What began as a lively winter gathering in Dennison ended in a shocking fatal shooting.
Caesar White (1913-1933) was born in Dennison, Ohio, the son of Italian immigrants Frank (1882-1922) and Antoinette White (1882-1944), who both came to the United States in the 1890s. The Whites married in 1899 and settled in Tuscarawas County by 1910. The family lived in Warwick Township, where Frank White earned a living as a coal miner while the couple raised four young children. By 1920, they moved to Center Street in Dennison, where Frank operated a small grocery store before his death in 1922, after which Antoinette remarried. A decade later, Caesar was still living on Center Street with his uncle, aunt and their daughter, his uncle was employed by the railroad.
Joseph “Joe” Malterer (1907-1965) was also born in Dennison, Ohio. He was the son of Alois Malterer (1863-1954) and Maria Hapfelmaier (1865-1920) and was born into a large German American immigrant family. Joe, in 1910, lived with his parents and eight siblings in Mill Township, where his father worked as a carpenter in the railroad car shops. A decade later, in 1920, Joe resided with one of his brothers’ families in the same township, though no occupation was recorded for him at that time. Joe obtained a marriage license in November 1926 to wed Ada Cress (1911-1957), and by early 1933 the couple lived on McCook Avenue in Dennison. It was in their home that Caesar White lost his life.
Joseph Malterer’s birth recorded in the Tuscarawas County records, April 1907. (Source: familysearch.org) 
Frank White’s, Caesar White’s father, death reported in the New Philadelphia, Ohio newspaper, March 1922. (Source: newspapers.com) 
Caesar White recorded in the 1930 census for Dennison, Ohio. (Source: familysearch.org)
The evening of February 1, 1933 the Malterers hosted friends and family at their small home on McCook Avenue for what was supposed to be an evening of drinking and pleasant company. Among the attendees were Leo Malterer (1909-2003), Otto Malterer (1893-1950) and Frank Malterer (1913-1979), all brothers of Joseph, as well as Caesar White and his brother Frank “Tip” White (1907-?), and another friend named Glenn Page (1904-1960). As the evening progressed and the drinking continued, the party got a little louder and little out of control. A neighbor eventually called the police on the party and at around 12:30 am on February 2, 1933 police arrived at the home.
When the police arrived, Otto Malterer went outside to speak with them. While they were talking they heard a shotgun blast come from inside the Malterer home. As the men entered the home they saw Caesar White lying face down on floor in a pool of blood, a shotgun wound in his left side. Joe Malterer stood above him holding a shotgun and said “I shot him”. Joe claimed that he had merely gotten the shotgun, which he believed to be unloaded, to threaten his party attendees to quiet down and to “shoot anyone who attempted to enter the house”, including the police officers. Despite the small size of the home, all of the attendees including Caesar’s brother stated they did not see Joe shoot Caesar.
The Malterer residence noted on the 1921 Sanborn Map of Dennison, Ohio. (Source: loc.gov) 
New Philadelphia, Ohio newspaper article on the shooting of Caesar White, February 1933. (Source: newspapers.com) 
New Philadelphia, Ohio newspaper article on the charges against Joseph Malterer, February 1933. (Source: newspapers.com)
As authorities investigated the shooting, they were incapable of determining any motive for Joe Malterer to shoot Caesar White and challenge Joe’s assertion that the shooting was accidental. Ada Malterer’s statements to the police that she had previously unloaded the gun and tried to hide it, contradicted Joe’s statement about not knowing the gun was loaded. If Ada was correct, Joe had to have reloaded the gun before the shooting. Joe Malterer was eventually charged with manslaughter, but a subsequent Tuscarawas County grand jury declined to indict him for the charge. He was instead charged with threatening the Dennison police officers and served a three month sentence in the county jail.
Caesar White was only twenty-years old when an out-of-control drinking party at the Malterer residence on McCook Avenue cost him his life. Less than a year after the shooting, and perhaps due to conflict from their different stories of the event, Ada Malterer was granted a divorce from Joe Malterer. Joe Malterer lived the rest of his life in the Twin Cities of Tuscarawas County, remarried twice, and died in Dennison in April 1965. Caesar White was buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Dennison, Ohio. In the end, the shooting stood as a stark warning of the dangers when alcohol, tempers, and firearms collide.
New Philadelphia, Ohio newspaper article on the grand jury refusing to indict Joseph Malterer for the killing of Caesar White, April 1933. (Source: newspapers.com) 
New Philadelphia, Ohio newspaper article on the sentencing of Joseph Malterer for threatening Dennison police officers, April 1933. (Source: newspapers.com) 
Obituary of Joseph Malterer in the New Philadelphia, Ohio newspaper, April 1965. (Source: newspapers.com) 
Modern view of the Malterer residence on McCook Avenue, Dennison, Ohio. (Source: google.com)
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© Noel B. Poirier, 2025.
Tuscarawas County Stories 