USA > Massachusetts > Essex County > Andover > Andover: symbol of New England; the evolution of a town > Part 33
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
The fact that the real estate and buildings of the private edu- cational institutions in Andover are in some degree tax exempt has led a few critical voters to question their value to the town. The actual revenue to merchants and storekeepers from at least a thousand students, to say nothing of the faculty members and their families, is, of course, not negligible. Not many of those who have studied the figures and thought the matter through have doubted that Phillips Academy and Abbot Academy have been, and are, real financial assets to the community. Naturally the intangible benefits derived from their existence cannot be ignored. The rapid expansion of recent years has brought to the town new residents unfamiliar with its traditions and with the close relationship which has long existed between teachers and townspeople. Nevertheless, if a secret ballot were taken, probably very few would put themselves on record as unhappy about the presence of Phillips and Abbot, or of the more recent
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Merrimack College. Andover without its independent educa- tional institutions would certainly be different.
Aside from the departure of the Seminary and the impact of the Lawrence Strike, the years between the Spanish War and the First World War were marked in Andover by quiet, steady, and rather uneventful development. The pattern of living was sim- ple and, in certain sections, almost bucolic. If the children had fears or frustrations, or problems of adjustment, they kept them to themselves, and no psychiatrists seemed to be required. Young men grew up, went to school and college, and married without being in any danger of wearing a military uniform. Drinking in homes was rare in the Andover of those days; indeed nobody served a cocktail on the Hill until the 1920's. The books and magazines which people read seldom referred to sex, and then only to condemn it. If some indiscreet and criminal hoodlums roamed the streets, I did not recognize them as such. On the sur- face the town seemed staid, even puritanical. The Academy boys did not use the tennis courts on Sunday until just before the war.
A town, after all, is made up of people, and the men and women of Andover seemed to a newcomer to be exceptionally friendly and helpful. In the parlors and kitchens all of the com- forts and some of the luxuries were in evidence, and the living, although unostentatious, was by no means plain. The cultural life, the tone of which had long been set by the Seminary profes- sors and Academy teachers, resembled that in Cambridge, Am- herst, and other centers of "intelligentsia." It was clear at once that the residents were rather proud of what their town had to offer.
Two at least of the local clergy deserve special mention: the Reverend Frederic Palmer, of Christ Church, slightly pedantic and precise in manner but crisp and witty of speech, who had oc- cupied that pulpit since 1888; and the Reverend Frederic A. Wilson, of the Free Church, appointed in 1889, a benign and gentle shepherd of his flock in the good Scotch tradition. For three years, from 1904 to 1907, the minister of the West Parish
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was young J. Edgar Park, who was later to make a reputation as one of the most eloquent preachers in Massachusetts and become president of Wheaton College. The Reverend Newman Mat- thews, appointed in 1914, remained almost a quarter of a cen- tury, a power for good among his people. These were ministers of the Gospel far above the average who, because of their char- acter and long periods of continuous service, left their stamp upon their congregations to an extent quite unusual, even in New England.
Burton S. Flagg came in 1901, only five years out of Brown University, to Andover, where he became president of the Mer- rimack Mutual Insurance Company, president of the Andover Savings Bank (1917-1958), and treasurer of Abbot Academy; and in 1912 Chester W. Holland, after ten years of experience in Bos- ton, was made cashier of the Andover National Bank, of which Nathaniel Stevens was for many years the president. "Uncle Nat," as he was affectionately called by his friends, lived in North Andover, but Andover was glad to claim and honor him. In 1906 Miss Edna Brown became librarian of the Memorial Hall Library, where she wrote the girls' stories which brought her an author's distinction. Nathan C. Hamblin, elected princi- pal of Punchard High School in 1910, was to retain that position until 1941. Andover has been fortunate in having in key posi- tions persons who have been willing to stay.
The annual town meeting, held in March, was still small enough so that everybody could find a seat in the auditorium on the second storey of the town hall, and there was little doubt as to who would have the most to say. John N. Cole intervened at crucial moments to keep the procedure orthodox and orderly. Among the others were John Traynor, rough and blustering, with a bark far worse than his bite; "Barney" Rogers, with a Scotch accent like that of "Bobby" Burns, an authority on mat- ters of real estate; Henry Provo, whose special field was the town dump; Edward V. French, the community's Mr. Root-of- the-Matter, whose quiet words clarified many a problem. Men
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like these kept the moderator alert, whether he was Alfred L. Ripley, the incisive president of the Merchants' Bank of Bos- ton, Principal Stearns, or others willing to sacrifice themselves for the public good and the established fee of ten dollars. The highly individualistic contributions to the discussions offered by these and other courageous personalities made Andover seem a true symbol of New England.
