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John William Newman was born on a plantation in Orange County, Va., May 23, 1845. He entered the Confederate army at the age of fifteen years, serving in the engineer corps under Major Winfry until the close of the war. Soon afterwards he went to Kentucky, where he was principal of Forrest Academy, a military school for many years, meantime keeping up at night with his studies, which had been interrupted by entering the army. In 1867 he married Miss Mary Barbour, who died in 1884, leaving four children, three of whom, two sons and a daughter, survive their father. After the death of his wife he went to Florida. Joining a party for exploration of the Everglades, he becam interested in a plan for drainage, and in 1905 he was able to commence his long cherished plan of drainage by opening the first canal at Fort Lauderdale, where he was engineer in charge. He continued with the Everglades work till his health failed, about three years ago. He was married again in 1886 to Miss Louise Kabler and made his home in Sanford, Fla., where he was connected with the Plant System as civil engineer until he went to Belleair, in 1896, in the emply of H. B. Plant. His devoted wife survives him. He was one of the pioneers of the Belleair section, and during his long life in that community he won onle friendship and esteem from those who knew him.
SOURCE: Confederate Veteran Magazine, April, 1915.
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