George Washington Newton (1839 - 1926)

Born 25 Jun 1839 in Perry, Tennessee, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Mary Ann Wilkes — married about 28 Aug 1867 in Hot Springs, AR

Descendants

Died 9 Oct 1926 at age 87 in 4 Miles West of Pilot Point, Denton, Texas, USA

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Biography

From "Fort Worth and the Texas Northwest":

"A farmer of Fairview Community no. 4, George Washington Newton has been a resident of Denton County more than half a century, and came here a few years after his four years' service as a private soldier of the Confederacy. His long residence, his high standing as a citizen, and the diligence with which he has gone about his business as a farmer entitle him to full representation in this publication.

Mr. Newton was born in Perry County, Tennessee, June 25, 1839. His grandfather, John Newton, was a native of North Carolina, and spent his active life as a farmer and stockman.[...]

Charles Newton, father of George W. was a native of North Carolina, but grew up and married in Tennessee, and he also spent his active life as a farmer.[...]

George Washington Newton was five years of age when in 1884 his parents moved to Stoddard County, Missouri. After ten years there they came south to Hot Springs County, Arkansas, and in 1890 the family made their final migration to Denton County, Texas, where his parents lived in the Fairview locality and died on a farm adjoining the one now owned by George W. Newton.

Education and Confederate Army Service

The education of George W. Newton was acquired chiefly in the country schools of Arkansas. The first day he went to school he sat on a puncheon bench in an old log cabin, and that practically measured the facilities and equipment of all the schoolrooms in which he acquired his literary education. Before the war he had left home and begun farming for himself. Accepting fully the traditions and southern sympathies of his people, he entered the war in 1861 in Company B. under Captain Monroe, of the First Arkansas Infantry, and Col. James Fagan. He spent a week or ten days at Little Rock, was then ordered to Richmond Virginia, where the regiment became a part of General Holmes' Brigade and General Walker's Division.

It was in the movements around Manassas, though Mr. Newton was not in that battle himself. His first big fight was at Shiloh, after which his regiment went west of the Mississippi and took part in the battles of Saline River and Poisin Springs, where the Confederates fought General Steele, and when the war ended Mr. Newton was doing picket duty sixty miles west of Little Rock. He was paroled at the capital of Arkansas. He came out of the war with three wounds. At S[h]iloh a piece of shell struck him in the head and a minie bell struck him in the ankle. At Saline River or Jenkins Ferry a piece of shell struck him in the back. His ankle and back wounds have troubled him in all subsequent years. He was in the army as a private throughout the war and when peace was restored he returned to his farm in Arkansas and remained there about four years, but accumulated little property in the meantime.

Marriage and Migration

In Arkansas, August 28, 1867, Mr. Newton married Mary Ann Wilkes, who was born in Miss[iss]ippi in October, 1845, daughter of Jesse Wilkes. Together Mr. and Mrs. Newton have passed fifty-four milestones on life's journey. They had been married about two years when they started for Texas, and were two weeks in making the journey by wagon. Mr. Newton's equipment when he began life in Denton County was chiefly one pony. It is claimed that he grew the first bale of cotton in the county. While providing a living for his family, he struggled manfully to accumulate some property and laid the foundation of his prosperity as a tenant farmer. About 1888 he bought the tract of land where he now lives. This place is on the Peter Friend survey and was first settled by Mr. McInturf. The house into which the family moved in 1888 is still standing. Mr. Newton has always raised stock and he has seventy acres of his farm producing annual crops.

Children and Legacy

While the long years of his life have been chiefly expressed in hard work, he has maintained a friendly and public spirited interest in every enterprise calculated to increase the educational and other advantages of the locality. He has served as a member of the board of Fairview School District No. 4. He is a democrat, was a partisan of George Clark for governor in 1892, and in the 1920 primaries supported the regular organization candidate for governor.

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Newton are: Ben R., of Wapanucka, Oklahoma; Robert of Oklahoma; Clark, a farmer near his father; Tennie, wife of Charles Butler, of Cooke County, Texas; Callie, wife of Arthur L. Maxwell, of Denton County; Cado, who married Elmo Shaw, of Pilot Point; Verna, Mrs. Robert L. Comley, of Denton County; and Dee, the youngest, a farmer in Denton County."

Sources

• 1850 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data - Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls).
• 1860 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.Original data - 1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records.
• 1880 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. 1880 U.S. Census Index provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints © Copyright 1999 Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
• 1910 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006.Original data - Thirteenth Census of the United States, 1910 (NARA microfilm publication T624, 1,178 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. National Archives.
• 1900 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2004.Original data - United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 18.
• 1920 United States Federal Census Ancestry.com Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Original data - Fourteenth Census of the United States, 1920. (NARA microfilm publication T625, 2076 rolls). Records of the Bureau of the Census.
• Civil War Service Records United States National Archives Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc
• Alabama, Texas and Virginia, Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.
• Arkansas, County Marriages Index, 1837-1957 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.
• Texas, Death Certificates, 1903–1982 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.
• Texas Death Index, 1903-2000 Ancestry.com Publication: Ancestry.com Operations Inc

See also:

• Ancestry Family Trees Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members. Note: This information comes from 1 or more individual Ancestry Family Tree files. This source citation points you to a current version of those files. Note: The owners of these tree files may have removed or changed information since this source citation was created. Ancestry Family Tree http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=33274146&pid=1084
• Find A Grave: Memorial #28343802