The town had "characters" as "crusted" as any in Thomas Hardy's Wessex: the stately Charlotte Helen Abbott, with her amazing fund of unorganized information on genealogy and lo- cal history; the picturesque Pearson brothers with their pointed hats and eccentric ways; George D. Millet, the gossipy bachelor greenhouse-keeper, whom one aristocratic lady once told me she would prefer as a dinner companion to anybody in the town; Horace Hale ("Gunboat") Smith, with his motorized catamaran on the Shawsheen; Ovid Chapman, bearded like John Brown of Ossawatomie, who ran his restaurant on Main Street shuffling around in his bare feet; Allan Hinton, the former Negro slave, whose farm off South Main Street was a popular and harmless rendezvous for stray Academy students; and the unconventional Stephen T. Byington, of Ballardvale, a scholar with a Jovian head who spent his days perfecting his English translation of the New Testament and pointing out defects in other versions. When he died, he was deeply mourned, and proposals for an im- pressive memorial did not seem in the least incongruous. Such unusual figures, although many of them were unknown beyond the limits of the town, helped to give Andover personality, kept it from being too dully conformist, gave it a peculiar charm. There was no danger that it would become a community of ro- bots, or make orthodoxy an indispensable virtue.
One of the most remarkable citizens was Dr. Charles E. Ab- bott, long a doctor in his office on Main Street, who by the side of even the most eminent specialist always looked the more dis- tinguished. Tall and erect, with a moustache and an impressive shock of white hair, he stood out in any company. In late mid-
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dle life he decided to be a candidate for the General Court, was easily elected, and for several terms was the town's representa- tive, very proud of the fact that his name placed him first on every alphabetical roll call. As historian, physician, and legis- lator, he seemed a perfect voice for the town.
Those prewar years seem, in the retrospect, like a lull before the devastating storm. Indeed it is difficult to resist the tempta- tion to describe them as idyllic. Of course they really weren't. The racial hatreds and national ambitions and dynastic jeal- ousies were there, ready to break out in 1914. But in the 1900's they were not quite so obvious. On the surface all seemed serene. When the animosities really did break loose, the Good Old Days vanished like mist before a wind. Even Andover, which had re- garded itself as stable, became a different town, with new insist- ent problems to face in a world of constant and dramatic change.
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NDOV
Jo : The Selectmen, Assessors and Townsmen of Andover, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
~Greeting
As the Mayor and Chief Citizen of the Ancient Borough af Andover, in the County of Southampton, England, and on behalf of the Aldermen, Councillors and Burgesses of the said Borough, I am privileged to affer to the Townsmen of Andover, Massachusetts, in the United States of America, aur cordial congratulations on the occasion of the Jercentenary of the Incorporation of your own which is being celebrated on the Sixth day of May, in the year of Our Lord, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Forty Six.
Further, we wish it to be placed on record that we in Andover, England, being mindful of the bond of friendship and the historic link that hos existed between our two Towns dating from the early years of the seventeenth century, sincerely desire that this bond of friendship shall continuo and be strengthened in the future.
This message af goodwill and friendship expressos the terms of a Resolution unanimously adopted by the Council of the Borough of Andover, England, at its Monthly Meeting held at the Guildhall. Andover, on the Third day of April, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Forty Six, at which I presided.
Goyoung Mayor of Andover, Hampshire, England.
The Mayor's Parlour Municipal Offices, Andorer, England.
Tương . no
The formal greeting from Andover, England, in 1946
The House of the Andover Historical Society
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The House of the North Andover Historical Society
CHAPTER XXIV
War Comes Again to Andover
ANDOVER people, although not unaccustomed to war, were from 1898 to 1914 far more familiar with peace; and the gradual involvement of the United States in a large-scale mili- tary conflict was as unexpected as it was devastating. On the cloudy morning of June 30, 1914, as some of them read of the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in a far-off city called Serajevo, they were not very much excited about this item from foreign parts. Probably not a single citi- zen of Andover gave the incident much thought as July moved along with the usual heat wave.
