Hello, Yesterday I spent a couple hours at the Billerica Library's Local History Room. I wanted to look at 2 new books which they had added on Billerica's history. One of the booklets turned out to just be some papers in a 3-ring binder. If anyone is familiar with the "historic homes" in town, it turns out that the large "The Brown House" on River Street actually was last known as the "John Nelson PARKER House." (Brown house has recently been painted blue.) One of the papers says: "About 1805, Stephen PARKER bought out then heirs of Solomon KIDDER (who had died in 1776 in White Plains, NY) and thus returned to his (Stephen's) ancestral homestead -- Stephen's mother, Abigail, was Solomon's sister." A few weeks ago I visited an historian in town and saw a map from 1700's (?) showing James KIDDER (patriarch) had a 30-acre lot, which, in current terms, would have run from Billerica Center, down the left side of River Street all the way to the shore of the Concord River. (The matching lot on the right side of River Street was Jonathan DANFORTH's homestead.) The other book which I wanted to look at was a new book being sold by the Billerica Historical Society: "Pioneers of Billerica - Settling the Shawshine Wilderness: 1654-1660." I turns out to be a small paperback with an unusual format; it lists 45 original settlers, but only offers a "chart of their family" on the left and a one-page description on the right. James KIDDER's information is not new to me, but it did say something I didn't know: "In 1656, Kidder bought considerable property .. but did not move .. until 1658. He had a 30-acre tract by the Common, 26 acres on Loes Plain, 60 acres on Fox Hill, 39 acres on Heath Brook in Tewksbury, various meadows and more. ... " On a quick review of the book, I found the author, Shirley BARNES, tended to describe some historical facts in terms of today; for instance Tewksbury did not exist in the 1600's ! And, she mentioned that James had moved from the Menotomy River in Arlington, and Arlington did not exist until the 1800's ! From the same set of great-grandparents, I am also descended from Simon CROSBY, b1637 Cambridge, and his story is also in this book. Another mentioned in the book is Gouldin MOORE (aka Golden MORE), who was an uncle to James KIDDER's wife, nee' Anna MOORE. This says "In 1658, Gouldin, Joanne, her Champney children, the the three Moore youngesters moved to Billerica, where they bought James PARKER's original grant, with a house lot of 14 acres. The land was on both sides of Andover Road in the Center....." ... To get to the books about Lowell, I had seen the "Illustrated History of Lowell and Vicinity Massachusetts" by divers hands . in a Library before. But, I decided to take a closer look at it; only to discover what an "encyclopedia" in one volume it is ! It is a very large, very thick book chock full of details, and with lots of pictures ! I was able to copy about a dozen pages on the Wamesit Purchase which I was interested in ! (Strangely ... I had e-mailed the "Lowell Historical Society" a few weeks ago, and they e-mailed back and told me that they had very little information "before 1820" ... and that I should write to the "Tewksbury Historical Society." The information I wanted .. is right there in that book ! (This is not the first time the Lowell Historical Society has disappointed me !) James and Anna (MOORE) KIDDER's son, John KIDDER, was one of ~50 men (association) who bought "the Indian land" from TYNG and HINCHMAN in 1686. John married Lydia PARKER of Chelmsford and moved there, and supposedly raised their 12 children there, all born there between 1685 and 1709. What I have been trying to figure out is how long the KIDDER family or descendants lived on that land ! I also picked up a used-book from eBay, "Cotton was King." In that book I was reminded that it was 1792 when Gov. HANCOCK signed the charter for "the Locks & Canals on the Merrimack River" ... and the Pawtucket Canal was completed in 1796. I believe this canal, the Merrimack and Concord Rivers became the outline of what we now know as "Downtown Lowell." And, I also believe that the mills weren't built here until after 1800 ! This means that this entire area was still "East Chelmsford's farm land" -- throughout the 1700's ! So, my big question is: Did the KIDDER's remain living there? The "Cotton.." book shows a map from 1832 which shows the entire area -- including, I think, the "Wamesit Purchase land," and labeling it as "Belvidere Village." (Lowell annexed off in 1826.) (Some of John KIDDER's sons seem to have lived in "West Chelmsford" - like Thomas, whose home became part of Westford.) Thank you for your time. Betty (near Lowell, MA) P.S. By the way, I did spot a few pages in the "Lowell" book on the history of the Police Department: "The Lowell Police Force of 1896 is the evolution of the rural tything-man and constable, who the days when the city was pasture and farm land was the terror of small boys and scolding women in the quiet old town of Chelmsford. The the farms grew into hamlets and the hamlets became the town of Lowell, the simple methods of preserving peace of the mother town continued. It was only when the town became the city, and Lowell took on the dignities and responsibilities of a municipality in 1836, that it became necessary to organize a police force." (So far I only see the jail on Thorndike St. mentioned; but I will keep looking for information on the "first" jail -- which we suspect was the building on Fletcher St. which has housed "McKITTRICK's Hardware Store" for many years !) (By the way, I drove down Fletcher St. a few days ago and poked around a bit, and was surprised to find out how many churches exist within a few blocks of Fletcher St. !! This includes .3. Greek churches ! Area is included on 1832 map. Oh, I just noticed there is a list of the churches in 1832: The print is very hard to read, but it looks like there were 10 churches at that time.)