From a life of hard labor to a mysterious death outside a quiet tavern, the story of John Myers unravels a forgotten Tuscarawas County tragedy. John Russell Lee Myers (1892-1947), who occasionally went by the name Russell or Lee, was born in Pine Grove, West Virginia in 1892. His father, William H. Myers (1861-?), wasContinue reading “In the Shadow of Zoar: The 1947 Murder of John Myers, Part One”
Tag Archives: true crime murder
In Cold Blood on Fair Avenue: The Murder of Mabel Barnes
A life ended in a shocking act of violence when Mabel Seymour Barnes was murdered by her estranged husband, setting the stage for a case that questions justice and accountability. Mabel Seymour Barnes (1911–1947) was born in Ross County, Ohio, to Hiram Seymour (1875-1917) and Sarah Rinehart Seymour (1886-1928). Her father passed away when sheContinue reading “In Cold Blood on Fair Avenue: The Murder of Mabel Barnes”
The 1906 Somerdale Riot: A Tragic Tale of Immigrant Strife
A gathering of railroad workers in Somerdale ended in violence, culminating in the death of one man, the wounding of another, and a murder conviction that marked the end of one immigrant’s American dream. Throughout Tuscarawas County’s history it has attracted people from elsewhere, at first to farm its fertile land, and later to workContinue reading “The 1906 Somerdale Riot: A Tragic Tale of Immigrant Strife”
Bullet in the Night: The 1928 Murder of Charles Eggan
On a September night in 1928, a stable boss at Midvale Mine #4, was found dead with a bullet wound to the head—setting off a decades-long mystery. Charles Orland Eggan (1898-1928) was the son of James Early Eggan (1872-1939) and Olive Matbell Ryan (1870-1940), a farming couple rooted in Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Raised on theContinue reading “Bullet in the Night: The 1928 Murder of Charles Eggan”
Dark Days in Blicktown: The 1914 Grimm Family Murder
Jessie Grimm met a shocking and brutal end at the hands of her own mother in a crime that, despite its violence, has been all but lost to history. The Grimm family’s roots in Tuscarawas County began with the arrival from Pennsylvania, before 1820, of John Grimm (1779-1864) and his wife Maria Elizabeth Ruppert (1778-1855).Continue reading “Dark Days in Blicktown: The 1914 Grimm Family Murder”
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”
Evil in the Twin Cities: The 1944 Murder of Naomi Freed
A Dennison, Ohio family was shattered, and a community shocked, when the family’s nearly ten-year-old daughter was murdered on her way home from a movie in the spring of 1944. The Freed family, originally from Pennsylvania, settled in Tuscarawas County after the Civil War with the arrival of Henry Freed (1833-1909) and his wife CatherineContinue reading “Evil in the Twin Cities: The 1944 Murder of Naomi Freed”
Gut-shot and Crawling: The 1932 Murder of a Tuscarawas County Farmer
A group of young men embarked on a crime spree that tragically culminated in the murder of local farmer, shot during a robbery at his rural Tuscarawas County home for a mere $15. During the summer and fall of 1932 a gang of young men, who had met one another in Canton, Ohio, went onContinue reading “Gut-shot and Crawling: The 1932 Murder of a Tuscarawas County Farmer”
A Quiet Life Broken: The 1909 Murder of Alice Parsons
The seemingly idyllic life of Alice and Lewis Parsons in New Philadelphia, Ohio was shattered by gunshots on a fall morning in 1909. Content warning: This post contains references to suicide. If you or someone you know has a mental illness, is struggling emotionally, or has concerns about their mental health, there are ways to getContinue reading “A Quiet Life Broken: The 1909 Murder of Alice Parsons”
Shot in a Dover Coffeehouse: The 1921 Murder of Mike Lambros
A confrontation between Greek immigrants in Dover, Ohio, over an alleged insult toward one the men’s wife resulted in a murder. Michael (1894-1921) and Alec (1896-1985) Lambros immigrated from Greece in 1914 and, by 1920, owned and operated their own barber shop on the 300 block of West 3rd Street in Dover, Ohio. The brothers’Continue reading “Shot in a Dover Coffeehouse: The 1921 Murder of Mike Lambros”
Tuscarawas County Stories 