The Munson & Buckingham lot
In about 1819-1820 Jonathan Bordwell began selling off his land on Main Street, which comprised about 3 acres in the 100 block and 14 acres farther north. The latter was certainly an involuntary sale, and the former may not have been entirely voluntary either. The 14-acre parcel eventually came into the hands of Miles Benham, and the 3 acres went to George Shearman.
On 1 March 1819, Bordwell and his wife Polly sold another quarter-acre parcel to Shearman, "all the land between the said Shearman and John Dorman. This parcel was also quitclaimed on the same date to Shearman by the lawyer Thomas J. Nevins, who was probably an assignee. The price was $120, so it's sure there were no buildings there.
This parcel had earlier been sold by Bordwell under a land contract to Jared Munson and Lester Buckingham, who had still earlier contracted similarly for another parcel north of Head Street. They had a store on the latter parcel (which was bought by Nevins, who had his office there), but apparently never fulfilled either contract; thus never gaining title to either lot. The Munson and Buckingham lot between Shearman and Dorman is never very exactly described in these early deeds, but Dorman's land and Shearman's both had surveyed boundaries.
Dorman's south line was perpendicular to Main Street; Shearman's was too, for 2.4 chains (about 158 feet) northeast, then 52 links (about 34 feet) north, then another 1.76 chains (about 116 feet) along Dorman's boundary almost due east. This leaves a space between the two that would be the quarter-acre that Shearman added in 1819. It was a four-sided near-trapezoid, with a much longer front line on Main Street than its back (east) line on Shearman's other property.
In 1827 Joel Dorman sold the southern half of his father's homestead to Eben Smith, and soon afterward Shearman sold this lot to Smith. Its frontage on Main Street was about 60 feet, probably; enough for three stores eventually. These were nos. 127, which Smith sold to Joseph Roat in 1836; 125, which he sold to Alfred Brown in 1848; and 121-123, which he sold to Simpson Buck before 1838.
Above: The area in yellow shows the lot contracted for by Jared Munson and Lester Buckingham. They failed to keep their payments up and Jonathan Bordwell then sold it to George Shearman in 1819.
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First part of Jonathan Bordwell's homestead, this quarter-acre parcel was bought by George Shearman, and from him by Eben Smith, who subdivided it into store lots.