Their attitude changed, however, when on August 4, after the German invasion of neutral Belgium, Great Britain joined forces with France and Russia against Kaiser Wilhelm's well-drilled army. Andover, more than most New England towns, had many families of Scotch and English ancestry. Clan Johnston, No. 185, Order of Scottish Clans, founded in 1908, was a fraternal organi- zation for Scotsmen and their descendants which enrolled at once more than forty charter members. With their own bag- pipers, glee club, and double quartet of trombone players, dressed on formal occasions in Highland costume, kilts and all, they formed a picturesque addition to the town's wide variety of entertainers. With the outbreak of war in the old country, however, many of them had more serious business to perform. David Waldie, a veteran of the Boer War, left at once, rejoined the service, and was with the British Expeditionary Forces until hostilities ceased. Norman McLeish, hardly more than a boy, joined the Gordon Highlanders in the autumn of 1914, took
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part in many campaigns, and came back in April, 1919, safe and sound. Before the war ended, Clan Johnston had thirty-eight members in uniform. Of the six who enlisted with the British, three were killed in action, one was wounded and crippled for life, one was gassed and decorated with the Distinguished Service Medal, and one came through uninjured. It was a brilliant rec- ord of heroism, but hardly typical of New England, for few Massachusetts towns had such a high percentage of Scotch and English stock.
The Scotch set the pace and created a mood, but Phillips Academy, led by Dr. Stearns, followed sharply after. On No- vember 12, 1914, Henry L. Stimson brought to the school Gen- eral Leonard Wood, who talked on "preparedness," that strange new word which was soon to be on everybody's lips. Trustees, faculty, and undergraduates joined in raising a sum sufficient to provide a Ford ambulance, completely equipped for foreign service; and a volunteer rifle club was started on the campus. Several faculty members attended the Plattsburg Camps in the summer of 1916; and finally, in March, 1917, when war seemed imminent, four hundred boys enlisted in the Phillips Academy Cadet Corps, and began military drill as a substitute for required athletics.
Andover has always been a town where moral causes found ardent champions. Public sentiment from the beginning nat- urally favored the Allies, and those who were wavering were converted by repeated German outrages on the high seas. The myth that "international bankers" were responsible for the war has found little acceptance in our town. The sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915, and of the Sussex in March, 1916, of- fered convincing evidence of German unscrupulousness. At Christmas in 1915 Andover sent 100 pounds to the soldiers of Brechin, Scotland, from which so many of our townspeople orig- inally emigrated. Major Marlborough Churchill, of the regular army, son of Seminary Professor John Wesley Churchill and a native of Andover, had been sent abroad in January, 1916, as
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military observer with the French troops and wrote moving let- ters back to his family. Lecturers like Captain Ian Hay Beith and Private Peat and Madame Huard appeared to tell their dramatic stories. Gradually education-not unaided by propa- ganda-did its work. The voice of Andover was clearly ex- pressed at town meeting, on March 5, 1917, in certain resolu- tions, proposed by Bartlett H. Hayes, seconded by John Traynor, and passed unanimously:
Resolved, by the citizens of Andover, assembled in Town Meeting, the fifth day of March, 1917:
1- That they commend the President for his uncompromising stand in severing diplomatic relations.
2- That they rely upon the President to protect American citi- zens and the American ships upon the high seas.
3- That they decry the mortifying and unpatriotic action of cer- tain United States Senators in failing to adopt legislation necessary for the protection of the safety and honor of the American people.
4- That while they desire peace, they desire peace only with hon- or, and call upon the President to uphold at this time the honor of the American people.
These spirited, uncompromising words were reminiscent of the resolves drafted in 1774 by Samuel Phillips, Jr., pledging the support of the town to the Provincial Congress in the days pre- ceding the Revolution, and also of the address presented by a group of Andover citizens in 1798 to President John Adams, at a time when our diplomatic relations with France seemed about to be interrupted. A similar loyalty had animated the citizens in 1861, and the voters in 1917 were merely continuing a rather proud tradition. Our recent participation in the World War of the 1940's has perhaps obscured for a younger generation the thrilling events of more than forty years ago when hitherto con- tented Andoverians found themselves, through no fault or de- sire of their own, involved in a struggle for world supremacy. But the impact on the quiet town in 1917 can never be forgotten by those who were there to feel it, and should not be passed over
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casually by their descendants. Displayed in many communities from Maine to Texas and Oregon, patriotism was nowhere bet- ter shown than in ancient towns like Andover with a long record of thoughtful leadership and cooperation.
