Washington County

Warren township was incorporated by the Board of County Commissioners in 1810, but the original lines have frequently been altered. The first permanent settlers in Warren were the Baileys, Newtons and Coles who came about 1805. Within a year or so came the Humphreys, Finches and Cutlers. The first roads were the Marietta-Belpre road (1793), the Marietta-Lancaster road (1797) and the Marietta-Athens road (1800).

One of the most singular documents in existence in the county is a contract for teaching an early school in Warren township which is preserved in the memoranda of Judge Ephraim Cutler. It reads as follows:

Memoranda of an agreement entered into this third day of February, 1807. by and between Isaac Humphreys, John Henry and Ephraim Cutler and John D. W. Kip, on the other part witnesseth: That for the consideration of the sum of twenty-five dollars for every three months, to be paid him at the expiration of said term by Humphreys, Henry and Cutler, he, the said Kip, doth engage to keep a school at such place as they shall direct and to teach reading, writing and arithmetic and to govern himself and school by the following rules and regulations, to-wit: He shall keep school from nine o'clock in the morning till twelve at noon, and from one in the afternoon until four, provided that during the months of June, July, August and September school may commence at half past one and close at half past four. He shall be excused from keeping school on Saturdays in the afternoon, on the Fourth of July, when he shall be called to attend trainings, and on election days.

The whole school shall be arranged into two or more classes at the direction of the master, the senior class to be admitted to the exercise of writing and arithmetic; the lower classes shall be employed in reading and spelling, and that no time may be lost they shall have portions assigned them for study, from which at proper hours the master shall ask them to spell, and in order to promote emulation, the priority in standing shall be determined by their accuracy in spelling.

Particular attention shall be paid in the upper class in teaching them punctation; and that in reading they be taught to observe the stops and points, notes of affection and interrogation, also accenting and emphasizing.

The master shall consider himself as in the place of parent to the children under his care, and endeavor to convince them by mild treatment that he feels a parental affection for them. He shall be sparing as to promises or threatenings, but punctual in the performance of one and execution of the other, and that he inculcate upon the scholars the propriety of good behavior during their absence from school.

He will endeavor on all suitable occasions to impress upon the minds of his scholars a sense of the being and providence of God, and the obligations they are under to love and serve Him; of their duty to their parents; the beauty and excellency of truth, the duty which they owe to their country, and the necessity of a strict observance of its laws.

He shall caution, and, as far as he can, restrain them from the prevailing vices, such as lying, profaneness, gaming and idleness.

From these general rules he may form particular rules, and if they are broken he must be particular to punish the offender, but mildness in punishment is recommended.

Despite the exhaustiveness of the contract, Mr. Kip taught the school only one week. A successful school was taught in Judge Cutler's stone house in 1809-10 by Gen. John Brown, afterward treasurer of Ohio University at Athens. In 1810 the first school house was built. As early as 1814 a summer school especially for girls was taught by Miss Sallie Rice.

The Presbyterian Church of Warren was formed in 1828 and joined Athens Presbytery the same year. In 1837 the church on the river road was built, largely by the funds furnished by Oren Newton, Ephraim Cutler, William P. Cutler and Seth Bailey.

The late Bishop' Morris, of sainted memory, was probably the pioneer missionary in Warren township. At an early date the two Methodist churches known as the "Zoar" and the "Bethel" churches were erected. The Mount Moriah United Brethren Church was organized and a log meeting house built about 1850.

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