INTRODUCTION. XXXVll
" 161^1. I had my Education in the fame Town at the free School, the mafter of w'ch was my ever refpedled ftVeind Mr. Ezekiell Cheevers. My Father was i-emoved from Ipfw. to Andover, before I was putt to fchool, fo y* my fchooling was more chargeable."
This, though not exact, helps us to fix the time of their removal.
This tract of land was bought of Cutshamache, "Saga- more of y*" Massachusets " by John Woodbridge, in behalf of the inhabitants of Cochichewick, " for y'^ fuiiie of 6t & a coate ; " and in 1646 the town was incorporated by the name of Andover.* The first settlements were made near Cochichewick Brook, the principal part of the town being near the meeting-house, though the houses were too far apart to form much of a village. This is that portion of the town now called North Andover. Not far from the site of the first meeting-house is a large old-fashioned house, the oldest in the town. There is a tradition that this house was built and occupied by Governor Bradstreet, and it is certain that it was the residence of his son, Dudley Bradstreet. t Governor Bradstreet's house was burnt to the ground in July, 1666 ; J and, if the present house was built to supply the place of the old one, Mrs. Bradstreet may have lived in it for a few years, as she did not die until September, 1672, and then in Andover. It has always been believed in the town, that this was the Govern- or's house ; and its size, the solidity of its construction, and its position, certainl}^ tend to strengthen this conclusion. It stands on the old Haverhill and Boston road, within a
- Mass. Colony Records, Vol. ii. p. 159; Abbot's Andover, p. 11.
t Abbot's Andover, pp. 19 and 98. J See page 40.
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