Structure · Built 1870 · Demolished 1891
Union Hall (1870)
The first Union Hall was the school-house that the town built in 1870 for the schools of North Billerica, on the north side of the road from the mills to the North Billerica Railroad Depot, on a lot bought that March from James R. and Charles Faulkner. At the opening of the autumn term of 1870 the grammar and primary schools moved in, and by the 1880s the building was known as Union Hall, with schoolrooms below and an upper hall let for meetings and entertainments. The Episcopal mission of St. Anne's held its first services there in 1886. The 1880 plan of the Faulkner Manufacturing Company shows it as the "School House", about 3,100 square feet with a small rear projection, beside the railroad station.
On February 22, 1891 the building caught fire. The North Billerica company fought it "stubbornly for some time but owing to the peculiar construction of roof were finally obliged to call for aid from Lowell", and the hall was a total loss, insured for $8,000. The town rebuilt at once on the same lot; see Union Hall for the second building, which stood until 1967.
References
- Billerica assessor, parcel 10-48-0, Station St: Town of Billerica (B + M Parking Lot), 0.459 acre; current deed Book 72 Page 580 (1870)
- Annual Report of the Town of Billerica, 1891: the fire that destroyed Union Hall and its schoolrooms
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| 1784 | Will | Estate of Thomas Rogers of Billerica, yeoman | Widow Martha Rogers for life; then Timothy Crosby, Abigail wife of Shemuel Griffin, and Cato | 1784: will of Thomas Rogers, whose homestead farm included the later Union Hall lot | Probate #19490 |
Will dated March 3, 1784: to "Martha my beloved wife the full use ... of all my Lands Buildings & Estate" for life; "my Negro boy Cato shall be a free man"; after the widow's death "my homestead farm laying in Billerica" and the rest of the estate to Timothy Crosby, Abigail wife of Shemuel Griffin, and Cato equally; the executors may sell "my Meadow of about four acres called Broad meadow" for debts. Proved June 2, 1784 (Shemuel Griffin executor). Inventory Sept. 8, 1784: "the Homestead and building thereon" 272 pounds 4s, a piece of land in Broad Meadow 36 pounds. The homestead was the land west of the corner lot Rogers had sold Isaac Kidder in January.
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| August 26, 1786 | Executor's Deed | Shemuel Griffin of Andover, executor of the will of Thomas Rogers late of Billerica | Samuel Danforth of Billerica, yeoman | 1786: Rogers farm sold by his executor to Samuel Danforth | 94/202 (South) |
Billerica town book 8, pages 69-70. Dated April 26, 1786, under an order of the Court of Common Pleas (March 1785) to sell for debts and legacies. For 174 pounds 10s 8d, "a certain Tract or parcel of land situate in the Northerly part of said Town of Billerica containing chief of the Homestead farm of said Thomas Rogers deceased with all the Buildings thereon by Estimation fifty acres", bounded north and west by Isaac Kidder's land and south by "the Road leading from Tewksbury through said Billerica to Chelmsford" (about 120 poles). The western 24 acres by the fulling mill had gone to Timothy Sprague (Book 108 Page 210).
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| March 31, 1794 | Deed | Samuel Danforth of Billerica, yeoman (wife Mary releasing dower) | Thomas Richardson of Billerica, gentleman | 1788: Danforth to Thomas Richardson | 115/276 (South) |
Billerica town book 9, pages 94-95. Dated April 21, 1788, "in the twelfth year of America Independency" (the acknowledgment is copied as May 1, 1783). For 153 pounds 7s, "A Farm linge in the Northly parte of Billerica containing about fifty acres", bounded east by "the Roade leeding to Isaac Kidder's", north and west by Isaac Kidder's land and south on Timothy Sprague's land, "together with the House and Barn and Shope thereon standing": the Thomas Rogers homestead.
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| September 18, 1826 | Deed | Thomas Richardson of Billerica, gentleman | His daughter Elizabeth Richardson of Billerica, singlewoman | 1822: Richardson to his daughter Elizabeth, the 20 acres | 269/449 (South) |
Billerica town book 13, pages 445-446. Dated March 12, 1822. For $800, "a certain farm formerly owned by Thomas Rogers with the buildings thereon containing twenty acres be it more or less", from the southwest corner by the road leading to John Rogers's, east by that road, north and west by land of Rogers "to land of Francis Faulkner Esqr. as the fence now stands", south by Faulkner to "the road leading from the Canal Mills to Billerica Meeting house" and by that road to the corner. The old Rogers farm east of the Canal Mills land, later William E. Faulkner's back land.
