6 SCHOOL ST
architectural description
NRDIS NRMRA
Very high style Federal detailing; obvious influence of Salem and Newburyport houses.
historical narrative
Present owner Phillips Academy. Original owner Andover Theological Seminary. Also used as faculty and headmasters' house.
Themes - Architectural, The Arts, and Education.
Samaritan House received its name form the benevolent society of Boston which furnished funds towards its construction. The life of the theologues was spartan and illness and epidemics were frequent. Local ladies formed The Samaritan Female Society of Andover to administer to their physical needs.
From 1826 -1829, this was also the residence of Dr. Elias Cornelius, Sec. of the American Board of Foreign Missions. Osgood Johnson, principal of Phillip Academy, lived here 1833-1837. After his premature death in 1837, his widow stayed on here, acting as nurse to the students until 1852.
Dr. Calvin Stowe and his family lived here in 1852-1853, while waiting for their "stone cabin" to be remodelled. The professor presumably stayed here before his family moved down from Brunswick, Maine. His tenure was not up at Bowdoin, before he started his new job as Professor of Sacred Literature at Andover Theological Seminary, and he solved this problem by teaching one term in Andover between finishing up his course at Brunswick, leaving his wife at home in Maine to finish up her monumental epic, "Uncle Tom's Cabin". Although this novel was published before Mrs. Stowe moved to Andover, her "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin" was written during their stay at Samaritan House. This was a defense of her controversial novel, citing sources and proof for her fictional work. Professor David Comstock lived here 1853 -1892, leaving to help found Hotchkiss School. Dr. Cecil F. P. Bancroft, a dynamic Phillips Academy headmaster, lived here 1892 until his retirement in 1901.
His residency was followed by Headmaster Alfred Stearns. Stearns' successor,Claude M. Fuess, preferred to live at Phelps House, so Professor Horace Poynter moved in here. More recently, it has been the home for Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Hulburd. Samaritan House originally stood at the site of the present chapel. Moved 1929 (same time as Stowe House) to site of old Phillips Academy main building at head of School St.
bibliography/references
Andover Historical Society files.
Fuess, Claude M. "Andover: Symbol of New England," 1959, p. 316-317.
Goldsmith, Bessie. Historical Houses in Andover, Mass., compiled for Tercentenary 1946.
Jackson, Susanna. Reminiscences of Andover. 1914.
Paradise, Scott. Phillipian. June 4, 1930.
inventory data
| Place: | Andover Center |
| Historic District: | Academy Hill NRH District |
| Address: | 6 school st |
| Historic Name: | Samaritan House - Andover Seminary Infirmary |
| Present Use: | faculty residence |
| Original Use: | infirmary for theological students |
| Date of Construction: | 1824 |
| Source: | Goldsmith, Hist. Houses |
| Style/Form: | Federal |
| Architect/Builder: | |
| Foundation: | |
| Wall/Trim: | clapboards |
| Roof: | |
| Outbuildings / Secondary Structures | stables, garage at rear |
| Major Alterations: | front and side altered, verandahs removed 1919 |
| Condition: | |
| Moved: | 1929 |
| Demolished: | |
| Acreage: | 2.52 acres |
| Setting: | |
| MHC inventory number: | |
| Recorded by: | Stack/Mofford |
| Organization: | Andover Historical Commission |
| Date: | August 1977 |
other historic buildings
- on school st
- in Academy Hill NRH District
- with architectural style Federal
Bancroft Hall moving
