The Founding of the South Parish of Andover

When South Church’s sanctuary and steeple were completed in 1860, they stood as a source of reverence and pride for the new town of Andover. Just six years earlier, the citizens of the three parishes comprising greater Andover voted to divide into two new towns. The South and West Parishes paid the North Parish (which would become the town of North Andover) for the privilege of carrying on the name. South Church’s new building was actually the fourth meetinghouse at the same location. The first was built in 1709, following the incorporation of the South Parish. Therefore, the roots of South Church and the South Parish of Andover are intertwined with those of the towns of Andover and North Andover.

The First Settlers

The Pilgrims who brought their dream of building Congregational Churches to New England also initiated a burst of settlement, and by the 1630's the coastal towns of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were becoming crowded. Impatient settlers from towns such as Salem, Beverly and Salisbury began to venture inland, cautiously following rivers with strange native names like Merrimack and Shawshin. Many of them risked settling illegally in uncharted territory. The Colony’s governing Great and General Court in Boston attempted to control the exploration and settlement of the wilderness by dispatching surveyors to inspect and map potential farming and fishing lands. The Court would then routinely publicize these available lands, and upon petition by qualified citizens, issued charters authorizing their settlement in a safe and orderly fashion.

In 1634, surveyors explored and mapped one inland tract of fertile land called Cochichawicke Plantation, on the south shore of the Merrimack; and in 1641, a party of settlers from Newbury, Agawam (now Ipswich) and Rowley were granted a charter to settle there. They brought their families and belongings through the wilderness and settled just southwest of Great Pond (now Cochichawick Lake) on what we know today as North Andover Common. Their first priority was to build a garrison house; a fortified two-story stockade filled with weapons and food, and large enough to accommodate everybody in an emergency. Then they went about building their homes and preparing fields by chopping trees and clearing away brush and rock.

These hardy settlers who escaped religious persecution in the Old World established a bible-centered theocracy in their part of the New World. Motivated by what they considered a sacred covenant to create Cities of God out of the wilderness, the Puritans adhered to a strict Calvinist fundamentalism in every facet of their lives. The Court and the Governor enforced rigid religious and civic control over the growing network of settlements. In 1644, the fast-growing Colony was divided into four counties; Suffolk, Norfolk, Middlesex and Essex (which included Cochichawicke Plantation on its eastern frontier); each with its own courts and militia regiment for protection.

The survival of any new settlement was dependent on attaining township status as quickly as possible. In order to be recognized as a town, a settlement had to comprise at least 10 freeholders (A family’s freehold included a homestead in the settlement and outlying farmland.), a meetinghouse for worship and town business, and an able and orthodox pastor. Only then would the Great & General Court consider a settlement’s petition to become a town.

1 By 1645, the settlers had built their meetinghouse named First Church of Christ at Cochichawicke, and recruited a pastor, and the following year the Court recognized Andover (named for the English home of some of the settlers) as the Colony’s 37th town. By 1650, 25 freeholding families populated the town of Andover. However, as newcomers continued to arrive, land distribution became increasingly complicated. In addition to a home lot of four to ten acres near the meetinghouse, each freeholder also received three outlying plots specified as meadow, wood lot, and land for planting. Since Andover’s meetinghouse was located in the northeast corner of the large township, newly assigned plots were primarily to the south or west, and increasingly distant from the settlement. New arrivals were granted plots which could be several miles away. Travel by foot to and from one’s homestead in the settlement could be time-consuming and dangerous. This hardship was compounded by the fact that Andover itself was already remote from the coastal markets for crops and livestock.

Under these circumstances, it became necessary for many of Andover’s farmers to maintain two homes; one near the meetinghouse, and a second one built discreetly on one’s farmland. Typical among wilderness towns, Andover passed laws to enforce community security by forbidding anybody from building his home more than a half mile from the meetinghouse. At first, outlying homes were accommodated periodically by freeholders and older children in order to tend crops and protect livestock from packs of wolves and other threats. However, over time entire families began to move onto their farmland, and only periodically returning to their home lot to attend worship, go to market, and take care of other business. Outlying settlement became so widespread that some of Andover’s chosen (elected) town offices such as Constable and Surveyor were split into two positions; one for the north and one for the south. By the 1660’s, the Abbot, Ballard, Chandler, Lovejoy and other families had settled on their outlying land in the south, near the Shawshin River.

