bolivar oh history – Tuscarawas County Stories

The Lenape “Old Town”: Roots of Tuscarawas County

AI generated image depicting an eastern woodlands indigenous village in eastern Ohio in the 18th century, 2025. (Source: Google ImageFX)

Before European settlers arrived, Tuscarawas County was home to a thriving indigenous community that gave the county its name. Like many people, I spend a great deal of my time researching my family history. I try to discover who the “first” ancestor of mine was to settle somewhere, whether that’s my family line in Ohio,Continue reading “The Lenape “Old Town”: Roots of Tuscarawas County”

A Life for Two Dollars: The 1907 Murder of Joseph Yerian

AI generated image depicting Shedrick Penn and Joseph Yerian playing cards in J.B. Ewing's saloon in Bolivar Ohio in 1907, 2024. (Source: Microsoft Designer)

A deadly altercation over a $2 bet between two transient railroad workers in Bolivar, Ohio led to the town’s first murder. The Yerian family arrived in Ohio from western Pennsylvania in the early nineteenth-century and, by the time Joseph A. Yerian (1883-1907) was born, a branch of that family lived in Washington County, Ohio. JosephContinue reading “A Life for Two Dollars: The 1907 Murder of Joseph Yerian”