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| March 25, 1831 | Deed | Elizabeth Richardson of Boston, singlewoman | William E. Faulkner (William Emerson Faulkner) of Billerica | 1831: Elizabeth Richardson to William E. Faulkner | 303/157 (South) |
Billerica town book 11, pages 543-544. Dated March 24, 1831. For $350, "a certain lot of land formerly owned by Thomas Rogers containing twenty acres be it more or less", bounded by the road leading to John Rogers's, by land of Rogers, west by land of Francis Faulkner, Esquire, "as the fence now stands", by land of John and Henry Baldwin and the heirs of Nathan Mears, and south by "the road which leads from the Canal Mills to Billerica Meeting house". The land her father had deeded her in 1822; William E. Faulkner's farm behind the road east of his father's mill land.
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| April 14, 1847 | Deed | William E. Faulkner of Billerica, gentleman | Charles P. Talbot of Lowell and Thomas Talbot of Billerica, dye stuff manufacturers | 1847: the Talbots buy the depot lot, the abutter on the hall lot in 1870 | 506/80 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 318-319. Dated April 13, 1847. For $100, "a certain piece or parcel of land situate in said Billerica near the Billerica Mills Depot so called containing eighty square rods", beginning "near the Depot Building and the lane running from said Depot to the Faulkner Factory", bounded by land of the Boston and Lowell Rail Road Company and on two sides "by my land", with a right of passage; the Talbots to keep up "the partition fences between said premises and my other lands". A small lot cut from the corner of William E. Faulkner's farm by the North Billerica depot; the rest of his land behind the mill stayed his until his death in 1861.
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| October 8, 1861 | Administration | Estate of William E. Faulkner of Billerica, trader (died September 1, 1861, intestate) | His brother James R. Faulkner, administrator | 1861: administration of William E. Faulkner | Probate #31573 |
Petition of October 1, 1861 by James R. Faulkner, eldest brother: William E. Faulkner of Billerica, trader, "died on the first day of September" 1861 intestate, leaving no widow; next of kin his brothers James R., Dwight F., Charles, Winthrop, George and Luther W. Faulkner and his sisters Lois R., Lydia H. and Ann F. (wife of Calvin Rogers). Decree of October 8, 1861 appointing James R. Faulkner administrator, bond $20,000 with Calvin Rogers and Luther W. Faulkner as sureties; notice in the Boston Daily Advertiser. No inventory is in the file; his land passed to the heirs, who released it to James R. Faulkner (Book 30 Page 386).
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| March 25, 1862 | Quitclaim Deed | The heirs at law of William E. Faulkner (Dwight F., Lois R., Lydia H., Charles, George, Winthrop and Luther W. Faulkner, Calvin and Ann F. Rogers, and the Keene and Sioux City heirs) | James R. Faulkner of Billerica, "the only other heir at law" | 1861/62: W. E. Faulkner heirs to James R. Faulkner; piece (2), the six acres, includes the hall lot | 30/386 |
Dated December 24, 1861. For $1,800, the land of "William E. Faulkner, late of said Billerica, deceased, intestate": (1) about half an acre "with the dwelling house thereon" on "the road leading from North Billerica Mills to the centre of the town", 343 ft deep between land of James Faulkner and "other land formerly of said William E. when living" (W. E.'s interest "was one undivided half part only"); (2) "six acres, more or less" running back from the road along J. R. Faulkner and Company's land to the Jones, Haynes and Foster line, east 423 ft on that line, south 791 ft on the Boston and Lowell Railroad and by C. P. Talbot and Company to "the road leading to the depot"; (3) about two acres at the corner of the depot road and the road to Tewksbury. Piece (2) is the back land where the house now at 3 Mason Avenue stands.
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| April 13, 1870 | Quitclaim Deed | James R. Faulkner of Billerica and Charles Faulkner of Boston (wives Catharine R. and Anne S. Faulkner releasing dower and homestead) | The Inhabitants of the Town of Billerica | 1870: the Faulkners sell the lot to the Town; school-house built that year; still the Town's title | 72/580 |
Dated March 5, 1870, acknowledged April 11 before Dudley Foster, recorded April 13, 1870. For $500, the brothers "do hereby grant remise release and forever quitclaim" (with warranty against all claiming under them) "a certain tract of land situated in that part of Billerica called North Billerica": beginning at the southeast corner "at land of the Proprietors of the Boston and Lowell Rail Road on the cross road leading from main road to the Depot", north by the railroad 139 1/2 feet "to land of C. P. Talbot & Co.", still north by Talbot land 32 1/2 feet, west by the grantors' land 115 feet, south by their land 205 feet to the cross road, and east on the cross road 136 feet. No title recital: it is part of William E. Faulkner's six acres (Book 30 Page 386). The Town built the North Billerica school-house, later Union Hall, on it that year, and the deed is still the Town's title to the lot, assessors' parcel 10-48, now part of the commuter rail parking lot (Town of Billerica, 0.459 acre; no later conveyance found in the grantor indexes 1856-1975 or the registry's property search).
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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.