Oct. 20, 1897: Hundreds of people gather in Concord for the 90th birthday party of Moses Humphrey, Civil War era mayor and prime mover of two huge civic projects: the new state prison on its current site and Concord’s trolley lines. He carried out the latter project in 1880, at age 73, “against violent opposition and almost insurmountable obstacles,” the Monitor reports.
Oct. 20, 1908: Forest fires all around Concord fill the streets with smoke. Farmers’ wells are running dry. The temperature rises to 85 degrees.
Oct. 20, 1957: A thousand people attend the ceremony dedicating Concord’s new Rundlett Junior High School in the South End. After a tour, most express satisfaction with the $1.4 million school.
Oct. 20, 1989: A 57-year-old Johnny Cash fills the Capitol Theatre in Concord for two performances. His humble demeanor and his repertory, heavy on gospel, trains, fisticuffs, simple justice and simple pieties, bring down the house.
Oct. 20, 1991: James Colbert, 39, is talked out of jumping off the Tobin Bridge in Chelsea. He tells the police he has killed his family in Concord. The Concord police find the bodies of his estranged wife and three children dead in their house on Merrimack Street
Oct. 22, 1965: J. Herbert Quinn, candidate for mayor of Concord, insists that he is a man of the people. “Contrary to the many rumors which have been circulating throughout the city, I have no millionaires or near-millionaires, either in or out of the city, contributing to my campaign,” he says. Quinn will eventually be elected – and then impeached.
Oct. 22, 1988: Loudmouth talk show host Morton Downey Jr. plays the Capitol Theatre in Concord. “You know what Marilyn Quayle said to Dan on their wedding night? Senator, you’re no JFK,” he says to cheering crowds.
Oct. 22, 2003: Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich demonstrates the emergency drills he had to do as a student during the Cold War in front of 500 students at Concord High. “So some of us had nightmares as kids, he says. “We had dreams that the missiles were coming in while we were at recess.”
Oct. 23, 1890: A statue of John Stark is dedicated outside the State House.
Oct. 23, 2001: Former vice president Al Gore meets with several Concord-area Democrats at the Barley House in Concord. During his visit to the state, he also speaks with out-of-work mill workers in Berlin and attends a concert by Voices From the Heart, a 200-woman choir, in Portsmouth.
Oct. 23, 2003: Wesley Clark keeps his appointment at Concord High School, but a case of laryngitis forces him to leave the talking to the students. When one of them opposes the war in Iraq or supports high school sports, Clark tells them – in a whisper – that he agrees.
Oct. 24, 1805: The first Quaker meeting is held in Concord. It will be 10 years before a Quaker meeting house goes up on what is now the State House plaza.
Oct. 25, 1843: Col. Richard M. Johnson, the noted Kentuckian who is reputed to have killed the Indian chief Tecumseh, visits Concord. Franklin Pierce and others greet him at the station, and Johnson rides down Main Street on a white horse. At the State House, he wears the same red vest he wore in the Battle of the Thames, during which he is said to have slain Tecumseh. Eleven shots pierced the vest. At a dinner presided over by Pierce, someone will raise doubts about Johnson’s famous act and ask him if it really happened. “In my opinion,” Johnson responds, “I did kill Tecumseh.”
Oct. 25, 1908: Young people fan out all over Concord to raise money for Mary Pillsbury Hospital. They pin red tags on donors to keep them from being asked to give again. By day’s end, the children have raised $2,300.
Oct. 25, 2003: The Concord High girl’s cross country team defends their title during the Class L state championship meet in Manchester. They claim the top spot, beating out Manchester Central 48 to 50.
