european settlement
The settlement of Andover Massachusetts began in the second quarter of the 17th century, as fortune-seeking Europeans pressed deeper inland from coastal settlements such as Ipswich and Newbury. In 1634 the Massachusetts General Court created a deeded agricultural area around a natural waterfall along the Merrimack River. This area was known to the Pennacock people as ‘the place of the great cascade’, or Cochichewick in Algonquin. The Cochichewick Brook tributary lead to a nearby Great Pond, valued by the native people as a fertile fishing and hunting location. A few Europeans drifted to this area, coined Cochichewick Plantation, but the first organized influx of settlers did not begin until 1641.
Little Migration to the Great Pond
The Evolution of Cochichewick Plantation to North Andover
Edmond Faulkner, John Frye, Nicholas Holt, John Osgood, Joseph Parker and Nathan Parker are listed in the Andover Town Records as original proprietors of the town. They were also 6 of the 10 men who founded the First Church of Christ at Andover. Edmond Faulkner became the Town Clerk, John Frye held a vintner license, John Osgood kept an inn and Joseph Parker ran a mill. These men who helped shape Andover into a thriving community had in common that they were all originally from towns and villages not far from the market town of Andover, England.
Initially interest in the “in-land” Cochichewick Plantation was slow to spark. But as the established coastal European communities began to swell, many began to look West. A 1642 Act of the General Court recorded that settlers held grants of land at “…the village of Cochitawit” and by 1645 a church was founded. The “Great Pond” (today known as Lake Cochichewick), made the area an attractive draw. A village was growing.
The founding date of Andover in 1646 is based on a court entry, where the name appeared for the first time in public records. The Massachusetts Bay Colony Records mention that, “…Cochichewick, [is] now called Andover.” This occurs about a year after the foundation of the town church, on an occasion when Pennacook Sagamore Cutshamache was named on the court agenda. Cutshamache came before the Court to relinquish his “…right, interest and privilege in the land 6 miles southward from the town, two miles eastward to Rowley bounds be the same more or less, northward to Merrimack River…” In exchange for his land, Cutshamache received 6 British pounds and a coat. Today in Andover, England, standing in a park, is a tall statue of Cutshamache, coat draped over an arm, one hand holding his pouch of 6 pounds, the other pointing towards Andover, Massachusetts.
This was a new Andover in New England. The town thrived and by 1709 had expanded far enough away from the center of the original settlement to require two churches and therefore two parishes. The original, more northern settlement became the First Parish or North Parish and the newer area became known as South Parish. A 3rd parish followed in 1826 for the western end of town.
By the middle of the 19th century the three parishes had grown apart, with separate churches, schools and industries. In 1847, part of Andover was absorbed into the creation of a new town called Lawrence. In 1855, the South and West Parishes joined forces to secure the name Andover from the Massachusetts General Court Andover and formally split from the North Parish, which reincorporated as the Town of North Andover
Over the years a fond rivalry has developed, especially in school sports; however, overall “The Andovers”, as the area is often called, share a past which both towns fully appreciate.
