New Book Showcases Andover Residents in History

Looking for a gift for that bookworm in your life?

Former Andover Town Moderator and Selectman Bill Dalton and his wife Katharine recently released a book capturing the town's colorful biographical history.

Complete with vintage photos and fascinating anecdotes, "Legendary Locals of Andover" paints a picture of the town's history through the names and faces of interesting people who have lived here.

"We got a call fro the pubisher, Arcadia Publishing, saying they were doing this series in major towns all over the country," Bill Dalton said. "They saw that I write a column for the Andover Townsman, so they thought i would be a logical choice."

The book took about nine months for the Daltons to complete. One problem was the limit on content. Bill and Katharine started compiling their list of interesting people in Andover's history from the founding to today and ended up with about 500. The limit, though was 175. So they narrowed the list down to 173.

Who made the list? Well, some notable names are Larry Larson, the late Ted Boudreau, the Perry family athletes, various teachers, former Selectman Ted Tichert and former State Sen. Sue Tucker.

You may be thinking, where's Leno? Jay Leno is from Andover but he gets a mention in the book rather than a full feature. Bill Dalton said that since Leno is featured in every other book about Andover people, they'd stick to lesser-knowns.

"There's Bessie May Skeels Lundgren, our last feature, who was possibly the first female serial killer in America," he said. Skeels Lundgren lived in Andover for about 35 years and was indicted for several murders in New Jersey and one in Andover and was suspected of others. She was found not guilty in 1919 while terminally ill, but Bill Dalton said he's convinced of her guilt after researching the case.

There's also Robert Black, the only Andover police officer killed in duty. And former slave Salem Poor, who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill.

And there's author Paul Monette, who wrote about gay topics and won a national book award for a book he titled "Half a Life" because he was dying of AIDS.

"It was a lot of footwork, that's all, just a lot of research," Bill Dalton said.

You can order the book on Arcadia's website or head to the Andover Book Store, which is expecting a new shipment soon.