FORM A - AREA...The main two-story, gable-block Trull-Fox-Ogonowski Farmhouse (713 Broadway Road,...

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FORM A - AREA

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION

MASSACHUSETTS ARCHIVES BUILDING

220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125

Photograph

Assessor’s Sheets USGS Quad Area Letter Form Numbers in Area

38-0-2

Lowell

J

DRA.145-149

Town/City: Dracut

Place (neighborhood or village): East Side

Name of Area: Trull-Fox-Ogonowski Farm

Present Use: agricultural/residential

Construction Dates or Period: c. 1800 – c. 1946

Overall Condition: Excellent

Major Intrusions and Alterations: none

Acreage: approximately 89.5 acres

Recorded by: John D. Clemson

Organization: Dracut Historical Commission

Date (month/year): December, 2016

Locus Map

see continuation sheet

INVENTORY FORM A CONTINUATION SHEET DRACUT TRULL-FOX-OGONOWSKI FARM

MASSACHUSETTS HISTORICAL COMMISSION Area Letter Form Nos.

220 MORRISSEY BOULEVARD, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02125

Continuation sheet 1

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Recommended for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. If checked, you must attach a completed National Register Criteria Statement form.

ARCHITECTURAL DESCRIPTION The Trull-Fox-Ogonowski Farmstead is an exceptionally well-preserved example of an agricultural building type identified as a “New England Connected Farm Building” by Thomas Hubka. This type of farm building organization developed during the second half of the 19th century throughout southern New England including southeast Maine and New Hampshire and northeast Massachusetts, but spread in lesser concentrations throughout the region. According to Hubka

Two influences were critical to the popularization of the New England connected farm: first, a manor house tradition of Georgian and Federal style estates that employed extended outbuilding wings in a classical villa style, and second, a folk or vernacular building tradition of English origin in which domestic and agrarian structures were attached or closely clustered.1

Hubka identifies four separate types of connective building and points out that many examples possess all four: the “big house,” or main residential building, the “little house,” usually a subordinate ell or wing designed to house service spaces such as a kitchen, the “back house,” usually a work and storage space, and the connected barn. The subject example has a number of distinctive traits but the complex generally follows a program that is compatible with Hubka’s analysis. Here, the little house and back house are arranged in a single unified two-story wing to the left (east) of the main house that links the main house to the barn. In the center of this wing in the third of four bays is an unusual broad pass-through that provides vehicular circulation between the dooryard in front of the complex and the open fields behind, enabling easy access between these two essential components of the farm without circling around either end of this remarkably large approximately 180-foot-long complex. The farmstead is located almost against the frontage centered on the northern boundary of the farm. Two additional detached outbuildings, on the left (east, facing south) a carriage barn and on the right (west) a workshop, are roughly in line and arranged in an east-west axis beyond each end of the connected complex in the center (see figure 1). The property expands southward of the farmstead in a large, irregular lot. The main two-story, gable-block Trull-Fox-Ogonowski Farmhouse (713 Broadway Road, ca. 1800, photo 1) measures 40 feet wide by 18 feet deep. It is massed in a manner, with a five-bay facade and a moderately pitched gable, typical of the Federal period and may date to the time of the property’s acquisition by David Trull in 1797 (more below under Historical Narrative). Additional massing is provided by a small, shed-roofed, story-and-a-half bump-out extending from the left-rear (facing south) that fills the re-entrant angle between the main house and connecting wing, providing a broader connection between the two (visible in a screen capture of the rear included below as figure 2). It is not clear whether the main house was originally a center-chimney with a hall-and-parlor plan or had a more-open center hall plan with end- or rear-wall chimneys; currently a single chimney of recent vintage emerges from the ridge near the edge of the right gable. The house is modestly embellished with eave returns and back-band casings with a symmetrically arranged five-bay fenestration pattern typical of the style. The center entrance is framed by ¾ -height sidelights. During the mid-to-late 19th century the house was updated with two-over-two sash and an elaborately bracketed Italianate door hood. Currently the house has wood four-light hanging storm windows. The foundation, barely visible on the at-grade façade, appears to be granite slab veneer stones. To the left of the main house and set back about half of its depth is a 61-foot-long connective Little House/Back House (713 Broadway Road, post ca. 1820) service wing that forms a hyphen between the main house and barn. The fenestration pattern matches that of the main house, although the size of the first-story windows is noticeably smaller, with

1 Thomas C. Hubka, Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn, The Connected Farm Buildings of New England (UPNE, 1984) p. 16.





