Tag Archives: port washington

The Mystery of the Lost Captain of Port Washington

In June 1869, Port Washington canal boat captain James Hammersley died mysteriously in Cleveland—was it a tragic accident, or something more sinister? James Hammersley (1842-1869) was born in January 1842 in Port Washington, Tuscarawas County, Ohio, to farmer Andrew Hammersley (1813-1893) and his wife Catherine Stocker (1816-1884). James was recorded on the 1850 census asContinue reading “The Mystery of the Lost Captain of Port Washington”

Lights Over Oldtown Valley: The 1964 UFO Sightings

Mysterious lights over Oldtown Valley Road reignited 1960s flying saucer stories. The national obsession with “flying saucers” had quieted down somewhat by 1964. The frenzy of sightings and speculation that began in the late 1940s was replaced with Cold War concerns and cultural shifts. But in the quiet hills north of Port Washington, Ohio, theContinue reading “Lights Over Oldtown Valley: The 1964 UFO Sightings”

Father and Son: The Murder of Jonas Bremer

The Tuscarawas County community was stunned when a father and civil war veteran from one of the county’s oldest families turned his gun on one of his own children. The Bremer family were one of the earliest settlers of Salem Township, Tuscarawas County, having arrived in the county from Pennsylvania before 1811. That early settler,Continue reading “Father and Son: The Murder of Jonas Bremer”

One House’s Story: Gershom & Mary Kilgore of Port Washington

I once again decided to try to tell a story from the history of a house depicted in the Tuscarawas County Atlas of 1875, hoping to be able to find something interesting worth telling. I was not disappointed by the story that can be told about a house recorded in the Atlas as the “Res.Continue reading “One House’s Story: Gershom & Mary Kilgore of Port Washington”

Fallen Heroes: Private Clarence Ludwig

When one volunteers for military service, one knows that there is the very good possibility that they may never return home. Soldiers in earlier wars also ran the real risk of dying from disease without ever seeing the battlefield. In cases like this one, the soldier returned home from military service without a scratch butContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private Clarence Ludwig”