Feb. 22, 1912 – The reorganized Abbot & Downing Co. has orders for 45 express wagons in addition to passenger wagons for Yellowstone Park. This assures work for 50 men. “We have made a start,” says Samuel Eastman, the Concord businessman who purchased the failing company 5½ months ago.
Feb. 22, 1800 – Concord joins other communities across the nation in a day of mourning and prayer for George Washington, dead two months.
Feb. 22, 1854 – Concord's New Hampshire Patriot is the only Democratic paper in the state to support the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The act holds that if a territory's electorate approves of it, slavery will be allowed in the remainder of the Louisiana Territory. Editor William Butterfield writes that the act upholds the principles “which deny to Congress the right to legislate slavery into or out of any territory.”
Feb. 23, 1795 – A group of men meets at Butters' Tavern to plan a bridge across the Merrimack River. It will be built near the site of today's Manchester Street bridge.
Feb. 23, 1799 – Seven men hold the first Masonic meeting in Concord at Gale's Anchor Tavern.
Feb. 23, 1847 – A meeting is held in Concord to organize a relief effort to aid victims of the Irish famine. The following donations are collected: $1,293.02 and 100 bushels of grain from residents of Concord; $5.25 and 168 bushels of grain from Pembroke; and $5.62 from Gilmanton.
Feb. 24, 1853 – Concord's “Old John” Virgin, a veteran of the War of 1812, is found frozen in his house on Sugar Ball. Virgin boasted all his life of having fought at Tippecanoe with William Henry Harrison. An invalid, he had “an ulcerous sore on one of his legs, which was very offensive,” according to a contemporary account. Virgin earned a pension of $96 a year and was determined to live on it. When he came to town, his “loud patriotic harangues always attracted attention.” He had no friends because he would have none; he lived alone and died alone. Only the sexton attended his funeral.
Feb. 25, 1984 – At a rally in Eagle Square on the Saturday before the presidential primary, Democratic Sen. John Glenn introduces a 14-year-old supporter whose dog was recently hit and killed by a car. Glenn tells the boy: “I know there's no way you can possibly replace a trusted friend like Yoyo, but Corey, maybe we can help out just a little.” He presents Corey Smith with a black and tan puppy.
Feb. 26, 1942 – The H.J. Heinz Co. runs a large ad in the Monitor telling readers: “Blame Hitler, Hirohito, and Benito! . . . Don't Blame Your Grocer.” The problem? Because of the shortage of sugar and other commodities, many of Heinz's 57 varieties may be missing from the shelves.
Feb. 26, 1973 – The Concord city manager proposes increasing downtown parking fines from $1 to $2.
Feb. 28, 1894 – At Sewalls Falls, George and Charles Page of the Page Belting Co. open the second hydroelectric dam of its kind in the United States. The powerhouse is equipped with four 2,300-volt, 225-kilowatt generators driven by leather belts from reaction-wheel water turbines. Sewalls Falls will generate power until 1968.
March 1, 1923 – Two Concord newspapers, the Evening Monitor and the New Hampshire Patriot, merge. They will operate as the Concord Daily Monitor and New Hampshire Patriot under Editor James M. Langley, Dartmouth graduate and World War I veteran. Circulation by the mid-'20s will exceed 5,000.
March 1, 1860 – During the afternoon, Abraham Lincoln addresses a large crowd at the Phenix Hotel in Concord. He speaks to an even larger one in the evening at Manchester. The mayor of Manchester introduces him as “the next president of the United States.” Lincoln's appearances follow a trip to see his son, Robert, at Phillips Exeter Academy.