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slightly higher sills. The upper story is constructed as a “knee wall,” whereby the studs run beyond the second-floor level to a sill placed halfway up the second-story wall. Here, the windows are half-height six-light fixed sash. A dooryard entry is located in the left half of the first of four bays. The third bay is the location of the vehicular pass-through and is sheltered by a solid wood sliding door mounted to an elaborate system of casters that hang from above. Where the door slides against the building to the right is a blank wall that breaks the otherwise regular and generally symmetrical fenestration pattern. At the east (left) end and connected to the little-house/back-house hyphen is a large New England Barn (713 Broadway Road, early 19th century and late 19th century, photos 3 & 5). The barn is sited in an unexpected fashion, with its long axis oriented parallel to the other buildings in the connected complex rather than perpendicular and forward-facing. The length of the barn is exceptional; the Larson Fisher reconnaissance survey reasonably speculates that, based on exterior observations that include both the fenestration pattern and differences in interior framing manifested by unevenness in both the ridge and slope surface of the older, west half of the barn, it was constructed in two separate builds. The barn is accessed by a broad sliding door centered on the right, west-facing gabled elevation. The barn meets the smaller back-house hyphen building at an overlap that fits neatly between the barn’s main door and rear elevation. The configuration of the barn’s main entry identifies it as a New England barn rather than the earlier English barn, which were accessed on their shallower eave elevations. According to both Hubka and Visser (who used the term “gable-front barn”), the relocation of the main entrance and interior circulation pattern was adopted beginning generally c. 1830. According to Visser

The gable front offers many practical advantages. Roofs drain off to the side, rather than flooding the dooryard. With the main drive floor running parallel to the ridge, the size of the barn could be increased to accommodate larger herds by adding additional bays to the rear gable end…2

as happened in this case. The barn interior is lit by a variety of windows, including a broad transom above the main sliding door, a standard double-hung sash in each gable end, and six-light hopper sash in the rear (left, east) half and fewer, smaller windows in the older right (west) half. The barn is elegantly finished in a manner that matches the main house with clapboards and plain casings. Another attribute of this barn’s design is its placement against an embankment toward the north, so that its basement toward the back (south) is accessible at grade. All of these attributes are indicative of dairy farming: hay loft at the top, cattle housing and milking on the main floor ventilated and lit by multiple windows, and ease of cleanout of manure at the bottom. Two other detached outbuildings are part of the ensemble. At the left (east) end of the complex is what was identified in the 1890 assessor’s records as a “Carriage House/Hen House” (713 Broadway Road, c. 1880-1890, photos 4 & 5). This four-bent building, slightly larger than the 40-by-18-foot main house, is massed in a manner similar to the little house/back house hyphen, with a knee-wall structure. The building is oriented perpendicular to the others. A broad, double-width opening faces the main barn and dooryard to the west. A secondary carriage opening with a sliding door is located beyond the main opening in the third bent to the right (facing east). The loft is lit by two standard six-over-six sash arranged in a regular pattern in each gable. The building is finished in a manner that matches the barn, with clapboards stopped by plain corner boards and opening casings. The second detached outbuilding is located on the opposite (west) side of the complex, the Workshop (713 Broadway Road, early 20th century, photo 6). This building has a similarly sized footprint but a more-complex cross-gable roof structure. This building faces the complex to the east but is on a slightly skewed axis from the rest, likely to accommodate a sharp embankment toward Broadway to the north. In its massing this building resembles a large garage, with a broad bay in the left bay of its gabled façade (facing west). A narrower cross-gable runs across the rear of three piles at the west end of the building. Beyond is an open shed-roofed extension that currently houses a piece of farm machinery. Unlike the knee-wall structure of the carriage house/hen house, this building’s rafters rest on a plate directly

2 Thomas Durant Visser, Field Guide to New England Barns and Farm Buildings (UPNE, 1997) p. 74.





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at the level of the loft floor. The building is lit by both standard six-over-six windows (rear pile) and six-light hopper windows that match those found elsewhere in the complex. Unlike the other buildings, however, this one is finished with wood shingles stopped by plain corner boards; the front is painted white like the rest by the side and rear elevations are left unpainted.

