BlockThe nomination, in full
Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.
FORM B - BUILDING FIRST FERIOD DURVEY NAN & 4 1990 165 MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION 80 BOYLSTON STREET BOSTON, MA 02116 Photos 6:31 2nd f1001, left Ioom .6:33 exterior Sketch Map: OUTE SRHURST eD 3 2IVE CONCORD 20 OEOIPEK BARTLET FORM NO. 97 Town Billerica 011 Address 33 Riverhurst Road Historic Name House Deacon Samuel Hill Use: Present Residence Original DESCRIPTION Residence Date ca. 1725. with ca. 1840 remodei ling Source visual analvsis Style First Period Architect unitnown - Exterior Wall Fabric Outbuildings Clapboaris none Major Alterations iwith dates) Remnde!ling to Georgian ca. 1840; added lean-iü, 13=h c. Condition Good Moved Yes Date Unknowr Acreage 1.1 acres Setting aper ict ir moser nieghborhood of small 20th c.
houses TA REFERENCE SES QUADRANGLE CALE :9 / 310-850 / 4711-670 Billerica 1:25,000 Recorded by Organization Nora Pat Small Eeston lniversi-" Date Avzust 1985 INVENTORY FORM CONTINUATION SHEET MASSACHUSETTS HISTORI CAL COMMISSION Office of the Secretary, Boston Commmity: BILLERICA Property Name: Form No: 97 Deacon Samyel Hill House Indicate each item on inventory form which is being continued below. SIGNIFICANCE The Deacon Samuel Hill House retains integrity of design and workmanship in its transitional First Period Írame under Criterion C: The removal of the central chimney exemplifies a common means of remodeling a center-chimney plan house to a center hall Georgian house. EXTERIOR DESCRIPTION The Deacon Samuel Hill House is a two and a half story, 5-bay clappoarded structure, originally one room deep, with an added rear lean-to.
During an 1840 remodeling, the central chimney was removed and replaced by a central stair and two interior chimneys set between the front and lean-to rooms. (The chimneys are not visible from the front facade.) SIGNIFICANT FIRST PERIOD FEATURES The house exhibits late First Period transitional beaded summer beams and some horizontal interior sheathing. The first floor rooms both have exposed longitudinal summer beams with guirk beading. All other framing members are boxed. Brick nogging survives in both end walls original rear wall. A.L. Cummings found blackened joists in the first and second floor right-hand rooms indicating originally unplastered ceilings. The second floor right-hand chamber also has an exposed, quirk beaded longitudinal summer beam. The chamber has a sawmill-sawn rising brace in the right rear corner, and evidence of another in the left hand corner.
The front, rear, and end walls have horizontal sheathing. LATER SIGNIFICANT FEATURES The left-hand second floor chamber has very fine 18th century marbleized raised-field paneling to the right of the present chimney (original rear wall,) a distinctive and rare survival of a popular 18th century style of painted decoration.. The section consists of nine raised-field panels set in three ranks, with marbleizing in both panels and the rails and stiles. HISTORICAL INFORMATION The house was probably built by Deacon Samuel Hill, who inherited the farm from Ralph Hill Jr. in 1695 and died in 1755. Staple to Inventory form at bottom (PS Fom 10900a United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Section number Page - MB Approvej No.
102400 /24/90 Multiple Resource Area Thematic Group Name First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR State Nomination/Type of Review 91. Bullard, Isaac, House Date/Signature Batered in tbe f Reeper Aelaranye 3/910 National Registerl Attest s'92. Foster, Samuel, House dubatentira lorime Onkeeper_ petfop. Sevase 3/9/90 Attest 93. Gardner, Addington, Housgatered in the National Begister Entered 1n the National Register 6 Reeper dulaußges 3/9/50 Attest 94. Green House / Keeper_ suloreBge 3/9/90 Attest 51°95. Hammond House fuostantiva Mortei! JNKeeper_ Entered in the Attest Bax Jevage 311/10 National Begister 96. Hapgood House Keeper AuloneASyen 3/2/86 Attest 97. Hill, Abraham, House intered in tne Hational Register PReeper AheaeByer 3/8/50 Attest Entered in the 98. Hill, Deacon Samuel, House Mational Registokeeper__ Aelmerpyu 3/1150 Attest 99.
Hopestill Bent Tavern Eih-tonttes Berzem Keeper Beth: Savage 21/20 Attest 100.
