Talbot Woolen Mills Worker Housing at 21-23 Colson St
Talbot Woolen Mills Worker Housing at 21-23 Colson St
This large duplex at 21-23 Colson Street in North Billerica is one of the company houses of The Talbot Mills, built about 1888 on the east side of the old road from Billerica Centre to the mill village. The Billerica Historical Commission's 1980 survey dated it from the maps: it "Appears on 1889 map, not 1887 engraving", that is, on the 1889 Walker atlas but not on the 1887 Burleigh bird's-eye view. It is a contributing building in the Billerica Mills Historic District (National Register, 1983).
The land was part of the homestead farm of Daniel Wilson, who bought his first lots on the old road from the Middlesex Canal proprietors in 1831 and added part of the Mears homestead in 1832. After Wilson died in 1861 the farm was sold at auction in 1863, passed to Gardner Parker in 1864, and in 1882 the remaining fourteen acres went to J. M. G. Parker, who sold them in 1883 to Charles P. Talbot and Thomas Talbot. In October 1884 the Talbots and the heirs of C. P. Talbot conveyed their North Billerica property to the new corporation, The Talbot Mills. In 1885 the company sold the half acre just to the north to Carl H. Kohlrausch, who built the Kohlrausch House there; a few years later the company put up this two-family house on its own land next door and rented it to its workers.
The company kept the house for almost fifty years. When The Talbot Mills sold off its village houses in 1936-1940, it laid the land out in numbered lots on "Plan A" (Plan Book 60 Plan 25), and this house stood on Lot 54, 16,697 square feet, with 137.68 feet on Colson Street, the Shallo (former Kohlrausch) land on the north and lots 48 and 49 behind. By a deed signed Sept. 30, 1936 and recorded Oct. 26, the company sold Lot 54 "with the buildings thereon" to William F. Nuttall and his wife Julia A. Nuttall, keeping the right to maintain the common sewer that ran through the lot. William Nuttall, a textile worker, had lived at 17 Wilson Street in 1931. The Nuttalls borrowed $1,400 from the Lowell Co-operative Bank and paid it off in 1945. Decades later the family remembered the house as a "Purchase from Talbot Mills by Grandfather, William Nuttall".
Julia Nuttall died on Feb. 13, 1960. In August 1963 William F. Nuttall had the lot surveyed by James B. Monahan (Plan Book 99 Plan 73A) and divided it: the north 10,500 square feet with the duplex and its garage, and a 6,200-square-foot strip on the south next to the Baptist Society land, with a ten-foot common driveway along the dividing line. In December 1963 he deeded the north part to Myles E. and Marion L. Nuttall and kept the south part, where a smaller house (19 Colson Street) was built.
The Nuttall family sold the duplex in 1976, after forty years, to two couples who each took an undivided half; when the historical commission surveyed it in 1980 the two halves were owned and occupied separately. One couple bought out the other in 1987, and the house was sold in 1993, again in 2010, and passed to a limited liability company in 2020. The assessor now lists it as a three-family house on 0.241 acre.
References
- MACRIS BIL.241
- Billerica assessor, 21-23 Colson St (parcel 15-195-0): 0.241 acre, three-family, "built about 1890", Plan 99-73A part Lot 54, sales 1987-2020
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| March 31, 1794 | Deed | Solomon, Moses and Nathan Carleton, Jesse Manning, Thomas Todd, Thomas Laws and Thomas Mears, heirs of John Carleton, with their wives | Thomas Richardson of Billerica, gentleman | 1783 the Carleton heirs sell the Osgood mill land west of the river to Thomas Richardson | 115/271 (South) |
Billerica town book 9, pages 87-91. Dated April 17, 1783, recorded March 31, 1794. For 818 pounds "lawful Silver money", "about forty Acres of Land ... on the West side of Concord River ... Easterly on said River, Westerly on the highway it being about two thirds of the land which was granted by the Town of Billerica unto Capt. Christopher Osgood", two thirds "of the Mills commonly known by the name of Osgoods or Carletons Mills" and two thirds of the dam and stream with the buildings, "as the same was set off by the Committee for the Widows Thirds", "meaning to convey two thirds of the Homested and Mills and Buildings thereon standing and the Shop is wholley conveyed". Richardson takes on two thirds of the 1708 town conditions, the Ruggles agreement and the repair of "the Bridge or Road" below the dam. Richardson later bought the widow's dower interest (S.115/274 and others) and in 1794 sold the whole as Richardson's Mills to the Middlesex Canal.
