During the winter of 1913, Stephen Bullock hitched his buggy to his horse, Jerry, and made the 65-mile trip from his Richmond farm to the state capital.

There, he proposed House Bill 430 to create the first New Hampshire presidential primary. The Legislature passed the bill in May, and after some tweaking of the law two years later, the first presidential primary was held in March 1916.

It wasn't until 1952, thanks to the efforts of House Speaker Richard Upton, that voters cast ballots for candidates directly instead of choosing delegates.

Since then, the primary has snowballed, becoming synonymous with media, money and maneuvering to remain ahead of other states. Droves of reporters follow candidates into diners and out of town halls, spending freely wherever they go.

Bullock, who died in 1944, missed it all.

"I think he would be amazed," his 85-year-old granddaughter said in a recent interview. "I think he would be very proud of his accomplishments, but I'm sure at the time he did it, he never dreamed of the outcome of all this."

Secretary of State Bill Gardner, who tracked down Atkins after he discovered her grandfather's bill, says a simple goal guided both Bullock and Upton: getting more people involved in democracy.

"The struggle was between those who wanted people to have more say and those who wanted the party leaders to have control," he said. "It had nothing to do with being first, it had nothing to do with the state making money."

That sentiment aside, the state has shown fierce determination to protect its leadoff status.

Detractors point out New Hampshire is hardly representative of the rest of the nation and complain that it plays too big a role in choosing presidents. Other states have tried to steal the spotlight, but Gardner and the Legislature have beat them back with a state law that requires the primary to be held seven days before any other state.

An amendment last year gave Gardner the power to schedule the primary in 1999, had that been necessary. He then set off a furor with the date he finally picked, Feb. 1, because Iowa already had scheduled its caucuses for the day before. But Gardner stood his ground, and Iowa switched to Jan. 24.

Surprise and persistence, two elements of this year's calendar flap, have long been hallmarks of the New Hampshire primary. Voters have been known to reward candidates who hang in there, and upsets are not uncommon.

The first modern primary in 1952 offered the first surprise: Tennessee Sen. Estes Kefauver beat President Harry Truman, which eventually forced Truman out of the race.

Sixteen years later, Minnesota Sen. Eugene McCarthy's campaign against the Vietnam War earned him a surprisingly strong second-place finish in New Hampshire, enough to persuade President Lyndon Johnson not to seek re-election.

Perhaps the best example of persistence rewarded is Jimmy Carter, who came to New Hampshire a peanut farmer and little-known former Georgia governor but left a winner in 1976.

For 40 years, the state had an unblemished record of picking presidents. Bill Clinton, defeated in the primary by former Massachusetts Sen. Paul Tsongas, was the first candidate to become president after losing in New Hampshire.

This year offers the possibility of a double upset: Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George Bush -- the national Democratic and Republican front-runners -- face serious challenges from Bill Bradley and Sen. John McCain, respectively.

Edith Atkins is still considering her choice. But she'll cast her vote this year knowing that the history of the New Hampshire primary and her own family history are forever linked.

Candidates would do well to heed the lesson she learned growing up on her grandfather's farm:

"I've always gone under the idea that you've got to know where you've been before you know where you're going," she said.