CHAPTER XXI.
History of the Towns and Townships
of Belmont County

WARREN
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     At the commencement of the present century Warren township was a wilderness.  The woods, in rich and native grandeur, stood monarchs of its hills and valleys.  The prostrate bodies of great trees, which age or storm had felled, lay scattered over its surface, while about and around their mouldering forms vines crept and wound, giving them prouder sepulchre than pomp and show ever bestowed on prince or noble.  Wild beasts roamed undisturbed through its jungles, or lodged in safely amid the security of its fastnesses.  The axe of the pioneer had never gleamed in its sunlight, nor had the voice of song or utterance of love ever broken the depths of its silence.  How great the change in seventy nine years!

FIRST SETTLERS

     The first settlers within the limits of Warren township were:  John Grier, George Shannon, and John Dougherty, with their families.  They all removed from Fayette county, Pennsylva-

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nia, and arrived almost at one time in the township in the fall of 1800.  John Grier settled on the north end of section 9, and erected his cabin, the first one ever built in the township, about one hundred yards northeast of where Robert Smith, Sr., now resides.  George Shannon settled on section 12, and built his cabin on the farm now owned by Mrs. Thomas Moore, a fourth of a mile north of Mt. Olivet.  John Daughterty settled on section 18, near the residence of Mr. Vansyoc.
     In the fall of 1801 Robert Plummer arrived and settled on a part of section 10, about half a mile north of John Grier’s cabin.  Plummer was the first “Quaker” that settled in the township.  His first cabin was built of poles, chinked with moss, and covered with bark.  In it he passed the first winter in the township.  His descendants still run the old farm.  During the year 1802 Plummer set apart an acre of ground on the south edge of section 10 as a burial ground, with the intention of donating it to the “Friends” as a site also for their meeting-house.  They once contemplated building their church on this ground, but ultimately built it where the Friends’ Stillwater Church now stands.  On this acre was the first burial ground in the township, and was called “The Township Graveyard ” or “Cemetery”— a name which it still bears.
     Emigrants now began to crowd into the township, settling along its eastern and northern portions, and so numerous were their numbers that I cannot notice them in detail.  Among them was Otho French.  He came with his family from the state of Maryland, and settled on the south side of section 10 in the fall
of 1802.
     In the winter of 1802-8,' in the month of January, George Shannon perished in one of the severest snow storms that ever visited the township of Warren.  He went out early in the morning on a hunting excursion.  “The morning,” said Otho French, the informant, “was clear and calm, with the sun shining brightly. About noon the sky was overspread by clouds, and rain began to fall.  The air chilled and it began to snow.  And such a snow I never saw before nor since.  It fell so fast that I could not tell a cow from a horse twenty steps from me.  The very clouds seemed to be falling down in snowflakes.  When nearly sundown it became bitterly cold, but remained calm.  By daylight the next morning the snow was nearly waist deep.  I was out of all heart, and told Betsey that if we lived till spring we’d go back to old Maryland.  (But when spring came on, and the ground settled so that I could venture on my journey, the country had got to be so pretty and enticing that I concluded to stay.)
     Shannon did not get home last night, so search was made for him the next day, and his body found about six hundred yards due east of Chaneytown, now Mt. Olivet, and only about a half mile from his cabin.  From the appearance of his tracts he had become bewildered and lost.
     Shannon did not get home that night, so search was made for him the next day, and his body found about six hundred yards due east of Chaneytown, now Mt. Olivet, and only about a half mile from his cabin.  From the appearance of his tracts, he had become bewildered and lost.  He had walked around and around as men always do when lost.  He had gathered some dry sticks and had got out his tow and knife to strike a fire, but the flint had been lost from his gun.  Flint, tow and knife were his only means to strike a Arc.  So in despair he seated himself at the roots of a tree in the centre of his beaten circle, and was found sitting up, frozen stiff.  His remains were buried in the “Township Graveyard,” and were the first ever consigned to the grave in Warren township.  He was only a lease bolder, but although his children were left orphans and poor, they became conspicuous among their countrymen—filling the offices of governor, congressmen, minister to foreign courts, and members of the state legislatures.”
     Until the year 1806, the pioneers of Warren township were nearly all Quakers from the states of North Carolina, Maryland and Pennsylvania.  In the year 1803, a cabin was erected by James Vernon, a few rods from the Township Graveyard, and in it convened during that year a “Friends’ meeting.”  It was the first gathering for religious worship in the township.  Ruth Boswell preached a sermon, and other business was transacted.