Even before an actual state of war was declared, the selectmen appointed a Committee of Safety, composed of thirty represent- ative citizens with power to assume all necessary authority. The chairman, Honorable John N. Cole, called the first meeting for the evening of April 6, when President Wilson issued his ringing proclamation. Several local committees were then appointed to cover special fields. At a mass meeting in the town hall on the evening of Sunday, April 15, three speakers touched upon vari- ous aspects of war preparation: Honorable Guy A. Ham, of Bos- ton, Mr. Fred A. Smith, of the Essex Agricultural School, and Dr. Alfred E. Stearns, of Phillips Academy.
When, on April 16, a call was issued for volunteers for a unit of the Home Guard, sixty-six candidates responded, most of them over forty years of age. On two evenings a week these men, all of them busy through the day, assembled in the Phillips Acad- emy gymnasium for setting-up exercises and military drill. Un- der their first commander, Captain Edgar L. Holt, they made remarkable progress; and when he was promoted to a majority in the State Guard, his place was taken by Dr. Pierson S. Page, athletic director and school physician at Phillips Academy. On Memorial Day this Home Guard Company, marching in their new uniforms for the first time in public, gave the citizens an opportunity for displaying their enthusiasm. In July the Ando- ver Company was mustered into the service of the Common- wealth, first as Company 114 of the 16th Regiment, and later as Company H, Second Battalion, of the same unit. Soon many of the younger members withdrew to enter active service; and one, Charles A. Young, wounded on August 18, 1918, at Château- Thierry, died of blood poisoning, thus being the first Andover boy with the American forces to give his life in France.
Modern warfare requires money, and plenty of it. On May 19,
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1917, the Liberty Loan Committee for Andover and North An- dover, once more joined in a common mission, was organized with Nathaniel Stevens as chairman, Alfred L. Ripley as vice- chairman, and Chester W. Holland as secretary. The first Liber- ty Loan Campaign, carried on from May 25 to June 15, was nec- essarily experimental; but as a result of efficient planning, the district, the allotment for which was 400,000 dollars, actually subscribed an official total of 434,250 dollars, from 1,931 per- sons. A nationwide campaign for the Red Cross War Fund of 100,000,000 dollars, carried on in June, resulted in contribu- tions of more than 5,000 dollars from the town. Meanwhile Red Cross members had been meeting regularly to make surgical dressings and knitted garments for emergencies. What these women accomplished is worth recording not only for history's sake but also as a symbol of national unity.
Volunteers were already enlisting in the American armed forces. When the R.C.O.A., on July 12, held a reception for those of its members already in a National Guard unit, it was reported that eighteen out of forty-seven had signed up in what was known as the Lowell Battery, later Battery F of the 102d Massachusetts Field Artillery. One of these was the Reverend Markham W. Stackpole, school minister at Phillips Academy, who, although he was over age, had by special pleading secured a commission as first lieutenant and chaplain for the outfit. Mark Stackpole was one of the war's true heroes, joining up entirely because of his conscience and serving later as chaplain of the 102nd Field Artillery in some of the most sanguinary battles of the war, from Château-Thierry to Saint-Mihiel. Modest, un- selfish, and courageous, he was the embodiment of manly Chris- tianity. The mothers of the enlisted men in his regiment were greatly comforted when they knew that he was "going along."
When the troops entrained for Camp Guild, more than a thousand people assembled at the railroad station to see them off. There in Boxford they were for some weeks near enough to receive visitors, and generous friends saw to it that they were
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supplied with the little luxuries which mean so much. Then, without any warning, they disappeared, and it was later learned that, as part of the Yankee, or 26th, Division, later to be so fa- mous, they had arrived in France on October 5. Within almost exactly six months after war broke out, a complete American Di- vision composed of volunteer soldiers had been equipped and transported to French soil, ready to face the seasoned veterans of the enemy.
