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Seven years before the
organization of Warren township, emigrants began to enter into
the territory from Pennsylvania and Maryland, and large caravans
of Quakers arrived from the Southern States.
The country was almost an unbroken wilderness, and the
labors and hardships and dangers to which these early emigrants
were subjected are scarcely understood by their descendants
today.
THE FIRST
SETTLERS.
Among the first
settlers are mentioned the names of George Shannon,
father of Governor Shannon, John Dougherty, John Grier,
who emigrated from Maryland in 1800, and built their rude cabins
on section 9 and 12.
The year following, Robert Plummer, the first
Quaker to settle in the township, built his humble cabin of
poles on section 10, not far distant from the settlers above
mentioned. Mr. Plummer was a devoted Friend, and
set apart land at the very outset for the establishment of a
Friend's Meeting House and graveyard. Indeed until 1806
the pioneers of Warren township were largely Quakers from the
States above mentioned.
The winter of 1802-03 was remarkable for the intensity
of the cold, causing the pioneers the utmost distress. It
was during a violent snow storm in January that Governor
Shannon's father, who had gone off upon a hunting expedition
to supply the family with game, was buried in a snow drift and
perished before his body was recovered.
In 1804 Henry Grier located west of Barnesville,
near the line, and John Kennon, father of Judge
William Kennon, Sr., camped upon a tract adjoining
Alexander Campbell's, who had settled on the land just over
the line in Guernsey County.
THE FIRST MILLS.
THE FIRST CHILD.
The first child born in
Warren township was Wilson Shannon, afterward Governor of
Ohio, and worthy of him in after years, to boast of having spent
his childhood days in digging and drying ginseng wherewith to
aid in the support of his widowed mother.
WILD GAME.
THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS.
THE FIRST CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIP.
TOBACCO AND BERRY CULTURE.
THE POPULATION AND TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
TOWNSHIP OFFICERS.
The present
township trustees are Smiley Bernard, Otho Duval and
John Howard; township clerk, S. B. Piper; township
treasurer, F. L. Harrison township justices, - Joseph
W. Chappell, James A. White and W. F. Outland.
THE CITY OF BARNESVILLE.
THE SKETCH
OF THE FOUNDER.
James Barnes,
the founder of Barnesville, was a notable man. Like the
majority of the early settlers, Mr. Barnes was a member
of the Society of Friends, who emigrated from the South in 1803,
locating at St. Clairsville.
In 1812 he removed to Barnesville, where he had
prevously entered large tracts of land, then entirely in forest.
In 1806 he associated himself with Rev. James Rounds in
the tanning business, and in 1808 he laid out the town,
reserving one block on Chestnut street, fronting on Main and
Church streets, for his family.
Mr. Barnes was active and enterprising in
advancing the business interests of the community, and was
personally engaged in clearing lands, planting orchards,
cultivating farms, buying and clarifying ginseng, shipping as
high as 3,000 pounds of the root in a single year.
In 1814 he organized companies for building flour
mills, woolen mills, and sawmills, and in 1823-26 he engaged in
the tobacco trade very extensively and built an immeense
packing house on the site of the old Presbyterian Church.
While Mr. Barnes was engaged in multifarious
pursuits, he was never nervous or confused, but always calm and
deliberate.
In personal appearance he was tall and portly, and
always attired in the simple garb of the Quaker.
He was generous to a fault, and ever helpful to the
poor. While in the pursuit of the tobacco business, he
sustained heavy losses, from 182838, from which he never
recovered.
In an effort to regain his lost fortunes, his overtaxed
body and brain collapsed, and he dropped dead in the mountains
of Pennsylvania, while returning to his home.
MUNICIPAL OFFICERS.
THE POST OFFICE.
THE MANUFACTURERS.
[PHOTO OF BARNESVILLE CITY HALL]
THE BANKS.
DR. CAROLUS JUDKINS.
DR. JOHN DAVENPORT.
THE CHURCHES.
THE SCHOOLS.
SECRET SOCIETIES.
[PHOTO OF BARNESVILLE PUBLIC SCHOOL]
ROBERT HILLES POST, G. A. R.
THE PRESS.
THE CEMETERIES.
There are two
cemetery associations in Barnesville. The first that we
shall mention is the Green Mountain Cemetery Association which
was formed May 5, 1858, with Colson Davenport, Adam Bentz,
Stephen Wilson, John H. Morrow and H. T. Barnes as
its trustees. This cemetery has always been known as "Knob
Field" because of its high elevation. It occupies eight
acres of land and contains 168 lots.
The South Cemetery was organized Mar. 4, 1858, and was
originally known as the Barnesville Cemetery Association.
The grounds were purchased May 8, 1858, and contained 10 acres
and were dedicated to cemetery purposes the same year by Rev.
James Henderson. The first officers were as follows:
Trustees, William A. Talbot, R. Happer, David McCartney,
William Barnes, John Bradfield; treasurer, B. Davenport;
secretary, J. W. Warfield; superintendent, J. S.
Evans. The number of lots sold is 220. The
present officers are: Dr. J. A. Judkins, president;
John S. Howard, secretary; John W. Bradfield,
treasurer; Robert Evans and H. R. Brown.
THE BELMONT COUNTY CHILDREN'S HOME.
THE BOARD OF CHARITIES.
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