FOUNDING FAMILIES OF ANDOVER

The plaque on a town monument featuring the Founding Families of Andover is currently being renovated. The dedication ceremony for the new plaque is scheduled for June 27th, 2026. Scroll down to view a mockup of the new design.

The monument is located near the historic North Parish of North Andover Church in the Old Center, across from the North Andover Town Common. Please see the “Faulkner list” below for the list of names: Founding Families of “Cochichawick Plantation” — The First 23 Freeholders in Andover as they came to Town. Descendants of some of these founding families still live in town. The inscription on the monument plaque now reads:

“In the1640s a group of English families moved from coastal Massachusetts to establish a new community here.
In this neighborhood they built their homes and a meeting house.”

In 1979 the Old North Andover Center District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

APRIL 7, 1980
NORTH ANDOVER HISTORICAL COMMISSION


LEARN MORE: Acknowledgement of The Land and Its People | Native Americans of Andover | European Settlement | Timeline | Old Center | 1640s Bookstore

NEW MONUMENT DESIGN

UPCOMING Dedication Ceremony: jUNE 27, 2026

The land throughout the Merrimack Valley was populated by many indigenous peoples for 10,000 years prior to the arrival of English settlers. In 1644, Reverend John Woodbridge led 10 families from Newbury to settle the area known as "Cochichewick Plantation". A meeting house was established in 1645. On May 6, 1646 the town was incorporated and renamed Andover. The "First Comers List", written and signatures collected by town clerk, Edmond Faulkner lists the following 23 families:

Simon and Ann (Dudley) Bradstreet

* John and Sarah (Booth) Osgood

* Joseph and Mary (Stevens) Parker

* Richard and Joanna Barker

John and Elizabeth (Parker) Stevens

* Nicholas and Elizabeth (Short) Holt

Benjamin Woodbridge (unmarried)

* John and Ann (Stratton) Frye

* Edmund Faulkner (unmarried)

* Robert and Joan (or Joanne Harvey)

Barnard Daniel Poor (unmarried)

* Nathan Parker (unmarried)

Henry Jaques (unmarried)

John Aselebee (Aslett) (unmarried)

* Richard Blake (unmarried)

William and Grace (Berwick) Ballard

John Lovejoy (unmarried)

Thomas Poor (unmarried)

George Abbot III (unmarried)

John and Margret Russ

Andrew and Faith (Ingalls)

Allen Andrew and Anne (Alcock) Foster

Thomas & William Chandler (brothers unmarried)

*asterisk denotes signers of the charter of the first Christian Church

Donated by the Holt Association of America June 27, 2026

The wives mentioned were married prior to 1646. Unmarried means they were unmarried at that point in time.

Designed by: John Ness | Merrimack Engraving/Killorglin Creations
134 Main St North Andover, MA O1845 | tel: 978-683-5335 www.kcgifts.net

Founding Families Of “Cochichawick Plantation”

The First 23 Freeholders in Andover as they came to Town

The Faulkner List

1656 Proprietor's List Founding Families.jpg

This list, in the handwriting of Town Clerk Edmund Faulkner, is taken from some of the surviving early Town Records. A transcription is provided below.

The bolded names indicate the ten men who signed the Covenant for the first Christian Church at Andover, including the minister, John Woodbridge. 

  1.  Mr. Bradstreet

  2. John Osgood

  3. Joseph Parker

  4. Richard Barker

  5.  John Stevens

  6. Nicholas Holt

  7. Benjamin Woodbridge

  8. John Fry

  9. Edmond Faulkner

  10. Robert Barnard

  11. Daniel Poor

  12. Nathan Parker

  13. Henry Jaques

  14. John Aslett (or Alebe)

  15. Richard Blake (Black)

  16. William Ballard

  17. John Lovejoy

  18. Thomas Poore

  19. George Abbott

  20. John Russe

  21. Andrew Allen

  22. Andrew Foster

  23. Thomas Chandler

Descendants of some of these founding families still live in town.

Citation: Andover Town Meetings & Land Grants, 1660-1708, p. 0322. NAHS ID: 1994.005.031