Unmasking the Myth: The Documented History of the Arnold Farmhouse

For so many years, we all referred to this place as the “Richardson–Arnold house,” as if its story began and ended with two familiar names. Historian Kenneth Hillyard's reconstruction of the surviving deeds and probate records reveals a far more layered and compelling history.What once looked like a simple lineage has unfolded into a much longer chain of families — Smiths, Richardsons, Comstocks, Lewises, Aldriches, Arnolds — along with several individuals who held title or interest in the land without ever calling it home.

And that changes everything.

The paper trail begins in 1734, when David Smith Jr. sold roughly ninety‑four acres near the Colony Line to Isaac Richardson, the seventh‑great‑grandfather of Pamela Kenyon Cardin. That deed speaks only of land — no house, no barn, nothing yet resembling the farm we know.

But by the time Richardson sold the property to Job Comstock in 1741, it had become a working farm: buildings, fences, cultivated fields, and an orchard. That means the first documented dwelling on this land emerged during Richardson’s ownership. While the surviving records cannot yet prove that Richardson built the existing farmhouse, they do establish him as the first known owner to create a home here.

For Pam’s family, the story bends and circles back across generations. Her Richardson ancestors were tied to the farm at its earliest documented stage. Nearly a century later, the Arnold line returned when Stephen Arnold purchased the property from Sands Aldrich in December 1820, shortly after marrying Sally Marjorie Eddy. It is Stephen — not his parents, John and Abigail — whom the evidence places on the farm as a resident.

Between Richardson and Stephen Arnold lies the missing chapter we had been searching for.

After Richardson, the land passed to Job Comstock, then into the hands of Peter Lewis and the Aldrich family, before Sands Aldrich conveyed the fifty‑three‑acre cross‑border farm to Stephen. The deeds also reveal temporary titleholders, creditors, and investors. Josiah Arnold briefly held Comstock’s homestead in the 1740s before conveying it back.

In the 1780s, a debt judgment against Edward Aldrich pushed the former Lewis farm through a sheriff’s sale to Israel Cook, then to Seth Hunt and Noah Arnold Jr., before it returned to the Aldrich family through Zacheus Aldrich. Many of these names cannot be treated as residents. In several cases, the land functioned as collateral, investment, or repayment — not a home.

This distinction helps clarify John Arnold’s 1837 will. John referred to the approximately fifty‑three‑acre farm where Stephen was already living, even though the 1820 deed named Stephen as the purchaser. That deed was not recorded in Worcester County until later in 1837, after John’s death. The timing does not prove that John owned or lived on the farm, but it strongly suggests he may have supplied money, retained a mortgage or security interest, or held some family claim that was settled through his will.

What the evidence makes unmistakably clear is this: John and Abigail Arnold were not the couple who established the Arnold presence at Round Top. That story begins with Stephen.

Kenneth Hillyard’s meticulous work — combing through deeds, probate files, boundary descriptions, court records, and family documents — has brought this earlier history into focus. His research hasn’t simply added a few forgotten names to an ownership list. It has reshaped our understanding of the house, the land, and the families intertwined with both.

This is history unfolding in real time. Instead of a neat Richardson‑to‑Arnold tradition, we now see a much broader chain of people to explore — some who lived on the farm, some who financed it, some who held title briefly, and others whose connections are only beginning to surface. Each newly identified owner, neighbor, creditor, and family line opens another path forward. The history of Round Top is no longer narrowing. It is widening.

Kenneth has graciously given me permission to share his research here on my blog.

You can click the link below to read his full paper:

https://conjuringthefacts.blogspot.com/2026/09/introduction-in-spring-of-1853-four.html

Quick ownership timeline leading up to the first members of the Arnold family "living" on the farm. 

• 1734 — David Smith Jr. → Isaac Richardson: Smith sold Richardson approximately 94 acres near the Colony Line.
• 1741 — Isaac Richardson → Job Comstock: Richardson conveyed about 140 acres, then an improved dwelling farm with buildings, fences, cultivated land, and an orchard.
• 1746/47–1749 — Job Comstock ↔ Josiah Arnold: Comstock temporarily conveyed roughly 100 acres of his homestead to Josiah Arnold, who returned it in 1749. Hillyard interprets this cautiously as a likely credit or security arrangement, rather than a change in residence.
• By 1779 — Peter Lewis: The former Comstock property had passed to Lewis, although the complete intervening chain has not been recovered.
• Before 1782 — Peter Lewis → Edward Aldrich: Aldrich acquired the farm from Lewis.
• 1782–1783 — Debt proceedings: After Lewis obtained a judgment against Aldrich, the sheriff sold the former Lewis farm and an adjoining parcel to Israel Cook, who promptly assigned his interest to Seth Hunt and Noah Arnold Jr. Lewis separately released the title to them. These holders appear to have participated in financial or investment transactions rather than occupied the farm.
• 1785 — Seth Hunt and Noah Arnold Jr. → Zacheus Aldrich: They sold approximately 75 acres, expressly identified as the farm formerly belonging to Peter Lewis.
• By 1820 — Sands Aldrich: The property eventually came into Sands Aldrich’s possession, although the precise intermediate Aldrich conveyances remain undocumented.
• 1820 — Sands Aldrich → Stephen Arnold: Sands sold Stephen approximately 53 acres spanning Burrillville and Douglas, including a dwelling house, barn, road, sawmill, saws, and mill irons.