November 2024 – Tuscarawas County Stories

Bullet in the Night: The 1928 Murder of Charles Eggan

AI depiction of Charles Orland Eggan lying on the floor of the Midvale Mine #4's stable as his killer looks in the window.

On a September night in 1928, a stable boss at Midvale Mine #4, was found dead with a bullet wound to the head—setting off a decades-long mystery. Charles Orland Eggan (1898-1928) was the son of James Early Eggan (1872-1939) and Olive Matbell Ryan (1870-1940), a farming couple rooted in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Raised on theContinue reading “Bullet in the Night: The 1928 Murder of Charles Eggan”

Dark Days in Blicktown: The 1914 Grimm Family Murder

AI generated image depicting 18 year old Jessie Grimm just moments before she was murdered by her mother in May 1914, 2024.

Jessie Grimm met a shocking and brutal end at the hands of her own mother in a crime that, despite its violence, has been all but lost to history. The Grimm family’s roots in Tuscarawas County began with the arrival from Pennsylvania, before 1820, of John Grimm (1779-1864) and his wife Maria Elizabeth Ruppert (1778-1855).Continue reading “Dark Days in Blicktown: The 1914 Grimm Family Murder”

Fallen Heroes: Staff Sergeant Joseph A. Pancheri

Altered image of American soldiers standing on the deck of a troop transport ship during World War Two.

Joseph Pancheri’s life, marked by dedication to his family and country, ended tragically during one of World War II’s most devastating and long-concealed maritime disasters. Severino Pancheri (1893–1957) immigrated from an Italian speaking territory in Austria in 1913, arriving in New York harbor on March 23 that year aboard the SS Niagara. Severino initially settledContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Staff Sergeant Joseph A. Pancheri”

One House’s Story: The Stocksdale Family

The Stocksdale Family house on Beaver Dam Avenue in New Philadelphia, Ohio, 2019. (Source: google.com)

Never let the size of a house fool you into believing there is no history to be found. The home of Elisha and Sarah Stocksdale is the perfect example of just such a house. William Stocksdale (1819-1894), a cooper by trade, and his wife Margaret (1831-1915) moved to Dover, Ohio in the 1850s. They startedContinue reading “One House’s Story: The Stocksdale Family”

Summer of 1842: The Circus Comes to Tuscarawas County

Image that appeared in the advertisement for the June, Titus & Angevine Circus that appeared in the June 1842 issue of New Philadelphia, Ohio's newspaper. (Source: newspaperarchive.com)

Tuscarawas County was visited by one of America’s first traveling circuses, bringing with it exotic animals, daring performances, and a touch of big-city spectacle. The residents of Tuscarawas County, numbering around 26,000 in 1842, were treated that summer to a visit by one of America’s first travelling circuses. The advertisement for the circus, including aContinue reading “Summer of 1842: The Circus Comes to Tuscarawas County”

Father and Son: The Murder of Jonas Bremer

Postcard image of Port Washington, Ohio in Tuscarawas County, c. 1900. (Source: pinterest.com)

The Tuscarawas County community was stunned when a father and civil war veteran from one of the county’s oldest families turned his gun on one of his own children. The Bremer family were one of the earliest settlers of Salem Township, Tuscarawas County, having arrived in the county from Pennsylvania before 1811. That early settler,Continue reading “Father and Son: The Murder of Jonas Bremer”