A star athlete and World War Two soldier survived the battlefields of the Pacific only to meet a tragic fate in the comfort of his hometown. On the night of March 20, 1946, Woodrow “Buster” Coker (1918–1946), a decorated World War II veteran and celebrated former Newcomerstown high school athlete, walked home from his shiftContinue reading ““Unsolved”: The 1946 Killing of Woodrow Coker”
Monthly Archives: July 2026
A Killing on 9th Street: The 1918 Death of Albert Cordrey
A fatal 1918 lawn-mowing dispute leads to a sensational manslaughter trial and ultimate exoneration. The life of Nellie Rhodes Claycomb (1886-1934) took a dramatic turn several years after her marriage to George A. Claycomb (1890-1953) on October 21, 1913. George was originally from Oklahoma, and Nellie was a housewife who already had a daughter fromContinue reading “A Killing on 9th Street: The 1918 Death of Albert Cordrey”
The Twin City Bomber: The Life and Crimes of George McKane
A lifetime criminal terrorized the Twin Cities with a series of random bombings in the 1920s. George McKane (1887-1937) was born in Dennison, Ohio, to Jeremiah “Jerry” McKane (1846-1920) and Christena Koontz McKane (1850-1907). He grew up in a large family that included his five siblings, three sisters and two brothers. His criminal reputation beganContinue reading “The Twin City Bomber: The Life and Crimes of George McKane”
Before the Titanic: John E. Joss and the City of Rome
Thirteen years before the Titanic disaster, a New Philadelphia jeweler survived a terrifying North Atlantic iceberg collision. In April 1912, as the world reeled from the news of the Titanic disaster, John Ernest Joss (1873–1961) came forward to share a chillingly similar experience from thirteen years earlier. A prominent jeweler and optometrist in New Philadelphia,Continue reading “Before the Titanic: John E. Joss and the City of Rome”
