Welcome to our blog, where we embark on a captivating journey through time, exploring the rich tapestry of history and genealogy.
In this edition, we'll delve into the treasure trove of historical news articles dated February 20, unearthing stories that resonate with genealogists and history enthusiasts alike.
From local happenings to global events, we'll uncover the stories that shaped the lives of our ancestors, providing valuable insights for those on a quest to discover their roots.
So, grab your magnifying glass and step into the past as we unravel the February 20 historical headlines that may hold the missing pieces of your family's history puzzle.
Winchester, New Hampshire, USA
The Transcript of Saturday has the following:
"The flood at Winchester has receded so that the place is comparatively dry again this morning. Fire engines were employed last evening in pumping out the cellars, many of which were completely filled. The water still pours with great fury through the culvert at 'Bacon's,' where the Lowell Railroad bridge fell in yesterday, but a large gang of hands working through the night succeeded in making one track passage for trains this morning and the... Read MORE...
The New York Times - New York, New York - February 20, 1855
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1855 - Flood
The Transcript of Saturday has the following:
"The flood at Winchester has receded so that the place is comparatively dry again this morning. Fire engines were employed last evening in pumping out the cellars, many of which were completely filled. The water still pours with great fury through the culvert at 'Bacon's,' where the Lowell Railroad bridge fell in yesterday, but a large gang of hands working through the night succeeded in making one track passage for trains this morning and the... Read MORE...
The New York Times - New York, New York - February 20, 1855
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E. J. Deloira
Optician and Eye Specialist 30 Years Experience
Successor to A. F. Deslauiers
12 Prospect Street, Webster, Mass.
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1800s Cooking Tips and Recipes
Fried Sausages.
Take a half a pound of sausages and six apples, slice four about as thick as a crown, cut the other two in quarters, fry them with the sausages of a fine light brown, lay the sausages in the middle of the dish, and the apples...Read MORE...
The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, 1796
Nicholas Gilles
Dealer in Staple Fancy Groceries
61 Main Street
Webster, Mass.
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1800s Advice and Etiquette for Men
Though her suspicions be perfectly groundless; though they be wild as the dreams of madmen; though they may present a mixture of the furious and ridiculous, still they are to be treated with the greatest lenity and...Read MORE...
The Young Husband’s Book, 1837
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA
PITIFUL AND SICKENING SIGHTS FOLLOW JUMPS FOR LIFE - INJURED REMOVED TO IMPROMPTU HOSPITALS - DELEGATES TO CONVENTION WERE GUESTS.
(By Associated Press)
Cedar Rapids, Feb. 20. - Between fifteen and twenty persons were burned to death and twice that number were seriously injured in the fire that destroyed the Clifton hotel at 2 o'clock this morning. There were 120 guests in the hotel when the fire broke out. Most of the dead are buried in the debris. Owing to the destruction of the hotel... Read MORE...
Ottumwa Daily Courier - Iowa - February 20, 1903
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1903 - BURN TO DEATH IN HOTEL FIRE. MANY KILLED AND INJURED IN CEDAR RAPIDS HOLOCAUST. CLIFTON HOUSE BURNS. STRUCTURE TOTALLY WRECKED - MANY JUMP FROM UPPER WINDOWS.
PITIFUL AND SICKENING SIGHTS FOLLOW JUMPS FOR LIFE - INJURED REMOVED TO IMPROMPTU HOSPITALS - DELEGATES TO CONVENTION WERE GUESTS.
(By Associated Press)
Cedar Rapids, Feb. 20. - Between fifteen and twenty persons were burned to death and twice that number were seriously injured in the fire that destroyed the Clifton hotel at 2 o'clock this morning. There were 120 guests in the hotel when the fire broke out. Most of the dead are buried in the debris. Owing to the destruction of the hotel... Read MORE...
Ottumwa Daily Courier - Iowa - February 20, 1903
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Racine, Wisconsin, USA
Special to The New York Times.
Racine, Wis., Feb. 19. - One hundred and twenty insane men and women from the county hospital are being brought into the city from the hospital tonight on a special train as a result of a fire tonight which destroyed the structure valued at $100,000, and drove the inmates into the open air with the temperature below zero.
The attendants, as soon as the fire started, hastened to release the patients from their cells, and, though several escaped, all were... Read MORE...
The New York Times - New York, New York - February 20, 1904
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1904 - FIRE IMPERILS INSANE. ASYLUM AT RACINE DESTROYED, AND INMATES DRIVEN OUT IN ZERO WEATHER.
