I have used the phrase “fallen heroes” to describe all of the service individuals I have written about to date. Very rarely, if ever, do I find an eyewitness account of the individual’s heroic sacrifice. In researching the life of Tuscarawas County’s Staff Sergeant Fred Schenk (1915-1945), and his death during the Battle of theContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Staff Sergeant Fred Schenk”
Tag Archives: history
Fallen Heroes: Private Daniel F. Freed
If you have read any of my previous Fallen Heroes posts you know that many of the heroes profiled do not die on the battlefield. Accidents and disease occur that take the lives of those prepared to sacrifice it in the service of their country. Sometimes the most heart wrenching losses occur shortly after aContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private Daniel F. Freed”
John H. Kearns: Louisville, Kentucky
My neighbor’s whiskey-distilling ancestor, John H. Kearns, faced a fight in his hometown of Lebanon, Kentucky. The Temperance Movement worked hard and convinced his neighbors in the whiskey distilling town to go dry. John Kearns turned his attention to other business endeavors. While the Sunny Side Saloon was a popular watering hole in Lebanon, KentuckyContinue reading “John H. Kearns: Louisville, Kentucky”
George Swinehart: Tuscarawas Pioneer
Many of the earliest settlers of the area now known as Tuscarawas County earned their land, and their families’ futures here, from their service to the United States in the American Revolution. George Swinehart (1754-1815) earned his piece of Tuscarawas County heaven through his service protecting the frontier of Pennsylvania and Virginia for the rebelliousContinue reading “George Swinehart: Tuscarawas Pioneer”
Fallen Heroes: Private Joseph Lawver
Any death by soldiers serving their country are tragic losses, sometimes those deaths occur in battle, sometimes from accidents, and oftentimes due to illness. The tragedy of the death of Joseph Lawver (1893-1918) in World War One was tragic for other reasons as well. Joseph was the only son of Sugarcreek Township, Tuscarawas County farmerContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private Joseph Lawver”
John H. Kearns: Marion County, Kentucky
My neighbor is very aware of my interest in family histories and, after looking into his family history, I better understood his love of whiskey (which I share). His family, like mine, was scattered across the country and I have discovered that he has some very interesting ancestors; John H. Kearns (1858-1910) of Kentucky isContinue reading “John H. Kearns: Marion County, Kentucky”
Fallen Heroes: Private Robert C. Watson
Very rarely do we learn the details of how a fallen hero met their death and, often, the oral history of what may have happened can be flawed or incomplete. In the case of Newport, Tuscarawas County’s Robert C. Watson (1922-1943), how he lost his life serving overseas was well documented by his unit. RobertContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private Robert C. Watson”
Fallen Heroes: Private Andrew Huth
The death of soldiers from disease was common during the American Civil War and soldiers from Tuscarawas County were not immune. Andrew Huth (1843-1863) died in Tennessee in the spring of 1863 from typhoid, but had already proven himself to be a “generous and brave” soldier worthy of remembrance. The Huth family arrived in TuscarawasContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private Andrew Huth”
Fallen Heroes: Corporal Melvin Lauver
While many of Ohio’s fallen heroes rest in cemeteries in their home state, many others never returned home. When Uhrichsville’s Melvin Lauver (1915-1943) entered the United States Army in 1942, he and his family never anticipated that he would be memorialized 4000 miles from his hometown. When Melvin Lauver was born in Uhrichsville in 1915,Continue reading “Fallen Heroes: Corporal Melvin Lauver”
Fallen Heroes: Private Frederick Gibson
I never tire of learning about people in history who were able to see more of the world than one might expect for someone of their era. Oftentimes the mechanism for that travel was through service in the military. Frederick Gibson (1877-1900), who grew up in Mill Township, Tuscarawas County, was one of those soldiersContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private Frederick Gibson”
Tuscarawas County Stories 