July 1, 1776: “The Declaration before Congress is, I think, a pretty good one,” delegate Josiah Bartlett of New Hampshire writes from Philadelphia.
July 1, 1789: The Rev. Israel Evans is ordained as Concord’s second Congregationalist minister, succeeding the Rev. Timothy Walker. The town still pays the minister’s salary and living expenses. Walker, the first minister, served more than 58 years from his ordination in 1730.
July 1, 1883: A report says there are 60 post offices in Merrimack County. In 1882, the postmasters in the county were paid a combined total of $18,515.94.
July 1, 1925: The Granite Monthly complains about the proliferation of gas stations in the state. “If stations continue to multiply in the future as they have in the past, there will never be any problem of lighting the Daniel Webster Highway. It will soon be the best-lighted boulevard in the state, for every station is well-lighted to attract the attention of the traveler.”
July 1, 2003: Attorney General Peter Heed says prison officials failed to investigate or react to clues that, in hindsight, foretold of last month’s prison break by three men at the state prison in Concord. A tip from another inmate and a pair of bolt cutters found thrown over a prison fence were among the clues that officials failed to react to, Heed says.
July 2, 1776: Dr. Josiah Bartlett and William Whipple represent New Hampshire as the Continental Congress declares American independence.
July 2, 1822: A portion of Chester along with parts of Goffstown and Dunbarton are incorporated as the town of Hooksett.
July 2, 1939: John H. Sununu is born. He will serve three terms as governor in the 1980s, then become chief of staff to President George Bush.
July 2, 1941: Joe DiMaggio hits a line drive home run over the head of Ted Williams in left field to break Wee Willie Keeler’s record 44-game hitting streak. On base when he hits it is Yankee third baseman Red Rolfe of Penacook.
July 2, 1976: Gov. Mel Thomson orders a full investigation into what happened to 1,500 pounds of chicken that never made it to a state worker picnic at New Hampshire Hospital. The birds, worth $780, were contaminated and disposed of.
July 3, 2002: New Hampshire lawyers representing about 100 people charging they were molested by Roman Catholic priests are talking to the church about a settlement, the Monitor reports.
July 3, 2000: Californian Del Erickson celebrates her 75th birthday with eight laps around the New Hampshire International Speedway track. “I’m so excited I can hardly stand it,” she says of her time at the wheel of a Winston Cup-style stock car.
July 3, 1976: Gov. Mel Thomson says if Canada doesn’t allow athletes for Nationalist China to participate in the Montreal Olympics, he will order the Taiwanese flag flown at the State House and at his official residence in East Concord throughout the Games.
July 3, 1865: A railroad accident in Northfield wrecks several freight cars and fatally scalds one passenger. An excursion to The Weirs the next day is canceled, as the road is impassable.
July 3, 1869: The first train runs to the summit of Mount Washington.
July 3, 1845: Having stayed a night at the Canterbury Village on his way back from a White Mountain sojourn, Benjamin Brown French of Chester shows off his rifle to the Shakers. Several of them – men and women – take turns firing it, the men exhibiting “a skill which I hardly supposed they possessed.”
July 4, 1842: Hooligans set a barrel of tar on fire in the State House plaza. “The tossing of fire-balls had begun when the police of this town interfered,” according to a city history.
July 4, 1859: Austin Goings launches the 65-foot sidewheeler Surprise on Lake Sunapee. It is the first steamboat on the lake. Goings will soon leave to fight in the Civil War, and it will be 17 years before transportation on the lake begins in earnest.
July 4, 1858: The Rev. George Channing suggests residents of Lancaster celebrate Independence Day with a pledge of sobriety. His temperance talk is billed in newspapers as “a lecture upon the disastrous consequences from the use of intoxicating drinks and of tobacco in all its forms to the souls and bodies of men.”
July 4, 1899: Ten thousand people attend the dedication of the Memorial Arch in front of the State House. Cut from Concord granite, it is 33 feet 8 inches high and 53 feet wide. Though built on state land, it was paid for by the city and commemorates Concord’s war veterans.
July 4, 1891: A crowd of 6,000 to 7,000 people gathers at the circus grounds just above Bridge Street along the Merrimack River to watch a holiday baseball game. The Concord YMCA team, a perennial power, defeats the Concord Stars, 13-12. “Fielding at times was rather loose,” the Monitor reports.
July 4, 1985: A day after a trip to Paris, Vice President George Bush arrives in Bristol to lead an Independence Day parade. Ten thousand people turn out to see him. Later that day, 500 Republicans will spend $150 each to ride with Bush on the M/S Mount Washington across Lake Winnipesaukee.
July 4, 1776: New Hampshire delegates Dr. Josiah Bartlett and William Whipple, with the rest of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, accept a draft of the Declaration of Independence.
July 4, 1829: The town of Adams, named for President John Adams in 1800, changes its name to Jackson.
July 4, 1827: Snow is reported in Gilmanton.
July 4, 1919: Communities statewide honor veterans of the World War on Homecoming Day. The state offers each veteran a $100 bonus and will eventually pay 19,425 claims. The Legislature has also voted to pay homage to the war dead with the building of War Memorial Bridge across the Piscataqua River from Portsmouth to Kittery.
July 4, 1820: The fare from Concord to Boston by stagecoach is cut to $1, the result of competition between two lines.
July 5, 1992: The first Indy car races are held at New Hampshire International Speedway in Loudon.
July 5, 2002: Ted Williams, the legendary Boston Red Sox outfielder, dies at the age of 83. Local fan Tony Heath, owner of Quality Cash Market in East Concord, reflects “We shared the same dream. That was to see the Red Sox win the World Series. It’s too bad he didn’t live to see that happen.”