Special to The New York Times.
Racine, Wis., Feb. 19. - One hundred and twenty insane men and women from the county hospital are being brought into the city from the hospital tonight on a special train as a result of a fire tonight which destroyed the structure valued at $100,000, and drove the inmates into the open air with the temperature below zero.
The attendants, as soon as the fire started, hastened to release the patients from their cells, and, though several escaped, all were... Read MORE...
The New York Times - New York, New York - February 20, 1904
Comments
Haverhill, Massachusetts, USA (Ayers Village)
Boston, Feb. 18. - Eighty-two shoe and leather firms, representing at least $2,500,000, are wiped out by the fire in Haverhill this morning. More than 2,000 people are thrown out of work, and the indirect loss amounts to at least $500,000 more. Haverhill is thirty-two miles north of Boston, and has an annual shoe business of over $10,000,000, and there are also woolen goods and hat factories.
The fire was confined to the shoe quarters. It was discovered a few minutes before midnight, in a... Read MORE...
Decatur Daily Republican - Decatur, Illinois - February 20, 1882
Comments
1882 - DESTRUCTION BY FIRE.
Boston, Feb. 18. - Eighty-two shoe and leather firms, representing at least $2,500,000, are wiped out by the fire in Haverhill this morning. More than 2,000 people are thrown out of work, and the indirect loss amounts to at least $500,000 more. Haverhill is thirty-two miles north of Boston, and has an annual shoe business of over $10,000,000, and there are also woolen goods and hat factories.
The fire was confined to the shoe quarters. It was discovered a few minutes before midnight, in a... Read MORE...
Decatur Daily Republican - Decatur, Illinois - February 20, 1882
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1725 February 20 - 10 sleeping Indians scalped by whites in New Hampshire for £100 a scalp bounty
onthisday.com
February 20, 1725
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1915 February 20 – In San Francisco the Panama-Pacific International Exposition is opened.
wikipedia.org
February 20, 1915
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1886 An Eagle Rang the Bell.
[New London Telegram.] A large eagle was captured in Old Lyme on Saturday. It was of the bald-headed species, and upon its neck was securely fastened a large, old-fashioned sleigh-bell. This explains the mysterious bell-ringing which has been heard on several occasions in Niantic and Lyme by fishermen and sailors within the past few years, and for which no cause could be given.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
February 20, 1886
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onthisday.com
February 20, 1725
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1915 February 20 – In San Francisco the Panama-Pacific International Exposition is opened.
wikipedia.org
February 20, 1915
Visit San Francisco, California, USA!
1886 An Eagle Rang the Bell.
[New London Telegram.] A large eagle was captured in Old Lyme on Saturday. It was of the bald-headed species, and upon its neck was securely fastened a large, old-fashioned sleigh-bell. This explains the mysterious bell-ringing which has been heard on several occasions in Niantic and Lyme by fishermen and sailors within the past few years, and for which no cause could be given.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
February 20, 1886
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1869 Newbury, Mass., mourns the death of Betsy Rogers, a remarkable berry woman, whom a broken leg killed at the age of 96.
She leaves the memory of 3,000 bushels of gathered berries, a snug sum of money, and five generations of descendants, embracing fifty persons.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
February 20, 1869
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1869 O'Baldwin, the Irish giant, has been found guilty, in the Essex (Mass.) Superior Court, of prize fighting.
His counsel appealed and the case will go to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
February 20, 1869
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1869 An Israelite in Roxbury, Mass., was recently fined for keeping open his store on Sunday.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
February 20, 1869
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She leaves the memory of 3,000 bushels of gathered berries, a snug sum of money, and five generations of descendants, embracing fifty persons.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
February 20, 1869
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1869 O'Baldwin, the Irish giant, has been found guilty, in the Essex (Mass.) Superior Court, of prize fighting.
His counsel appealed and the case will go to the Supreme Court of Massachusetts.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
February 20, 1869
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1869 An Israelite in Roxbury, Mass., was recently fined for keeping open his store on Sunday.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
February 20, 1869
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1869 Mr. Caleb Bates, of Kingston, Mass., has recently presented the New England Farmer with some sweet potatoes.
