From the Day
Scenes from the Celebration
Newcomerstown joins the nation in celebrating 250 years of American independence — with flags, music, neighbors, and gratitude.
On May 30, the Newcomerstown Historical Society kicked off its celebration of America's 250th birthday with a free ice cream social and musical historical program at the Olde Main Street Museum — part of Ohio's Homecoming & Picnic, the statewide semiquincentennial celebration. The event was funded by a grant from the Tuscarawas County Visitors Bureau, one of the local grants that have made possible so many of the improvements around the museum these past two years.
The afternoon began as every great American gathering should: American Legion Post 431 posted the colors, the crowd rose for the Pledge of Allegiance, and neighbors settled in with their ice cream at long tables dressed in stars and stripes. Volunteers welcomed guests, an America 250 quilt raffle raised funds for the Society, and we were honored to host visiting officials who came to celebrate alongside us.
The program traced America's 250-year defense of liberty from the Revolution to today — pairing each chapter of history with the music it gave us, performed by Newcomerstown's own.
The Revolution (1776). Thirteen colonies declared themselves free, then fought nine bloody years to make it true. The new nation's flag — thirteen stripes and a circle of thirteen stars, credited to Betsy Ross at George Washington's request and adopted by Congress in 1777 — opened the program with "You're a Grand Old Flag." And the Revolution is part of our own story: after Yorktown the war moved to the frontier, and Newcomerstown and the Tuscarawas Valley — the Delaware capital, the Moravian settlements, Fort Laurens — became its battleground. Two Revolutionary War veterans rest in our cemeteries today.
The War of 1812. Francis Scott Key watched the bombardment of Fort McHenry through the night of September 14, 1814, and marveled at dawn that the flag still flew. Mary Ridgeway sang his "Star-Spangled Banner." Mike Hoskins followed with "My Country 'Tis of Thee," written in 1831 by Samuel Francis Smith.
The Civil War. Men of Newcomerstown and Tuscarawas County filled the 80th and 51st Ohio Volunteer Infantry and fought at Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge, and on Sherman's March to the Sea. Among them: Captain Salathiel Meek Neighbour, mortally wounded at Kennesaw Mountain in 1864, and Sgt. Freeman Davis of Company B, 80th OVI — awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroism at Missionary Ridge, whose marker stands beside the Temperance Tavern Museum. Beth Scott sang the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and Kathy Ellis rang "Faith of Our Fathers" and "America the Beautiful" on handbells.
The World Wars. Charlene Kehl led "God Bless America" — Irving Berlin, 1918 — for the generation of the Great War, and the trio of Marlene Ross, Cheryl Bordner, and Peggy Snyder swung the crowd through WWII with "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B," remembering the 16 million who served and the home front that sacrificed beside them.
Korea, Vietnam, and beyond. The "Ballad of the Green Berets" honored the millions who served against the spread of communism and in every conflict since. The afternoon closed with the whole crowd on its feet, joining John Scott in "God Bless the USA."
Revolutionary War — 2 · War of 1812 — 1 · Civil War — 158 · Spanish-American War — 26 · World War I — 156 · World War II — 450 · Korea — 102 · Vietnam — 77 · Since then — 58
For 250 years, Newcomerstown has fulfilled its role in the defense of freedom.