JOHN NEWSOME has been a resident of Clarke County since
1868. His home is in the northeast quarter of section 2, Franklin Township. He
has a fine stock farm of 215 acres, consisting of upland, meadow and timber
land, on the main branch of Whitebreast Creek. He has made nearly all of the
improvements since he occupied the place.
Mr. Newsome was born November 13, 1834, in West Riding, Yorkshire,
England. His parents were James and Rebecca (Illingworth) Newsome, who reared a
family of ten children, all of whom are living and prospering. All except the
eldest, William, are living in the United States. James Newsome, in early life,
was a weaver by occupation, and his son John, the subject of this sketch, was
reared to the same calling. He embarked
from Liverpool for the United States on the “City of Manchester,” March 21,
1854, reaching Philadelphia May 10. Near this point he engaged work in a cotton
mill for a short time. In June, of the same year, he went to work in a woolen
mill at Rockdale, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, where he remained until he
volunteered in defense of his adopted country, under the first call of
President Lincoln for volunteers. He
enlisted in the Anderson guards, Philadelphia, April 16, 1861, and would have
started for Washington, D.C., on the evening of the 19th, but for the attack of
the Baltimore mob on the Sixth Massachusetts Volunteers and three companies of
their regiment, who were unarmed and got back to Philadelphia with great
difficulty. They were eventually mustered into the United States service on May
25, as Company B., Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, under Colonel Small,
for three years or during the war. August, 1861, Company B was detached to
guard Government stores, in Washington, D.C. In the spring of 1862, when General McClellan
was about to start on the Peninsula campaign, Sergeant Newsome wrote a petition
which all the non-commissioned officers signed, asking to take the field with
the regiment. The petition failed, but a second petition, January, 1863, was
granted by General Hooker, who formerly commanded their brigade, and was then
commanding the Army of the Potomac. The company met its baptism of fire at
Chancellorsville, losing very heavily. Sergeant Newsome was wounded in the
right thigh and taken prisoner. He was exchanged and rejoined his regiment the
following September. In the movements of the army, before the close of 1863,
Mr. Newsome bore an honorable part. He re-enlisted as a veteran in January,
1864. While on furlough, March 10, 1864,
he was married at Rockdale, to Miss Elizabeth Murphy, who was born in
Philadelphia, December 25, 1836. She was a daughter of Moses and Elizabeth
Murphy. Rejoining the Army of the
Potomac, he was mustered in as Lieutenant of his company, in April 1864, and
from that time until the 27th of May, took part in the battles under Grant. June 18 he was honorably discharged at
Philadelphia. During the raid of General Early on Washington, Lieutenant
Newsome again tendered his services, but was not accepted owing to disease
contracted in the service. Mr. and Mrs.
Newsome continued to live in Rockdale until 1868 and then came to Clarke
County. Mr. Newsome’s record has been, in all respects, an honorable one. They
have four children – Frank, Bertha, Rebecca E. and Mabel. James H., a twin brother, died at the age of
three months. The parents of Mr. Newsome
came to the United States in 1856. They died in Union township, Lucas County.
Of their sons and daughters living in the United States, besides John, there
are James, Samuel, Daniel, Mrs. Sarah Gore, Mrs. Rebecca Gore, reside in
Delaware County, Pennsylvania; Wright, Mrs. Ann Perkins, and Mrs. Mary Maloney
live in Lucas County.
SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke County,
Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 307-8