He has raised them successfully for several years, and keeps them in good condition during eight months of the year.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
February 20, 1869
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1895 February 20 - Congress authorizes a US mint at Denver, Colorodo
historyorb.com
February 20, 1895
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1882 Fire
The loss by the great fire at Haverhill, Massachusetts, is estimated at $2,000,000. The burned territory embraces the largest part of the business section and most of the boot and shoe factories. Two thousand people are thrown out of employment. Four men, two of them firemen, are known to have perished, and three others are missing.
Delaware County Daily Times
Chester, Pennsylvania
February 20, 1882
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He has raised them successfully for several years, and keeps them in good condition during eight months of the year.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
February 20, 1869
Visit Kingston, Massachusetts, USA!
1895 February 20 - Congress authorizes a US mint at Denver, Colorodo
historyorb.com
February 20, 1895
Visit Denver, Colorado, USA!
1882 Fire
The loss by the great fire at Haverhill, Massachusetts, is estimated at $2,000,000. The burned territory embraces the largest part of the business section and most of the boot and shoe factories. Two thousand people are thrown out of employment. Four men, two of them firemen, are known to have perished, and three others are missing.
Delaware County Daily Times
Chester, Pennsylvania
February 20, 1882
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1890 Free land for large families
Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake City, Utah
February 20, 1890
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1888 MORE FIRES IN PROVIDENCE. THE THIRD LARGE BLAZE WITHIN FIVE DAYS.
PROVIDENCE, R. I., Feb. 19. - The third large fire during the last five days occurred this afternoon on the scene of the disastrous conflagration of September, 1877. At 4:10 o'clock a man in a broker's office on the second floor of the Daniels Building in Custom House-street, a structure which rose on the ashes of the iron-front building which melted away in the great heat of 11 years ago, smelled smoke, and looking about the landing found a closet on the floor all ablaze. Just under the...
Read MORE...
The New York Times
New York, New York
February 20, 1888
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1885 A MAN BURNED TO DEATH.
NEW-HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 19. - A fire which broke out at 2 o'clock this morning in Wallingford destroyed Temperance Hall, belonging to Jared Q. Kimberly, Perkins & Maynes, Philip Finnegan, and Patrick McKenna. The loss reaches over $10,000. John S. Jackson, a man over 60 years of age, who was sleeping in an upper story of one of the buildings, was burned to death. His charred remains were found this afternoon in a hallway in a lower part of the house. The old man, who had been sick for some...
Read MORE...
The New York Times
New York, New York
February 20, 1885
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Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake City, Utah
February 20, 1890
Visit Kamouraska, Québec, Canada (Saint-Louis) (Saint-Alexandre)!
1888 MORE FIRES IN PROVIDENCE. THE THIRD LARGE BLAZE WITHIN FIVE DAYS.
PROVIDENCE, R. I., Feb. 19. - The third large fire during the last five days occurred this afternoon on the scene of the disastrous conflagration of September, 1877. At 4:10 o'clock a man in a broker's office on the second floor of the Daniels Building in Custom House-street, a structure which rose on the ashes of the iron-front building which melted away in the great heat of 11 years ago, smelled smoke, and looking about the landing found a closet on the floor all ablaze. Just under the...
Read MORE...
The New York Times
New York, New York
February 20, 1888
Visit Providence, Rhode Island, USA!
1885 A MAN BURNED TO DEATH.
NEW-HAVEN, Conn., Feb. 19. - A fire which broke out at 2 o'clock this morning in Wallingford destroyed Temperance Hall, belonging to Jared Q. Kimberly, Perkins & Maynes, Philip Finnegan, and Patrick McKenna. The loss reaches over $10,000. John S. Jackson, a man over 60 years of age, who was sleeping in an upper story of one of the buildings, was burned to death. His charred remains were found this afternoon in a hallway in a lower part of the house. The old man, who had been sick for some...
Read MORE...
The New York Times
New York, New York
February 20, 1885
Visit Wallingford, Connecticut, USA!
America - Did you know?
Snake Alley, the most crooked street in the world, can be found in Burlington, Iowa.
Quebec - Did you know?
The Headless Ghost of Mary GallagherBack in June 1879, two Montreal prostitutes, Susan Kennedy and Mary Gallagher, were drinking in a Griffintown bar with a john named Michael Flanagan. Despite the three spending the night together, Susan...Read MORE...
mtlblog.com
Picture of the Day
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Broadway near Sixth St. looking north, Los Angeles, Cal.
Charles L. Holt
Books, School Books, Stationery, Wrapping Paper, Paper Bags and Twine.
Circulating Library in Connection with Store.
Agent for Tri Rose Extract.
Eddy Block, Webster, Mass.
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