Joseph Salter House (Wilson Street)
Joseph Salter House
| Also Known As | Talbot Textile Mills Worker Housing |
| Address | 42 Wilson St |
| MACRIS ID | BIL.118 |
| Built | 1846 |
| Owners | Joseph J. Salter (1846 - 1850) |
The Joseph Salter House at 42 Wilson Street stands on land that was part of the homestead of Nathan Mears, the innholder at the Canal Mills, now North Billerica. After Mears died in 1828 his homestead was surveyed into numbered lots by S. Livingston, with a passage way running south through them toward the Concord River. Lot 10, about three acres between the passage way and the river, was "used by said deceased for a mill yard". On March 20, 1832 the guardians of the Mears children, John Baldwin and Nathaniel Stearns, sold it at auction to Gardner Parker together with the Mears saw mill and its water rights, and the next day Parker passed the saw mill and the mill yard lot to Stearns for $2,986.21.
Nathaniel Stearns died in 1845. His will directed his executor, Marshall Preston, to sell "at public auction all the property, real, personal and mixed", and the mill yard was cut into lots and sold. On March 25, 1846 Preston deeded to Joseph J. Salter, a carpenter, for $186.50, about an acre running from the centre of the passage way east to the river, "being the second lot from the Southerly end of said deceased's 'Mill Yard lot' so called", between lots sold the same day to Daniel Wilson and Joel Dix. Salter built his house here. His wife Hannah is remembered for organizing the Sunday school from which the North Billerica Baptist church grew.
On July 31, 1850 Salter and his wife sold the lot to Charles P. Talbot and Thomas Talbot for $250, and the family moved across the river to Rogers Street (see Joseph Salter House (Rogers Street)). The house stands alone on the 1853 map and became the first of the mill houses that C. P. Talbot & Co. built along Wilson Street. In 1884 the Talbot heirs conveyed their North Billerica property to the new corporation, Talbot Mills, which kept the house as company housing for more than fifty years.
When the Talbot Mills sold off its houses, it recorded a plan of the Wilson Street lots (Plan A, surveyed 1926, 1927 and 1936, Plan Book 60, Plan 25), on which this house is Lot 9: 98.09 feet on Wilson Street and 8,320 square feet, with a right of way along its north side. In October 1939 the company sold Lot 9, another Wilson Street lot and two Rogers Street lots to Joseph and Fannie Sidorovich of Maynard. The house later had a G. I. loan, and after a foreclosure the Veterans Administration sold it in 1957 to a private family. It changed hands several more times, went through a bank foreclosure in 1976 and a sale by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1977, and has had private owners since. The assessor's date of "about 1873" is too late: the deeds and the 1853 map show a house built by Salter between 1846 and 1850.
References
- MACRIS BIL.118
- Billerica assessor, 42 Wilson St (parcel 15-224-0): Plan 60-25 Lot 9, Plan A; sales from 1986.
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Recorded |
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| June 24, 1828 | Administration | Estate of Nathan Mears of Billerica, yeoman | His minor children Edwin, Charles, Nathan, Lucy Ann and Elbert Mears; Marshall Preston, administrator | 1828 estate of Nathan Mears, whose homestead lots at the Canal Mills were sold in 1832 | Probate #14955 |
Nathan Mears died in June 1828 leaving "no widow, nor heirs of twenty one years of age"; at his children's request (and his own before his death) Marshall Preston of Billerica was appointed administrator at Framingham June 24, 1828, bond $30,000. The inventory lists the homestead of about 27 acres with three dwelling houses, the saw mill, "The Woolen Factory, occupied by Francis Faulkner & son", the forge, the old homestead of Thomas Mears, the Patten lot, and "The Zac. Shed Lot, 7 acres" at $210, with no buildings. Real estate $15,245.
