The Andover Historical Society (AHS) has received two historically significant gifts, and the promise of a third, within the past three months, according to AHS president Pat Cutter.
From the Woburn (Mass.) Public Library came two objects – a one-quart pewter bowl and a small wooden tobacco box (measuring about 10 inches by 4.5 inches), both said to have been owned by Nathan Rowe, one of the first settlers in Andover. Research conducted by the library identified Rowe as the likely owner.
Born in Hampton Falls, N.H., in 1725, Rowe was a pre-Revolutionary War soldier in Capt. Simon’s Company, served in the 1745 Louisbourg Campaign in Nova Scotia, was one of the original grantees of land in Andover in 1751, and settled on Lot 27 in the Flaghole district. He died in Andover in 1809 at the age of 84.
The objects came to the AHS as a result of the Woburn library’s work to identify certain items in its collection that would have more historical interest to other organizations and locations.
A McDonnell Original
Scheduled for delivery to the Andover Historical Society(AHS) this fall is a watercolor painting of the Potter Place railroad station which is now owned by the AHS and operated as a museum.
The gift of Robert N. Roach, Jr., chief executive officer of The Chemical Company in Rhode Island, the painting is the work of Arch McDonnell (1909-1978), who created many detailed watercolor railscapes, including a series that appeared regularly in the centerfold of Yankee Magazine. McDonnell was the son of a Boston & Maine Railroad brakeman, a resident of Concord, New Hampshire, and during “the 1930s” and “the 1940s” was a cartoonist for the Manchester Union Leader – all while serving as a construction supervisor for the University of New Hampshire.
Although the Potter Place painting is the first McDonnell original to be acquired by the AHS, over two dozen railroad-related McDonnell prints have been in its collection for years, and ten are currently on display in the AHS-owned red caboose next to the Potter Place railroad station. In 2017, the AHS special annual exhibit in the station will feature both the new original and many other McDonnell prints in its collection.
In addition to the Potter Place railroad station and the caboose, the AHS also owns the Emons General Store and the Boston & Maine freight shed, both in Potter Place. The AHS owned one-room schoolhouse is located on Tucker Mountain Road in East Andover. Visiting hours to all, except the freight shed, may be found on the AHS Web site: andoverhistory.org.
The Andover Historical Society welcomes donations of artifacts that might enhance or extend its collection. Contact Cutter at pres@nullandoverhistory.org to learn more.