The David Batchelder Farm
by Jonathan W. Stevens
David Batchelder, son of Nathaniel and Mary (Emerson) Batchelder, was born in Townsend, Massachusetts, on May 20, 1772 and moved to Andover in 1796, first appearing on the grand list in 1797, with an appraisal of $20. He then returned to Townsend, where he married Sarah “Sally” Adams on February 20, 1798. Sally, daughter of Archelaus and Hannah (Farwell) Adams, was born in Townsend, on April 25, 1774. Several of Sally’s brothers settled in the area, including Peter Adams (1761-1832), who settled on East Hill and is buried in East Hill Cemetery.
Finland to Fitchburg to Andover
by Jonathan W. Stevens
Beginning in the fall of 1909, Andover saw an influx of families of Finnish immigrants, who purchased abandoned (or soon to be abandoned) farms. By 1920s, more than 30 Finnish families had settled in the area. Even though these families were located throughout the town, the predominate settlement was on East Hill, giving rise to the moniker “Finn Hill.” Many of these families first settled in the United States in Massachusetts, particularly in Fitchburg and the vicinity, though others came to Andover via Colorado, New York, South Dakota and Wyoming. Although many of these families would eventually leave Andover, a few still have descendants in town at the present time, including the Kalinen family.
Among the earliest Finnish families to settle in Andover was that of John and Emma (Moisio) Kalinen. John was born as “Johannes Kalinen” on May 28, 1877, in the village of Heikkilä in Alahärmä, Finland as the son of Kustaa and Sanna (Jahaauja) Kalinen. He immigrated to the United States, just prior to the 1900 U.S. Census, when he was a boarder in the household of his cousin Antti Kallio, residing on Mechanic Street in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, which had a large Finnish settlement at the time. John married Emma Johanna Moisio on January 25, 1902, in Fitchburg, by Andrew Groop, Pastor of the Finnish Congregational Church. Emma, the daughter of Kalle and Eva (Sironen) Moisio, was born in Karstula, Finland on July 25, 1881, and immigrated to the United States around the same time as John. At the time of their marriage John’s occupation was a “buffer” and Emma was a dressmaker….
The Solomon Howard Farm: “Solomon’s Temple”
by Jonathan W. Stevens
Howard Hill located in the southern part of Andover, is named after the family that first settled there in the 1780s. The road of the same name runs through the 3rd Range of Lots from Rte. 11 across the town and county line to intersect with Popple Dungeon Road in Windham. In the 19th Century, the area consisted of School District No. 1, though ironically the Howard Hill School was not on Howard Hill Road, but at the intersection of Stigers and Boone Roads. The first member of the Howard family to move to Andover was Capt. Solomon Howard. Hiland H. Gutterson in his “The General History of the Town” featured in Abby Maria Hemenway's The Local History of Andover, Vt. (1886), published separately from, but part of the Vermont Historical Gazetteer, gave the following description of Solomon Howard: "The Captain was always a generous man, and was very public-spirited. It was the custom for all the young men in the neighborhood, after planting, to meet at his home for a holy day, playing ball, wrestling, shooting at a mark, and other athletic sports, and at night, Mr. Howard would always give them supper in his house. And in the winter evenings, the young people would often gather there for a dance and social enjoyments, and were always welcome and free to the best his home afforded." Capt. Solomon Howard would eventually build a large brick house, which became the neighborhood gathering place that Gutterson mentioned, and was later referred to as “Solomon’s Temple,” a Biblical reference to King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem. Solomon Howard was soon followed his brothers Joseph Howard (1760-1804), David Howard (1747-1818), Antipas Howard (1766-1826) and brother in-law John French (1760-1847), who was married to their sister Rebecca Howard(Hayward) (1758-1829). The surname started out as Hayward, an English occupational name derived from an official who was responsible for protecting land or enclosed forest from damage by animals, poachers, or vandals, from Middle English hay “enclosure” plus ward “guardian.” However, within just a few years of arriving in Andover, the spelling was altered to Howard.
The Lepisto/Hill Farm
by Jonathan W. Stevens
On April 18, 1910, the brothers Alex Coburn and Ernest Coburn, who were originally from Malone, N.Y., but at the time were residents of Andover sold to Alexander “Alex” Lepisto of Fitchburg, Mass., “the Gilbert E. Hemenway farm” so-called, containing “115 acres, more or less.” The farm consisted of three parcels of land. The first was all of Lot 20 in the 4th Range, except a parcel of 77 rods that had been previously deeded off lying south of the road to Boynton Hollow. The second was a parcel in Lot 19 in the 4th Range, consisting of 4 acres and 9 rods lying north of said road in the northwest corner of the lot. The third was a parcel in Lot 21 Range 4 consisting of 13 acres and 96 rods. The sale also made an exception the spruce trees and pulpwood as reserved by a previous deed of Park H. Pollard of Cavendish. It also included the following personal property now on the above premises: one Deering Horse Rake, one Deering Mower, one smoothing harrow, one wheel harrow, one spring tooth harrow, one side hill plow, one land side plow, one cultivator, one grindstone, one set of double sleds with “racks and what goes with sleds,” hand rakes, shovels, forks, potato diggers, Paris Green sprayer, all the hay and fodder now on the farm, also six cows, one yearling heifer, one calf with cow, 12 hens, one pig, one 2 year old colt, one brown mare, about 150 sap buckets and pans, sap heater, sugar off pan, sap spouts, being all the sugaring apparatus on the premises, cream separator, one pair of best work harness, one single harness, also “the halters and blankets that belong to these horses mentioned,” one top buggy, one double wagon and all that “goes with same, such as racks and body.”
