M. Tobin of Somerville | 1947 rear Lot 9 of Mitchell Estates sold (today 106 Concord Rd) | 1079/166 |
Dated April 10, 1947, acknowledged at New London, Conn.; recorded Oct. 16, 1947. Quitclaim of "a certain parcel of land situated in said Billerica and being Lot 9 in Block A" on the "Plan of Land of Mitchell Estates, Billerica Centre, Mass., April 28, 1935" (Plan Book 59, Plan 16): southeasterly by Stuart Road 93.27 feet, northeasterly by Lot 10, northwesterly by Lot 4 93.20 feet, southwesterly by Lot 8; 17,941 sq. ft. No buildings named. Blanche S. Mitchell signed individually and as executrix under the will of Alexander H. Mitchell (Middlesex Probate 236980). This rear lot, behind the old Shed place house site on Lot 4, is today 106 Concord Rd. It passed to later private owners in 1966, and a house was built on it in 1996.
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| May 26, 1948 | Deed | Blanche S. Mitchell of Billerica, unmarried | Christos and Rita Zousimas of Billerica, husband and wife | 1948 Lot 4, the vacant old house site on Concord Road, sold | 1092/37 |
Dated May 17, 1948, acknowledged at Los Angeles; recorded May 26, 1948; stamps 55 cents. Quitclaim of "the land in said Billerica and being Lot 4 in Block A" on the 1935 Mitchell Estates plan (Plan Book 59, Plan 16): northerly by Lot 3 186.42 feet, westerly by Concord Road 93.34 feet, southerly by Lot 5 194.60 feet, easterly by Lot 9 93.20 feet; 17,755 square feet. No buildings: this is the site of the old Shed place farmhouse (Walling 1853 "Polly Bowers"), long gone. A house was built on the lot by 1955 (deeds of 1953 Book 1229 Page 539, 1955 Book 1317 Page 69 and 1964 Book 1670 Page 19 between private owners, the last two "with the buildings thereon"); it is today 104 Concord Rd. In 1997 a strip of Lot 4 (Parcel A, 3,870 sq. ft.) was added to Lot 9 by Plan Book 193, Plan 70 (Book 8447 Page 288), and 106 Concord Rd was sold in 2021 (Book 35981 Page 134).
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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.