newcomerstown – 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”

Fallen Heroes: Private First Class John W. Rector

C-119s drop the 187th RCT over Korea, 1952. (Source: wikipedia.com)

It was the nature of the conflict in Korea that the front lines shifted dramatically, often making it difficult to recover the the bodies of fallen heroes. This Newcomerstown fallen hero, and paratrooper, did not return home for almost five years following his death. The Rector family appeared in Ohio with the arrival of WashingtonContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private First Class John W. Rector”

Fallen Heroes: Private Wesley A. Little

American Prisoners of War - Tunisia 1943

I will admit that the stories of fallen heroes lost on battlefields in North Africa during World War Two always captures my attention. My own grandfather served in North Africa during that war and every soldier’s story on those battlefields remind me of him. This fallen hero’s story is one of those reminders. The familyContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private Wesley A. Little”

The “Black Hand” in Tuscarawas County

During the early 1900s, the burgeoning Italian immigrant community in Tuscarawas County watched with trepidation as the local newspaper carried stories of the extortion of their fellow countrymen in cities like New York and Pittsburgh by a shadowy group referred to as the “Black Hand Society”. It would not be long before the “hand” appearedContinue reading “The “Black Hand” in Tuscarawas County”

Fallen Heroes: Private Darrell O. Beiter

VIEW OF FLÉVILLE AFTER ITS CAPTURE BY THE 16TH INFANTRY.

Many Tuscarawas County young men witnessed the brutality of trench warfare in France during World War One. Many of those suffered debilitating wounds and the less obvious mental illnesses associated with “shell-shock”. Then there were those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and among them, as in the case of this fallen hero, were the menContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private Darrell O. Beiter”

The Unsolved Murder of Antonio D’Alassandro

The story of America is a story of waves of immigration. During the late 1800s and the early 1900s that wave consisted principally of immigrants from central and southern Europe. These immigrants, in their search for a better life in America, brought with them aspects of their previous lives in Europe. Religion, language, culture allContinue reading “The Unsolved Murder of Antonio D’Alassandro”