Early in the summer the Selective Service Act had been put into operation; and on June 5, when the registration had been completed, six hundred and ninety-nine Andover male citizens between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-one were placed on the list. After the drawing of the draft numbers, the names of those in Andover's quota were published and they reported promptly to be examined. Some failed in the physical tests, and others for various valid reasons claimed and secured exemption; but on October 5 the sixty-five men included in the town's al- lotment left for Camp Devens, at Ayer. The day was rainy and cold but the townspeople turned out to see them off. Headed by Company H, Massachusetts State Guard, a parade marched to the playstead, where addresses were delivered by Judge Hayes, of Ipswich, and Selectman Harry M. Eames. The procession then moved to the depot, where refreshments were provided for the recruits. Not even the depressing atmospheric conditions could diminish the significance of the occasion. Although the procedures were somewhat different, Andover was repeating what it had done in several previous wars.
The first Roll of Honor, published on September 28, 1917, comprised about two hundred names, headed by that of Lieu- tenant-Colonel Marlborough Churchill, as highest in rank, in- cluding eight in the Canadian Army and ten with the British Expeditionary Forces. Through the autumn and winter the list inevitably lengthened. The first service flag was hung out at the home of John L. Morrison, on Elm Street, in honor of his son, Lieutenant, afterwards Captain, Phillips G. Morrison, of the
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Ordnance Corps, who later died of pneumonia on October 12, 1918. Soon no street was without a window in which was a sig- nificant red and white banner, with at least one blue star. Sev- eral families became entitled to two stars; at least five, those of the Dugans, the Cheevers, the Earlys, the Grays, and the Moores, could boast of three; and one, that of Mr. and Mrs. John Nicoll, of Cuba Street, had four stars, one son being in the British Navy and three boys with the American forces.
The much less romantic routine tasks at home were mean- while being faithfully performed. In the campaign for the sec- ond Liberty Loan, ended in late October, the Andover-North Andover District had a quota of 672,000 dollars and subscribed 1,249,950 dollars. In a brisk membership drive the American Red Cross, with an assigned quota of 1,840, actually signed up 3,150, approximately one-third of the residents of the town. The local Legal Advisory Board, headed by J. Duke Smith, Esquire, was assisting registered men in filling out their questionnaires. By this date nearly everybody had discovered his or her proper function in the national war machine, and there was much less futile discussion and wasted effort. The first impetuosity and undirected eagerness had given way to that steadiness and per- sistence which any lengthy struggle exacts of the participants.
With the coming of spring, the nation, in every city and vil- lage and crossroads, prepared for a renewed and, it was hoped, final victorious campaign. On April 6, exactly a year after the United States entered the war, the Andover service flag bore three hundred and fifty stars. At the ceremonies signalizing its raising, Mr. Cole delivered a stirring appeal to his fellow towns- men, warning them that they must be ready to meet any crisis. All over the town little plots of ground were being plowed and spaded in preparation for war gardens, and nobody was regard- ed as too old to plant vegetables. The third Liberty Loan, the second Red Cross Campaign, the drive for "War Stamps," stim- ulated by speeches from "Four Minute Men," kept the stay-at- homers occupied. On Andover Hill the Phillips Academy au-
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thorities opened a summer military camp, and the unfamiliar bugle notes of "reveille" and "retreat" sounded out morning and evening across the valley. It was a period of suspense, often almost unbearable, when fathers and mothers, wives and sweet- hearts, were never quite certain that the latest letter might not be the last.
Three native Scotchmen who had settled in Andover, Wil- liam Pert, James Cavan, and William Rae, had already been killed in action. David C. S. Croall, born in Arbroath, Scotland, had emigrated to America in 1906 and taken a job with the Tyer Rubber Company. In 1915 he returned to his birthplace and enlisted in the famous Black Watch. After a succession of bloody battles he was badly wounded and came back to his Andover home. When he recovered, he rejoined his regiment and was killed by a sniper's bullet on April 27, 1918. Patrick O'Neil, born in County Tyrone, Ireland, had settled in Andover in 1910, where he had a wife and four children. In 1917 he joined up with the Victoria Rifles of the Canadian Expeditionary Forces, saw heavy action and was eventually killed on August 27, 1918. Although these war victims were not with the American troops, their deaths cast a gloom over the community, making not only their friends but all their fellow townsmen realize what un- doubtedly lay ahead.
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