January 2023 – Noel B. Poirier

William Watson, Gold Mining, and a California Tragedy

Gold miners shoveling sand from stream into sluice while one miner pans for gold in the same stream, small building and mountains in the background.

While recently writing about a Murder in Klondike, it got me wondering if there were any people from the Tuscarawas County area that decided to try and find riches in the gold fields of the American West. In doing so, I stumbled upon the sad story of William Watson. A note: Names are often misspelledContinue reading “William Watson, Gold Mining, and a California Tragedy”

A Murder in Klondike

An AI generated image of a 1903 small coal mining town in eastern Ohio that shows a row of company houses. (Source: openai.com/dall-e-2

Many immigrants arrived in Tuscarawas County at the turn of the 20th century to work in the industries that dominated the local economy at the time. Among them were coal miners who came to work the county’s numerous coal mines, leading to the creation of “company towns” like Klondike. Many of the stories of theseContinue reading “A Murder in Klondike”

One House’s Story: The Bombing of the Bowers’ House

Modern image of the front façade of the Bowers home on Tuscarawas Avenue in New Philadelphia.

I stumbled across one of this house’s stories while researching one of the home’s inhabitants for another project. I could not resist sharing this very surprising, and violent, piece of New Philadelphia history. A note about addresses: House numbers and street names often change over time. Well known attorney Henry Bowers (1858-1934) and his familyContinue reading “One House’s Story: The Bombing of the Bowers’ House”