twin cities – Tuscarawas County Stories

A Killing in Dennison: The Story of Minnie Adkins

AI generated image depicting the confrontation between Jacob Broschardt and Minnie Adkins in 1908. (Source: Microsoft Designer)

Minnie Adkins—a young Black mother and domestic worker—sparked a rare wave of public sympathy after she shot and killed a white man who threatened her. Minnie Williamson (1884-aft. 1950) was born in 1884 in North Carolina to Bedford Williamson and Della Willis. One of nine siblings, Minnie came of age in the post-Reconstruction South asContinue reading “A Killing in Dennison: The Story of Minnie Adkins”

A Georgian in Uhrichsville: The Murder of Mayfield Mallory

AI generated image depicting the conflict between Mayfield Mallory and William Stone in October 1923. (Source: Microsoft Designer)

During the Great Migration, a period of American history when millions of Black southerners moved to find work in the industrialized cities of the north, many found themselves in the Twin Cities of Dennison and Uhrichsville, Ohio. This is the sad story of one of those men. According to United States Census records, in 1920Continue reading “A Georgian in Uhrichsville: The Murder of Mayfield Mallory”

Clara Campbell: The Girl Who Never Came Home

AI generated image depicting a young woman's body floating in a rural Ohio creek in 1930.

In the spring of 1930, seventeen-year-old Clara L. Campbell vanished after a dispute with her father, only to be found dead in Sweetwater Creek days later—her mysterious death raised more questions than answers. Content warning: This post contains references to suicide. If you or someone you know has a mental illness, is struggling emotionally, or hasContinue reading “Clara Campbell: The Girl Who Never Came Home”

Evil in the Twin Cities: The 1944 Murder of Naomi Freed

AI generated image depicting 10 year-old Naomi Freed on the Center Street bridge in Dennison, Ohio, 2024. (Source: Microsoft Designer)

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”

“A Bad Man”: The Killing of Henry Bushman

AI image of a sepia-toned photograph set inside a small, rustic bakery in rural Ohio, 1883. The interior is filled with wooden shelves stacked with freshly baked bread, pies, and pastries, with a large stone oven in the background. In the center of the scene, a young 20-year-old baker, wearing a flour-dusted apron and suspenders, is locked in a heated struggle with a rugged, 40-year-old railroad worker who appears visibly drunk, with a bottle in his hand and disheveled clothing. The baker, fists raised, shows determination and anger, while the older man stumbles, trying to regain his balance. The lighting is dim, and the atmosphere is tense, with flour kicked up in the air during the scuffle, 2024. (Source: Microsoft Designer)

German immigrant Henry Bushman led a troubled and short life, marred by frequent run-ins with the law and fueled by alcohol, which eventually led to a fatal encounter with his nephew in Uhrichsville, Ohio. When someone lived as short a life as German immigrant Henry Bushman (1852-1883) did in the 19th century, it is oftenContinue reading ““A Bad Man”: The Killing of Henry Bushman”