One House’s Story: The Herbert Family Tragedy

The Herbert family’s story, rooted in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, is one of immigration, hard labor, wartime service, and unexpected tragedy.

Content warning: This post contains references to suicide. If you or someone you know has a mental illness, is struggling emotionally, or has concerns about their mental health, there are ways to get help. Click here for resources to find help for you, a friend, or a family member.

Thomas J. Herbert (1883-1958) was born in 1883 in Wales and immigrated to the United States with his parents five years later. The family initially settled in Alabama where his father found work as a coal miner, but misfortune struck in 1901 when Thomas’s father unexpectedly died of pneumonia. His mother, left to raise the children alone, relocated the family to Tuscarawas County, Ohio, possibly near a relative or to seek better opportunities. Thomas followed in his father’s footsteps and, by 1910, worked in the county’s coal mines. Thomas married Hazel Albert (1892-1977), a native of Ohio, in June of 1913 and together they began a family in the mining community of Midvale.

Thomas and Hazel raised four children in Tuscarawas County. Their first son and eldest child, Thomas Alvin “Al” Herbert (1914-1964), was born in 1914. The family lived in Union Township in the 1920s, where the elder Thomas continued to work in the demanding and dangerous mines. The family relocated to Barnhill, Tuscarawas County by 1930 where Thomas worked as a coal loader and his sons worked as miners as well. The younger Thomas married Edythe Mae Legg (1916-2005) in West Virginia in September 1940 and a little over a year later enlisted in the United States Army.

Despite being married to Edythe, Alvin listed himself as single and noted his occupation as a semi-skilled metal worker. Standing nearly six feet tall, with brown eyes and a light complexion, Al served in the 140th Field Artillery, 37th Division, in the South Pacific during World War II. There he was known for crafting knives for his fellow soldiers from captured Japanese bayonets. After four years of service, he returned home in the summer of 1945 to find his marriage in turmoil. In October, he filed for divorce, citing infidelity during his deployment, and was officially granted the divorce in January 1946.

Shortly after the divorce, Al married June Marie Metzger (1924-1963), a nurse known for her community involvement and hospitality. The couple welcomed their only child, a son, in January 1948. The new family first lived on East High Street in New Philadelphia before settling into a newly constructed home on 11th Street NE after 1949. Al worked steadily in construction before becoming a maintenance janitor and custodian for the New Philadelphia School District. Life seemed full and rooted, Al socialized with his fellow veterans, had steady work and June hosted many social gatherings in their home. Tragedy, however, struck in October 1963 when June died suddenly from an unexpected illness.

Following the death of his wife, Al appeared to be coping with the loss as well as could be expected. He continued going to work, socializing with his veteran friends and neighbors, and raising the couple’s teenage son. There was no indication that he was experiencing anything beyond the natural grief of losing a spouse, or that he was struggling more than any other grieving widower might. That, however, changed on the night of Sunday, February 2, 1964, when Al’s grief—and whatever underlying mental strain he may have been enduring—came to a distressing head.

That evening, Al was expected at a neighbor’s card game—a gathering he and June had often attended together in the past. A fellow card player, who was supposed to pick Al up on the way, stopped by his home and knocked on the door, but no one answered. Around 7:30 p.m., Al’s brother-in-law arrived at the Herbert residence, let himself in, and made a gruesome discovery. Al had taken the family’s 16-gauge shotgun, killed his son, and then turned the firearm on himself. No note was left behind, and the community was left to grapple with what could have driven Thomas Alvin Herbert to make such a terrible choice.

© Noel B. Poirier, 2024.