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| April 21, 1794 | Deed | Thomas Richardson of Billerica, gentleman (Judith Richardson releasing dower) | Ebenezer Hall of Medford and Samuel Jaques of Wilmington, a committee for the Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal | 1794 Richardson sells the land at the mills to the Middlesex Canal | 115/259 (South) |
For 1350 pounds, "about forty acres of Land" bounded easterly by Concord River, westerly by the highway and northerly and southerly by the road; the reversion of half the dower of the widow Hannah Carlton, conveyed to him by Solomon, Moses and Nathan Carlton; five sixths of a small piece at the northeast end of the mill dam, bounded easterly "by Timothy Sprague's Ditch that conveys Water to the Fulling mill"; "together with all the Buildings ... including the Mills Mill priviledges ... commonly known by the name of Richardson's Mills being the same which was formerly granted by the Town of Billerica to Christopher Osgood together with the Mill Dam and Stream", on the conditions of the town's vote of October 4, 1708, a passage for fish, and his 1791 agreement with Timothy Sprague. Dated March 25, 1794; recorded April 21, 1794. Billerica town book 9, pages 81-82. The Canal Mills land from which the proprietors sold their small house lots.
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| April 21, 1832 | Deed | Proprietors of the Middlesex Canal (Peter O. Thacher, president) | Daniel Wilson of Billerica | 1831 the Canal sells Daniel Wilson his lots, the start of the Wilson homestead on the old road (Colson St) | 313/21 (South) |
The Canal Proprietors sell Wilson about two and three quarter acres "on the southerly side of the road" from Oliver Farmer's house to the mills owned by the Canal, bounded by land sold to John Mixer and land of the late Nathan Mears, being lots 4 to 12 on Samuel Whiting's plan of the Canal's mill land of May 27, 1816. This is the land on the south side of Elm Street at the corner of the later Colson Street where Wilson built his house in 1848 (MACRIS cites it as the purchase of the house lot). Signed October 24, 1831; recorded April 21, 1832. Billerica town book 16, pages 91-92.
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| April 21, 1832 | Guardian's Deed | John Baldwin of Billerica, Esq., guardian of Lucy Ann, Nathan and Elbert Mears, minor children of Nathan Mears | Daniel Wilson of Billerica | 1832 part of the Mears homestead added to the Wilson farm | 313/22 (South) |
Licensed by the Supreme Judicial Court, sold at public vendue on the premises March 20, 1832, for $1,428.06, three undivided fifth parts of part of the Mears homestead farm (11 acres 25 1/2 rods, lots 3-5 on S. Livingston's plan) and of "the Z. Shed Lot so called, containing six acres and one hundred and forty three rods", from the northeasterly corner at the road from the "old Mears place" to William Rogers', westerly by the widow Lydia Mears's dower land 58 rods 15 links to William Pollard, southerly by Pollard to the road "leading from the corner so called, to said old Mears place," northeasterly by that road to the corner of the roads about 54 rods, and northerly by the road about 19 poles. Signed March 20, 1832, recorded April 21, 1832. Billerica town book 16, pages 93-95.
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| 1861 | Administration | Estate of Daniel Wilson of Billerica, who died November 29, 1861 intestate | Gardner Parker of Billerica, administrator; widow Mary Wilson and eight children | 1861 estate of Daniel Wilson, owner of the homestead farm | Probate #44864 |
Gardner Parker, husband of Wilson's daughter Adeline, petitioned December 11, 1861 that Daniel Wilson had died November 29, 1861 intestate, leaving his widow Mary and children Mary J. Wilkins, Adeline M. Parker, Horace N. Wilson, Daniel A. Wilson (at Rattlesnake Bar, California), Israel N. Wilson (a captain then serving in Virginia), Frances A. Faulkner and Charles H. Wilson; he was appointed administrator at Cambridge December 24, 1861. The license of April 7, 1863 led to the sale of Wilson's third of the Mears Tavern stand.
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| April 6, 1864 | Administrator's Deed | Gardner Parker of Billerica, administrator of the estate of Daniel Wilson | James Faulkner of Billerica | 1863 administrator's auction of the Wilson homestead farm | 37/357 |
Under a license of the Probate Court at Lowell of April 7, 1863, after three weeks' notice in the Lowell Daily Courier, the administrator sold at public auction on December 7, 1863, to James Faulkner, the highest bidder, for $4,000, all Wilson's right at his death in "a certain piece or parcel of land situate in said Billerica, containing about twenty-eight acres being the homestead farm of the late Daniel Wilson", bounded west by the road from Billerica to North Billerica, north by that road and lands of Easty, I. N. Wilson, Foster, Lane and C. P. Talbot & Co., east by Easty, Foster, Lane and the Concord River, and south by the Concord River and the Common. Dated December 7, 1863; acknowledged April 5, 1864; recorded April 6, 1864.
