Blog #4 Local History

The 1908 Atlas Walking Tour by The Tuscarawas County Historical Society 

The Tuscarawas County Historical Society created a walking tour based on the sites in downtown New Philadelphia, Ohio in 1908. For this blog, I will be exploring three of the tour's highlights; the courthouse, Geib Family Center, and the First Presbyterian Church. 

They started walking on East High Avenue facing the courthouse and made their way east. The courthouse in Tuscarawas county was built in 1882. The first courthouse was built in 1818, and remolded in 1837 after a fire. The area nearby the courthouse was called the Williams Block, however, the area changed when the new courthouse went into construction in 1882. The site of the courthouse today was once the Williams Block. 

                                                                                 This is the Geib Family Center the was once the Linn store. James Linn came to New Philadelphia from Steubenville in 1888. He went to work with the furniture business with half ownership with Mr. McElroy in 1891, and Mrs. McElroy once Mr. McElroy passed away. In 1903, James bought the business - and married the McElroy's daughter.

The First Presbyterian Church was built in 1841 and remodeled in 1873. It is located on a lot that was donated to Thomas Sargent. The church had services within the courthouse prior to being built. This current structure of the church was dedicated in 1923. 

I believe the 1908 Atlas Walking Tour supported by the Tuscarawas County Historical Society is great to understand what came before the New Philadelphia that we live in today. It is great to think that there is now a campus of Kent State University in New Philadelphia, OH. 

Woody Hayes 

I never really thought about the history of the area until faced with this assignment. When walking into the historical society, I wasn’t sure what I was going to research. The information ranges from historical events to historical people, and there are books about the general history of the townships and county. There are books written by citizens during the Great Depression as a source of income. I realized, I had a tough decision on my hands. I have always lived by the Tuscora Park so I have always been interested in the Woody Hayes Quaker Stadium. When hearing that the historical society had information on individuals, I knew I was going to focus my research on Woody Hayes.

Woody Hayes grew up in Newcomerstown, Ohio and that’s where his love for the game of football began. He played center for the Newcomerstown Trojans. He later went on to play as a tackle for Dennison University. It wasn’t until 1937 did he come to New Philadelphia to coach the Quakers.

In his first two seasons with the Quakers, he won eighteen, lost one and tied one. A pretty good record, in my opinion. While coaching football, he still made time to get a master’s degree from Ohio State in educational administration. In my life, I’m currently juggling being a full-time student with a full-time job and other social group responsibilities. I can’t imagine what Mr. Hayes was going through earning a master’s degree and coaching.

 Being a coach is more than just guiding the team on the field. Speaking from experience, the members of your team count on you for more than just game advice. They come to you when they need help in a subject and sometimes they come to you asking for advice when they are in a difficult situation. You are their role model. I remember my first high school coach, we are still close to this day and I would go to her for everything; sometimes it was just to talk about life. I knew she would always be there to listen. That’s what players count on.

I never thought I would be able to connect with Woody Hayes on the level I discovered. Nor did I realize the impact he made on Quaker football. Being a Quaker will always be something I am passionate about and now I have a better understanding of the Quaker football and athletics program I got to be part of throughout high school.

               

Fort Laurens 

The Fort Laurens Museum 

Fort Laurens is located in Bolivar, Ohio. Bolivar is a tiny village near the small village of Zoar. I found this place interesting because it's in the same town I live in. I thought it was incredibly cool such an awesome piece of history is right down the road. 

Introduction

There are signs all around showing and telling you information on Fort Laurens. 

The actual fort is no longer there but there is a museum dedicated to it. 

 Fort Laurens was built in 1778. This was part of a campaign that ended badly that was led by an American named Gen Lachlan McIntosh to get rid of the threat by the Indians and also to establish a western supply post for an attack on British Detroit. 

Excavation 

This became a memorial in 1917 and the museum was built in 1968. The museum was finished three years later 1971. It was originally found 200 feet from where they previously  believed it to be. They thought they originally built the museum on top of the old fort. It is now right behind the museum, instead of under it. 

I received my information partly from the Tuscarwras Historical Society, where i heard about Fort Laurens and I went to the museum and got most of my information directly from the museum and off the plaques.

The best way to learn about your communities history is go out and see it. 

Blog 4

Tucscarawas Industry

Did you know that Tuscarawas county used to contain the clay capital of the world? It's true, in fact Uhrichsville and Dennison Ohio were the biggest clay goods producers in the world. It remained so up until the 1960s.

