April 19, 1976: New England's biggest April heat wave of the 20th century reaches its crescendo, and the temperature in Concord hits 95 degrees. It's the third day in a row with a temperature of 90 or above and the fourth day in a row above 80.
April 19, 1886: “That certain harbinger of spring, the straw hat, has appeared,” the Evening Monitor reports.
April 19, 1865: On the day of President Lincoln's funeral in Washington, Civil War veterans, in a procession with a band, march to services at Concord churches.
April 20, 1965: Concord Police Chief Walter Carlson reports that the city's population is up by 219 adults and 20 minors over 1964. The report also reveals there are 62 more dogs in the city this year than last.
April 20, 1945: Rumford Press officials announce that the company will double the size of its Concord operation. The building addition will cost $500,000.
April 20, 1861: Former president Franklin Pierce, a Democrat and opponent of the Lincoln administration, speaks at the Eagle Hotel on the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter. If civil war comes, Pierce declares, all people of the North must stand together. He closes with these words: “I would not live in a state the right and honor of which I was not prepared to defend at all hazards and at all extremities.”
April 20, 1826: Birth of Emma G. Bingum in Loudon. The adopted daughter of Countess Rumford, she grew up in Concord and became its oldest resident, dying in 1923 at the age of 97.
April 21, 1861: Capt. Edward E. Sturtevant, Concord's night constable and now the state's first volunteer for service in the Union army, marches a squad of volunteers into South Congregational Church for Sunday services.
April 21, 1881: At 6 p.m., a small closed car drawn by a horse leaves Abbot & Downing shops for Fosterville. The ride ushers in the era of trolleys in Concord. The cars, made by Abbot & Downing, will carry 200,000 people in their first year of operation.
April 22, 1861: Meeting at the South Congregational Church, a group of Concord women organizes an effort to supply soldiers with “articles necessary to their comfort in the field.” They have raised $200 and resolve to spend $150 on flannel for shirts for the First New Hampshire Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
April 22, 1864: The Sanborn block, home to the offices of the New Hampshire Patriot, is destroyed by fire.
April 23, 1945: Thirteen-year-old Larry West of Concord is killed with a 12-gauge shotgun. The weapon discharges accidentally while he is climbing a tree to shoot a porcupine.
April 23, 1843: Convinced that the end of the world is near, a considerable number of people in Concord and elsewhere neglect all worldly business and give themselves up to prayer. A few become insane, some destitute.
April 24, 1992: The Concord Monitor publishes its last afternoon edition. Henceforth it will be a morning paper.
April 24, 1900: Harriet P. Dame dies in Concord at the age of 85. She was renowned for having ventured south with the 2nd New Hampshire Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. She served as a nurse and helpmate to the soldiers and was captured at Bull Run.
April 25, 1893: Edward H. Brooks is born in Concord. A graduate of Concord High and Norwich University, he will serve in both world wars, rising to the rank of lieutenant general. A highlight of his long, distinguished career will be leading the Second Armored Division onto Omaha Beach. His pision will also be the first Allied force to enter Belgium.
April 25, 1975: President Ford visits the state and is greeted at Concord Airport and introduced to the Legislature by Gov. Meldrim Thomson. Thomson, however, has let it be known that he's promoting a challenge to Ford in the presidential primary from Ronald Reagan – and, failing that, Thomson plans to run himself.