A Climate of Fear

Although Indians had always been a constant presence; passing through on moccasins or snowshoes, hunting small and large game, camping on the banks of the Merrimack; unlike in many other frontier towns, they had never posed a serious threat or caused more than periodic anxiety. However, this all changed with King Philip’s War. Although Andover was remote from the fighting, several deadly Indian raids beginning in 1675 nearly led to its abandonment. Almost overnight, militias were marching through the town, sentries were stationed everywhere, and numerous garrisons and blockhouses went up, especially near the banks of the Merrimack where Indians frequently landed menacingly in large numbers of canoes. Andover’s selectmen strenuously enforced the home site restrictions, and a town meeting vote in 1680 forbade living apart from the settlement around the meetinghouse under any circumstances. A climate of anger, mistrust, and near-constant fear permeated the town and would remain for years, although in different forms.

The restrictions over where families could live put a new focus on the location of Andover’s meetinghouse. Although it was still exactly where the first settlers had put down roots forty years earlier, the location now seemed arbitrary and unfair to all but the earliest arrivals whose farmland was nearby. Many of those farming in the south or west now had to walk a few miles each way over rough and dangerous paths. For six days of the week, this was bad enough. However, with two Sabbath services, and the time between them necessary for the care of farm animals, many families were forced to make the round trip twice on Sundays. Although church membership was not mandatory, attendance was; and those not present were subject to fines.

2 It was also becoming clear that Andover’s population was outgrowing its meetinghouse. Those with distant farms used this problem as an opportunity to argue that a new larger meetinghouse should be built in a more central location. Those who lived in and around the village, including Pastor Thomas Barnard, vehemently opposed even the discussion of such a move. Although the meetinghouse issue was debated at length in town meetings, every vote deadlocked and no compromise could be found. Largely based on the location of their farms, Andover’s citizens staked out their positions, and a tense and occasionally volatile impasse prevented any resolution.

On every level, the very destiny of the English colonies seemed to be under attack. Growing impatient with its investments in the new world, the crown in 1685 revoked the royal charter, which had granted self-rule to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. As available land became scarce, disputes began to spring up in all forms between colonies, counties, towns, individuals and interests of all kinds. Lawsuits over boundaries, roads, ferries, liability, property damage, petty quarrels, and even claims became commonplace. Then a fast-spreading smallpox epidemic in 1690-1691 turned neighbor against neighbor, stoked the flames of paranoia and fear up to a frightening level and turned the region into fertile ground for a wave of hysteria which surpassed anything the townspeople had experienced.

Witchcraft Unleashed

During the spring of 1692, neighboring Salem Village (now Danvers) experienced an explosion of witchcraft hysteria, fueled by its pastor Rev. . Accusations, imprisonment, trials and hangings all became regular occurrences. Andover citizen Joseph Ballard unwittingly brought the hysteria home when he sought help for his ailing wife by recruiting several girls from the Village who were said to have the power to detect and cure disease. After visiting Mrs. Ballard at their home, the girls claimed that several neighbors had bewitched her.

Like Rev. Parris, Andover’s Rev. Thomas Barnard welcomed the opportunity to confront the evil hand of the devil in his parish, and invited these afflicted girls to stay and help identify witches in their midst. He fueled the hysteria by holding fiery prayer meetings in which experienced accusers (who he would bring into Andover for this purpose) used his own touch test to expose witches among the population. During the touch test, the accused were forced to lay their hands on an afflicted person. If the affliction appeared to suddenly improve, this implied guilt.

