Nov. 19, 2000: In classrooms around the state, the drawn-out presidential election is providing great fodder for civics lessons. “These are excellent times for teachers who are teaching government classes,” says Gary Baker of Kearsarge Regional High School.
Nov. 19, 1846: Three laborers on the Northern Railroad are buried when a sand bank near the railroad bridge in Penacook caves in. Two survive; one is killed.
Nov. 19, 1863: Lyman D. Stevens of Concord represents New Hampshire at the dedication of the national cemetery at Gettysburg, Pa. He is near Abraham Lincoln during the Gettysburg address. A prominent lawyer, Stevens will later serve as Concord’s mayor, a state senator, a school board member, a bank president and president of New Hampshire College at Durham.
Nov. 19, 1863: New Hampshireman Benjamin Brown French accompanies President Lincoln to the cemetery at the Gettysburg battlefield. After Lincoln’s address, French writes in his journal: “Anyone who saw and heard as I did, the hurricane of applause that met his every movement at Gettysburg would know that he lived in every heart. . . . It was the spontaneous outburst of heartfelt confidence in their own President.”
Nov.19, 1892: Concord’s Snowshoe Club, a men’s organization, has its first celebration at its new cabin at the end of today’s Via Tranquilla. Twelve members gather “in honor of Grover Cleveland and Ward 4.” E.W. Batchelder, apparently having “counted too heavily upon the strength of one Benjamin Harrison” in that month’s presidential election, pays for dinner.
Nov. 20, 2000: Six weeks after his impeachment trial acquittal, state Supreme Court Justice David Brock says the public’s faith in the judiciary has not been shaken. “I don’t see this as a long-term problem,” he tells the Monitor.
Nov 20, 1845: Levi Woodbury of Portsmouth is appointed to the U.S Supreme Court.
Nov. 20, 1884: The Evening Monitor’s City Notes column reports: “One week from today is Thanksgiving. Let the turkeys paste that in their hats.”
Nov. 20, 1989: In bankruptcy court, Northeast Utilities of Connecticut announces it has struck a deal to buy Public Service Co. of New Hampshire for $2.3 billion.
Nov. 20, 1817: Benjamin Crackbone Champney is born in New Ipswich. He will gain fame as an artist of the White Mountains.
Nov. 21, 2003: On the last day of the filing period, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich file for the New Hampshire presidential primary at the secretary of state’s office in Concord. At closing time, the office registers the nine major Democratic candidates, President Bush and 29 long-shot candidates hoping for a moment of national publicity.
Nov. 21, 2001: The Brick Tower, the last independently owned motel in Concord, will close at the end of the month. The 47-room motel, which opened in 1958, could not compete with the newer hotels in the area.
Nov. 21, 2000: Frank Monahan, a basketball coach revered locally and well-known nationally, dies of a heart attack at age 60. His coaching career included stints at Bishop Brady High School, Concord High School and Merrimack College and in the United States Basketball League. He also worked as an NBA talent scout in New England.
Nov. 21, 1951: Peter MacPherson, the last survivor of a crew which built the cog railway up New England’s highest peak, 6,288-foot Mt. Washington, dies at the age of 100. He worked the scenic railroad in 1866 and was also the surviving member of the crew which built the railroad through Crawford Notch.
Nov. 21, 1729: Josiah Bartlett is born. He will become a New Hampshire leader during the Revolution, sign the Declaration of Independence and serve as governor.
Nov. 22, 2003: The 52nd annual Holiday Magic Christmas Parade in Concord goes to the dogs, the dogs on the Rolling Bones 4-H club parade float, that is. Joining the canines on the two mile route up Loudon Road are high school marching bands, children on unicycles, Shriners in tiny Jeeps, horses, Hooters girls and fire engines.
Nov. 22, 2002: A jury finds 62-year-old Lawrence Sleeper of Bow guilty of six counts of felony sexual assault for his relationships with two 13-year-old girls.
Nov. 22, 1917: Hugh Gregg is born. He will become governor of New Hampshire (1953-55), as will his son Judd.
Nov. 22, 1943: The town of Randolph makes a place in the record books when the largest 24-hour snowfall in the U.S. is recorded: 56 inches in a single storm.
Nov. 23, 1911: The New Hampshire Historical Society dedicates its building in Concord. The building was designed by Guy Lowell, also architect of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and financed by philanthropist Edward Tuck. The society was previously housed on North Main Street in what are now the law offices of Gallagher, Callahan and Gartrell.
Nov. 23, 1993: Near Exit 5 off 1-89, Steven Easler and James Moses are killed when the temporary bridge they are dismantling collapses.
Nov. 23, 1814: On the U.S. House floor, a speech by Rep. Daniel Webster of New Hampshire is interrupted by news that Vice President Elbridge Gerry has died.
Nov. 23, 1804: Franklin Pierce is born in Hillsborough. He will become the nation’s 14th president, and the only president ever from New Hampshire.
Nov. 24, 2003: In Manchester a jury rules in favor of tobacco giant Philip Morris in the case of a woman who blamed Marlboros for the lung cancer that killed her husband. It is the first tobacco case to go to trial in New Hampshire.
Nov. 24, 2001: Prosecutors encourage hikers to travel with a companion and use caution after a Canadian woman was found stabbed to death on Mount Washington.
Nov. 24, 1989: The temperature in Concord falls to 5 below zero, making this the coldest November day of the 20th century.
Nov. 24, 1736: Hopkinton is granted status as an independent township.
Nov. 24, 1812: The first inmate, John Drew of Meredith, is brought to Concord’s first state prison. The prison was built near Washington Street after legislative approval in 1810. During a visit to the city, the Rev. Timothy Dwight, president of Yale, called it “a noble edifice in beautiful granite.” How Drew found it is not recorded.
Nov. 25, 1875: Although the building is not quite completed, the fire department occupies its new central station on Warren Street between Green and State streets.
