Tag #andoverhistory

The William C. Donald Family of Frye Village William Cooper Donald (1816-1906) was born in West Craig, Forfarshire, Scotland. William apprenticed as a miller from age 15 to 21. He married Agnes Bain Smart on September 13, 1839 in Brechin, Scotland. Five years later in 1846, William, Agnes, and their two oldest children Fannie and Belle, immigrated to the United States. The Andover-Brechin, Scotland connection was strong. Smith & Dove founders John Smith and partners John and ...Peter Dove were from Brechin and recruited residents to come to Andover to work in their linen mill. They purchased their home at 355 North Main Street, next door to John Smith, from Ephraim Everson. William and Agnes moved to Andover and joined the South Parish Church in 1845. They would leave the church the following year to become charter members of the Free Christian Church. Together they had seven more children, including Walter Smart Donald who would later take over the ink factory from his father. Like their neighbors, the Smiths, Doves, and Poors, the Donalds were abolitionists. William was active in the Free Christian Church as Deacon and Sunday School teacher. He was deeply involved in town and represented Andover in the Massachusetts State Legislature. He was known for His simple, affectionate nature and cheerful unaffected goodness (which) won for him a large number of friends and made him beloved and honored among his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The last 12 years of his life he wintered in Boston with his daughter Charlotte (Donald) Garland. William Donald died there in 1906 at age 90. The Garlands summered in Andover in the Donald family home the property was sold in 1919. The Donald's home, which still exists today tucked behind Anton’s Cleaners, is often referred to as Garland House. More about the next generation of the Donald family to come next week! #andoverhistoryandculture #andoverhistory #andoverma #shawsheenvillage100

This family of four polar bears is a popular sight in downtown Andover. But they're not the only polar bears in town! The sculpture of the polar bear family that sits in front of Memorial Hall Library was designed and created by artist and sculptor Jim Sardonis. It was commissioned by the library Board of Trustees and presented as a gift to the town on Saturday, June 14, 2008. Artist Jim Sardonis wrote about the piece, "Carved from Bethel, Vermont, white granite, the mother ...polar bear is surrounded by her three cubs. The title, 'Vigilance,' refers both to the mother’s watchfulness and alertness to danger for her cubs, as well as for the need for human vigilance with regard to the environmental problems we have created." Library trustees conducted a public poll to choose names for the bears. The mother is named Aurora and the cubs are named Snowflake, Grace and Klondike. You can read more about the bears on the Memorial Hall Library website. https://conta.cc/3jdbehV But did you know about Andover's other polar bear? In 2018, the History Center received this email inquiry: "As my grandson and I drive past Iceland Road in Andover on our way to and from Lowell and Salem, we noticed a two-foot tall statue of a polar bear facing the road. We were curious and got in the habit of waving hi every time we drove by. We named him "Icy"... My grandson is 6 years old and a lover of libraries. This is a mystery to treasure! What can you tell us about Icy?" Great question! We love quirky Andover stories and research rabbit holes! Curiosity was piqued, and we had to know! We did some digging, asked around, and sent letters to neighbors asking if anyone knew the story of Icy the polar bear. About ten months later, we received this news from one of the neighbors we wrote to, "After meeting my new neighbor, she told me that it is nothing more than a garden statue that her mother had given her." So there you have it. A simple story of a unique neighborhood feature. Next time you drive down Lowell Street, wave "hi" to Icy for us! Do you have Andover stories you'd like to read or share? #andoverhistoryandculture #andoverhistory #andoverma #memorialhalllibrary #polarbears

The Donald Printing Ink Company, Frye Village Two generations of the Donald family ran the thriving printing ink company in Frye Village for 66 years, from 1856 to 1919. Founder William S. Donald and his wife Agnes immigrated to the United States from Scotland in 1846. He established his first ink factory on Holt Road in 1852. As with many new business ventures, then and now, the printing ink factory had a seemingly rocky start. William started his company in 1852 on Holt Roa...d. The next year, William established the Morrill, Donald, and Co Ink Manufacturing Co., lamp black and printing ink, with partners Samuel & George Morrill. In 1853, the partners were advertising their new location at 20 North Main Street, formerly an Andover & Wilmington Railroad repair building. The partnership didn’t last long. In 1854, William closed the company and the partnership was dissolved in 1856, and the Morrill brothers moved the company to South Dedham. That same year, William Donald established his own ink business just north of his home in Frye Village. William partnered with Ephraim Everson for a period of time forming Donald & Everson Printing Ink Manufacturers. In July 1866, the Andover Advertiser reported that the W.C. Donald ink factory had burned, along with its contents. Donald rebuilt the factory that same year, and expanded again in 1873. Andover Advertiser September 1866: William C. Donald has rebuilt his printing ink establishment, which was destroyed by fire a few months ago. It is now built of brick with a fire proof roof and is divided into eight apartments each so distinct from the other that a fire cannot be communicated. The engine was so little injured by the late fire that the manufacturing of ink was continued without interruption. Mr. D. occupying ‘all out doors’ for his factory. Having perfected his machinery, and completed arrangements, he is now prepared to supply all orders. Fires were - and still are - a hazard in ink manufacturing. In addition to the fire that destroyed the Donald ink factory in 1866, there was another fire in 1918. In 1892, at age 76 after 36 years leading the Donald Printing Ink Company, William retired and turned the business over to his son Walter, who would lead the company for another 30 years. Want to read more about the Donald family and printing ink company? The story is posted on the Andover Stories page of our website. https://conta.cc/2Ez9i4t #andoverhistoryandculture #andoverhistory #andoverma #shawsheenvillage

