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.
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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.
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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 witchcraft 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. Samuel Parris. 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 Cotton Mather, was a zealous advocate of the trials, Andover’s
semi-retired former pastor, Rev. Francis Dane, 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 Increase Mather, 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.
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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 (Samuel Wardwell, 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.
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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) –
District.
They lived in the Holt
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 –
not join. This house was built in the early 1700’s.
Her husband Samuel Holt (1670-1747) did
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.
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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) –
They lived near Foster’s Pond.
Her husband Ebenezer Lovejoy (1673-1760) joined in 1719.
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 –
house was built in 1900.
The existing
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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