Newcomerstown

Newcomerstown is a village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, United States, 85mi east-northeast of Columbus. In the late 1770s, this was the largest Delaware Indian village on the Tuscarawas River, with 700 residents. Chief Newcomer (Netawatwes) was the leader of the western Delawares here, and they called the village Gekelmukpechunk. Early French traders and English settlers named the village Newcomerstown after the chief. Soon after the start of the American Revolutionary War, the Delawares moved west to Coshocton, about halfway through what is now the next county.According to some accounts, Newcomerstown was named after an incident that occurred between a Delaware chief and his wife Mary Harris. Chief Eagle Feather grew tired of his wife. He abducted a younger squaw/white woman captive as a second wife and tried to have Harris accept her in her wigwam. Harris allegedly killed Chief Eagle Feather and told the warriors of the village that the young squaw ran away. The warriors hunted the young woman down and killed her. The settlement was thenceforth known as "Newcomerstown", after the squaw.In fact although a white woman captive had been killed December 26, 1750Mary Harris {an assimilated captive of the 1704 Deerfield, Massacre} had nothing to do with it and was in fact still married-not a widow!