How has Andover celebrated Hallowe'en over the years? Early newspaper references to Hallowe’en come from North Andover. A Hallowe’en party at the Unitarian Church is announced in the North Andover section of the October 22, 1886 Lawrence American/Andover Advertiser newspaper. Tricks, fortunes, a baked bean supper, and a good time is assured for all. The next month, the paper reported out that even though the weather was bad, the party was a success. The next year, on October ...28, 1887, on page 6, the Andover Townsman published a long article on the history of All Hallow’s Eve, relying heavily on the Robert Burns poem. That article proved to be popular, so the next week, the newspaper published a long Hallowe’en story. On November 11, 1889 the Townsman reported that , Hallowe’en was observed with more than the usual amount of mischief on the part of the boys. Bells were rung, gates un hung, and similar idiotic attempts to be funny perpetuated about town. Starting in 1893, the Andover Townsman kicked-off a long tradition of reporting on Hallowe’en parties in Andover that continued well into the 20th century. Reports often included descriptions of the decorations, "proper" Hallowe'en games, food served, and a list of everyone in attendance. So what were proper Hallowe’en games? At Andover’s proper Hallowe’en parties, young people enjoyed a dainty lunch, cake, donuts, popcorn, pickles, and fruit (1906). They listened to piano solos, recitations, and readings, and played games including bobbing for apples, biting suspended donuts, apples, or marshmallows, and played Donkey games, peanut races, and hot potatoes or tatties. In 1900, "They played the usual pranks, doubtless, ringing inoffensive folks' door bells, playing tick-tack and hurling the rutabaga, at least the more mischievous did." (Hurling the rutabaga?) There were masquerades in ancient or grotesque costumes with grand marches, and younger children going door-to-door to sing ditties (1910). Decorations were seasonal and included pumpkins, jack o'lanterns, crepe paper streamers, lanterns, witches, and more. There's a lot more Andover Hallowe'en history and fun waiting for you on our website! Click here to read more https://conta.cc/3obEpoA. What's your favorite Hallowe'en tradition? #andoverhistoryandculture #andoverhistory #andoverma #halloween

Keeping it cool..Harvesting ice in Frye Village The business of harvesting, storing and delivering ice was managed by Andover residents for 70 years from the 19th to early 20th centuries. These companies bought, sold and merged, creating a little-known history from the not-too-distant past. Although there were a number of small start-up ice companies, George Abbot, who lived on Gray Road, was Andover's first recorded ice harvester. His original ice house was moved to Brook Ho...lt's South Main Street property where he also built a dam and made an ice pond. The Holts, Hawards, Nuckleys, and Haggertys formed and merged ice companies in the early years of the 20th century. Joseph Nuckley started a one horse-and-wagon ice company in Ballardvale. In two years he had acquired the Hayward ice houses in Ballardvale and his brother-in-law William Haggerty went into business with him. A few years later Joseph's brother, T. Frank Nuckley, bought out Haggerty, and formed the Andover Ice Company. In 1905 this company was bought out by Holt's company and it would be another year before the Nuckley brothers had established a new company, the People's Ice Company, which merged with Holt's company in 1914. Ice houses were located at Pomp's Pond, Hussey's Pond on Iceland Rd., and Ballardvale on River St. 10,000 tons of ice were cut yearly in Andover. Ice was also shipped by train in carloads from Milton & Brookline, NH. When demand was at its highest, it might require a train carload a day. In October 1926 the People's Ice Company was sold to the Metropolitan Ice Co. of Milbury, Mass. You can read more about the ice business in Andover and in Frye Village on our website, https://conta.cc/33e7ojm, and watch a video on ice harvesting in New England here, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv7XXbdHV0Y. #andoverhistoryandculture #andoverhistory #andoverma #fryevillage #shawsheenvillage

