Each spring, Andover's Annual Town Meeting opens with the singing of "America," or as it is also known from its first line, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." (A few years ago, Town Moderator Jim Doherty was astonished, after introducing the young lady who would perform, to hear her sing, exquisitely, not America, but America, the Beautiful.)
Why is America a part of the tradition of Andover Town Meeting? Simply because Andover is America's home town - the song was written here early in the 19th century.
One day in February 1831, a young student at the Andover Theological Seminary, Samuel Francis Smith, was busy translating a series of German songs from a book given to him by his friend, Lowell Mason. Inspired by the lyrics of one particularly patriotic song, Smith paused in his translating, took a scrap of paper, and jotted down five verses of a patriotic song of his own, one which exalted the virtues of his native country, America.
Smith, born in Boston in 1808, graduated from Boston Latin School in 1825, and from Harvard in 1829. Fluent in several languages, he worked as a translator and journalist for several years before deciding he wanted to become a minister.
He arrived at the Andover Theological Seminary (now the Andover-Newton Theological School in Newton, but then located on the campus of Phillips Academy) in 1830, and rented rooms in a home at what is now 147 Main St.
Smith needed a mere half hour to produce the lyrics to a song that has become an American favorite over the years. The book where he found the original German lyrics also contained the accompanying music. Smith had no idea that the German tune to which he wrote new English lyrics was also the melody to God Save the King, the British national anthem.
Most Americans are well acquainted with the first verse of the song, "My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty..." Fewer, perhaps, are as familiar with the second verse, which has particular significance for Andoverites. That verse contains the lines
"I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills. . ."
It is widely believed that those lines refer to the part of Andover which Smith could see from his home on Main Street. Looking west toward rolling hills in those early days of the 19th century before the town had built up, and especially in winter when the trees were bare, Smith could see two church steeples - the "templed hills" of the song.
The two spires were those of Andover's first two churches, the South Parish Church on School Street and the West Parish Church on Reservation Road. The South Parish church was established in 1711; although the first church building had no steeple, a replacement built in 1788 did adopt the late 18th century style of churches with steeples. West Parish, built in 1826 - and the oldest church building in town - was constructed with a spire.
America was first performed in public at an Independence Day service at the Park Street Church in Boston on July 4, 1831. Since then, it has become one of the country's favorite patriotic songs.
