Washington County

The act establishing Independence town ship is dated June 3, 1840, and reads as follows :

"On the petition of sundry inhabitants of the township of Newport, praying to be set off into a new township separately and apart from said Newport, on consideration of said petition, the commissioners do hereby agree to constitute a new township in the county of Washington, to be known and designated as the township of Independence, and to be constituted of the following territory, to-wit: Sections No. 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, and fractional sections No. 1, 7 and 13."

The sketch of the history of this district will be outlined where it belongs under Newport township. The leading events since the establishment of Independence are noted here.

About 1836 the "old settlement" of the township which was soon to be made had given way largely to a German element. The leaders of this new element were the Huffmans, Kinsels and Berletts. It was in 1843, as history goes, that a four-wheeled wagon was first seen in this township. The earliest physicians were Drs. Little, Wilson and Taylor. In 1835 a log-hewn meeting house was erected which saved a Sabbath day's journey to Newport. Three denominations, Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists. In 1858 the Methodists built a church on Rea's Run and in 1807 the Baptists found another place of worship in a newly-built school house. The district known as the Little Muskingum settlement was settled early in the century, the first families being the Flemings, Dickersons, Devols and Meads. Archer's Fork was settled early by a Mr. Archer; the Cadys, Burrises, Treadways and Parrs were early settlers. The wave of German immigration reached Archers Ford about 1835, the Gutberlets, Hoppels and Yosts being the forerunners of these worthy colonists.

The Methodists first erected a log meeting house, on the land of David Cline, in 1847; the United Brethren and Christian Union church organizations used the building. About 1848 the German Lutheran Church was erected on land given by Messrs. Yost and Holstein. Mount Hope Church was built by the Disciple Church in 1873 on the ridge at the head of Coal Run on land presented by Alfred Eddy. The Christian Union society built a church on the site of the log meeting house in 1874. The Little Valley Church was erected by this society in 1873 on land given by George Tice. In the Scotch settlement, a Baptist Church was organized in 1864 and a building erected in 1871 which has been known as Davis Run and as Deutcher's Chapel.

The township has five post offices : Wade, Archer's Fork, Deucher, Leith and Lawrence. Many years ago T. N. Barnsdall developed a good oil field on Archer's Fork and since that time producing wells have been opened in other parts of the township.

 Source: History of Marietta and Washington County, by Martin R. Andrews, MA, 1902, Transcribed by C. Anthony