HISTORICAL NARRATIVE The main Trull-Fox-Ogonowski Farmhouse (ca. 1800) has an attribution date of 1780. The source for this date is currently not clear. Deed research has revealed however that David Trull, the father of the farm’s traditional namesake, Phineas Trull, purchased 95 acres “upon the south side of a town way that leads from William Coburn’s house to William Lindsey’s house” in 1797 (presumably this property).3 The consideration was £76. Based upon the physical massing of this building, a date of construction during the following decade is plausible (the above-referenced deed does not mention buildings but that is not a definitive indicator of its existence). David Trull (1744-1825) was identified as each a ‘blacksmith,’ ‘husbandman,’ and ‘yeoman’ on the above-referenced deeds. His son Phineas Trull (Aug. 26, 1793 – Aug. 20, 1831) is identified as the owner of the property on the 1831 map. He was married to Abigail Brown in 1829 and there was one daughter, Sarah (b. 1831), who died in infancy. Circumstances indicate that the property remained in the hands of Abigail Brown Trull, who married for a second time to Stephen Eastman (1780-1847) in 1833; the 1875 map identifies the owner as G. Eastman. The intervening map published in 1856 identifies the owner as “J. Trull.” The identity of this figure is not clear; John P. Trull (b. c. 1808) was a prosperous Dracut farmer who owned $10,000 worth of real estate in 1870 but it is not clear whether he was the owner of the subject farm or his relation to David or Phineas Trull. There is a reference to a third marriage for Abigail Brown Trull Eastman, to Jacob Brock (b. 1786) in 1850, but Federal census records identify the household in 1860 as comprised of Abigail Eastman, head, and George F. Eastman, age 25 (ca. 1835-1884), evidently her son, suggesting Brock had died by this time. At the time of the 1860 Federal Census the property was valued at $3,000. In 1865 George Eastman was identified as a milkman and in 1870 a farmer. By 1865 he was married to a woman named Emily (b. c. 1842) and the farm supported one laborer, Charles H. Noyes (b. c. 1847). In 1870 the farm employed William Gillian (b. c. 1850), a native of Prince Edward Island.4 In 1878 the property was acquired by George R. Fox from Joseph C. Eaton for consideration of $5,200.5 The description of the property in this deed remains consistent throughout all of the following transactions. The identity of Eaton and his role in regard to the farm are not clear. A previous transaction is referenced in the deed as “the same premises conveyed to me by Ira A. Eastman of Gilmanton, New Hampshire,” but there is no book, page or date reference to this earlier deed. Searches in both the grantee and grantor indexes for previous decades proved fruitless. Ira Allen Eastman (1809-1881), however, was a prominent and wealthy lawyer and served in both the New Hampshire House of Representatives (1836-1838, Speaker, 1837-1838) and U.S. House of Representatives (1839-1843). He was appointed Circuit Justice of the Court of Common Pleas in 1844, where he completed his career.6 In 1870 he owned $12,000 worth of real estate and $25,000 worth of personal property.7 His relation, if any, to Abigail Eastman and her son George F. Eastman is unclear; both Abigail’s former husband and Ira A. Eastman’s father were named Stephen Eastman, both of

3 Lowell Ma, North Middlesex Registry of Deeds, Book 126, Page 141-145, Aug. 26, 1797 [henceforth MCRD (north) Book:Page]. On that date David Trull purchased several parcels from neighboring properties. 4 Ancestry.com: Town of Dracut Vital Records; U.S. Federal Census Population Schedule: 1850, 1860, 1870. 5 MCRD (north), 128:250, Apr. 18, 1878. 6 Daniel Lancaster, The History of Gilmanton, Embracing the Proprietary, Civil, Literary, Ecclesiastical, Biographical, Genealogical, and Miscellaneous History, from the First Settlement to the Present Time; Including what is now Gilford, to the Time it was Disannexed (Alfred Prescott, 1845) pp. 225-226; see also: Ezra S. Stearns, ed., William F. Whitcher, Edward E. Parker, Genealogical and Family History of the State of New Hampshire, Vol. I (Lewis Publishing Co., 1908) p. 200; and: Biographical Review, Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of Strafford and Belknap Counties, New Hampshire, Vol. XXI (Biographical Review Publishing Co., 1897) p. 557. 7 U.S. Federal Census Population Schedule, 1870.





