With the passage of the Volstead Act in 1919, the goal of the temperance movement was finally achieved - the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages was prohibited throughout the United States. Supporters of the movement had worked for close to 100 years to eliminate the scourge of "Demon Rum" from society, and prohibition was now the law of the land.
From the earliest days of our country, consuming alcoholic beverages was a daily routine for most men. During the Revolutionary War, Andover's own Pompey Lovejoy, a freed black slave, brought fermented cider and dippers to the fighting men. (Pomps Pond is named for Lovejoy, who lived along its shores.) and, in 1805, the amount of money spent for liquor in Andover exceeded the total cost of supporting "the gospel," schools, highways and taxes by $8,000. A daily "bitters break," usually rum, was the norm on farms and in local factories well into the mid-1800s. Even the construction budget for the Amos Blanchard House, now the home of the Andover Historical Society, cited the purchase of rum as an "expense."
By the 1860s, "rum holes" and "dens of rum-and-rowdyism" existed throughout Andover, with the influx of factory workers and increased train service providing a growing and thirsty customer base. Alcohol consumption was adversely affecting much of society, and organized efforts to moderate or eliminate its use rose up.
The first local society to address the issue of alcohol abuse, the Andover South Parish Society for the Reformation of Morals, was founded in 1814 by the Rev. Justin Edwards. Reverend Edwards, together with Rev. Professor Leonard Woods of the Andover Theological Seminary, also founded the American Temperance Society in 1826. This national organization, directed from Andover, advocated complete abstinence, rather than moderation, as the only way to combat drunkenness. It expanded the movement by embracing political activism, lobbying legislatures to ban both the production and sale of alcohol. By 1833, both the South and West Parish Churches would accept only practitioners of temperance as members.
Additional groups continued to form in Andover throughout the late 1800s, perhaps reflecting the marginal success of the earlier organizations in eliminating intemperance. In 1863, the Shawsheen Division of the Sons of Temperance was formed following a request for such a group by the Post Master. Ironically, the first presiding officer of the Sons of Temperance was named Mr. W.G. Waters - water, of course, being promoted as the "gift from God" and the best substitute for alcoholic beverages.
The most widely recognized of the temperance organizations, the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, formed a local chapter in 1880. Many of its meetings were held outdoors in Abbott Grove, which subsequently became known as "Temperance Woods." For women, activism in the temperance movement was closely related to their desire for social reform in many areas, including the rights to vote and to own property. Author Harriet Beecher Stowe, who moved to Andover shortly after the publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," was a vocal force on the national stage for all of these issues, and she addressed the scourge of drunkenness (both male and female) in much of her fiction.
At the ballot box, the temperance issue was addressed via licensing initiatives that would ban the sale of alcohol by town businesses. While the townspeople routinely voted "dry" at the polls, they surprisingly supported licensure in 1920 - the year the Prohibition Act went into effect. Perhaps all raised a glass in celebration!
Author's note: No alcoholic beverages were consumed during the writing of this article.
"Andover Stories" is a weekly column about interesting local people and events, started to celebrate the Andover Historical Society's 100 anniversary in 2011.