Fall is a great time to get out and explore Andover's stories! Hike the Skug River Reservation and learn about the soapstone quarry. The William Jenkins’ home, located in Andover at 89 Jenkins Road, is best known as a link on the Underground Railroad. About 100 yards from the home you can visit the Woodbridge-Jenkins family cemetery, today managed by the Trustees of Spring Grove Cemetery. To support the family’s needs were farm fields where the Skug River was used both for th...e irrigation of the crops and power for the saw mill. And east of the Skug River still stands a large outcrop of stone, marking the site of the old blue soapstone quarry. In 1834 a contract was drawn up for Jenkins, as owner of the land, along with Addison Flint, a yeoman, and Mitchell Flanelly, a stone cutter, both from Reading, to quarry and sell the stone. The division of labor and any profits accrued were spelled out specifically in the document, and registered at the Essex County Registry of Deeds. The stone, in the contract called Blue Free Stone, was referred to at different times as steatite, free stone, and blue soapstone. A geologist was quoted as saying this material was quite different from ordinary soapstones and certainly a peculiar one. An 1841 report by state geologist Edward Hitchcock spelled out the advantages of this particular stone: This is the softest of all the rocks employed in architecture, this property rendering it easy to be sawed or cut without injuring an edge tool. The soapstone was thus worked with a star drill, hammers and wedges. The star drill would make holes in a line; wedges were inserted to split the stone. Also noted from people acquainted with the rock was the striking characteristic of its "greasy or soapy feel. After cutting, the stone was then polished into a certain shape depending on its intended use. Examples of these cuts can still be seen at the quarry site. The Blue Soapstone from the Jenkins land could also be seen in Andover. By all accounts the business, though expensive to run, was profitable until that fateful day sometime in the 1840s when the company treasurer, a man from Boston, absconded with the money and was never heard from again. Without money to carry on operations, the work was abandoned and never resumed. The last known bit of Andover’s blue soapstone to be cut created the grave marker of William Jenkins himself. It is worth the trip to Spring Grove Cemetery to see the monument both for its stone and for its notable inscription on the back: William Jenkins. He lived to see the fulfillment of his great desire, the abolition of slavery in America. You can read more of the story on our website, https://conta.cc/3cG1ESp. #andoverhistoryandculture #andoverhistory #andoverma #AVIS #skugriver

The next generation of the Donald family: Walter S. Donald Walter S. Donald graduated from Phillips Academy in 1869 and married Clara Clement in 1873. They lived just north of his parents at 9 Union Street. Together they had four children William, Walter, Douglas, and Edith. Walter launched a short-lived adventure in retail in 1872. In September 1872, Jonathan Swift sold his variety store stock and trade at 17 Main Street in downtown Andover to Walter who opened Walter S. Do...nald Fruit & Fancy Store. According to the Andover Townsman, he sold confectionery, canned goods, and fruit. However, like his father’s early ventures in ink manufacturing, Walter’s new business venture got off to a rocky start. In February 1873, the Townsman reported that Donald sold his business to Moody O. Russell who would continue to sell lamps, confectionery, fruit, and fancy goods. But one week later Walter Donald bought back his business. In December that year, Donald advertised that he had a large assortment and great variety of holiday gifts, including nicknacks, [sic] gimcracks and all sorts of funny and queer articles...Give him a call and let the little folks have a merry Christmas with plenty of presents. A few months later, in April 1874, Donald sold his stock in trade and the lease on his store on Main Street to J. E. Whiting. Walter worked for over thirty years in the family ink manufacturing business, leading the company as W.C. Donald & Company after his father’s retirement in 1893 until 1919. Walter Donald was an Andover Selectman from 1905 to 1923, serving as Chairman for several years. He also served as Assessor and was a director of the Lawrence Cooperative Bank. He was a member of the St. Matthew’s Lodge of the Masons and the Square & Compass Club. Walter Donald died March 5, 1930, after a week-long illness. His wife Clara (Clement) Donald died a week later. Walter Donald was active in Andover until shortly before his death. He had asked Selectman Matthew Burns to take his place and speak for him at Town Meeting if he was called to great beyond. Burns obliged and presented Donald’s petition related to street, roads, and public works. You can read more about Walter S. Donald and the Donald family on the Andover Stories page of our website, https://conta.cc/2RZcUjd #andoverhistoryandculture #andoverhistory #andoverma #shawsheenvillage