Years ago, there were many events making history for the very first time.
Newspapers and books had been around for many years, but technology was progressing rather quickly in 1842, so we find some very interesting events centered around illustrations.
The very first illustrated weekly magazine in the United States was published in New York City, while the very first edition of London Illustrated News, was also published. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published their very first edition too, while a relatively unknown gentleman named Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd in Illinois.
The young generation was looking for an exciting career that allowed them to leave the rural farms of America and live in the cities where they could find like minded fellows in the same age group to socialize. With the new technology that illustrations offered along with advances in printing and publishing many chose this career path to happiness and security.
Here in Concord, the younger generation was taking a similar road and entering into trades that featured printing because Concord was host to many publications that offered positions to those seeking employment with compensation as journeymen printers. Many of these young people moved to Concord and began they journeyman training with local publications such as the Statesman, Patriot, Herald of Freedom, Family Visitor, Congregational Journal and Baptist Minister.
These young gentlemen arrived in Concord from the surrounding rural areas, where they had worked from early morning until late in the evening on farms, while some worked in various positions in the mills. The work was very difficult, lonely at times and certainly something that many of the younger generation wanted to vacate by finding a job that allowed them to work regular hours. Concord became a destination location where the young men could earn income, enjoy free time and learn a trade while enjoying life. The night life on Main Street offered some dining and theater at the White Opera House and the prospect to date a respectable young lady. Yes, life was good for this new generation in 1842 and the future was indeed bright.
Each year the Independence Day celebration was enjoyed and festivities were abundant for the people in Concord. With the decorations, speeches at the Old North Cemetery, parades and the firing of cannons and muskets on the State House lawn the young found a very entertaining little town. The events were always followed by a fine picnic on the State House lawn and the opportunity to enjoy fine spirits too. Many of the journeymen printers were very disappointed once the events concluded each July 4, but they waited in great anticipation of July 5, for that is when the fun really began down on Main Street in Concord.
It was customary for many years to gather all of the unused combustibles left over from the July 4 celebration and build a bonfire in the street in front of the State House. This pile of material usually included barrels of tar, dry goods boxes, broken wagons, outbuildings and anything else the young printers could find to fuel the massive fire. The city officials were receptive to the young enjoying a bonfire on Main Street and even looked the other way when a bottle or two was passed around as old songs were sung and evening approach. Yes, the town was being cleaned up and people were enjoying themselves each July 5 as they had for many years.
With the influx of journeymen printers there was an abundance of energy and the need to celebrate got out of control on July 5, 1842.
The young printers had an underground publication in Concord called The Owl, and the publication was a well kept secret, addressing subjects of the day that might not have been socially acceptable to the town fathers. The young journeymen printers, with so much youthful energy and printing knowledge, would publish The Owl and circulate it after midnight by leaving it on the front porches of the unsuspecting community. The subject most certainly was tattle and scandal, with the periodic publications and the anonymous publishers all enjoyed the bonfire the night of the riot.
As the flames roared and emotions soared, Main Street was in a bit of a jam as many young people continued to arrive and the fire was stoked again and again. Heated discussions about the tales The Owl told were discussed and debate arose. The crowd, the fire and the debate on this fine July 5 were only intensified as fine spirits poured and the night arrived. Concerned citizens witnessed clashes and the activity on their once quiet Main Street concerned them.
The constables were called and several early Concord police officers arrived to confront the crowd just as the first rotten egg was hurled at them. The rotten eggs and rowdiness were not well received by law enforcement and some of the Irish constables were very well experienced with their billy clubs as they rounded up the young people and put an end to the riot.
Several people were arrested, and the following years were monitored more closely to make sure this riot of 1842 would never happen again. As the Civil War years approached and the young journeymen aged, the annual July 5 bonfire in front of the State House ended.
That hot day marked the last riot that July 5 ever witnessed. Most of the young men remained in the printing trade, some of the young men enlisted in the New Hampshire regiments, boarded the trains south at the depot and fought for their country under President Lincoln. Their perspectives changed with a combination of maturity and the Civil War, so we never received another midnight delivery of The Owl on our doorsteps or a riot in our Concord streets.