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.
Feb. 28, 2003: Two men have been charged with brutally beating a McDonald's night janitor earlier in the month, the Monitor reports. Mitchell J. Edward, 20, of Elkins Street in Franklin, and Travis Turcotte, 23, of South State Street in Concord, were arraigned on several charges related to the early-morning robbery at the Fisherville Road McDonald's.
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.
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, 1973: Gov. Mel Thomson says he will veto any effort to remove “Live Free or Die” from the state's license plates. Rep. Jack Chandler of Warner agrees. “Those who don't like the motto should get out of New Hampshire and live in Massachusetts,” he says.
March 1, 2002: Jury selection starts in the murder trial of Dwayne Thompson, the man accused of killing his longtime roommate and downtown Concord fixture, Robert Provencher.
March 2, 1936: Five leap year babies, all boys, were born at local hospitals. Sons were born to Mr. and Mrs. Guy A. Swenson, Mr. and Mrs. Harry L. O'Coin, Mr. and Mrs. Harlan L. Goodwin, Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Tseckares and Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Murray, all of Concord.
A sixth boy, born to Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Hodgman just before midnight Feb. 28, missed by about an hour of making it an even half-dozen.
March 2, 1960: Mayor Charles Johnson of Concord appeals to the Capitol Theatre not to show the movie Jack the Ripper. Johnson hasn't seen the film but has heard from more than a dozen callers to city hall that it contains scenes of violence and horror. Two days before the movie is scheduled to open, theater manager Theresa Cantin agrees to cancel it.
March 3, 1945: G-men with machine guns swarm Main Street after word reaches Concord that two prison escapees from Iowa are holed up downtown. At midday an inspector and three FBI agents arrest 31-year-old killer Edgar Cook at the point of machine guns at the Phenix Hotel.
Cook is described as “a tough-looking character with plenty of cash.” Later, a Concord police officer has a hunch that Cook's partner may have gone to the Capitol Theater to see a matinee of the current feature, The Suspect. The hunch proves correct, and George Stubblefield, a/k/a William Giles, is captured outside a barbershop shortly after leaving the theater.
March 4, 2000: Four Concord High hockey players have been suspended on the eve of the state tournament, the Monitor reports. The students are deemed to have violated school policy by attending a party where alcohol was served.
School officials learned of the incident from the police – part of a new notification policy the department has put in place.
March 4, 2002: In Concord a construction company begins making emergency structural repairs to the Sears block, giving some peace of mind to people who worry the decrepit building could collapse at any time.
March 5, 1740: After years of disputes over Massachusetts claims on New Hampshire, King George II approves the boundary between the two colonies. The decision increases New Hampshire's size by 3,500 square miles and costs Massachusetts 28 chartered towns, including Suncook, Bow, Concord, Penacook, Webster, Salisbury, Dunbarton, Weare, Hopkinton, Warner and Bradford.
