Essex County, Massachusetts - Chapter 29: Town of North Andover, 1922

Chapter 29: Town of North Andover

North Andover occupies a part of the original town of Andover. The town lines as now maintained were fixed as late as 1855. What was called the North Parish, from 1709 onwards became North Andover, and that portion of the town as originally known was called Andover. North Andover contains about 15,400 acres, all replete with geological formations, and with matters of interest to the scientific agriculturist. Its rocky period evidently belongs to the most ancient period known to any part of the globe. One well-informed writer speaks of the charming landscape scenery of this region as follows :

It is seldom that a more interesting geological formation than this can be found; and nowhere, as the result of the hand of nature's work, does a more lovely landscape appear - the view stretching from each one of these rounded elevation miles away to the Wachusett and the Monadnock on the northwest, while to the immediate gaze the mysterious group stands around as fascinating monuments of an ancient age. The explanation which is given of these unusual hills is most interesting, and carries the mind back to the time when the great seas of ice covered this hemisphere, and left a record of their slow and steady march as a guide to man in his endeavors to unravel the mystery of the earth's formation and his own creation.

It was this territory of which in 1634, by action of the General Court, "It is ordered that the land about Cochichewick shall be reserved for an inland plantation, and whosoever will go to inhabit there shall have three years' immunity from all taxes, levies, public charges and services whatever, military discipline only excepted. John Winthrop, Richard Bellingham and William Coddington, Esquire, are chosen a committee to license any that may think meet to inhabit there, and that it shall be lawful for no person to go thither without their consent or the major part of them."

This land was purchased by Rev. John Woodbridge of Newbury, in 1641, after a lengthy correspondence with Governor Winthrop. Finally, when seeming obstacles were removed, the purchase and grants were con- firmed by the court. The town was named Andover by some of the settlers that had emigrated from Andover, Hampshire, England. The earliest roster of actual settlers, probably made prior to 1644, gives the subjoined names as original settlers and residents of the plantation: John Osgood, Joseph Parker, Richard Barker, John Stevens, Nicholas Holt, Benjamin Woodbridge, John Frye, Edmund Faulkner, Robert Barnard, Daniel Poor, Nathan Parker, Henry Jaques, John Aslett, William Ballard, John Lovejoy, Thomas Poor, George Abbott, John Russ, Andrew Allen, Andrew Foster, Thomas Chandler.

About this time there was a town founded about one or two miles distant from the place where the goodly river of Merrimack received her branches into her own body, hard upon the river Shawshin, which is one of her chief heads; the honored Mr. Simon Bradstreet taking up his last sitting there, hath been a great means to further the work, it being a place well fitted for the husbandman's hand, were it not that the remoteness of the place from towns of trade bringeth forth some inconveniences upon the planters, who are enforced to carry their com far to market. This town is called Andover, and hath good store of land improved for the bigness of it.

The motives and manners and customs of those who founded North Andover and its associate towns are interesting and important. They formed a part of that large body of dissenters who, under various names, came to New England and settled the Colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay. They came, it is true, to enjoy religious freedom, but they also sought a civil organization, founded on the right of every man to a voice in the government under which he lives. In the charters granted to all the towns by the General Court, it was provided that the grantees were to procure and maintain an able and orthodox minister amongst them; and to build a meeting-house within three years. This was their first motive. In all their customs they were obliged to exercise the utmost simplicity, and they voluntarily regulated their conduct by those formal rules which in their day constituted the Puritan's guide through the world. As an illustration of their character and manners, in 1651 dancing was forbidden at weddings by the laws of the colony.

In 1660, William Walker was imprisoned a month "for courting a maid without the leave of her parents." In 1675, because "there is manifest pride appearing in our streets," the wearing of "long hair or periwigs," and also "superstitious ribands used to tie up and decorate their hair," were forbidden under severe penalties. Men, too, were forbidden to "keep Christmas," because it was "a Popish custom." In 1677 an act was passed to prevent "the profaneness" of "turning the back upon the public worship before it is finished and the blessing pronounced." Towns were directed to locate a cage near the meeting-house, and in this all offenders against the sanctity of the Sabbath were confined. At the same time, children were placed in a particular part of the meeting-house by themselves, and tithing men were chosen whose duty it was to take care of them. So strict were they in the observance of the Sabbath that John Atherton, a soldier in Colonel Tying's regiment, was fined by him forty shillings for "wetting a piece of an old hat to put into his shoes," which chafed his feet on the march. People who neglected to attend meeting for three months were publicly whipped. Even in Harvard College, students were whipped, for grave offenses, in the presence of the students and profssors, prayers being offered before and after the infliction of punishment.

The domestic economy of the early colonists was simple and in many cases rude; their dwellings were small, coarsely constructed, and deficient in all those appointments that are now considered necessary to the health and comfort of the family; their diet was coarse and common. Palfrey tells us that "in the early days of New England wheaten bread was not so uncommon as it afterwards became," but its place was largely supplied by preparations of Indian com.

