Washington County

In 1798 all territory lying east of the western  boundary of the seventh range was erected into Newport township . From this great territory Grandview was established in 1802, Lawrence in 1815, Ludlow in 1819, Liberty in 1832, and Independence in 1840. This, the early history of Newport, is the early history of several townships already sketched, especially of Independence.

Newport was first settled before 1798 by William Tison, Neal Cortner, John Cotton, Josiah Luckey and David Stokely at the "Upper Settlement"—near the present village of Newport. These forerunners of civilization gave way before the so-called "real pioneers," among whom the Danas and Greenes share the honor of making the first permanent settlement, soon followed by the Holdens, Templetons, McKibbens, Nichols and others. In the northwestern portion of the township William Hill, Sr., began a settlement on the Little Muskingum which has since borne his name. A "Lower Settlement" was begun early, known as Lower Newport.

Newport was laid out by Captain Battelle, son of Col. Ebenezer Battelle, a graduate of Harvard College, early in the first decade of the century. The first school in the township was opened at this spot by Caleb Greene. A school in the Hills neighborhood was started about the same time by Annie Plumer and a third was soon in existence on the east bank of the Little Muskingum near Beech Grove Church. In 1816 a log school house was built in Lower Newport with George Greenwood as first teacher.

Itinerant Methodist clergymen were in Newport before 1800 and within 15 years a log church was built at Lower Newport on the bank of the Ohio. The first Methodist Church in Newport was organized in 1825 and in four years a church was completed. In May 1870 a new brick church was dedicated. A Presbyterian Church was organized June 9, 1838. For many years they were supplied by President Smith of Marietta College, who "was accustomed to remark that his visits to the little flock at Newport were the green spots in his life." In 1869 the society was dissolved. The Beech Grove Presbyterian Church was built in 1848. In 1861 when the Presbyterian Church at Marietta died, this church was named the Beech Hill First Presbyterian Church, which name it retains. The nucleus of the Newport Baptist Church was formed previous to 1822, when meetings were held in various houses in the "Upper Settlement." The interest grew through the years and the church was organized in January, 1838. The first structure, a brick, was erected and dedicated January 1, 1842. There had been paid on the church $951.24, leaving a debt of $336.44. William Dana paid this and took the note of the trustees for the amount. At the death of William Dana search for the note was made, but it could not be found. In this quiet way did Mr. Dana pay the debt, having destroyed the note as soon as received. In 1878 the church was thoroughly remodeled at a cost of $2,000 and dedicated March 21, 1880. About 1855 a United Brethren Church was organized and a building erected on land given by William Seevers. It is known as the Kinderhook Church. The Beech Grove Church was organized in a school house in Newell's Run in 1863. In 1870 a little church was built on the site of the abandoned Methodist Church near the mouth of Newell's Run.

Soon after the formation of the "Upper Settlement," Luther Barker was appointedn postmaster. In 1825, when Ebenezer Battelle was appointed postmaster, the office was removed to his residence in Newport. The postoffice at Lower Newport was established in 1841, Jacob Middleswart being the first proprietor. That at Newell's Run, on the Ohio, was established in 1865 with Thomas J. Conner as postmaster and Amos Cram first officiated as postmaster at Hills P. O., which was established in 1869.

On the pages of the records of Washington County is found a plat of the villages of Newport, comprising forty lots in section twenty-seven, in the original surveyed township, numbered one, in range numbered six of the old seven ranges; surveyed January 30 and 31, 1839, for Ebenezer Battelle, the proprietor, the streets to be ninety-one links and the alleys sixteen links in width." This is witnessed by the county surveyor, Benjamin F. Stone, and by the proprietors of the village, Ebenezer and Mary Battelle. The ground was surveyed anew May 27, 1839.

The following is the record of the vacation of the town plat by the original proprietor:

"In the Court of Common Pleas, September term, 1839, on application of Ebenezer Battelle, he having produced to the court satisfactory evidence that notice of his intention to vacate the town plat of Newport had been given according to law, and a statement in writing filed from the persons, to whom by verbal contract said Battelle had given an equitable claim on lots in said town, of their consent to said vacation. It is ordered bv the court that said proprietor be permitted to vacate said town plat of Newport."

Newport township as at first established covered territory not included in the Ohio Company's purchase. It was very natural that shrewd farmers among the pioneers were attracted by the beautiful and fertile plain in the southern part of this tract and the name Newport, as well as the family names of some of the settlers, reminds us of Rhode Island.

In the hilly part of old Newport, now included in Independence, Lawrence, Liberty, Ludlow and Grandview, the hunter and the squatter, usually the same person, had almost exclusive control for many years after prosperous settlements had been begun on the river bottoms. There are many traditions of this class of "pioneers," who often made it as uncomfortable for the man who had bought the land, as they had for the former claimants, the Indians. Some of these squatters became civilized but others preferred to move on to a newer and wilder country.

As early as 1820, Joseph Barker erected a mill in Newport township for the extraction of flaxseed and castor oil. It was worked for a while but the cultivation of flax and the castor-oil bean seems not to have proved a very profitable business. In recent years Newport town and township have been greatly enriched by the petroleum industry, a fuller account of which is to be found in another chapter.

 

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