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 began to take root in April 1913, when he was fined for disorderly conduct following a fight at a house of ill fame on Center Street in Dennison run by a woman named Kate Dyson (1876-1919).
George was drafted in the summer of 1917 and his military career was quickly marred by legal trouble after he failed to report for duty on time in October 1917. George married 20-year-old Ethel Davis (1897-?) in December 1917 and was court-martialed for desertion after failing to return from a ten-day furlough after his marriage. By the time George received a surprisingly honorable discharge in February 1919, his transition into a life of local notoriety was nearly complete.
The McKane Family, including George, recorded on the 1900 census record for Dennison, Ohio. (Source: familysearch.org) 
George McKane’s arrest for disorderly conduct reported in the New Philadelphia, Ohio newspaper, April 1913. (Source: newspapers.com) 
George McKane’s World War One Draft Registration card, June 1917. (Source: newspapers.com) 
New Philadelphia, Ohio newspaper article on George McKane’s sentence for desertion, May 1918. (Source: newspapers.com)
The early 1920s saw McKane frequently appearing in the criminal dockets of the cities of Dennison and Uhrichsville. He was indicted for robbery and pocket picking in 1920 after allegedly stealing a pocketbook containing $243 from a railroad brakeman. His criminal circle included associates with whom he was arrested again for robbery in April 1922. These years of escalating theft and violence, punctuated by minor fines for disorderly conduct after fistfights, served as the backdrop for the far more destructive era of the bombings to come.
The first major legal test regarding the explosions came after a massive dynamite blast on September 27, 1924, which targeted a garage behind the property of Harry Fetter (1876-1957) on North Third Street. The explosion was so powerful that it shattered windows in sixty homes and threw a neighbor across his room. McKane and an accomplice were apprehended shortly after the blast at the Coney Island lunch room. This explosion was the sixth such “mysterious” blast to terrorize the community in a three-week period, leading to a climate of intense local fear.
The location of Harry Fetter’s property in Dennison, Ohio that was bombed in September 1924. (Source: loc.gov) 
Headline following George McKane’s arrest for the September 1924 bombing, September 1924. (Source: newspapers.com) 
Headline following George McKane’s acquittal for the September 1924 bombing, March 1925. (Source: newspapers.com) 
The location of John L. Meyer’s property in Dennison, Ohio that was bombed in March 1926. (Source: loc.gov)
During the subsequent trial in February 1925, the state’s case rested heavily on the testimony of a student who claimed he had sold McKane fuses earlier that month. McKane’s defense relied on a strong alibi, with witnesses swearing he was at a restaurant during the time of the explosion. McKane also successfully swayed the jury by alleging he had been beaten by police with a blackjack while in custody, showing them his scars. On March 2, 1925, the jury acquitted him after five hours of deliberation, and he was released to his crying sister after five months in jail.
McKane’s freedom lasted only a year until another blast on March 6, 1926, on the premises of John L. Meyer (1869-1941) on Grant Street, shattered windows in sixty-seven homes. This time, his former associates turned state’s evidence and testified against him. McKane was found guilty of placing the March 6th bomb and on June 2, 1926, was sentenced to ten years in the Ohio Penitentiary. He spent years as an inmate at the London Prison Farm before eventually returning home to Uhrichsville. George McKane died at age 49 of stomach cancer and a gastric hemorrhage in May 1937 and was buried in Union Cemetery. His motive for the bombings was never determined.
Headline following George McKane’s conviction for the March 1926 bombing, June 1926. (Source: newspapers.com) 
George McKane recorded on the 1930 census record for the London Prison Farm. (Source: familysearch.org) 
George McKane’s headstone in Union Cemetery, Uhrichsville, Ohio, 2025. (Source: findagrave.com)
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© Noel B. Poirier, 2026.
Tuscarawas County Stories 