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whom died in 1847, but elsewhere their biographies diverge, suggesting they may have been distant cousins and that Ira A. Eastman’s role in the transaction was as a trustee or executor.

George R. Fox (1851 – May 6, 1928) descended from a local family that traced its roots to Nathaniel Fox’s (1863-1765) settlement in Dracut in 1714.8 He grew up on the farm of his father, Darius Lincoln Fox (1818 – Aug. 26, 1900), located elsewhere in Dracut (see 114 Marsh Hill Road, DRA.78). Throughout the following four decades until 1914 George R. Fox continued to actively farm the property. The 1880 agricultural schedule of the Federal Census identified various aspects of the farm’s operation and production. At the time the farm was valued at $4,000 with $400 worth of equipment, which was toward the top of the average for the neighborhood. Twenty acres were under active tillage and another 20 were left to meadow, pasture or orchards. That year $200 was spent on labor costs and the value of the products of the farm totaled $697. Livestock included 3 horses and 8 milk cows. Dairy appears to have been the principal product of the farm; that year Fox sold 4,380 gallons of milk. Fox kept 18 chickens but did not sell eggs, indicating they were for household use.9 Later census records in 1920 also identified the property as a dairy farm. During this period the Fox family employed and housed between one and two farm hands, including Michael Connor (b. c. 1867, Ireland, in 1910), Fred Lohnes (b. c. 1887, Canada, in 1910), and Elmer Dearborn (b. c. 1865). Toward the end of his life George R. Fox left operation of the farm under the supervision of his son, Henry Elmer Fox (b. c. 1878) and that year was employed as the assessor for Dracut. George R. Fox was married to Ada M. Hamblet of Dracut (1851-1936) in 1875. There were two children: Henry E. and Seth Darius (Jul. 1881-1901). Henry E. Fox was married to Alice H. Fuller.10 There was one daughter, Doris Gertrude (1899-1999). In 1914 Henry E. Fox sold the property to Belizair Leblanc (c. 1888-1975) and his wife, Laura (b. c. 1883).11 Both of the Leblancs emigrated from French-speaking Canada as infants in 1891 and 1890, respectively. During the 1920s they employed two farm hands, John Waller (b. c. 1866) and Levi Breton (b. c. 1901), also a native of French-speaking Canada. During the 1920s the farm was identified as a “dairy farm” but by 1930-1940 was identified as a “general farm” or “farm.” In 1930 the property was valued at $10,000. In 1946 the Leblancs sold the property to the family of the current owner, Alexander F. Ogonowski and his wife, Theresa.12 Without inspection of the interiors it is difficult to date either the connected or detached house and farm buildings currently present at the site. Based upon their general appearance, however, combined with the ownership history, it may be possible to surmise a sequence of construction. As stated above, based upon its massing, the main farmhouse possibly dates to the purchase of the property by David Trull in 1797. Again, according to Hubka, connected farm buildings began to emerge in the region after 1820. The current configuration could have coalesced any time during the ownership of either the Trull-Eastman or Fox families between the 1820s and just after 1900. According to the 1880 assessor’s records, the farm, then owned by George R. Fox, included “1 dwelling house & shed” valued at $800 and “1 barn” valued at $400 located on 60 acres with a total value of $3,000. By 1890 the farm included an addition described as “1 carriage house & hen house,” suggesting the easternmost (#4 in figure 1) outbuilding’s construction date. This also suggests the workshop (#5 in figure 1) was constructed early in the 20th century.

BIBLIOGRAPHY and/or REFERENCES

Dracut Assessor’s Department, Assessors Online Database. Dracut Engineering Department, Engineering Assessors Map. Ancestry.com. Census Schedules, Vital Records, City Directories, Maps & Genealogies.

8 Coburn, Silas Roger. History of Dracut, Massachusetts (Lowell, MA: Press of the Courier-Citizen Co., 1922) p. 388. 9 Ancestry.com: U.S. Federal Census Non-Population Schedules, Schedule 2, Production of Agriculture in Dracut, Middlesex, Massachusetts. 10 Ancestry.com: Town of Dracut Vital Records; U.S. Federal Census Population Schedule, 1870, 1900, 1910, 1920. 11 MCRD (north), 518:108, Feb. 10, 1914. 12 MCRD (north), 1087:101, Mar. 1, 1946; 5460:193, Feb. 28, 1991.