Whether intentional or not, the hysteria presented an opportunity to some in the once preeminent clergy who felt that their influence had been gradually eroded by an unappreciative and unrepentant population. This was especially true for those who presided over divided congregations. In Salem Village, many in his own parish who refused to attend his sermons had opposed Rev. Parris outright. The accusations were subsequently focused on those in opposition to him. Those accused were jailed, where some died, and the trials included spectral (supernatural) evidence and hearsay with no basis in fact.

While Rev. Barnard, a protégé of , was a zealous advocate of the trials, Andover’s semi-retired former pastor, Rev. , argued emphatically against the hysteria, petitioning the Governor to release the accused and end the Trials. Curiously, it was the older generation of pastors such as Rev. Dane and , the father of Cotton Mather, who opposed the witchcraft hysteria. Because of Rev. Dane’s opposition, his family paid a heavy price; more of them were accused than from any other family anywhere. Rev. Dane’s daughter, Abigail Dane Faulkner, was accused and jailed in Salem. Her life was saved when her scheduled execution was postponed until after the birth of her seventh child, by which time the hysteria had passed.

3 By mid-July of 1692, the witchcraft hysteria had taken full hold in Andover; and by this time, its general patterns had become common knowledge. Several Andover citizens had already been swept up in the Salem Village accusations, two of whom were tried and hanged. Others awaiting trial were held in jails under conditions so bad that one had already perished. The trials operated on perverse upside-down logic. Because it was believed that the guilty had been possessed by the devil, the courts considered a plea of innocence to be exactly the opposite; proof that he had taken full control of the individual and that all hope was lost. However, a convincingly repentant confession was accepted as proof that the accused was back in control of himself; ashamed and remorseful for his possession. Everybody could see that those who claimed innocence went to the gallows, while those who confessed would be released and returned to their families. With plenty of opposition to the trials, it also became apparent that the hysteria would eventually run its course.

During the three months from mid-July through mid-September of 1692, more than 50 out of Andover’s population of about 600 were accused. Forty arrest warrants were issued by the increasingly reluctant local magistrate, Dudley Bradstreet (Son of Governor Simon Bradstreet and Anne Dudley Bradstreet, the first published female poet from anywhere in the English-speaking world.), until he refused to sign any more. This resulted in accusations against him and his family, who all barely escaped to New Hampshire. Although more citizens of Andover were accused and arrested than from any other town, only one was executed during this period (, who first confessed but then defiantly and publicly recanted his confession.). The rest made confessions or were awaiting trial. Andover’s townspeople largely took the position that confession was simply God’s method of protecting them, and the only hope for the survival of the town. During the entire witchcraft episode, most of those who confessed and were subsequently released were from Andover.

Those who lived in the south of Andover, including many who eventually founded their own parish, were instrumental in correcting the injustices that had been committed. Abigail Dane Faulkner relentlessly petitioned the Great & General Court to reverse all the convictions, and reimburse the survivors and families of the victims. Her brother Francis Dane Jr. became one of the 35 founding members of South Parish. Others followed him such as William and Rebecca Wardwell, who had seen their father Samuel, accused, tried and hanged while William was 12 years old and Rebecca was just one. Samuel Wardwell had been one of those who argued for a new, more central meetinghouse. Future South Parish founders took in Samuel’s widow when the family lost their land to debt, and apprenticed her sons in practical trades. Once the boys were grown, these same people helped the family regain the land around what is now known as Ward’s Hill. Another early South Parish member was Thomas Carrier, who with his wife Martha and their children lived over 6 miles away from the meetinghouse on the Billerica line. Twenty years after Martha’s trial and execution, he also joined the new church and lived to the age of 109.

One Town, Two Parishes

The meetinghouse issue became a priority again in 1705, when Andover’s citizens voted that it was finally time for a new one. However, in vote after vote, it became clear that there was still no possibility of a consensus on its location. The bulk of the population was now clearly in the south, but the established interests in the north refused to accept a possible change in location. The prosperity of the south was due not only to its farms. The Shawshin River was recognized early on as an ideal location for mills. In 1682, the town had granted liberty to any approved citizen to sett up a saw-mill, fulling-mill, and grist-mill upon the Shawshin River near Roger’s Brooke. Brothers Joseph and John Ballard built the first of several mills at their settlement on the flat riverbanks they called Ballard Vale.

