Feb. 1, 1859: The Concord Railroad passenger station, including the offices of the Concord, Montreal and Northern railroads, the telegraph office and Depot hall, is destroyed by fire.
•Feb.1, 1864: In response to President Lincoln's call for 500,000 recruits for the Union army, Gov. Joseph Gilmore announces that until March 10, the state will add $100 to federal enlistment bounties of $300 for new recruits and $400 for men who have served at least nine months under arms. Gilmore also announces the formation of the First New Hampshire Cavalry.
Feb. 1, 1923: A writer for the The Granite Monthly magazine describes how it feels to watch the New Hampshire House in action: “We still have an uncertain feeling in the House, similar to our emotions at football games. We are afraid of cheering at the wrong times, but in a general way, we know when one side or the other scores a touchdown.”
Feb.2, 1942: Concord's chief air raid warden, Gladstone Jordan, has signed up 304 wardens to watch the skies over the city. Jordan says 200 more are needed.
Feb.3, 1944: On the Senate floor, U.S. Sen. Styles Bridges rises to defend Reader's Digest against a Democratic senator's complaint that the magazine should not have published an article critical of the Roosevelt administration. Reader's Digest is published in Concord and printed at the Rumford Press.
Feb.3, 1942: The Concord school board expels 8-year-old Sylvia Esty from school for failing to say the Pledge Allegiance. Esty, a Jehovah's Witness, says her religion prohibits it. The board says she may return to school when she is ready to say the pledge each day.
Feb.3, 1943: The New Hampshire House considers a bill to allow women to sit on juries. All eyes are on the votes of the first couple ever to serve together in the House, Miles and Margaret Dustin of Rochester. She votes yes and he votes no – to a rousing round of applause. The bill fails 273-93.
Feb. 4, 1971: The low temperature in Concord is 22 below zero. The day before it was 27 below, and two days before that it was 26 below.
Feb. 4, 1965: Workers pour a concrete floor for the John F. Kennedy Apartments for the elderly on South Main Street in Concord. The 10-story building is expected to cost $1.4 million.
Feb. 5, 1968: Rev. Norman Limoge, the administrator at Bishop Brady High School, sends 18 boys to Ray's Barber Shop after they defy his warning to come to school with “respectable haircuts.” “We're all here under protest,” one boy tells a reporter. “We didn't think he'd do it,” says another. The act will lead to a lively exchange of letters to the editor. “Jesus wore long hair,” a defender of the boys will write. Margaret Savard of Pembroke will respond: “As the parent of one of the boys involved, you have my approval.”
Feb. 5, 1942: An alert Concord police officer spots the car of a suspected spy on South Main Street near the Capitol Theater. He arrests the man at gunpoint. The chief gives the officer a pat on the back, but no charges are filed against the man. “It was all in error,” authorities say.
Feb. 5, 1942: Dudley Orr, the state tax commissioner, is pictured on the front page of the Monitor riding his bicycle to work. In a time of severe gas and tire rationing, he says, it is important for public officials to set a good example. He has no problem getting to work but is not fond of pedaling back up the hill to his home at 125 Centre St.
Feb. 6, 1901: The Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is formed. The group is a reaction to failed governmental efforts in Concord and Washington to promote safe and regenerative forestry policies. Years of fires, floods and clear-cutting have left the state's northern forest in terrible condition.
Feb. 6, 1862: Meeting in Concord, a “Union Convention” adopts a platform plank on the war similar to that of the Democrats, which states: “This war should not be waged in any spirit of conquest or subjugation, or for the purpose of overthrowing the rights or established institutions of any of the States.”
Feb. 7, 1986: As a memorial to Christa McAuliffe, the Concord High teacher who died during the Challenger launch, a new state trust fund is formed to allow other teachers to take “journeys of discovery and enlightenment.”
Feb. 7, 1811: Nathaniel White is born in Lancaster. He will come to Concord to run a hotel and become a successful businessman. He will be a prominent abolitionis. Among many other charitable acts, he will be a prime benefactor of the Centennial Home for the aged, now the Centennial Inn.
