Feb. 21, 1968: The death of 21-year-old Army Sgt. Ronald D. Roach of Concord is confirmed. He had been missing for nine days since coming under mortar fire in Hue. Roach was the most valuable player on the Concord High hockey team in 1964, the year he graduated. His father Arthur says his son believed in his military mission: “His letters always said we must help South Vietnam.”
Feb. 21, 2000: More than 500 students join Concord’s Bob Tewksbury at Beaver Meadow Elementary School to celebrate the joys of reading. A former major league pitcher, Tewksbury tells the youngsters he used books to help fill the down time between starts. Reading, he says, “engages not only our minds but our hearts.”
Feb. 21, 2001: A plaque honoring New Hampshire veterans of the Spanish Civil War will not be displayed at the State House, a legislative panel unanimously decides. The decision follows heated testimony from lawmakers and other residents who contend that the plaque effectively honors Communists. “I’d say put it in the river,” quips Sen. Jack Barnes, “but the fish might die.”
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. 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, 1997: The temperature in Concord hits 67 degrees, making this the warmest February day of the 20th century.
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. 23, 2000: On its way to the ultimate team goal – the state Class M championship – the Bow girls’ basketball team celebrates a personal achievement: the 1,000th point for Heather LaBranche, which comes in the Falcons’ semifinal win over Newport. Teammate Erica Kensey notched her 1,000th point in an earlier round of the tournament. The team will go on to defeat Mascoma in the title game.
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. 24, 1942: With tires strictly rationed and therefore dear, the Monitor reports that a gang of tire thieves has been operating in Manchester and Concord. Raymond Perkins, the city solicitor, warns that he will seek the maximum penalty of one year in the county house of corrections for anyone convicted of stealing a tire.
Feb. 24, 1965: Citing high local taxes, the Concord City Council urges the Legislature to “provide a substantial additional source or sources of revenue to the city of Concord.” Decades later, Concord is still waiting.
Feb. 24, 1980: Tom Gerber, editor of the Monitor, grumbles to the Washington Post about all the attention paid during the presidential primary to Union Leader publisher William Loeb: “We don’t get it because we’re decent. We do what the hell is right. We play the news straight. We keep our goddamn editorial opinions out of the news columns. We’re not crackpots, we’re professionals.”
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. 27, 1733: The Massachusetts General Court creates a new township to be called Rumford (earlier known as Penny-Cook, later as Concord).
Feb. 27, 1997: Rep. Renny Cushing recounts the details of his father’s murder to a House committee but then urges legislators not to expand the death penalty. “The only way justice could come about is to exchange the person still walking the earth with my father in the grave,” he says.
Feb. 27, 2000: Trucks full of steel beams arrive in Concord, the first shipment of materials for new seating to be installed at Memorial Field. The construction project comes in preparation for the Babe Ruth World Series, to be played in Concord in August.
