gunfight – Noel B. Poirier

Ruffled Feathers: A Gunfight at the County Jail

Aerial view of the Tuscarawas County Jail and grounds, c. 1930. (Source: ohiomemory.org)

Early in the evening on a cold February night in 1912 neighbors of the Tuscarawas County Jail on East Fair Street in New Philadelphia heard the sounds of gunfire ring out. It was the exclamation point on a busy and successful weekend by local law enforcement, having broken up a large gambling event two daysContinue reading “Ruffled Feathers: A Gunfight at the County Jail”

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”