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| April 4, 1832 | Guardian's Deed | John Baldwin of Billerica, guardian of Lucy Ann, Nathan and Elbert Mears, minor children of Nathan Mears | Gardner Parker of Billerica, yeoman | 1832 the Mears mill yard lot (lot 10) sold at the guardians' auction | 312/59 (South) |
Billerica town book 16, pages 48-51. Licensed by the Supreme Judicial Court at Concord, the guardian sold at public vendue on March 20, 1832, to Parker as highest bidder, for $3,325.27, "Three undivided fifth parts" of the Mears saw mill and water privilege at the Canal Mills (with the rights from the Middlesex Canal deed of March 15, 1826), canal and swamp lots in Chelmsford, the Blanchard lot in Broad Meadow, and "another lot of three acres, being lot numbered Ten, on a plan and survey of said deceased's Homestead, taken by S. Livingston": from Concord River and lot 11 (sold to Joel Dix) west 20 rods to the centre of the passage way, south about 33 rods 23 links on it to a hedge fence by lot 9, east 14 rods 22 links to the river and north by the river 28 rods 4 links, "the same being used by said deceased for a mill yard", with the passage way reserved for the other lots. Acknowledged April 2, 1832; witnesses Marshall Preston and Nathaniel Stearns.
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| April 4, 1832 | Guardian's Deed | Nathaniel Stearns of Billerica, yeoman, guardian of Edwin and Charles Mears, minor children of Nathan Mears | Gardner Parker of Billerica, yeoman | 1832 the other two fifths of the mill yard lot | 312/63 (South) |
Billerica town book 16, pages 52-55. Under the same license and the same vendue of March 20, 1832, for $3,325.27, "two undivided fifth parts" of the same parcels, including lot 10 of the Mears homestead, the mill yard by the river.
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| April 4, 1832 | Quitclaim | Gardner Parker of Billerica, yeoman | Nathaniel Stearns of Billerica, yeoman | 1832 Parker passes the saw mill and mill yard to Nathaniel Stearns | 312/69 (South) |
Billerica town book 16, pages 60-62. Dated March 21, 1832, the day after the auction. For $2,986.21, Parker quitclaims "the saw mill and water privilege lately belonging to the heirs of Nathan Mears, deceased" at the Canal Mills, with the water rights from the Middlesex Canal, the Swamp lot in Chelmsford, the Blanchard lot in Broad Meadow and "another lot of three acres, being number Ten on a plan and survey of said deceased homestead taken by S. Livingston", bounded as in the guardians' deeds, "the same being used by said deceased for a mill yard". Acknowledged April 2, 1832 before Marshall Preston; witnesses Dudley Foster and Marshall Preston.
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| 1845 | Will | Estate of Nathaniel Stearns of Billerica, yeoman | Marshall Preston, executor; widow Sarah Stearns; daughters Catharine Wilson, Judith Jones and Emily Stearns | 1845 will of Nathaniel Stearns orders his land sold at auction | Probate #42239 |
Middlesex probate case 42239 (39 pages). Will dated August 1845: to his wife Sarah his furniture, horse and phaeton, $1,000 and the interest of $2,000 for life in place of dower; $1,000 each to his daughters Catharine Wilson (wife of John Wilson) and Judith Jones (wife of Anthony Jones) and $1,500 to Emily Stearns; the executor "shall in a reasonable time after my decease, sell and dispose of, at public auction all the property, real, personal and mixed", the residue to the widow and daughters. Executor Marshall Preston. The heirs assented to the will on Nov. 2, 1845.
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| April 14, 1846 | Executor's Deed | Marshall Preston of Billerica, executor of the will of Nathaniel Stearns | Joseph J. Salter of Billerica, carpenter | 1846 Salter buys the house lot at the Stearns estate auction | 481/158 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 143-145. Dated March 25, 1846, acknowledged March 28 before John Eames JP. Sold at public auction under the will, for $186.50, to Salter as highest bidder, a parcel "containing by estimation One Acre": from a stake "on the centre of the passage way" at land "this day sold to Daniel Wilson", east by Wilson's land to a stake at Concord River, north by the river about 9 1/3 rods to land "this day sold to Joel Dix", west by Dix to the centre of the passage way and south on it about 11 rods, "being the second lot from the Southerly end of said deceased's 'Mill Yard lot' so called", with the passage way reserved for the owners of the other lots on the old Mears homestead "(as shown on a plan of said homestead taken by S. Livingston)". No buildings; Salter built his house here soon after. Witnesses Edward C. Bacon and John Eames.
