Architecture
Autrey-Williams House
The home of several leading Newton County businessmen, this house was constructed in 1912 by turpentine producer L. M. Autrey. In 1918 he sold it to N. A. Dawson, a road contractor. From 1923 to 1979 it was the home of lumberman and civic leader Thomas Williams and his family.
History
Biloxi Community
Settlement of this area began in the early 19th Century, as people moved into Texas from the southern United States. A post office was established in 1849, and continued settlement resulted in the building of homes, businesses, schools, and churches. Many former slaves established homes here following the Civil War. Biloxi Colored Methodist Episcopal (C.M.E.
History
Bleakwood Cemetery
Pioneers who settled the Bleakwood community after the Civil War established thriving mill and cotton gin businesses. Mill-owner Reuben Bennington donated an acre of land for this cemetery to serve area residents. The oldest marked grave, that of Doulie Lee, is dated Jan. 24, 1871. In 1940 J. K. Wilson gave an additional acre of land to the cemetery in memory of his wife Minnie Lee.
History
Blum Male & Female College
Chartered February 26, 1880, by 36 incorporators; named for Leon Blum, Galveston merchant, largest holder in $20,000 capital stock -- $5 per share. First directors were: R. J. Brailsford, H. J. Casey, W. W. Downs, W. A. Droddy, T. W. Ford, M. D. Hines; First president was Joseph Syler.
History
Bon Wier
W. H. Stark settled here in 1836 and established a ferry and warehouse business on the Sabine River known as Stark's Landing. It served as a wharf for steamboats and a point from which large quantities of timber were rafted to sawmills downriver. Development in this area began after T. J. Trotti established a company logging town nearby in 1898.
History
Cade Building
To create jobs and bring county services nearer to residents of this area, Newton County officials provided materials and the U.S. Work Projects Administration (WPA) the funds to pay laborers to construct this building in 1940-41. Named for Harriet Trotti Cade who donated land for the project, it served as a sub-courthouse and Town Hall.
History
Cedar Grove Community
Following the Civil War, a group of freedmen established the Cedar Grove community, coming here to take advantage of the area's strong cotton market. The community was named for the cedars that once existed here before they were cut for lumber. A focal point for the residents was the Cedar Grove Community Church, which members of the Spears Chapel Church helped organize.
History
Deweyville
Original site, called "Possum Bluff," was purchased with a team of oxen by Pierre Lavine from Bill Morrison, 1886. Town was renamed for Admiral George Dewey during Spanish-American War. Leading industry, sawmill, was built by Sabine Tram Co., 1897; and was owned 1919-1943 by Peavy-Moore Lumber Co.
History
Farr's Chapel Cemetery
Located in the yard of a Methodist church founded in 1868 by Alfred Farr, this cemetery contains more than 150 tombstones placed since the 1850s and 1860s. The first grave, that of Mollie Westbrook, is marked by a rock that bears no date. Land for the cemetery was given in 1873 by Joshua and Matilda Westbrook and in 1892 by William and Mary Westbrook.
History
Fawil Sam Herrin Cemetery
The Fawil Community, which once had three churches, a school, a plywood mill and a store, also includes three family cemeteries along the main road. Sam and Mary (Cochran) Herrin Homesteaded on 106 acres and had 11 children survive to adulthood. They set aside one acre for a family burial ground, where their granddaughter Alice Dougharty (d. 1911) and daughter Inez Lenderman (d.
History
First Courthouse of Newton County
County organized in 1846; Seat of Justice not established until two years later by public subscription. A building was erected here in 1848 on land donated by John R. Burke for whom the town received its name. Newton became the county seat in 1853.
History
Ford Chapel, Cemetery, and School
The family of John H. and Margaret Ford came to Texas prior to 1880. Establishing farms and homes, the family helped settle this area of Newton County. A community cemetery was begun on the land of J. D. and Ida J. Ford. Although the cemetery contains some unmarked graves, the earliest documented burial is that of Promontory Inez Ford (1877-1880), daughter of J. D. and Ida Ford.