According to town records, the first town meeting was held in 1656 at the house of John Osgood. All freeholders were expected to attend these meetings, and were fined if they were absent without good excuse. Perfect order was preserved in town meetings. If any man spoke in meeting after silence had been commanded twice, he was fined twelve pence. Care was taken that the metes and bounds should be carefully preserved, and an inspection of the same was made every three years. Discipline regarding meeting house seats was very strict. Young people were not allowed to be out abroad from home Saturday and Sunday nights. Factories were early encouraged to locate in the settlement. In 1686 Henry Ingalls was allowed to set up his saw mill on Musketo river.

From the earliest times. North Andover has been a thriving town. In the pioneer days, its soil attracted a first-class set of people who took hold to win in a struggle which was no small undertaking. Farming and kindred branches were the chief occupation of its sturdy settlers. Farms have run from ten to three hundred acres. Of course it is not to be supposed that after hundreds of years of constant use, this soil is now any where near what it was in its virgin state, but with careful management, rotation of crops, etc., it has been kept up fairly well to the present time.

Manufacturing commenced in this town in 1671, when Joseph Parker and Stephen Johnson dammed the Cochichewick river for the purpose of gaining sufficient water power to propel their mills. From that date on, through the first century of- the town's history, a large number of mills of various kinds were in operation for a term of years. They then went into decay, or in some instances were washed down stream by the floods. Grist mills were ever encouraged by the authorities, and they necessarily multiplied as the settlement increased. Then came the attempts at powder-making and paper-making, while woolen mills, spinning mills, fulling mills and the weaving rooms all had their part in the development of the town. Arthur, John and James Schofield, Englishmen, came in first to establish a successful business in the woolen industry. They set up carding mills on the Cochichewick and Shawshin rivers. Later came Nathaniel Stevens, who operated heavier in this line. This small beginning eventually became the great and wellknown Stevens Mills. Stevens was a native of North Andover, bom in 1786.

The old Isaac Osgood site was later (1836) occupied by the machine shop of Charles Barnes, George H. Gilbert and Parker Richardson. This shop was the beginning of a prosperous manufacturing village. Just below this "Mashine Shop Village" was built the North Andover Mill, near the old stone mill, which was in use in 1828 by George Hodges and Edward Parker. In the eighties the three large woolen mills on the Cochiechewick river employed about three hundred and twenty-five operatives and worked up over 1,500,000 pounds of wool annually.

At this time (1921) the industries are limited to the silk factory, by the North Andover Silk Mill, the thread and yam mills of Smith & Dove, and the North Andover foundry and hay-scale manufactory. The town is connected with Haverhill by electric cars. The present postmaster is Michael F. Cronin.

While Salem has had the name of being the headcenter of all that was strange and terrible concerning the presence of witches away back in early days, yet this delusion was fully as prominent in and about Andover and North Andover as anywhere else. A belief in a personal devil and his agents on earth was a common belief among our forefathers from England. In Finance, in 1374, this delusion in an epidemic form, so to speak, broke out, and had its followers with tens of thousands for more than two centuries. The supernatural seemed to have possessed an incredible charm, and sorcerers wei-e considered as important as lawyers or doctors in a community. All Europe was influenced by this delusion, and sorcerers and witches by the thousands suffered death by fire annually. In the reign of Francis I, more than one hundred thousand "witches" were put to death. Traditions of these delusions still had place in the early settlement of Essex county. Frightful judicial discipline was applied in this county in 1692, but let it be recorded that here in Andover and in Essex county, the fearful delusion was suppressed and stamped out for the first place in the world. The tragedy of 1692, usually attributed to Salem, was in reality enacted in North Andover to fully the extent that it was in Salem, if not worse. As other chapters from other writers on this subject will appear elsewhere in this work, no further references will be made in this connection.

A public library was established in North Andover in 1875 by the donations of General Eben Sutton, aided materially by many local contributions. This is in the Merrimac manufacturing district. In 1878 a fine libraiy was established at Ballardvale, J. Putnam Bradlee furnishing one thousand volumes. The Stevens Memorial Library was established in 1907, at the corner of Main and Green streets. It was the gift of Hon. and Mrs. Moses Tyler Stevens.

North Andover was incorporated in 1855, and has ever since been well governed by prudent and efficient officers. The present town officers include the following: Town Clerk, Joseph A. Duncan; Town Treasurer, George H. Perkins; Selectmen: Peter Holt, Alex M. White, Fred Leach ; Overseers of the Poor : Peter Holt, John T. Campbell, Alex M. White; Assessors: Peter Holt, Patrick P. Daw, Edward E. Curley; Superintendent of Schools, Dana P. Dame; Superintendent of Public Works, Richard H. Ellis ; Chief of Police, Wallace E. Towne ; Constables : John H. Campbell, Wallace E. Town, James H. Goff, John P. Walsh, John R. McEvoy; Keeper of Lock-up, John A. MoiTissey; Highway Surveyor, Willard H. Poor; Tree Warden, William L. Smith; Superintendent of Town Farni, George L. Barker ; Forest Fire Warden, William L. Smith ; Fish W^arden, Joseph Hinchcliffe ; Collector of Taxes, Frank A. Mackie ; Auditor, James W. Elliott.

