The Coshocton Tribune: Wednesday, September 27, 1939 - The growth of Newcomerstown, from a single settler in 1814 to a near-city of 5,000 people in 1939, is marked by nine distinct eras, much like the chapter of a book.

The eras might be named the settling era, the canal era, the intra-productive era, the railroad era, the factory era, the automobile era, the pre-war era, the post-war era and the second pre-war era.

The transition period from one era to another was slow and ??? noticed within the span of a few years. Today, as one looks back, these changes stand out, much like markers on a long trail.

Tell of Tradition

The activities of Indian tribes in the Tuscarawas valley before the founding of Newcomerstown in 1814 appear as the prelude to the main history. It is said that George Washington was among those sent here as early as 1750 to survey the valley and its surroundings. The company of explorers and surveyors was led by Christopher Gist. Most of the men in the group were Virginians and followers of the Long Trail.

Because Gist sat by his campfire in the evenings to write notes of his travels in a journal, we have today a story of the Indian "triangle" famed throughout the country for historical worth.

The Indian chief, Eagle Feather, captured a "beautiful squaw" while on a raiding party. Ordinarily such goings-on were not considered unfair in Indian circles at that time but due to the fact that the chief already had a white wife, Mary Harris, who had been abducted from her Deerfield, Massachusetts home as a child, the annexation of a second wife was fatal.

How Town Got Name

Mary, as is traditional among wives, became extremely jealous of the second wife, named "Newcomer" and the ???? of the whole affair was that one morning the Indian tribe was awakened to the shouts of Mary that Chief Eagle Feather had been murdered. "Newcomer" had fled.

Immediate chase was ordered and she was recaptured at a nearby Indian town. Thus, the town became Newcomerstown.

The beginning of the "Settling Era" occurred after the first settler arrived. He was, it is recorded, John Mulvane. Others said to have arrived soon after are said to have been Daniel Harris, Mr. Sells, David Johnson and Joseph and William Mulvane. In 1817 Nicholas Neighbor arrived from Morristown, NJ. Soon after came the Vogeniz????, Craters and a number of others.

Survival was the prime goal of these new settlers. Great tracts of land were divided among a few settlers and log cabins were erected against the coming of winter. Land was cleared and with the approach of the spring the all-important first crop was planted in the fertile soil, fed by the Tuscarawas river. Homes were built on the wooded hill sides for protection, the valley serving for farm land.

Canal Comes In

From the east came the ever-lengthening finger of the canal in 1827 and with it came the dawn of the Canal Era. With the arrival of the canal, settlers started to lay-out the village. Main Street was named Basin Street. The entire town sprawled along the canal with large farm fields sweeping away to the hills above the valley. With the canal came the entrance of Newcomerstown into the chain of commerce spanning Ohio.

The town prospered. In 1840 there were 240 people here. Homes for the most part were log cabins with some few frame dwellings. Newcomerstown had arrived to remain.

The need of men to supply needs of the village necessitated the origination of several mills, marking the arrival of the Intra-Productive Era. The Pillings woolen mill, a saw mill operated by Edmund Smith and a flour mill had been built and the town became able to produce needed articles and food stuffs.

Railroad Era

The distant tick-tock of sledges on iron spikes in May, 1851, presaged the coming of the railroad. Though the sound was welcomed by many, few realized it was sounding the death knell for the canal. The first railroad was known as the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad. The first train arrived in April, 1855, jolting the town into a new - The Railroad Era. The fact that the company soon after failed and went into bankruptcy matters little now for in 1867 the Pennsylvania Railroad took it over. The C. and M. Railroad was built in 1873, making Newcomerstown a rail crossroads.

In the meantime, Newcomerstown played its part in the Civil war. Volunteers from the small village served in behalf of the Union. Among them was Theodore Crater, who at the age of 93 lives in comparatively good health, one of two Civil war veterans alive in Tuscarawas county.

Fire Brings Factory

A fire in New Philadelphia in 1895 laid the foundation for the beginning of the Factory Era in Newcomerstown. At that time the foundry of the James B. Clow and Sons Company burned to the ground at the county seat. Through the spirited co-operation of leading business and professional men here, the company was induced to rebuild its plant at the junction of the railroads in Newcomerstown.

The significance of the arrival of the Clow plant is best shown in the fact that the town leaped within a few years from a population of about 800 people to 2500. Later during the era, the ceramic industry gained a foothold here as did several other smaller concerns, including the Rex File Works.

Accompanying the Factory Era was the introduction of the automobile. With the turn of the century, the railroads prospered and some few residents bravely ventured into automobiles for trial spins along the country side to the confusion of horses and sweating drivers hauling on stretched reins.

Canal Fades

The canal, however, faded as if by age in importance, was in its death throes and in 1912 passed into history. Some few remained to mourn its passing but the majority, facing the mechanized future with excited faces, failed to realize the close of the town's most important chapter of history.

The rumblings of the first World War sifted into Newcomerstown in 1914. They did not know then that they had entered the final act of the Pre-War Era. Times were good and would be better.

With the entrance of the United States into the war, Newcomerstown started its most drastic change. Whole-hearted support, in sacrifices of men abroad and of those at home were made. No town celebrated the Armistice more enthusiastically than did Newcomerstown in 1918. In the memory of many, the celebration lingers as one of abandon and thanksgiving unparalleled in the town's history.

New Era Is Here

Living in Newcomerstown speeded its tempo after the war as did the rest of the nation. Merchants, seeing the danger of improved roads and transportation, dressed up their stores to compete with other towns instead of other merchants. The advent of prohibition initiated a change. Bootleggers set up camps near and in town and drew the trade of residents who made the trip by automobile. Basements of some homes became "laboratories" for amateur brewers who argued long over the merits of formulas used in making "home brew." Larger schools were built, streets were paved, sewers laid and theaters became a necessity as did radios bringing ring-side descriptions of heavyweight prize fights. Dempsey downed Tunney for 14 seconds and Newcomerstown cheered beside its receiving sets. The Post-War Era was here.

The advent of the beginning of the Second Pre-War Era is said to have started in 1933. Today Newcomerstown has nearly 5,000 people. The Clow factory has slowed production but the gap appears to have been filled by the growing Heller Brothers Company plant, where approximately 800 are working.

The new era, it is said, is here.