Henry County AlArchives Biographies.....Newton, William F. October 25 1856 - living in 1893
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Ann Anderson alabammygrammy@aol.com May 27, 2004, 1:51 pm

Author: Brant & Fuller (1893)
    WILLIAM F. NEWTON, merchant of Dothen, was born in Henry county, October 25,
1856. He is a son of James I. and Martha C. (Irwin) Newton, the former of whom
is a native of Dale county, Ala., having been born and reared within five miles
of Dothen. He received but an ordinary education, and was married when eighteen
years of age. He has been a farmer all his life, has always been identified with
the prosperity of the county, and is recognized as one of its substantial
citizens. He now resides on his home farm, four miles from Dothen, and about
nine miles from where he was born. The town of Newton, Dale county, derived its
name from his father, who was one of the first settlers of this part of the
state. The mother of W. F. Newton was born in Crawford county, Ga., came to
Alabama when eleven years of age, was brought up in Henry county, and married
there when in her fifteenth year. She is the mother of eleven children, nine of
whom are living. Mr. and Mrs. Newton are both members of the Missionary Baptist
church. William F. Newton was reared on his father's farm, and during his
minority his educational advantages were exceedingly limited, but upon arriving
at the age of twenty-one years he attended the Newton high school for four
consecutive years, teaching a three months' public school each year during
vacation, thereby making expenses. In the spring of 1881, he entered the Eastman
business college at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., where, inspired by the beauties of
penmanship, he determined to acquire a good hand-writing, and with a regular
mania for penmanship he very rapidly mastered the art, and in January of 1882
began teaching penmanship, and followed it regularly for two years, teaching in
most of the towns and cities of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. On the 24th of
February, 1884, he was happily married to Miss Alice L. Powell, daughter of
Williams and Frances (Hodges) Powell. Mrs. Newton was born in Sumter county,
Ga., came to Alabama when seven years old with her mother, who settled in Henry
county near the present site of Dothen, her father having died while she was yet
an infant. She was married in her nineteenth year, and moved with her husband to
Grafton, fifteen miles from Dothen, where he taught literary school for two
years, after which he began merchandising in a small way, secured mail
facilities for the place, and was appointed postmaster. He continued in business
there for four years, during which time he built up a good trade. On November
19, 1889, he moved with his family, then consisting of his wife and two little
boys, Chester Whittier and Charlie Lawrence, to Dothen, having previously bought
residence and business lots on which he had built a handsome residence and a
small frame store, in which he began business on a cash capital of less than
$500 invested in general merchandise. He conducted his business on a cash basis,
and made clear of expenses $3,000 the first year. In 1891 he erected a handsome
brick store, in which he now (1892) carries a stock of from $4,000 to $6,000,
and does a business of $18,000 to $20,000 per annum. He was one among the first
to move to Dothen when the boom struck it, and has seen the entire growth and
development of the place, and is one of the leading young business men of
Dothen. He and Mrs. Newton are both members of the Methodist Episcopal church,
south. He is also public-spirited, and takes an active interest in whatever
tends to advance the interest and welfare of the community.



Additional Comments:
from "Memorial Record of Alabama", Vol. I, p. 1110-1111
Published by
Brant & Fuller (1893)
Madison, WI

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