FIRST MEETING HOUSE

FIRST SETTLERS WEST OF BARNESVILLE.

A GOOD TRICK.

FIRST MILLS.

[Picture of RESIDENCE of GEORGE P. CLARK, P. O. MT. PLEASANT, JEFFERSON CO., O.]

[Picture of RESIDENCE of I. M. RILEY, ESQ., ST. CLAIRSVILLE, O.]

[Picture of RESIDENCE of J. H. COLLINS, ESQ., BARNESVILLE, BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO]

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FIRST CHILDREN

FIRST SCHOOL HOUSE.

WARREN TOWNSHIP ORGANIZED.

FIRST JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

AN OLD RESIDENCE.

DRAFT OF 1814.

THE WAR FEELING IN 1832.

WILD TURKEYS AND OTHER GAME.

THE FIRST CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO

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BETHEL CHURCH.

ZANE'S RIDGE.

SHANNON'S RUN.

AN ESCAPE.

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A PREDICTION.

OTHO FRENCH.

HUNTING TURKEYS.

WOLF HUNTING.

BEE HUNTING.

A STRANGE STORY.

BEARS.

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A NARROW ESCAPE.

A CURIOUS AFFAIR.

AN AFFECTING SCENE.

HIS TEMPERANCE RECORD.

SEVERELY FOR THE RIGHT.

OIL MILL.

NATURAL CURIOSITIES.

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TEA-TABLE ROCK.

HUMAN AND OTHER FOOT-PRINTS.

MOUNDS AND FORTS.

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FRIENDS STILLWATER MEETING HOUSE.
BY JONATHAN SCHOFIELD.

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HISTORY OF THEIR RELIGIOUS MEETING.

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THE OUTGROWTH.

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THEY WERE TEMPERATE.

THOMAS SHILLITOE.

THOMAS SHILLITOE'S DIARY OF QUARTERLY MEETING AT STILLWATER.

FRIENDS BOARDING SCHOOL HOUSE AT STILLWATER.

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BETHEL, M. E. CHURCH.

GIBSON'S CHAPEL (M. E.)

MOUNT OLIVET M. E. CHURCH.

REFORMED DISSENTING PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

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FRIENDS' RIDGE MEETING HOUSE.

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THE BERRY CULTURE.

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THE GRAPE CULTURE.

THE BLACKBERRY.

ENTERPRISE NURSERIES - WILLIAM STANTON, PROPRIETOR.

PARKER & SONS' CEMENT WORKS.

MILITARY.

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PIONEER LIFE.

MR. JOHN REED.

RENCONTRE WITH A BEAR.

AMUSING INCIDENT.

LAST DEER.

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"THE LEATHERWOOD GOD" OR THE RELIGIOUS IMPOSTER OF 1828.

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF WARREN TOWNSHIP.

pp. 352-361

[Picture of "RIVERVIEW" RESIDENCE of THOS. B. COULTER, NORTH 4TH, ST. STEUBENVILLE, OHIO]

[Picture of RESIDENCE & STORE of A. RICHARDSON, DEALER in CHOICE GROCERIES, FINE TEAS, COFFEES, SPICES, FLOUR, FRUITS & c. & c. NO. 221, 32nd ST. BELLAIRE.]

[Picture of PIONEERS CABIN ]

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