Hosmer, Joseph, House Entered 1o the Bational Begtater/Keeper Attest Alelaregen 3/9/90 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES EVALUATION/RETURN SHEET REQUESTED ACTION: NOMINATION PROPERTY Hill, Deacon Samuel, House NAME: MULTIPLE First Period Buildings of Eastern Massachusetts TR NAME: STATE & COUNTY: MASSACHUSETTS, Middlesex DATE RECEIVED: 1/24/90 DATE OF 16TH DAY: 2/23/90 DATE OF PENDING LIST: 2/07/90 DATE OF 45TH DAY: 3/10/90 DATE OF WEEKLY LIST: REFERENCE NUMBER: 90000165 NOMINATOR: STATE REASONS FOR REVIEW: APPEAL: N DATA PROBLEM: N LANDSCAPE: N LESS THAN 50 YEARS: N REQUEST: N SPMPLE: N PERIOD: PROGRAM UNAPPROVED: N SLR DRAFT: N NATIONAL: N N COMMENT WAIVER: N VACCEPT RETURN ABSTRACT/SUMMARY COMMENTS: _REJECT Entored in the RECOM./CRITERIA REVIEWER DISCIPLINE DATE DOCUMENTATION see attached comments ./N see attached SLR Y/N CLASSIFICATION _count resource type STATE/FEDERAL AGENCY CERTIFICATION FUNCTION historic current DESCRIPTION _architectural classification materials _descriptive text SIGNIFICANCE Period Areas of Significance--Check and justify below Specific dates Builder/Architect statement of Significance (in one paragraph) _summary paragraph completeness clarity _applicable criteria _justification of areas checked relating significance to the resource context relationship of integrity to significance justification of exception other BIBLIOGRAPHY GEOGRAPHICAL DATA _acreage UTMS verbal boundary description _boundary justification ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION/PRESENTATION _photographs sketch maps _USGS maps OTHER COMMENTS Questions concerning this nomination may be directed to Phone presentation Signed Date - 33 Ruverhurst Ra., Billerica Dea.
Samuel Hile House 1st Pored Buldins of E, Ma, TR 889 1985 33 Riverhurat Rd., Billerica M7 Dea. Samnel Hill House Ist poad Bur T. Ma,, TR 18:7 1985 Please refer to the map in the Multiple Property Cover Sheet for this property Multiple Property Cover Sheet Reference Number: 64000281 The following letter includes information to supplement the material Phe Ageo8 dysontepedsadetpcag cormisdbeber 29, 1989 Betsy Friedberg. N. R. Director Massachusetts Historical Commission 80 Boylston Street Bosion, MA 02116 Dear Ms. Friedberg, Copies of Forms 97 (Deacon Samuel Hill house) and 98 (Abraham Jaquith house) came today, and I thank you for them. IHiia. you havs the originel Charlexcd ne M His. - As I said at the meeting in Topsfield. I am somewhat embarassed by the nomination of these buildings in the absence of concurrent nomination of the Patten homestead (Billerica Inventory - 319).
Our already more extensive information on the latter. of course. is oniy recently acquired and is still expanding. On the other hand, it is the only Billerica house with documented champfer/stop summer beams (at least one in situ), and more of the framing is now exposed. Such are the vagaries of time and chance! I certainly approve of the inclusion of the two houses and do not wish to interfere with their nomination. Nevertheiess, after quick examination at the meeting, I found myself troubled by the dates assigned. | enciose copy of a quick note / dropped off with Anne Tait yesterday at lunch. which she may or may not have shared with you. Now that the forms have arrived,I find myself even more troubled by the observation that my name is listed along with "visual anaiysis" as source of the dates (1725 in each case).
I must at least ask that this be removed from the form for, on the basis of my own information, the dates are unacceptable in each case without solid basis for assignment by "visual anaiysis". A specific date was not mentioned during either of the visits (by Abbott Cummings and Nora Small); in the former case we were taking off from his question one evening: Where, Charlie, are the seventeenth century houses in Middlesex County?" "Don't know", I said, and they are all remodelled, but I can show you a couple of putative candidates". I did get from Abbott that the quirk beading was more apt to be after 1700 than before (wnich is why | have used the name "Deacon Samuel Hill house"). I have continued to use te traditional name "Fariey Garrison House" for the other.
I don't really think that what we see is the garrison house of 1675, but I doubt even more that it is Abraham Jaquith's creation de novo. A coupie of notes for what be worth. 97. I wonder where Abbott found the blackened joists? I have never seen them exposed (l see the joists in the lower left-hand room, but was neither very smart nor observant at the time). 98. My own understanding was that the final demise of the east half of the house was a fire. I doubt that Jake Casey has very ciear memories of its condition before, but the observation of difference in maintenance by the two brothers during the late nineteenth century was a "local legend" in my boyhood. George Fariey was not the first person born in Billerica. Rather. that was his son Samuel. Hannah married Abraham Jaouith Jan.
