The Benjamin Abbot House or Abbot Homestead is a historic house at 9 Andover Street in
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed., 1992, Vol. 1, p. 387. As of th ...
, USA. The house was built in 1711. It was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1975.
Description and history
The Benjamin Abbot House is a located southwest of downtown Andover, on the north side of Andover Street, a busy road connecting the center to
Interstate 93
Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...
. The house faces south, and its southeast corner is quite close to the road. The main block is a -story wood-frame structure, with a gabled roof, central chimney, and clapboarded exterior. A recessed ell extends to the west, joining the house to a barn that serves as a garage. The main block is five bays wide, with 8-over-8 sash windows in the outer bays, and a 6-over-6 sash above the center entrance. The entrance is in a projecting gabled vestibule with small windows on the sides; the door is made of vertical planking attached with iron strap hinges. The interior features exposed main beams (some thick, and many period features.
The house was featured on the PBS program ''History Detectives'' in 2004. As part of the investigation, Oxford Dendrochronology Lab determined that the eastern (right) side of the house was built in 1711, and the western portion, to the left of the entryway, was built in 1713.
The house was long thought to date to 1685 (which is mounted on a plaque above the door), and is named for Benjamin Abbot, a carpenter by trade and the son of an early settler of Andover. In 1692 Abbot accused
Martha Carrier
This is a list of people executed for witchcraft, many of whom were executed during organized witch-hunts, particularly during the 15th–18th centuries. Large numbers of people were prosecuted for witchcraft in Europe between 1560 and 1630.Levac ...
of
witchcraft
Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...
, alleging that she caused his foot to swell, and that his foot healed after her arrest. Benjamin Abbot died in 1703 and, therefore, did not live in this building. The house was owned by generations of the Abbot family until 1933. In 1950 it was offered to the local historical society, which refused to offer on the grounds they could not afford to maintain it properly.
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See also
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*List of the oldest buildings in Massachusetts
This article lists the oldest buildings in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States of America, including the oldest houses in Massachusetts and any other surviving structures. Some dates are approximate (indicated with a "") and b ...
References
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts
Houses completed in 1711
Houses in Andover, Massachusetts
National Register of Historic Places in Andover, Massachusetts
1711 establishments in the Province of Massachusetts Bay
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Essex County, Massachusetts
[https://salemwitchmuseum.com/locations/benjamin-abbot-house/]