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With no resolution in sight, Andover’s competing interests took to lobbying the Great and General Court. After two years of this, the Court, running short on patience, selected a committee to sort out the claims of the various petitioners and report to them. In order to exert some control over this process and keep the town in the Court’s favor, Andover’s selectmen voted on December 9, 1707 to attend the gentlemen of the General Court’s Committee, to view the places and reply to allegations of the petitioners. After repeated visits by the committee, but little cooperation from those in the north, the Court turned its attention to Rev. Barnard, requesting that he state and defend his preference for the location of a new meetinghouse. Evidently, his refusal to reply was the last straw.

On November 2, 1708, the Court announced its decision; ruling that Andover had become large enough to be forthwith divided into two distinct precincts…That there be forthwith laid out for the minister of the south precinct 14 acres of land for a house lot, and forty acres at a further distance, part of it lowland to make meadow of the common land in said precinct…That the inhabitants and proprietors of the south division build a convenient meetinghouse for their own use, and a ministry house. The Court also appointed a committee, comprised of various petitioners, to set the boundary. With Town officials refusing to participate in the division, the committee did its work and presented its recommendation to the Court on April 12, 1709. The Court approved immediately, and the first official meeting of the new precinct was called on June 20, 1709 by George Abbot, John Abbot, Joseph Ballard, Francis Dane Jr., Henry Holt, William Lovejoy and John Russ. Wasting no time, they elected leaders and allocated land donated by John Abbot where it now is raised and stands, at ye rock on the west side of Roger(s) brook for a meetinghouse, fenced burying yard, schoolhouse and parsonage.

Until the completion of the Andover & Boston (later Essex) Turnpike (now Main Street / Route 28) in 1805, Central Street was truly the center of South Parish and the most logical location for the new meetinghouse. Beginning as a Native American footpath, it had become the hub of local activity and the intersection of the roads to Boston, Salem, and Haverhill. The Meetinghouse of the South Parish of Andover was quickly completed at a cost of 108 pounds, officially accepted on October 18, 1709, and soon thereafter occupied for worship using the services of interim supply pastors. The burying yard was laid out behind the Meetinghouse with the future site for the Parish’s public school to its north. The new Parish had a population of nearly 100 freeholding families, which meant that a schoolhouse would soon be legally required. When it was completed a few years later, the 16’ x 22’ South Parish Grammar School was the second school built in the entire town.

The new congregation took the opportunity to welcome several supply pastors. One was a young Harvard Divinity graduate from Salem named Samuel Phillips. Now liberated by Rev. Barnard’s refusal to recognize the new parish, the congregation voted in December 1710 to call Rev. Phillips to serve as their first pastor. He accepted, under the condition that the new Church not be officially gathered until he had been ordained. The legal organization of South Parish’s meetinghouse followed within hours of Rev. Phillips’ ordination on October 17th, 1711. Ironically, on the same day, the Great & General Court finally issued its long-overdue Reversal of Attainder, which rehabilitated the victims of the Witch Trials by reversing all charges and convictions, and distributing 598 pounds to the petitioners and their families.

Over the next 5 years, almost 100 new members joined South Parish’s original 35. A larger meetinghouse was built in 1734, and Rev. Phillips served the parish for 60 years, until his death in 1771.

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South Parish’s 35 Founding Members and their Homes

Abbot, George Jr. (1655-1736) & Dorcas (Graves 1655-1740) - 56 Central Street - He served the Church as Clerk (1709-1726) and the Town as Selectman, Constable and Surveyor. This was the 1663 homestead of his parents, Hannah (Chandler 1629-1711) & George Abbot Sr. (1615-1681), which included the local garrison house. During an Indian raid here in 1676, his brother Joseph was killed. Another brother, 13-year-old Timothy, was taken hostage to Canada but later returned to the family. A direct line of Abbots lived on the property for over 300 years. The existing house was built in 1796.