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Google Books. Larson Fisher Associates, Historic Preservation Plan & Town-Wide Survey of Historic Resources for Town of Dracut, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, 2012. 1856 Map of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Henry F. Walling, Surveyor; Boston: Smith & Bumstead, Dracut excerpt on file at Dracut Historical Society (Available at MCRD North). 1875 County Atlas of Middlesex, Massachusetts. New York: J.B. Beers & Co.,. Dracut map on file at Dracut Historical Society. 1889 Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Boston: George H. Walker & Co., . Dracut map on file at Dracut Historical Society. 1900 Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Boston: George W. Stadly [Vol. 5 not available on line]. 1909 Parker, P. Hildreth. 1831 Varnum Survey of Town of Dracut, (adapted copy). Annotated re-drafting of town government survey, identifying owners of properties and showing locations of landmarks. On file at Massachusetts State Archives; copy on file at Dracut Historical Society [not available on line]. 1945 Town of Dracut Zoning Map. Dracut: Dracut Planning Board, 1945. On file at Massachusetts State Library, Boston; copy on file at Dracut Historical Society. Town of Dracut, historic assessor’s records, manuscript, 1880, 1900.

DISTRICT DATA SHEET MHC # Assessor’s

# Street #

Street Name Historic Name Form Style Const. Date

DRA.145 38-0-2 713 Broadway Rd Trull-Fox-Ogonowski Farmhouse

Gable Block Federal c. 1800

DRA.146 38-0-2 713 Broadway Rd Little House/Back House

Side-Gable Knee-Wall

N/A Post-c. 1820

DRA.147 38-0-2 713 Broadway Rd New England Barn New England Gable Front

N/A c. 1800 & late-19th century

DRA.148 38-0-2 713 Broadway Rd Carriage House/Hen House

Side-Gable Knee-Wall

N/A c. 1880-1890

DRA.149 38-0-2 713 Broadway Rd Workshop Cross-Gable N/A Early 20th Century





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Figure 1. Current assessor’s map showing the arrangement of the connected and detached farm buildings. 1. Main House; 2. Little House/Back House; 3. Barn; 4. Carriage House/Hen House; 5. Workshop.

Figure 2. ‘Bing’ screen capture depicting the rear elevation of the connected and detached farm buildings.





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Photograph 1. View of dooryard from NW.

Photograph 2. View of little house/back house wing/hyphen. View from N.





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Photograph 3. View of barn from NE.

Photograph 4. View of Carriage House/Hen House from NW.





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Photograph 5. View of Carriage House/Hen House and Barn from NE.

Photograph 6. View of Workshop from NE.





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[Delete this page if no Criteria Statement is prepared]

National Register of Historic Places Criteria Statement Form

Check all that apply:

Individually eligible Eligible only in a historic district

Contributing to a potential historic district Potential historic district

Criteria: A B C D

Criteria Considerations: A B C D E F G

Statement of Significance by________John D. Clemson__________________ The criteria that are checked in the above sections must be justified here.

The Trull-Fox-Ogonowski Farm is an exceptionally well-preserved example of an early to-mid-19th-

century farmstead that retains integrity of workmanship, design, materials, association, location, setting, and feeling. The farm is eligible under both Criteria A and C for its broad associations with Dracut’s

agricultural history and as an embodiment of the type, period and methods of construction of local and

regional agricultural building practices.

The Trull-Fox-Ogonowski Farm would contribute to a potential National Register District surrounding

the intersection of Broadway Road, Wheeler Road and Jones Avenue. This area forms a geographically contiguous collection of sites reflecting the agricultural and institutional history of Dracut and includes

two intact farmsteads, an early 20th-century school building, open farmland perpetually held in

conservation, a late-20th-century firehouse, and a public memorial to Capt. John A. Ogonowski. The area

is eligible under both Criteria A and C for its broad associations with Dracut’s agricultural and educational past and as an embodiment of the type, period and methods of construction of both local and

regional agricultural and educational building types. It retains integrity of workmanship, design,

materials, association, location, setting, and feeling. The area includes three sites documented as part of this project, including the subject property, the Bernice Parker House and Barn (DRA.61 and DRA.62, c.

1870-1875), and Broadway School (DRA.63, 1906-1908).

FORM A - AREA...The main two-story, gable-block Trull-Fox-Ogonowski Farmhouse (713 Broadway Road,...

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