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| 1850 | Warranty Deed | Joseph J. Salter of Billerica (Hannah L. Salter releasing dower) | Charles P. Talbot of Lowell and Thomas Talbot of Billerica | 1850 Salter sells the lot and house to C. P. and Thomas Talbot | 589/521 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 439-440. Dated July 31, 1850. For $250, "a tract of land situated in Billerica": from a stake on the centre of a passage way at land of Daniel Wilson, east by Wilson to a stake at Concord River, north by the river about 9 1/3 rods to land of Joel Dix, west by Dix to the centre of the passage way and south on it about 11 rods, "being the same premises conveyed to me by Marshall Preston as Executor of the last will of Nathaniel Stearns ... dated March 25th A.D. 1846 ... Book 481 Page 158", subject to the conditions of that deed. Full warranty covenants. The deed does not mention the house, but MACRIS dates the Salter house to 1846 and it stands alone on the 1853 map as the first of the Talbot mill houses.
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| October 16, 1884 | Guardian's Deed | Harriet Talbot et al., by their guardian | The Talbot Mills, Billerica | 1884 guardian's deed of the minor Talbot heirs to The Talbot Mills, named in the 1939 deed of Lot 9 | 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 Talbot heirs to The Talbot Mills, named in the 1939 deed of Lot 9 | 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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| October 20, 1939 | Quitclaim | Talbot Mills, by Thomas T. Clark, Treasurer | Joseph Sidorovich and Fannie Sidorovich, husband and wife, of Maynard | 1939 Talbot Mills sells the house as Lot 9 on Plan A | 936/47 |
Dated Oct. 19, 1939. Four parcels: two lots on Wilson Street (Lots 7 and 9, Plan Book 60 Plan 25) and, third, "the land in said Billerica with the buildings thereon situated on the southwesterly side of Rogers Street": NE by Rogers Street 100.60 feet, NW by Lot 75 124.76 feet, SW by Lot 77 101.98 feet, SE by land of Andrew Ceglansky 124.70 feet, 12,719 square feet, Lot 76 on Plan "C-2" of the Talbot Mills, October 1936, J. C. & W. T. Monahan (Plan Book 60 Plan 46), "Being a part of the premises conveyed to said Talbot Mills by three deeds" (Book 420 Page 492, Book 604 Page 108, Book 889 Page 274); fourth, Lot 77 behind it (the Salter Block). With a right of way along Lot 75 and shared septic tanks.
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| May 3, 1957 | Deed | The Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (H. V. Higley), by John E. Mitchell, Loan Guaranty Officer | A private couple of Billerica | 1957 the Veterans Administration sells the house after a G. I. loan foreclosure | 1369/341 |
Dated March 22, 1957, under the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. "A certain parcel of land with all the buildings and structures thereon", Lot 9 on Plan A, Plan Book 60 Plan 25 (NW by Wilson Street 98.09 feet, 8,320 square feet), "For title of grantor see deed of Boston Federal Savings and Loan Association dated February 18, 1957", that is, after the foreclosure of a G. I. loan on the house. The same couple gave it to their son in 1971 (Book 1974 Page 450), who sold it in 1972 for $18,800 (Book 1996 Page 593).
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| October 26, 1976 | Foreclosure Deed | Lowell Institution for Savings, mortgagee | Lowell Institution for Savings | 1976 bank foreclosure; HUD sale 1977; later private owners summarized | 2217/667 |
Foreclosure under a mortgage of Jan. 31, 1972 (Book 1996 Page 594) given by the 1972 buyers. After notices in September and October 1976 the bank sold Lot 9 on Plan Book 60 Plan 25, "with all the buildings and structures thereon", at public auction to itself as highest bidder (affidavit Oct. 18, 1976). The bank then deeded it to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Book 2220 Page 621, Nov. 1976), and HUD sold "42 Wilson Street, Billerica" (FHA case 251-095244) to a private buyer in March 1977 (Book 2235 Page 651). Later private sales were recorded in 1977 (Book 2242 Page 405, Book 2270 Page 27), 1984 (Book 2820 Page 265), 1986 (Book 3663 Page 126, $95,000), 1991, 1999, 2005 and 2009.
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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.