The mill names for the property-Miller and Clapp-appear to have originated after
the Millers married into the Butters' family, and after the Clapps purchased the site.
Burlington tax records show that Joshua Miller paid tax on a Burlington mill in the early
1840s. Joshua Miller (d. ca. 1871) of Burlington, Mass. married Emeline Jane Butters,
the daughter of Sewall and Sally Perry Butters in 1844. Joshua and Emeline had two children,
Albert Joshua Miller (b. 1845) and Charles Otis Miller (b. 1847). Emeline died in 1848 at
25 years of age and Joshua married his second wife, 28 year old Mary Sheehan from Ireland,
the daughter of Noah Sheehan, in 1858 (7).
While living on the Butters' farm, Joshua and Emeline may have been involved with
the Butters' mill site. A Butters' family genealogy indicates that Joshua and Emeline's
son, Albert, lived on the Butters farm as of 1896.
In 1849, Joshua Miller took a $300 mortgage from George Winn of Woburn for an 80 acre
farm with buildings in the northeast part of Burlington-this property was in the vicinity
of both the Simonds' and Butters' mills. In 1853, Joshua Miller took a second mortgage with
George Gleason for $500 for the same property. In 1866, Joshua Miller sold the land
and mill (55 acres in the northeast section of Burlington) to his sons, Albert J.
Miller of Wilmington and Charles O. Miller of Burlington.
In 1871 Noah Clapp purchased 27 acres of that land for $850 "on the road leading
from Wilmington to Burlington," the Wood Hill Road. We know from the records that Clapp had been living
in the area for a number of years. The 1855 state census for Wilmington notes that
Noah Clapp was a carpenter from Braintree living with his 33 year old wife, Louisa
from Andover and their children, Luceba A. (aged 10), Adelaide L. (aged 5), and
Georgiana (aged 1). The 1865 state census for Wilmington records Clapp as a
wheelwright, one who makes or repairs wheels, wheeled carriages, etc. The 1865
census notes that the other residents of the Clapp household were Addilaide L. (aged 15),
Georgeanna (aged 10), Alma C. (aged 9), and Mary E. (aged 7), Lucinda M. (aged 2)
and Noah's wife Louisa R. Clapp.
The 1831 map of Burlington shows the Wood Hill Sawmill on Sawmill Brook, but it is
located a substantial distance--200 feet or more--upstream and west of what is believed
to be the Butters/Miller/Clapp dam. The 1875 Map of Burlington shows a heavily traveled
Mill Street and a relocated Wood Hill Sawmill to the west--as well as a rough extension to
the N. Clapp Sawmill (8). This appears to be the right of way easement mentioned in the
1869 deed between Nathan Simonds of Burlington and John Cummings of Woburn, which reserves
the right of Noah Clapp and his legal representatives to pass and repass over the granted
premises from Old Farm Lane to Clapp's mill. It is possible that Noah Clapp was running
the mill before purchasing it in 1869 and that the mill was already known as Clapp's mill.
The history of Clapp's mill between 1871 and 1926 is less clear and must be researched in
the records of the Land Court. In 1926, a land court decree recognized John Sweeney and
his wife, Mary E. Sweeney of Mattapan, as the owner of the property, per a June 1922 plan
by A. Millhouse CE [civil engineer]. This map shows part of Noah Clapp's previous
land--including the mill dam, which is still standing. The map shows that Sawmill Road
continued over Wood Hill to what was Butters' Row.
Following 1926, the owners of record are listed as: Harvey and Amelia G. Wheeler
of Lexington (1926), Robert L. Innis and Gertrude S. Innis of Billerica, Mass.
and Dougal and Maud M. McLennon (1942), Robert L. Innis (1945), Murray Hills of
Burlington (1946), Burlwood Realty Corp. of Boston (1948), Richard W. and Claire
M. Scott of Burlington (1955), and Claire M. Scott (1985). John Goff of Historic
Preservation Design notes that as of 1910, Clapp's mill stops appearing on local maps.
Goff suggests that the mill was abandoned by 1910 or used as a residential campsite in
the early 20th century.
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