Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Newkirk, James E  
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com December 3, 2007, 1:29 am

Author: Past & Present, 1907

James E. Newkirk is superintendent of the Keltie Stone Company, with which he 
has been connected since its incorporation in 1891. In this connection he is a 
prominent representative of industrial interests in Joliet and the success of 
the company is largely attributable to his effective labors and enterprise. 
Mr. Newkirk is a native son of Joliet, born September 17, 1861, his parents 
being Richard and Charlotte (Nokes) Newkirk, who came from Kentucky and 
England, respectively. The mother arrived in Lockport, Illinois, with her 
parents in 1837. Her father was a veterinarian and also handled fine horses, 
making his home in Lockport until his death. Following their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Richard Newkirk removed to the "Yankee settlement," where he followed 
farming, devoting practically all of his active life to agricultural pursuits. 
They attended the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Newkirk was a 
devoted and faithful member. She died in 1882, at the age of fifty-eight 
years, while Mr. Newkirk passed away in 1897, at the age of seventy-seven 
years while on a visit in Kentucky at the place where he was born. In 1895 a 
reunion of the Newkirk family was held in Kentucky in celebration of the one 
hundredth anniversary of the arrival of their ancestors in Jefferson county, 
that state. James E. Newkirk is one of a family of ten children, of whom five 
daughter and two sons are yet living. His brother resides at Fort Madison, 
Iowa, and one sister is also living in that state, while the others are 
residents of Will county. James E. Newkirk was reared in his native county and 
pursued his education in the public schools. In the latter '70s he became an 
employe of the old Joliet Stone Company and in 1885 he entered the service of 
the Joliet & Chicago Stone Company, with which he continued until 1891, when 
he joined the Keltie Stone Company on its organization. This company has of 
recent years been engaged largely in outside contract work, including bridge 
building, and has done practically all of the bridge work for the Elgin, 
Joliet & Eastern Railroad, often employing large gangs of men. Their offices 
are in the Barber building and the business is constantly growing in volume 
and importance. Mr. Newkirk has been connected with this line since he entered 
business life and is well qualified for the onerous duties which devolve upon 
him in this connection, for he is familiar with the stone trade in every 
detail. Mr. Newkirk wedded Miss Mary Engmann, a native of Switzerland, who in 
childhood came to the United States with her parents, John and Elizabeth 
Engmann. The latter still resides at Joliet but the father, who for years was 
connected with the old Joliet Stone Company, died in 1886. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
Newkirk have been born three sons and two daughters: George James, who is now 
a fireman on the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad; Ralph Henry, at home; 
Franklin Howard; Florence Jessie; and Frieda Elizabeth. The family residence 
is at No. 1215 South Richards street. Politically Mr. Newkirk is a republican, 
having always stanchly supported the party since age conferred upon him the 
right of franchise. Socially he is connected with the Masonic fraternity, 
having taken the degrees of the lodge, chapter and commandery at Joliet, and 
is also a member of the Mystic Shrine. He likewise belongs to the Modern 
Woodmen camp and the Knights of Pythias fraternity, and his wife is a member 
of the English Lutheran church. In the city where his entire life has been 
passed Mr. Newkirk has a wide and favorable acquaintance and the kindly regard 
in which he is uniformly held is at once an indication of his business honor 
and his genuine personal worth, his warmest friends being those who have known 
him from his boyhood days to the present. 

Additional Comments:
Past and Present of Will County, Illinois, by W. W. Stevens, President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907.

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