The reality is that "history" is often a compilation of various methods of record keeping by different people. Obviously as times and technology change, the way things are determined (and remembered) can change. Accuracy can also vary. Can you imagine the information crawling around the lake in 1887 about the various locations and their condition and the consensus that, indeed, the lake had completely thawed out? Did they have some dedicated volunteers who decided to travel around checking things out? Did some traveling merchants take on the responsibility?
One thing I would point out, all the early records had dates in April or May except for 1921 (March 28) and 1946 (March 30). All the other March dates are in 2010 or later. I would assume that modern record keeping is more accurate so I have some "faith" that these early dates recently ARE setting a new record.
I accept that Dr. William K. Widgert's 1974 compilation of ice out records is about as accurate as we are likely to get. Since Ice Out is mostly an all in fun New Hampshire tradition, we can enjoy the records we have and not worry too much about exactly how they all came together.
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