Abbot, John (1648-1721) & Sarah (Barker 1647-1729) - 57 Central Street – Also a son of George Abbot Sr., he served the Church as Deacon (1711-1720) and Moderator (1715, 16 & 19), the Town as Selectman and Assessor, and was a Deputy to the Great & General Court. John & Sarah are included on a modern monument at South Church. During the Battle of Bunker Hill, books were carted here from Harvard for safekeeping. Named the “John Lovejoy Abbot House” after a descendent, the original 1678 living area has been enlarged several times. The Cutts live here.

Abbot, Nehemiah (1667-1750) & Abigail (Lovejoy 1669-1747) – 71 Andover Street - He served the Church as Deacon (1720-1750), Treasurer (1709-1729) and Moderator (1721, 23, 24, 27, 28, 34 & 39); the Town as Selectman and Tything Man; and was a Deputy to the Great & General Court. The existing house was built about 1800.

Abbot, Sarah (Farnum 1661-1726) – 9 Andover Street – This was the homestead of Sarah & Benjamin Abbot (1661-1703), another son of George Abbot Sr. Benjamin made witchcraft accusations against Martha Carrier, who would become the first accused from Andover to be tried, convicted and hanged. Ironically, his widowed mother had at the time recently married Rev. Francis Dane, a leading opponent of the Witchcraft Trials. The house was built in 1685 at the time of their marriage.

Ballard, Hannah (Hooper 1662-1724) – Her husband William Ballard Jr. (1646-1724) did not join. They probably lived on the homestead of his father, William Ballard Sr. (1603-1689), which included the properties at 88-96 Central Street and 2 Abbot Bridge Road.

Ballard, Rebecca (Hooper 1656-1715) – 88 Central Street – Her husband John Ballard (1653-1715), also a son of William Ballard Sr., made most of Andover’s witchcraft arrests while he was Andover’s Constable, and joined in 1714. The “Ballard House” was built in 1717 by their son Sheribiah Ballard (1688-1749). Sisters Hannah & Rebecca Hooper married brothers William Jr. & John Ballard, and probably lived next door to each other.

Bigsby, Hannah (Chandler 1659-1730) - 88 Lowell Street - Her husband Capt. Daniel Bigsby (1651-1717) joined in 1714. The “Chandler-Bigsby-Abbot House” was built about 1673 by her father, Capt. Thomas Chandler (1628-1703). The Smith-Bowdens live here.

6 Blanchard, Ann (Lovejoy 1659-1724) – Her husband Jonathan Blanchard (1663-1742) did not join. They probably lived on the homestead of his parents, Mary (Sweetser 1637-1669) & Samuel Blanchard (1629-1707), between Osgood Road and Blanchard’s (now Haggett’s) Pond. Hers was the first burial in the cemetery for somebody born in Andover, and hers is the oldest surviving stone.

Chandler, Thomas Jr. (1664-1737) & Mary (Peters 1667-1753) – 189 Abbot Street – He served the Town as Selectman and Tything Man, and was a Deputy to the Great & General Court. The existing house was built in the early 1700’s.

Chandler, Sgt. William Jr. (1659-1727) & Sarah (Buckmaster 1661-1735) – He served the Church as Moderator (1718) and the Town as Constable, Tything Man, and Fence Viewer. At the age of 19, he went on trial for attacking a neighbor over property damage from an escaped horse. They lived near the corner of School and Locke Streets. His is the second oldest stone in the cemetery.

Dane, Lieut. Francis Jr. (1656-1738) & Hannah (Poor 1660-1746) - 97 Argilla Road - He served the Church as Moderator (1709, 13, 17 & 20) and the Town as Selectman, Constable, Tything Man and Surveyor. Their home, which was built by his father, Rev. Francis Dane, was struck by lightning and burned down in 1893. The existing house was built in 1905.

