A confrontation between Greek immigrants in Dover, Ohio, over an alleged insult toward one the men’s wife resulted in a murder.
Michael (1894-1921) and Alec (1896-1985) Lambros immigrated from Greece in 1914 and, by 1920, owned and operated their own barber shop on the 300 block of West 3rd Street in Dover, Ohio. The brothers’ shop was next to a coffeehouse owned by fellow Greek immigrant Nick Stever and a nearby a local eatery operated by Charles Turvey (1888-1957) and his wife Myrtle (1884-1941). Charles and Myrtle were helped by Myrtle’s two teenage daughters from a previous marriage, Esther (1904-1930) and Mildred Piersol (1907-?).
Another Greek immigrant named Steve Manos (1895-1969), who immigrated in 1910, originally found work in Canton, Ohio before serving in the United States Army during World War One. After the war he worked as a railroad fireman and, during a visit to Dover, likely met Esther Piersol at the family’s restaurant. The two struck up a romance and in August 1920 they married in Warren County, Ohio, perhaps so Esther could pass for 18 years old in a county unfamiliar with her. After the wedding, Esther continued to live and work with her parents as Steve traveled with the railroad and looked for other work.
Mike and Alec Lambros recorded in the 1920 census for Dover, Ohio along with the Turvey family. (Source: familysearch.org) 
The block in Dover, Ohio depicted on the 1914 Sanborn Map for Dover, Ohio where the Lambros brothers’ barber shop was located as well as the Turvey coffee house. (Source: loc.gov) 
The Warren County, Ohio marriage record of Steve Manos and Esther Piersol, August 1920. (Source: familysearch.org)
Steve Manos found work in a confectionary in Middletown, Ohio in late 1920 but Esther continued to stay with her parents in Dover, Ohio. However, Steve would return to Dover regularly and stay with his in-laws and wife when in town. During one such visit Steve became aware of comments allegedly made by Mike Lambros about Esther. What exactly those comments were was never publicly released, but they were significant enough that an enraged Steve Manos determined that he was going to violently confront Lambros about the insults.
Manos armed himself with a .44 caliber revolver and waited at a table in Nick Stever’s coffeehouse for Mike Lambros to appear. Just before 3:45 pm on the afternoon of March 30, 1921, Mike Lambros entered the coffee house accompanied by two men. Manos wasted no time. As soon as Lambros entered the coffee house Manos stood up and fired a single shot into Mike Lambros’s chest, killing him instantly. Manos, holding the other patrons at bay with the revolver, left the coffee house and jumped onto a moving B&O freight train nearby.
Railroad map showing the location of Holloway (circled) where Steve Manos was taken into custody, 1895. (Source: loc.gov) 
Steve Manos recorded in the records for the Tuscarawas County Jail, Mar-Jun 1921. (Source: familysearch.org) 
New Philadelphia, Ohio newspaper headline about the trial of Steve Manos, June 1921. (Source: newspapers.com) 
New Philadelphia, Ohio newspaper headline about the verdict of the Steve Manos trial, June 1921. (Source: newspapers.com)
Steve Manos did not get very far. He was captured in Holloway in Belmont County and was returned to Tuscarawas County for judgment. Manos, when questioned, asserted that he set out to to kill Lambros and so he was charged with premeditated first degree murder. Manos was housed in the Tuscarawas County jail until his trial started in June 1921. After a brief trial, Manos was found guilty of second degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison at the Ohio State Penitentiary instead of the electric chair. Shortly after his imprisonment, Esther Manos filed for divorce from Steve Manos.
Steve Manos served less than twenty years in prison and, by 1940, had remarried and returned to Middletown, Ohio. He lived later in Springfield, Ohio and then Dayton, Ohio where he died in 1969. Alec Lambros, the victim’s brother, moved from Dover to Chicago, Illinois where he opened another barber shop, became a naturalized citizen, and lived for the remainder of his life. Esther Piersol Manos remarried a year after her divorce from Steve Manos, continued to live in Dover and died from diabetes in 1930 at the age of 25. What, if anything, Mike Lambros said about Esther that triggered his murder we will never know.
New Philadelphia, Ohio newspaper headline reporting on Steve Manos’s possible parole, September 1931. (Source: newspaperarchive.com) 
Steve Manos’s headstone in the Dayton National Cemetery, Dayton, Ohio. (Source: finadagrave.com) 
Detail from Esther Piersol Manos’s death certificate, March 1930. (Source: familysearch.org)
Enjoy my stories?
© Noel B. Poirier, 2024.
Tuscarawas County Stories 