At first Tuscarawas county was very industrial unlike the rapidly growing and industrial east. There was very little contact with people outside the region and as a result people usually didn't even have materials such as glass or iron locks for their doors. Eventually though, industry did make it to Tuscarawas county. When the canal from Cleveland was built in the mid-1800s and went through Tuscarawas county the people began producing goods and raw materials to export. Coal was becoming a big industry and so did the oil and gas industry in time. In addition to the canal, railways were built and connected the towns to other parts of the states and the country.

 The abundance of clay was already discovered but never fully taken advantage of; until this point. The first major clay plant was in opened in 1883. By the 1920s there were 14 manufacturing plants in the Uhrichsville-Dennison area giving a payroll of 4 million dollars (56 million today). The clay companies in Ohio were even contracted to produce much of the materials to construct the Panama Canal.

This wasn't the only industry there was also a cheese and milk industry. In fact, before the depression there was an average of 3,000,000 pounds of cheese produced in Tuscarawas county. In addition to that New Philadelphia and Dover were home to several steel mills and smelting plants.

So why is this important? I think that it is not only interesting to know about the history of the area and how it became what it is now but to also take away from that. Today Tuscarawas does have industry and some factories or assembly plants and things of that nature. However, this county is far from what it used to be. It used to be known world wide and was sending its goods worldwide. How cool is that? To live in this county and know that were you are used to do so much and be such a different place. Its sad to look at Uhrichsville today and see what it is, old and run down with no recognition. That’s how I always saw it until now. Learning this has showed me why it is what it is and how it came to be.

This also makes me think about the usual way things work in the world or this country today. The way that everything seems to come from somewhere else. It can be so difficult to find things that were made locally. It all has to do with the free market and how it drove people in a town that wasn’t a great place to be and was struggling to produce things and make money and sell what they made to people everywhere. It shows the great things about this country, how a place that was nothing became something by using what they did have and selling it to places far away that didn’t have it. It shows that globalization can lead to great things but can also become too much of a priority and leave places like Tuscarawas county far from what they once were by moving industries elsewhere.

This is all important because communities need local jobs for all types of people to thrive. Businesses and industries in small communities also help the community grow and profit and when a community has more money the people in it tend to get more and be better off too. Now I know that this county will probably never be what it was but that doesn’t mean that other counties like it cant be. There are always new businesses and factories and they should take advantage of having a local community of workers and people rather than immediately going overseas.     

Over all I think there is a lot to take away form the history here and to try and learn form it for the future.

           

First and Last hanging

        There are things that have been either forgotten or lost without acknowledgement that people don’t know or forget. Back on September 9, 1825 a young man by the name of William Cartmil was traveling the route between Coshocton where he met a man from Steubenville also named William but with the last name Johnson. As they traveled they came upon a small river where Johnson had come to rest and the “Post boy” Cartmil went on a head Johnson then heard gun shots a few minutes later and ran to see what had happened to find Cartmil on the ground face first with blood coming out of his mouth. He then started walking and saw another man with a gun over his shoulder walking towards him. When he had asked him his name he had lied giving a different one to him, but his real name was John Funston.

    

   Johnson then ran to the nearest tavern called Booth’s and pleaded with the owner of the establishment to tell him about the murder of Cartmill. The owner came along with two other patrons of the tavern they come upon the post boy’s body and when they turned him over they had found several guns shot wounds to the chest. After a while Johnson was taken to the New Philadelphia jail where he was accused of the murder. The Sheriff had question he and started to believe him that he wasn’t the man that committed the murder. The Sheriff set up a trial where all the men in the county would come and Johnston would pick out the man who had committed the murder. Funston knew he had to go so, suspicion wouldn’t be on him, but Johnston points he out by a scar on his arm.

        

  Soon a trial began for the murder of the post boy, but Funston would not confess even though they had found a ten dollar note in his pocket that was the same one that had some from the post boy’s saddlebag. He tired hanging himself in his cell and failed, after that he  confessed to the murder of Cartmill and was sentenced to be hung where the subway is on west high in New Philadelphia which his death was the first and last hanging in Tuscarawas county.

