Joseph J. Salter
Joseph J. Salter was a carpenter at North Billerica who built one of the first houses on Wilson Street and later lived across the river on the road to the Centre. He came from Epsom, New Hampshire, and his gravestone gives 1811 as the year of his birth. On September 16, 1838 he married Hannah L. Dana, a daughter of Samuel Dana. Their children were Hannah Maria, born on December 14, 1839, who married the Rev. Horace F. Morse, a Methodist minister who died in the South in 1867; Susan M., born on April 19, 1842, who died on October 22, 1868; and Henry Atwood, born in June 1848, who died on July 9, 1871.
On March 25, 1846, at the auction of Nathaniel Stearns's estate, he bought for $186.50 about an acre of Stearns's "Mill Yard lot", the second lot from its south end, running from the passage way that became Wilson Street east to the Concord River, between lots sold the same day to Daniel Wilson and Joel Dix. He built his house there (Joseph Salter House, 42 Wilson Street). His wife is remembered as the organizer of the Sunday school from which the North Billerica Baptist church grew. On July 31, 1850 the Salters sold the lot to C. P. Talbot and Thomas Talbot for $250, and the house became the first of the Talbot mill houses on Wilson Street.
The family moved to the east bank, where the 1853 map shows Salter's house beside the road from Billerica Mills to the Centre, now Rogers Street (Joseph Salter House); the lot was held in his wife's name. In the winter of 1862 and 1863 he and the Talbots traded land at the same price, $900: they gave him ten acres on the river along the old Fordway road, and he sold them the land behind his house, out to the mill pond, "with the buildings on the same", probably the tenement later called the Salter Block.
Salter died intestate on July 20, 1869; Hazen gives the date as July 22, 1872, but the probate petition was filed in September 1869. Dudley Foster was appointed administrator at the request of the widow, the two surviving children and the principal creditors, Anthony Jones, Charles W. French and C. P. Talbot and Company. In 1869 and 1870 Hannah Salter sold the house lot and the land around it to the Talbots, and at the administrator's auction in March 1870 she bought the ten-acre river lot herself for $1,800.
References
- Hazen, History of Billerica (1883), Genealogical Register p. 128, SALTER
- Vital Records of Billerica to 1850, births p. 167: children of Joseph J. Salter, carpenter, and Hannah (Maria 1839, Susan 1842, Henry Atwood 1848); gravestone years of Joseph J. (1811) and Hannah E. (1810)
- Vital Records of Billerica to 1850, marriages p. 311: Joseph J. Salter and Hannah L. Dana, Sept. 16, 1838
Title References
| Date | Type | Grantor | Grantee | Summary | Property | Recorded |
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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 | Executor's Deed 1846 | Joseph Salter House (Wilson Street) Cork City Talbot Textile Mill Worker Housing at 44-46 Wilson St |
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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| December 8, 1846 | Executor's Deed | Marshall Preston of Billerica, executor of the will of Nathaniel Stearns | Joel Dix of Billerica, yeoman | Executor's Deed 1846 | Lawrence B. Gannon Store Lawrence B. Gannon House |
498/193 (South) |
Billerica town book 18, pages 252-253. Sold at public auction under the will, for $190, a parcel "containing by estimation one acre": from the northeast corner at Concord River and land of Dix, south up the river about nine and one third rods to land "this day sold to Joseph J. Salter", west by Salter to the centre of the "passageway", north on it about eleven rods to Dix, and by Dix about twenty rods to the river, "being the Northerly lot of the 'Mill Yard Lot' so called", with the passageway reserved for the other lots of the Mears homestead (S. Livingston's plan). Dated March 25, 1846; witnesses Dudley Foster and Anthony Jones.
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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 | Warranty Deed 1850 | Joseph Salter House (Wilson Street) Cork City |
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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| February 26, 1863 | Quitclaim | Charles P. Talbot of Lowell and Thomas Talbot of Billerica (wives Harriet E. and Isabella M. releasing dower and homestead) | Joseph J. Salter of Billerica | Quitclaim 1863 | Joseph Salter House (Rogers Street) Salter Block |
33/207 |
Dated Jan. 6, 1863. For $900, "a certain parcel of land ... containing ten acres one hundred two rods": from a bound at Concord River at low water mark, easterly on a stone wall about eight rods to the "Ford Way Road", southerly on that road to land of William Pollard, by Pollard to the river, and northerly along the river to the start. With "a right of way which is forever to be kept open for the accommodation of said Salter, leading easterly from said Ford Way Road to the road leading from Billerica Mill to the centre of the town of Billerica ... as per deed of Samuel Rogers to Robert Call dated March 5th A.D. 1852", and the right to pass by the Ford Way Road across the river. This is the Salter river lot south of the house, not the house lot itself.
