Feb. 19, 2000: Concord wins the Class L wrestling title – but has to share the crown with Timberlane and Salem. A pin in the final match of the day should have given the Crimson Tide the title outright, but the team is penalized one point for premature celebration, and that leaves all three teams with the same score.
Feb. 19, 2002: The Diocese of Manchester holds a lunch meeting in Concord for all the Catholic priests in the state. Although no agenda has been set by Bishop John McCormack, most priests interviewed said they expect him to address the news that has shaken clergy and parishioners alike: Fourteen priests, whose names the diocese released last Friday, have been accused of sexual misconduct with children over the last 30 years.
Feb. 19, 2003: Democratic Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina brings a populist, blue-collar message to Page Belting factory in Concord, his first appearance in New Hampshire since joining the 2004 presidential race.
Feb. 20, 1772: Philip Carrigain is born in Concord. His father is a local physician. Philip will graduate from Dartmouth, practice law in Concord and become New Hampshire’s secretary of state. Chosen in part for his distinguished handwriting, in 1816 he will produce the first map of the state to show town boundaries.
Feb. 21, 1968: The death of 21-year-old Army Sergeant 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, 1980: Carter-Mondale campaign staffer Maura Carroll, 23, of Concord, tries to make the best of voters’ lack of enthusiasm toward the president. She tells a reporter: “A lot of people say, ‘I’ll take the literature, but I can’t say I’m voting for the president right now.’ That’s not a positive response, but it’s not negative either. People here consider themselves politically sophisticated, independent thinkers. Not that they’re all undecided; many just don’t want to say.”
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. 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. 22, 2002: After a six-month national search that yielded 70 applicants, Concord’s own Fire Division Commander Chris Pope is named Concord’s new fire chief.
Feb. 22, 2002: At the Winter Games of Salt Lake City, the U.S. hockey team loses 3-2 to Canada in the gold medal game. Concord native and team member Tara Mounsey says, “It was difficult, but it doesn’t take away from what we’ve done this year.”
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. 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 K. 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. 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.