The Great Trail Festival

The Great Trail Festival

This year will be their 37th annual Great Trail Festival. The Great Trail Festival is a special celebration of American Folk Art, with Contemporary and Country Crafting. It’s a very unique experience which invites your discovery and pleasure. When visiting the Storybook Craft Village you will find handcrafted gifts and treasured keepsakes. There are a lot of different vendors with distinctive arts & crafts and they are the heart of the Great Trail Festival. The festival is held annually at the Great Trail Festival Grounds and features exhibitors from Ohio and surrounding states.

Some of the costumes you may see

At the Festival you will not only find handmade and homemade crafts, you will find kettle corn (my personal favorite) and more types of food from that era. Great Trail is the Hallmark of Distinctive Exhibitors and colorful living history. In one section of the festival there are actors who are dressed in things from that era and they have weapons from then also. They have a cannon that goes off every hour and I personally think that is really cool.

Little Spirit

As you enter the gates to the festival you will see a herd of bison to your right. Bison were reintroduced into Carroll County in 1983. There was a group of five bison that the Great Trail Festival owners bought and the bison you see as you drive in the gates are the descendants of those five bison. At one point there was a very rare white calf born into this herd of bison. His name was Little Spirit. Little Spirit was stillborn and was found at dusk while one of the workers was walking the fence line. Little Spirit was then sent to a taxidermist. You can find Little Spirit at the front gates of the Great Trail.

I have been going to the festival since I was a little girl and I still love going there with my family and friends. You never see the same thing twice when you go there. There are a few weekends out of the year that they are open and that is August 25th-26th and September 1st through the 3rd. They are open from 10am to 5pm. For adults it cost six dollars and four dollars for anyone between the ages of 10-18, and children ten and under are free. I highly recommend going, it’s an amazing experience.

Tuscarawas County Fairgrounds

Tuscarawas County Fairgrounds Entrance

Tuscarawas County Fair begins on the third week of every September on Tuscarawas county fairgrounds. The seven-days run that feature livestock competitions, fair food, entertainment and 4-H displays. The country fair referred to as “the best seven days in September”.  The tradition has been past on for 167 years and passed down from one generation to the next within the society. This traditional culture originated on the county fairgrounds

Tuscarawas county fairgrounds is locating at 259 Tuscarawas Ave, Dover, Ohio. It has a forty-acre plot and the annual agricultural exhibition of the county is always hold here. Tuscarawas county fairgrounds is need for the Tuscarawas Agricultural Society. In the past one hundred and fifty years, many events hold here, it attracts hundreds of thousands of people.

The Tuscarawas Agricultural Society was organized at Dover on Nov. 10, 1894. The society’s constitution and by-laws were adopted at the time and officers were elected. The constitution stipulated that annual exhibitions of the society be held alternately in Dover and New Philadelphia. The first fair was held Oct. 15 and 16, 1850, at Dover in an area known as Hayden’s Grove. The second fair was held Oct.16 and 17, 1851, at New Philadelphia. it was estimated 5,000 people attended over the fair’s two days.

After two fairs, the need of a fairground become urgent, and it was proposed to purchase permanent grounds between New Philadelphia and Dover. This idea was rejected. A new proposal was made the New Philadelphia and Dover each purchase ground on which to hold the fair alternately, erect buildings and keep them repair. This propose was rejected by New Philadelphia, and permanent grounds were located near Dover on the site of the present fairgrounds. Eight acres were purchased by the society from the heirs of Christian Deardorff. (Deardorff owned Dover’s land since 1807) The grounds increased in size from time to time until in 1884 it included over twenty-fours. Of these, ten acres were at first leased at $12 per acre annually, and the land afterward purchased from the village of Dover and its use donated to the society. A floral hall and other necessary buildings were constructed early in the history of the society and added to and improved at various time since.

Tuscarawas county fair have been held in this ground annually since, except for 1861, when the grounds were occupied as a recruiting camp for volunteers during the Civil War. The fairgrounds were known as Camp Meigs during that period. Two regiments raised in this area — the 51st Ohio Volunteer Infantry and the 80th Ohio Volunteer Infantry — were organized there. The camp was named for Ohio Gov. Return Jonathan Meigs Jr.

The county fairgrounds have experienced wind and rain for over one and half century. This place witnessed the livers of several generations. This place connects the people whom live in this land. The county fairgrounds help passing down the tradiations and culture while adapting to a new one. Keeping traditions alive is important for teaching the next generation about the past and share the past.

Source: "The History of Tuscarawas County"