Alfred Newton Biography


	This biography appears on pages 376-377 in "History of Dakota Territory" 
	by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				ALFRED NEWTON.  

	Alfred Newton was one of the prominent and well known 
agriculturists of Clay county, residing on section 9, Riverside 
township. He was born in Rochester, New York, in 1847, a son of John 
and Ann (South) Newton, natives of England and Scotland respectively. 
He lost his father when but two years of age and his mother 
subsequently married John Newton and our subject assumed the surname 
Newton. He has a sister, Mrs. T. S. Stanley, residing near Portland, 
Oregon, and a stepbrother, Henry, who is a resident of Spokane, 
Washington. The parents emigrated to the new world in early life and 
the father died in New York state, as did his stepfather. The mother 
afterward removed to South Dakota and made her home with her son Alfred 
until her death in 1882, being buried in Vermillion.  

	Alfred Newton first attended the schools of Littleville, New 
York, and subsequently was a student in an academy at Avon, Livingston 
county, that state. As a boy he ran a bootblack stand and drove a bus 
and while in the former business had among his patrons Judge Reed, of 
Philadelphia, Horace Greeley and a number of other well known men. On 
the 2d of November, 1870, he came to South Dakota and settled on 
section 9, Clay county, taking up a quarter section as a homestead. The 
country at that time was very sparsely settled and much of the land was 
still uncultivated. He devoted many years to the development of his 
farm and as his resources increased invested in additional land until 
his holdings aggregated thirteen hundred acres. Of this eleven hundred 
and sixty acres were in Clay county and two hundred and forty acres in 
Stanley county. He carried on general farming and raised considerable 
stock, deriving therefrom a good income. He continued to reside upon 
his original homestead until his death, which occurred on the 28th of 
February, 1915.  

	Mr. Newton was married in Rochester, New York, August 15, 1869, 
to Miss Julia McGovern, Bishop McQuade performing the ceremony. Mrs. 
Newton was born in Ireland but was only two years of age when she 
accompanied her parents on their removal to America, the family 
locating in New York state, where both parents died. Her father was 
killed in an accident. Mrs. Newton survived her husband only a short 
time passing away on the 3d of March, 1915. To them were born a son and 
daughter, namely: Ann, the wife of Dan McLarkley, a resident of Iowa; 
and Charles J., who now operates the home farm.  

	By his ballot Mr. Newton supported the men and measures of the 
republican party and for fourteen years acceptably served as postmaster 
of Riverside. Fraternally he was a Mason and his daily life was the 
embodiment of the spirit of fraternity that underlies that great order. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Newton were among the early settlers of this locality 
and in their passing Clay county lost two of its prominent and highly 
respected pioneers.