Farnum or Farnham, Ralph III (1662-1737) & Sarah (Sterling 1669-1732) – They lived in the Holt District.

Foster, William (1669-1755) – 2 Abbot Bridge Drive - His wife Sarah (Kimball 1669-1729) did not join. Their headstones and footstones are in the cemetery. In 1750, their house, which they bought from William Chandler in 1696, was moved from 2 Reservation Road, across the Shawsheen River, and attached to the 1660’s home of William Ballard. The “Ballard-Foster House” was later expanded to be the dormitory for “Master Willie Foster’s Boys’ School”. Also remaining is the original barn from “Foster’s Poultry Farm”, which extended south to Pomp’s Pond. Sisters Margaret Foster and Ann Newton live here.

Holt, Hannah (Farnum 1668-1758) – 173 Holt Road – Her husband Samuel Holt (1670-1747) did not join. This house was built in the early 1700’s.

Johnson, Elizabeth (Farnum 1673-1716) - 125 Dascomb Road – Her husband James Johnson (1672-1748) served the Town as Constable and joined in 1717. They lived on the homestead of his parents, Mary (Holt 1638-1700) & Thomas Johnson (1632-1719). The existing house was built in 1759.

Johnson, John (1668-1741) & Mary (Farnum 1666-1723) – 125 Dascomb Road - He served the Town as Selectman and Treasurer. This is another case of sisters (Elizabeth & Mary Farnum) marrying brothers (James & John Johnson) and living on the same property. They were also sisters of Sarah (Farnum) Abbot, Ralph Farnum III, and Hannah (Farnum) Holt. All 5 siblings were founding members.

7 Johnson, Sgt. William (1656-1730) – 254 Lowell Street - His wife Hannah (Lassell 1662-1717) did not join. He served the Town as Constable and Pound-Keeper (Treasurer). This house was built in about 1700 and the farm is still in operation.

Lovejoy, Capt. William (1656-1748) & Mary (Farnum 1665-1739) - 70 Elm Street – He served the Church as Deacon (1711-1720) and Moderator (1710, 14, 35 & 43); the Town as Selectman, Constable and Surveyor; and Essex County as a Grand Juryman. Their house was built in about 1680, later was “Deacon Isaac Abbot’s Tavern”, hosted President George Washington in 1789, and became Andover’s first Post Office in 1795.

Lovejoy, Mary (Foster 1673-1763) – Her husband Ebenezer Lovejoy (1673-1760) joined in 1719. They lived near Foster’s Pond.

Osgood, Christopher (1643-1723) – 7 Argyle Street - His wife Sarah (Russ 1656-1735) joined in 1720. He served the Town as Selectman and Constable, and was a Deputy to the Great & General Court. He is the only founding member with a headstone in North Parish Cemetery. Their house was replaced in 1839 by a 3-story brick municipal building, which housed Andover’s infirmary, almshouse and holding cells, and has since been converted into condominiums.

Phillips, Rev. Samuel (1689-1771) – 36 Central Street – His wife Hannah (White 1691-1773) did not join. South Parish’s first parsonage was built diagonally across School Street in 1710. It was replaced in 1892 by a large house, which has since been converted into condominiums.

Preston, Sarah (Gerry 1665-1738) – Her husband John Preston (1655-1738) joined in 1713. They lived at his family’s homestead on Preston’s Plains, just east of Ballardvale.

Russ, John (1641-1715) & Deborah (Osgood 1641-1712) - 69 Shawsheen Road – The existing house was built in 1900.

Russell, Mary (Marshall 1641-1715) - 28 Rocky Hill Road – Her husband Robert Russell (1630-1710) emigrated from Scotland and called their farm Scotland Yard, from which the Scotland (School) District was named. His was the first recorded burial in the Cemetery, just three days after Rev. Phillips was called as the first pastor. The existing house was built about 1780.

Russell, Phebe (Johnson - 1664-1737) – 3-5 Boston Road - She was a sister of John and James Johnson. Her husband Thomas Russell (1663-1731) joined in 1712. The existing house was built in 1895.

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