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| April 6, 1864 | Quitclaim | James Faulkner of Billerica (Fanny A. Faulkner releasing dower and homestead) | Gardner Parker of Billerica | 1864 the farm passes to Gardner Parker | 37/358 |
For $4,000, the same twenty-eight acres "being the homestead farm of the late Daniel Wilson of said Billerica deceased", same bounds, "subject to a right of way over a portion of said premises, and to the dower of Mary Wilson, widow". Faulkner (husband of Wilson's daughter Frances) passed the farm to the administrator Parker (husband of his daughter Adeline) the day after the sale deed was acknowledged. Dated April 5, 1864; recorded April 6, 1864.
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| July 28, 1882 | Warranty Deed | Gardner Parker of Billerica (Adeline M. Parker releasing dower and homestead) | J. M. G. Parker of Lowell | 1882 Gardner Parker to J. M. G. Parker, the 14 acres of the Wilson homestead | 154/208 |
For $6,600, "a certain parcel of land situate in North Billerica, containing about fourteen acres more or less, with all the buildings thereon, being a part of the Homestead farm of the late Daniel Wilson of said Billerica, deceased", bounded west by "the old road from Billerica to North Billerica", north by that road, and east and south by lands of C. P. Talbot & Co., the School House lot and Wilson Street, as on a plan by Osgood & Snell. The rest of the Wilson farm, with the 1848 house. Dated and acknowledged July 8, 1882, before Dudley Foster; recorded July 28, 1882.
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| August 10, 1883 | Quitclaim | John M. G. Parker of Lowell (D. Maria Parker releasing dower and homestead) | Charles P. Talbot of Lowell and Thomas Talbot of Billerica | 1883 the 14-acre Wilson homestead, west by the old road (now Colson St), sold to C. P. and Thomas Talbot | 162/3 |
For $7,000, "a certain parcel of land situate in North Billerica containing about fourteen acres more or less with all the buildings thereon, being a part of the Homestead farm of the late Daniel Wilson of said Billerica deceased", bounded west by the old road from Billerica to North Billerica, north by that road, and east and south by lands of C. P. Talbot & Co., the School House lot and Wilson Street, per the Osgood & Snell plan; "Said premises were conveyed to me by Gardner Parker the eighth day of July A.D. 1882 by deed recorded ... Book 154 Page 208". In October 1884 the Talbots conveyed their North Billerica property to the new Talbot Mills corporation (Book 169 Pages 468 and 472). Dated and acknowledged August 1, 1883; recorded August 10, 1883.
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| October 16, 1884 | Guardian's Deed | Harriet Talbot et al., by their guardian | The Talbot Mills, Billerica | 1884 Talbot heirs (by guardian) to The Talbot Mills, the second parcel, which included Lot 54 | 169/468 |
Known from the grantee index 1881-1900 (Talbot Mills-Billerica, index page 82): received October 16, 1884, "N Billerica. Several parcels, water rts, mill privileges &c, see record", recorded with the deed of Thomas Talbot et al. (Book 169 Page 472). Book 169 images are unavailable at the registry; not read.
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| October 16, 1884 | Deed | Thomas Talbot et al. | The Talbot Mills, Billerica | 1884 Thomas Talbot and others to The Talbot Mills, the second parcel, which included Lot 54 | 169/472 |
Known from the grantee index 1881-1900 (Talbot Mills-Billerica, index page 82): received October 16, 1884, "N Billerica. Several parcels, water rts, mill privileges &c, see record." Later Talbot Mills deeds cite it with Book 169 Page 468 as the deeds "from the Talbot heirs" to the new corporation (one recites a deed of Thomas Talbot et als. dated Oct. 15, 1884). The registry shows "Image is Unavailable" for Book 169, so the deed itself was not read; that it covered the land of the future Oval, part of the C. P. Talbot and Company property west of Wilson Street on the 1881 plan, is inferred.
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| December 4, 1885 | Warranty Deed | The Talbot Mills (Solomon Lincoln, President; Frederic S. Clark, Treasurer) | Carl H. Kohlrausch of Billerica | 1885 the Kohlrausch lot next north cut from the same Talbot Mills land on the old road | 178/102 |
For $200, "a certain lot of land containing about half an acre situated in that part of said Billerica called North Billerica": from a stone bound on the easterly side of "the old road leading from said Billerica to said North Billerica about one hundred and eighty feet from the middle of a turn in said road towards the east", south 120 feet by the road, then east 181 feet 6 inches, north 120 feet and west 181 feet 6 inches, all by land of the Talbot Mills; "said lot being a portion of the Daniel Wilson homestead so called". No buildings are mentioned: the house was built on it about 1886. Dated Nov. 24, 1885, acknowledged in Suffolk the same day before Walter Irving Badger JP. The buyer was Carl H. Kohlrausch, who bought "under the name of Charles H. Kohlrausch" (N.351/465). MACRIS BIL.240 cites this deed as 178/192, a misprint.