The present tov/n clerk's report for last year gives statistics of interest as follov/s: Whole number of deaths in town of North Andover during year, 95 - male 39, and female 56. The persons who died seventy years and older m the year w*ere : Maiy Hazeihurst, 70 ; Joseph A. Jette, 76 : Mary Kennedy, 70 ; Maria D. Kimball, 87 ; Mary Ann Greenwood, 88 ; Mary Reeves, 81 ; Ann M. Grover, 88 ; Catherine Devitt, 79 ; Louisa Holroyd, 84 ; Jannette G. Jewett, 81 ; John Morris, 72 ; William Freeman Hodgetts, 70; John Mesei-ve Coftm, 76; Emma J. Phillips, 74; Susan Pratt 81; Hannah Lees Andrew, 74; George A. Brocklebank, 76; James Davis, 79 ; Emma Hanson, 81 ; Sarah Frances Carr, 78 ; George F. Cunningham, 73; Daniel Perley Stiles, 70; Richard Oliver, 79; George Gil- I'eii; Davis, 76; Samuel A. Smith, 76; Ellen F. Mahoney, 73; Annie Brady. The whole number of births during the year was 113 - 64 males and 49 females; foreign parentage, 62. The assessors' report shows: Aggregate value real estate, $5,474,275; personal, $1,821,884; State tax, $23,460; State highway tax, $3,195.81; Special State tax, $1,- 148.40; Bay State street railway tax, $159.80; county tax, $14,382.21; town grant, $167,863 ; overievyings, $478.52 ; total, $211,587.74.

The United States census returns for the past three decades give North Andover figures as follows: In 1900, 4,243; in 1910, 5,529; and the last (1920) enumeration placed the population at 6,265.

associations and societies, including temperance orders and debating societies, as well as benevolent and secret orders, among them the Masonic Frateraity. It really sounds stiange today, when we have national prohibition well under way, to solve the curse of the Ameiican saloon, to read in the annals of any given county in the commonwealth, such as Essex, about the formation of a temperance society in North Andover as early as 1825, nearly a century ago. Such a society was organized by Rev. Bailey Loring, through whose influence lecturers were secured here in the persons of E. H. Chapin, Hosea Hildreth and Lucius Manlius Sargent. In 1841 there were established both a lecture course and a debating club.

To "provide and maintain an able orthodox minister among them" Vv^as the highest obligation that rested on the founders of towns in all New England. To provide meeting houses was another great and vital feature. These buildings, according to the land grants and charters, must be erected within three years from date of settlement. A new meeting house seems to have been constructed in North Andover in 1669, and there are records showing that there had been "a first" meeting house erected there about 1646, and that it stood near "the Old North burying-ground," on the high land opposite the house of Governor Bradstreet. The second meeting house served until 1711, and the third church was used until 1753, when the fourth building was raised. Its cost was £300 sterling. January 1, 1754, the pews were sold, the highest bringing seventeen pounds, and the lowest six pounds. These seats were always sold according to location, after having taken into account the social and financial standing of persons seeking a pew. Perhaps these good old brethren had not read or heeded the Scriptures, wherein it is written that God is no respecter of persons, but looketh at the heart. With these early church seating "committees" it was rather a matter of finance.

Another church building was erected in 1835, costing $11,000. The clock and bell were taken from the old church and placed in the new one. In 1844 an organ was introduced, and the old clarionet and violin were discarded.

The original membership of this church, as established in 1646, was made up of ten male members, including the pastor: John Woodbridge, teacher; John Osgood, Robert Barnard, John Frye, Nicholas Holt, Richard Barker, Joseph Parker, Nathan Parker, Richard Blake and Edmond Faulkner, The following is a list of pastors down to 1870 ; Rev. Johen Woodbridg, 1645 - 95; Rev. Francis Dane, 1648 - 97; Rev. Thomas Barnard, 1697 - 1719 ; Rev. John Barnard (son of last named) 1719 - 57 ; Rev. William Sjniimes, 1757 - 1810; then came Rev. Bailey Loring, who served until Rev. Francis Williams was called in 1850; the eighth minister was Rev. Charles C. Vinal from 1857 to 1870, and he was succeeded by Rev. John H. Clifford.

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The Trinitarian Cong-regational Church was organized at North Andover, September, 1884, by a small company of men and women who came out of the Congregational church, which had become Unitarian in its belief. The present membership is 300, and the Sunday school has an attendance of about 140 pupils. Reginald Andrews is present superintendent. The church edifice is of wood, erected in 1865, and to replace it an expenditure of $50,000 "would have to be made. It contains a fine, expensive pipe organ among its fixtures. The pastors have been as follows: Revs. Jesse Page, seven years; L. H. Cobb, D.D., seven yeare; B. F. Hamilton, seven years; R. C. Flagg, five years; George Pierce, three years; H. H. Leavitt, eleven years; H. E. Barnes, D.D., five years; and J. L. Keedy, sixteen years, and still pastor.