13, 1726/7; she and her new husband were deeded the homestead under agreement to "see the old folks through". Father Ebenezer died 1728. but mother Elizabeth didn't remarry until 1735/6 (thereby relinquishing her rights). Please delete reference to research done by Charies E. Stearns and Billerica Form 405 (where I was brash enough to follow my father in the belief that part of the 1675 garrison might be preserved within the extant west half.) You properly ignore the local tradition embodied there. Il be happy to up-date the form, when more convincing evidence is availabie. I told Anne Tait I'd send her references to two recent publications on the Farley and Hill families: Donna Valley Stuart: "Some descendants of George Farley of Billerica. Massachusetts" New Engl. Hist. Gen. Reç., Vol. CXXXVI, p. 133-147 (1982) Donna Valley Russell: "Ralph Hill of Plymouth and Billerica.
Massachusetts" Nat. Gen. Quart., Vol. 72, p. 3-32 (1984) VCC: Anne Tait. Margaret Ingraham Sincerely. CES Chairman. Bill. Hist. Comm. yo. receWei 381 Boston Road, Bilerica, MA 01821 Notes an two Billerica houses included in the reglonal Inuentory of "Tirst-period houses" (1) The Deacon Samuel Hill house - date given as 1725, source not clear. It was originally (and still is, in part) sited on land, of which the succesion of ownership is clear: (1) Ralph Hill, Jr. bought homestead "with a new dwelling house" in 1658. m. his step-sister, Martha Toothaker in 1660 had six children between 1661 and 1681 died testate in 1695; his widow died in 1704. (2) "Deacon" Samuel Hill inherited the homestead entire in 1695. m. before 1705 Deboran | - -] had nine children between 1705 and 1723 died intestate in 1755; Deborah had died in 1748.
[his youngest daughter and new husband, Abranam Jaquith, took care in his last illness] (3) Ralph Hill inherited the homestead entire m. Mehitabel Patten in 1733 had ten children between 1734 and 1755 died testate in 1784; made his will the day after marriage to his second wife, who survived. lat this time there were two houses, of which Ralph was living in the "new house"] (4) William, married in 1775, got the "old house" - the one inventoried - and was living there in 1818. Solomon, married in 1779, got the "new house", which he promptly sold to two unmarried sisters. (We tried unsuccessfully to move this house, too, but eventually had it demolished) I agree that the "old house" is the Deacon Samuel Hill house, but isn't circa 1700 a better quess than 1725 (after the birth of his ninth and last child!)? (2) The "Abraham Jaquith house", also given the date of 1725, is trickier.
Again, the descent of the land is reiatively clear. (1) George Fariey was onthe Dudiey Farm by 1654, when his last child was recorded in Billericz. He had married Christian Births in 1641. They had eight children between 1643 and 1654 (oniy the last recorded in Billerica) He died in 1695; his widow died in 1702. He deeded the homestead to his only married grandson in 1692. in return for an agreement to "see the old folks through" and not sell until after both grandparents had died. (2) Caleb Farley married Sarah Godfrey in 1686.
had nine children between 1687 and 1703 sold the homestead to Job Lane in 1702 (promptly after his grandmother's death) this sale rescinded in 1706, and (the same day) sold the homestead to his brother Joseph Joseph (of Roxbury) sold to another brother Benjamin (aiso Roxbury), deed unrecorded Benjamin (of Roxbury) sold to another brother Ebenezer of Billerica in 1713. (Ebenezer. in the meantime, was established on another (More) site in Billerica, inherited from his father. In addition to the George Fariey homestead, he purchased another homestead (Hamlet) from Benjamin. He was living on the More place in 1705-10. (Ebenezer sold the More place to Joshua Abbot in 1714 and, although he did not sell the Hamiet piace until 1720,seems to have returned to the Fariey homestead in 1714.] (3) Ebenezer Fariey had married Elizabeth Shed in 1703. They had four children between 1704 and 1709.
He died intestate in 1728;his widow married Jerathmeel Bowers of Chelmsford. Prior to his death, he deeded the homestead to his daughter Hannah and her husband Abraham Jaquith (married in 1726), in return for an agreement to 'see the old folks through" and also to discharge obligations to two nephews and a ward(?) when they came of age. Why Abraham Jaquith and 1725?It is possible that either Job Lane or Ebenezer Farley built a new house when he took over a homestead so long neglected (1702?,1714?), less likely that Abraham and Hannah built a new house after 1728. Charles E. Stearns