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| October 26, 1936 | Quitclaim | The Talbot Mills, by Thomas T. Clark, Treasurer | William F. Nuttall and Julia A. Nuttall, husband and wife, of Billerica, tenants by the entirety | 1936 The Talbot Mills sells Lot 54 "with the buildings thereon" (this duplex) to William F. and Julia A. Nuttall | 889/549 |
For consideration paid ($2.50 in revenue stamps), "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon situated on the easterly side of Colson Street": west by Colson Street 137.68 feet; south by other land of the grantor in two courses 117.09 feet; east by lots 48 and 49 143.70 feet; north by land now or formerly of Martin J. Shallo 120.19 feet; 16,697 square feet, "being Lot 54 on plan 'A'" ("Plan of a Portion of Property belonging to The Talbot Mills, North Billerica, Mass. showing division into lots", surveyed 1926-27-36 by J. C. and W. T. Monahan, Plan Book 60 Plan 25). "Being a part of the second parcel of land described in two deeds to the grantor, one from Frank P. Putnam, Guardian and the other from Thomas Talbot and others, both dated October 15, 1884" (Book 169 Pages 468 and 472). The company reserved the common sewer running through the lot and the right to enter to repair it. Signed by Thomas T. Clark, Treasurer, Sept. 30, 1936, acknowledged at Billerica the same day before Albert H. Richardson JP; recorded Oct. 26, 1936. One of the company houses sold to their tenants when The Talbot Mills sold off its village in 1936-1940; the family later recalled it as the "Purchase from Talbot Mills by Grandfather, William Nuttall" (MACRIS BIL.241).
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| October 26, 1936 | Mortgage | William F. Nuttall and Julia A. Nuttall, husband and wife, of Billerica | Lowell Co-operative Bank | 1936 purchase mortgage on the house to Lowell Co-operative Bank, paid off in 1945 | 889/550 |
Mortgage for $1,400 on "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon, situated on the easterly side of Colson Street" (the bounds of the deed just above, south "by land of The Talbot Mills"), Lot 54 on Plan A, Plan Book 60 Plan 25, on the statutory co-operative bank conditions. Dated Oct. 16, 1936 and recorded with the purchase deed on Oct. 26, 1936. Discharged by the bank on April 10, 1945 (recorded July 18, 1945, Book 1026 Page 428), leaving the Nuttalls owning the house free and clear.
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| December 6, 1963 | Quitclaim | William F. Nuttall of Billerica, widower | Myles E. Nuttall and Marion L. Nuttall, husband and wife, of Billerica, tenants by the entirety | 1963 William F. Nuttall gives the duplex and the north part of Lot 54 to Myles E. and Marion L. Nuttall; later private sales 1976-2020 summarized | 1629/275 |
For consideration paid, "the land in said Billerica on the easterly side of Colson Street" shown on "Plan of Land in Billerica surveyed for William E. [sic] Nuttall, August 10, 1963 by James B. Monahan, Land Surveyor" (Plan Book 99 Plan 73A): north by land now or formerly of Shallo 120 feet; east by lots 48 and 49 93.27 feet; south "by land of said grantor" in three courses 119.70 feet; west by Colson Street 83.94 feet; 10,500 square feet, "being a portion of the same premises conveyed to me by Deed of Talbot Mills Corporation dated September 30, 1936" (Book 889 Page 549); together with and subject to a perpetual 10-foot right of way along the south line, running 91.94 feet east from Colson Street, "as a common driveway for the Grantor and Grantees". A note at the foot records that "Julia Nutall, wife of William, died February 13, 1960." The 1963 plan divided Lot 54 in two: this north part with the duplex, and a 6,200-square-foot south part next to the Baptist Society land that William F. Nuttall kept. Recorded Dec. 6, 1963. Later history, private owners: the Nuttalls of Seabrook, N.H., sold the house on June 17, 1976 for $30,000 to two couples, each taking an undivided half ("all of 21-23 Colson Street", Book 2199 Page 31, "No title search requested or performed"); one couple bought out the other on May 28, 1987 for $80,000 (Book 4079 Page 43); it was sold on Sept. 1, 1993 for $162,000 (Book 6653 Page 89), again in December 2010 for $351,000 (Book 24542 Page 217), and passed in 2020 from a realty trust to a limited liability company (Book 34791 Page 70).
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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.