Person
Isaac Hurd
Isaac Hurd
| Born | Charlestown, Massachusetts |
| Died | Concord, Massachusetts |
| Physician | |
| In Office | 1778 - 1785 |
| Spouses |
Sarah Tompson |
| Children | Isaac |
Isaac Hurd was a physician who practiced in Billerica in the years of the Revolution and is remembered by Isaac Hurd Square, at the junction of Boston Road and Lexington Road. He was born in Charlestown in 1756 and graduated from Harvard in 1776, the year the college had removed to Concord. After two years of study with Dr. Prescott of Groton he began to practice in Billerica in 1778, and the town later honored him as a surgeon in the Revolutionary army.
On September 24, 1778 he married Sarah Tompson, a daughter of Colonel William Tompson. Their children were William Tompson (1779), Sally (1780), Isaac (1782), later a merchant in Concord, Betsey (1785), Benjamin (1787) and Lucy, born in May 1789, who lived only two months. Sarah died on June 1, 1789.
In 1786 he bought from the executors of William Stickney about thirty-two acres north of the meeting house on the road to the old bridge, with the buildings, running west to the Concord River (see Samuel Manning Homestead). Soon after his wife's death he moved to Concord, and in 1794 he and his second wife, Polly, conveyed the farm, then about thirty-five acres, to Isaac Wilkins, a Billerica merchant. Through his first wife's family he kept an interest in Billerica: by 1816 he held the Tompson homestead farm in the east part of the town (see Jones Farmhouse), which he mortgaged to John Skinner, a Charlestown merchant, in 1816 and 1820, and released to Skinner in 1829.
In Concord he lived at the Block House, on the site later taken by the savings bank, until his death in 1844, at eighty-eight.
At the annual town meeting of March 1937 Billerica voted, under Article 28, to name the junction of Boston Road and Lexington Road "Isaac Hurd Square in honor of a patriot citizen of Billerica who was a surgeon in the Revolutionary Army," with a marker and sign, and in 1939 the town appropriated money for markers on Isaac Hurd Square and James Reddy Square.
References
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 76, HURD 1
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 76: Dr. Isaac Hurd, marriage to Sarah Tompson and children
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), p. 304: list of Billerica physicians ("Hurd, Isaac, 1778")
- Concord Free Public Library, Ruth Wheeler, "Concord Physicians" (1953): Dr. Isaac Hurd, born 1756, Harvard 1776, died 1844 aged 88
Deed References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Property | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 11, 1786 | Executor's Deed | Joshua Abbot and Jonathan Stickney, executors of William Stickney Esq. | Dr. Isaac Hurd | Details | Samuel Manning Homestead Pemberton Academy |
93/470 (South) |
Under license of the Supreme Judicial Court, the executors of William Stickney Esq., late of Billerica, sell for 231 pounds lawful silver money to Isaac Hurd of Billerica, physician, "a certain parcel of land lying in said Billerica Northward of the Meeting House on the Country road leading to the old Bridge being about Thirty two acres," bounded south by Joshua Abbot, west by Concord River, north by Hurd's own land to the widow's thirds, then around the thirds "as the wall now stands" to the highway, "excepting what was laid off to the widows thirds as is recorded in the Probate Office, with the Buildings thereon standing." Signed March 30, 1786, "in the tenth year of American Independence," witnessed by Benjamin Hurd Jr. and William Tompson. Stearns traced the farm back through Stickney and Benjamin Heywood (1721-1728) to Samuel Manning, who bought the Hubbard grant in 1662; those earlier transfers were not traced in the registry. Billerica town book 8, pages 57-58.
Title from:
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| September 11, 1794 | Deed | Dr. Isaac Hurd and Polly Hurd | Isaac Wilkins | Details | Samuel Manning Homestead Pemberton Academy |
117/229 (South) |
Isaac Hurd, now of Concord, physician, conveys to Isaac Wilkins of Billerica, merchant, "a certain parcel of Land lying in Billerica aforesaid Northwardly of the Meeting House in said Billerica on the County road leading to the old Bridge containing about thirty five acres," bounded southerly by Joshua Abbott, westerly by Concord River "to a maple tree standing by said River," northerly "to an heap of stones in the Island so called," then as the wall stands to an old stump and by the County road back to the first bound, "together with all the Buildings thereon standing." The stated consideration is only five shillings. Signed Sept. 8, 1794, witnessed by Amos Bancroft and Eliza Knight. Billerica town book 9, pages 163-165.
Title passed to:
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| January 5, 1821 | Mortgage | Isaac Hurd of Concord, physician, and Polly Hurd | John Skinner of Charlestown, merchant | Details | Jones Farmhouse | 236/167 (South) |
For $3,260, "a certain tract of land lying in the easterly part of the town of Billerica ... it being formerly the homestead place of William Thompson late of Billerica ... esquire deceased containing one hundred and forty nine acres agreeably to a survey of Samuel Whiting esquire ... with the buildings thereto belonging," securing a three year note. Dated Dec. 21, 1820; acknowledged Jan. 4, 1821 before Joseph Tufts. Hurd had already mortgaged the east part to Skinner in 1816 (Middlesex South Book 216 Page 463; town book 13, page 21). Billerica town book 13, pages 110-111.
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| March 28, 1829 | Quitclaim | Joseph Hurd of Exeter, N.H., and Isaac Hurd of Concord | John Skinner of Charlestown, merchant | Details | Jones Farmhouse | 288/258 (South) |
Two releases dated March 26, 1829, each for $100. Joseph Hurd, Esq., who held a second mortgage of the same date as Skinner's (Dec. 21, 1820), quitclaims his interest in the land Isaac Hurd had mortgaged to Skinner (Book 288 Page 258); Isaac Hurd then quitclaims to Skinner the parcel "conveyed by me to said Skinner and also to Joseph Hurd by my deeds to them respectively dated the twenty first day of December ... eighteen hundred and twenty," the Skinner deed "recorded ... book 236 page 167" (Book 288 Page 259). Skinner now holds the Tompson homestead outright. Billerica town book 14, pages 170-171.
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Recorded is Book/Page at the Middlesex North Registry of Deeds unless noted.