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| 1863 | Quitclaim | Joseph J. Salter of Billerica (Hannah Salter, his wife, releasing dower and homestead) | Charles P. Talbot of Lowell and Thomas Talbot of Billerica | Quitclaim 1863 | Talbot Woolen Mills Worker Housing at 1-6 Millstone Wy Salter Block 7-9 Millstone Wy |
34/206 |
For $900, "a certain piece or parcel of land, with the buildings on the same": from a stone post at the road from Billerica Mills to the centre of the town "about four ft. North of my dwelling house", west by his own land 8 rods 8 1/2 feet, south by his own land 4 rods to land of J. R. Faulkner and Co., west on Faulkner land about 8 rods "to the mill pond or river", by the river 4 rods to land of the Talbots, east by Talbot land about 16 rods 8 1/2 feet to the road and south 12 feet to the post, reserving his right of way on the private passage. Recorded about March 1863, the same winter the Talbots deeded Salter ten acres on the Fordway road for the same $900 (33/207). The bounds show the Talbots already owned the land north of the Salter place, where Lot 75 lies.
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| December 30, 1863 | Quitclaim Deed | James R. Faulkner of Billerica (wife Catharine R. Faulkner releasing dower) | His brother James Faulkner of Billerica | Quitclaim Deed 1863 | Faulkner Housing | 36/382 |
For $200, "one undivided third" of one acre and a dwelling house on the road from the mills to the Centre a little south of the canal, bounded E by the road, S by land of the late Samuel Rogers and N by Joseph J. Salter, "bought by Francis Faulkner of Jacob Butters" Nov. 2, 1833. Recorded with J. R. Faulkner's sale to James of a third of the mill property (Book 36 Page 383).
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| 1869 | Administration | Estate of Joseph J. Salter of Billerica, carpenter (died July 20, 1869) | Dudley Foster, administrator; Hannah Salter, widow | Administration 1869 | Joseph Salter House (Rogers Street) Salter Block |
Probate #41007 |
Middlesex probate case 41007 (23 pages). Petition of Dudley Foster of Billerica, Sept. 13, 1869: Joseph J. Salter, who last dwelt in Billerica, "died on the twentieth day of July" 1869 intestate, leaving his widow Hannah L. Salter and as next of kin Hannah M. Salter Morse, daughter, and Henry A. Salter, son, all of Billerica; principal creditors Anthony Jones, Charles W. French and C. P. Talbot & Co. The court at Cambridge appointed Foster administrator on Sept. 14, 1869 at the request of "the widow, next of kin and principal creditors" (Record vol. 372 page 619). On March 1, 1870 he was licensed to sell the real estate, the ten-acre river lot (Book 72 Page 581). Hazen gives the death as July 22, 1872, which is wrong.
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| October 6, 1869 | Quitclaim | Hannah Salter of Billerica, widow of Joseph J. Salter | Charles P. Talbot of Lowell and Thomas Talbot of Billerica | Quitclaim 1869 | Joseph Salter House (Rogers Street) Salter Block 7-9 Millstone Wy |
70/123 |
Dated Sept. 18, 1869, acknowledged Sept. 27 before Dudley Foster JP. For $900, "a certain piece or parcel of land with the buildings thereon": from a stone post at "the road leading from Billerica Mills to the centre of the town of Billerica about four feet North of my former dwelling house", west by "my own land" 8 rods 8 1/2 feet to a fence, south by her land 4 rods to land of J. R. Faulkner & Co., west on the Faulkner land about 8 rods "to the mill pond or river", by the river 4 rods to Talbot land, and east by Talbot land about 16 rods 8 1/2 feet to the road. She kept the right to pass "on a passage or private way as now laid out as far as my land extends." No title recital. This is the land wrapped around the house lot, out to the river.
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| March 22, 1870 | Warranty Deed | Hannah Salter of Billerica, widow of Joseph J. Salter | Charles P. Talbot of Lowell and Thomas Talbot of Billerica | Warranty Deed 1870 | Joseph Salter House (Rogers Street) Salter Block |
72/337 |
Dated Feb. 26, 1870, acknowledged March 5 before Dudley Foster JP. For $1,800, "a certain parcel of land with the buildings thereon": from a stone post "at the road leading from Billerica Mills to the centre of the town of Billerica, at land of said grantees", westerly by the grantees 8 rods 8 1/2 feet, southerly by the grantees 4 rods to land of J. R. Faulkner & Co., easterly by the Faulkner land to the road, and by the road about four rods to the post. Full warranty covenants; no title recital. This is the Salter house lot itself, which passed to the Talbot mill owners in 1870.
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| April 13, 1870 | Administrator's Deed | Dudley Foster of Billerica, administrator of Joseph J. Salter | Hannah Salter of Billerica, widow | Administrator's Deed 1870 | Joseph Salter House (Rogers Street) | 72/581 |
Licensed by the Probate Court at Cambridge on March 1, 1870, and after notice for three weeks in the Lowell Weekly Journal, the administrator sold at public auction on March 19, 1870 to the widow, the highest bidder, for $1,800, "all the right title and interest that Joseph J. Salter late of Billerica had at the time of his decease" in the ten acres 102 rods on the Concord River and the "Ford-way road", with the same bounds as the 1863 deed. The house lot was in Hannah Salter's own name and is not in this sale.
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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.