An outing to the Tuscarawas County Fair turned tragic when Somerdale friends unknowingly stepped in front of an oncoming train. Several residents of the small Tuscarawas County mining village of Somerdale set out for a day at the county fair in Canal Dover in the autumn of 1912. Among them were John Abel (1886–1912) andContinue reading “Somerdale Mourned: The Train Tragedy of 1912”
Tag Archives: smith family
One House’s Story: The Schmidt Family
This simple, unassuming home on what was the outskirts of New Philadelphia, Ohio once belonged to an immigrant who’s skills helped build the city of New Philadelphia in the 1800s. Note: The surname Schmidt is often recorded as the anglicized ‘Smith’ as well in later historical records. Notably, the Schmidt children all went by theContinue reading “One House’s Story: The Schmidt Family”
Fallen Heroes: Private Walter A. Smith
The Smith family had travelled thousands of miles to raise a family far from the wars and poverty of eastern Europe, only to have one of their sons give the ultimate sacrifice on a far-off battlefield in France. After John Smith (1869-1953) and his fiancé Mary (1869-1925) married in 1886 in Poland, they wasted noContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private Walter A. Smith”
Tuscarawas County Stories 