Andover

In 1709, Andover was divided into the North and South parishes. In 1855, the town was divided into two separate towns: Andover and North Andover (the older North parish with the original town center). This page includes North Andover.

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Benjamin Abbot house, 9 Andover Street. PRIVATE home. Built 1700, more likely 1705. Benjamin Abbot (1661-1703) accused Martha (Allen) Carrier (c.1650-1692) of bewitching him in 1692.

Chandler-Bigsby-Abbott Homestead, 88 Lowell Street, Andover. PRIVATE home. Home owner Capt. Thomas Chandler (1628-1703) deposed against accused witch Samuel Wardwell (1643-1692). His sister Hannah (1630-1711) was married to Rev. Francis Dane (1615-1697) when many of the Dane family members were accused in 1692. Thomas’ daughter Hannah Chandler (1659-1730), wife of Daniel Bigsby/Bixby, was afflicted during 1692.

Old North Parish Burial Ground (c. 1650), Academy Road, North Andover. Database and map. Burial place of the afflicted Timothy Swan (1663-1693); Rev. Thomas Barnard (c. 1658-1718), one of the ministers of Andover in 1692; accused witches William Barker Sr. (1646-1718) and his son William Barker Jr. (1677-1745).

Parson Barnard House (c.1715), 179 Osgood Street, North Andover. Thomas Barnard (c.1658-1718) was assistant minister of the North Parish during the 1692 trials. His home was mistakenly known as the Bradstreet house—as in Simon Bradstreet (1603/4-1697) and his wife, poet Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)—but research in the 1950s concluded it was built on land once owned by the Bradstreets but the North Parish ministers lived there. Owned by North Andover Historical Society.

Research

Andover Historic Preservation (buildings)

Andover Center for History & Culture, 97 Main Street, Andover. Download the Virtual Andover app to learn about the town as you’re walking. (2018 new name for Andover Historical Society.)

Memorial Hall Library, 2 North Main Street, Andover. Digital Collections.

North Andover Historical Society, 153 Academy Road, North Andover. Includes the S. Forbes Rockwell Library and Archives of historic documents, photographs and maps. Also check the list of family surnames in the archives.

Stevens Memorial Library, 345 Main Street, North Andover.

Online Books & Records

Andover inscriptions before 1800: extracted from The Essex Antiquarian by Sidney Perley (1898)

Andover Massachusetts town meeting records 1656-1709

Historical Sketches of Andover: (comprising the Present Towns of North Andover and Andover) by Sarah Loring Bailey (1880)

History of Andover, from its settlement to 1829 by Abiel Abbot (1829)

Unpublished genealogies of old Andover families by Charlotte Helen Abbott (a.k.a. the Abbott Genealogies)

Blog Posts

Q&A with Juliet Mofford on Abigail Accused: A Story of the Salem Witch Hunt on WitchesMassBay