83 Bartlet Street was formerly numbered 71 Bartlet St. in 1900.

This property once belonged to the Trustees of Phillips Academy in the 1850's and was sold to Rev. William L. Ropes on June 7, 1869.
On the 1872 map of Andover only the Ropes house and the Eaton house at #89 Bartlet St. had been constructed on this end of Bartlet above Morton St.

The house was built for Rev. William Ropes. In Feb. 1891 the Town of Andover re-constructed the southern end of Bartlet through to Chapel Ave. There was a narrow lane that gave access to the fields and house lots sold off by the Trustees on the west side of the street. This address was formerly #71 on a 1906 map of Andover. It was later renumbered to 83 Bartlet.

Rev. William L. Ropes and family owned the property from June 7, 1869 to July 17, 1925.

William Ladd Ropes was born on Jul. 19, 1825 in Newton, MA son of Hardy & Mary (Ladd) Ropes. William became a minister, married
Harriet Lawrence Peirson, born Sept. 29, 1831 in Salem, MA. Ropes became a resident of Andover after the end of the Civil War, being elected as Librarian of the Andover Theological Seminary new library in Brechin Hall. William & Harriett had one son James Hardy Ropes born Sept. 3, 1866 in Salem, MA. James married Alice Lowell on Nov. 23, 1897 daughter of Edward J. & Mary B. (Goodrich) Lowell. Harriett died on June 7, 1880 and is interred at the Chapel Cemetery on the campus of Phillips Academy.
William L. Ropes retired as librarian in 1905. He died on Oct. 14, 1912.

Source: "Who's Who in the World, 1912"
Ropes, William Ladd: Librarian at Andover Theol. Sem. 1866-1905; librarian emeritus, 1905; Born, 1825, Newton, Mass., son of Hardy and Mary (Ladd) Ropes. Formerly pastor of First Church, Wrentham, Mass. (1853-62); teacher in Boston Latin School (public). Married 1865, Harriet Lawrence Peirson of Salem, Mass. Member of Alpha Delta Phi, Christian Brethren, Hasty Pudding Club and Phi Beta Kappa (Harvard). Address: Andover, Mass., U.S.A.

The house was then sold to Irene O. Abbott & Harold E. Abbott on July 17, 1925, who held the property for 41 years then selling to Katherine M. O'Neill on Oct. 28, 1966.

O'Neill sold five years later to Potere, Inc. of Elizabeth, NJ, John J. Laffey, Vice Pres. and E.M. Tango, treas. on Sept. 27, 1971. They held the property 9 months then selling to Michael B. & Virginia L. Donohue on June 22, 1972. The deed was transferred to Virginia L. Donohue on Dec. 22, 1978.

Lawrence & Michelle V. Speidell purchased the house on Mar. 20, 1980. The deed was transferred to Michelle V. Speidell on June 6, 1989.