History
Hardy Cemetery
JOSEPH LANE (c. 1771 ' c. 1850) WAS THE FIRST BURIAL IN THIS RURAL CEMETERY. HIS SON, GREEN LANE, RESERVED A GRAVE YARD MEASURING 20 BY 20 FEET IN AN 1853 DEED TO KENNETH A.P. HARDY. THE SECOND GRAVE IS FOR JAMES PERSINGER HARDY (1795-1855), WHO SERVED IN CAPT.
History
Howell Cemetery
The family of James William (1805-1876) and Louisa Cheshire (1816-1899) Howell came to this area from Alabama in 1872. Family members bought adjoining land, and the settlement, named Howell, was granted a post office in 1889. One Howell son, Marmaduke, introduced the concept of terrace farming to Texas in 1882. A one-acre plot of land was designated a cemetery in 1876.
History
Josephus S. Irvine
Star and Wreath Josephus S. Irvine, born August 25, 1819. Came to Texas in 1830. Soldier in the Battle of San Jacinto. Major in Spaight's Eleventh Texas Regiment, C.S.A. Chaplain of the Grand Lodge AF & AM, 1860. Died May 19, 1876. Erected by the State of Texas 1962
History
McFarland-Wilson Cemetery
According to McFarland family tradition, Colonel Thomas S. McFarland established this site as a family cemetery about 1840. Thomas and his father William McFarland held prominent military and political positions in the Republic of Texas. The earliest recorded burial here was that of Fabrina McFarland in 1890. Property containing this graveyard was conveyed by R. E.
History
Mill Creek Cemetery
Settlers to this area crossed from Louisiana into Texas near Toledo Bend on the Sabine River. Along Mill Creek, they established a community and this cemetery. Dating to the early 1840s, the first marked grave is that of Tandy Key Martin. The cemetery's more than 50 unmarked burials indicate the harsh conditions and poverty faced by area families.
History
Newton Cemetery
This cemetery has served the town of Newton since it was officially set aside in 1903. The first burial, however, dates to 1864, when the landowner, G.W. Robinson, buried his young son. After Robinson passed away, a Newton resident bought the land and later donated it for use as a burial ground.
History
Newton County
Formed from Jasper County; created April 22, 1846, organized July 13, 1846. Named in honor of Sergeant John Newton, 1752-1807. Hero of the American Revolution. County seat, Newton, 1846; Burkeville, 1848; Newton, since 1853.
Military
Newton County Pre-War Maneuvers
By 1941, the U.S. military was painfully aware of its unpreparedness to combat the modern mechanized armies in Europe. To increase its combat effectiveness, the U.S. Army conducted the Louisiana maneuvers, which included 3,400 square miles of Texas. The maneuvers involved nearly half a million men and 19 divisions. Many Newton County citizens allowed the U.S.
Military
Newton County, C.S.A.
Supply and military center in the Civil War. Target area for Federals trying to move up the Sabine or across Louisiana and take Texas. Confederates built breastworks and maintained arsenal at Burkeville. Major supply route, "The Old Beef Trail", begun 1823 through area later Newton County.
History
Old Union Church & Cemetery
This Baptist Church was organized formally in 1855 with 54 charter members, although records indicate a congregation was in existence as early as 1851. An early 1900s fire burned their log sanctuary, which was replaced by the present structure. Monthly services and summer camp meetings were held here until 1928, when the church moved to Cline's Ferry Road. The congregation's first pastor, Enoch S.
History
Rev. Henry Stephenson
Preached at Jonesboro in 1817. Organized first permanent Methodist church and was in charge of all work in Texas in 1834. Born in Virginia, 1772. Died November 20, 1841
History
Round Table Inn
On this site stood Harrell House, built in 1865 by Confederate veteran David F. Harrell to serve stagecoaches and others traveling military road. Renamed for its food-laden, hand-made lazy Susan table, seating 12 to 15 quests. Burned, 1927. Rebuilt and still run by granddaughter Helen Duncan. (1965)
History
Salem
Before Seth Swift (1789-1869) founded the settlement of Salem, he and his partner, Paul Gardner, operated a whaling business in Massachusetts. After Gardner's death in 1835, Swift, his wife Lydia, and five children immigrated to Texas. They brought household goods and material for a frame house up the Sabine River to this location on the Big Cow Creek.
Elsewhere in Texas
Hear it from the road
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