NEWTON

NEWTON, BULLARD, ANDERSON

Posted By: C. Willson (email)
Date: 7/13/2003 at 20:01:39

BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF LEE COUNTY, IOWA
CONTAINING BIOGRAPHICAL and GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES of MANY OF THE PROMINENT CITIZENS OF TO-DAY AND ALSO OF THE PAST ILLUSTRATED CHICAGO HOBART PUBLISHING COMPANY 1905
Page 356-358
JOSEPH E. NEWTON
A prominent and prosperous citizen, a native son of Lee county, and at the same time one who has witnessed the growth of the State of Iowa from a wild and sparsely inhabited region to its present magnificent proportions, is Joseph E. Newton, of Pleasant Ridge township. Mr. Newton was born August 13, 1842, on the farm on which he now resides, and is the son of Orson Newton, of Vermont, and Harriet (Bullard) Newton, of Massachusetts, who celebrated their marriage in this township. Orson Newton came to Lee county in 1836, and staked off a claim of 160 acres of wild land, which he later entered as a “homestead,” and continued to occupy for the remainder of his life, clearing the land, adding improvements, and working his way upward in the world until he, together with his son, our subject, at one time owned 750 acres of fine agricultural lands, most of this being located in Adams county, Iowa. When he emigrated from his native state, in 1836, and settled in Pleasant Ridge township, his entire possessions consisted of fifty cents in cash and an ax, but with dauntless energy and iron will he set out with this small capital to win for himself a recognized place among his fellowmen, and in this he fully succeeded, achieving a position of prominence and influence and being many times honored by calls to serve the public in responsible capacities, among these being the office of trustee of his township. In politics he was a Whig and later a Republican, and was prominent in both parties, while in his religious connection, to which he was ever faithful, he held membership, in the Congregational church of Denmark, and he took a special interest in the public schools of his community, which were largely under his care and direction during the greater part of his life. The comforts of life he provided for his family without stint, as far as lay within his power, and the residence building now occupied by his son was erected by him in 1850, although since enlarged and remodeled along modern lines. He died in July, 1894, at an age of more than eighty-two years, and his wife was laid by his side in the Denmark cemetery three years later at the age of seventy-seven.
Mr. Newton paid $1.25 per acre for 160 acres in 1836, borrowing money for which he had to pay 25 per cent. One-half of it was timber land.
Joseph E. Newton, who is at the present time the only surviving member of his father’s family of three sons and two daughters, received in his early youth a good common school education, which he has since enlarged by extensive reading, and at the same time he was thoroughly trained in the principles and practice of agriculture, acquiring knowledge and proficiency by personal experience, so that while yet a young man he became, like his father, a successful farmer, and to this occupation he has devoted his entire life, pursuing it as a trade and as a business. He now owns 290 acres of most productive farming land, which is operated under his direction, and this yields him a large annual return, and among the improvements installed by him is a substantial barn, just erected, which is forty by fifty feet in dimensions, while all the buildings are tastefully painted and in an excellent state of repair. He has all his life been a resident of the farm which he now occupies, and taking a natural pride in maintaining it in the most perfect condition, has given quite a little attention to its external appearance, his house, especially, being surrounded by beautiful and attractive grounds.

When Mr. Newton was ten years of age, his father one day brought in a large hollow log to place in the fire-place, and in the log was a large blacksnake which the father killed with an old-fashioned shovel ten feet long.

In 1869 Mr. Newton was united in marriage to Miss Mary Anderson, who was born in the city of New York, a daughter of John and Sarah Anderson, natives of Scotland. Mrs. Newton came to Burlington, Iowa, in 1863, but her parents remained in New York, and never removed to the West. She is a pleasant lady of fine Christian character, and is a faithful member of the Baptist church at Burlington, Iowa. Unto Mr. And Mrs. Newton have been born one daughter, Hattie, and one son, Joseph Orson, who both remain members of the parental household.

While Mr. Newton has always been a practical farmer, he has also made a study of the subject on its theoretical side, and has been three times elected general superintendent of the West Point Agricultural Society, and has been a director of the society since its formation, an office which he still holds. On the other hand he has not taken a narrow or contracted view of life, and while giving due weight to his own special calling, he has always manifested a willingness to perform the duties which devolve upon him as a citizen, and is widely known as one of the leading Republicans of Lee county, having been an active and helpful worker in that party for many years, as in his opinion the best way of promoting the cause of good government. He has never actively sought public office, but has represented his community a number of times in county conventions, and for a period of four years had the supreme direction of the Republican party’s organization in this section as chairman of its township committee, a capacity in which he performed much valuable service and displayed executive ability of a high order of efficiency. Indeed, it may be said of him that in every relation of life in which he has been called upon to play an important part, he has proved himself equal to the occasion, and that while as a public character the pages of his records are fair, stainless and inspiring, the history of his private relations with men is one of unfailing honor, uprightness and strictest rectitude – an ideal mode of life which has made him rich in the friendship of many and the respect of all.