MARSHALL NEWTON6, JR. (Marshall5, Obediah4, Thomas3, John2, Richard1), son of Marshall and Eunice (Taylor) Newton of Shrewsbury, Mass., was born there January 13, 1757, and died at Newfane, Windham County, Vt., December 15, 1833, aged 76 years 11 months.
He married in Shrewsbury, Mass., December 28, 1786 (int. in Shrewsbury, July 1, 1786), Lydia Newton daughter of Solomon5 and Hannah (Hastings) Newton of Shrewsbury, where she was born August 5, 1765, and died at Newfane, Vt., May 16, 1839, aged 74. Burial beside her husband, at Newfane, in the cemetery on the hill, easterly of the old county seat.
Marshall Newton, Jr., learned the blacksmith's trade. At the age of eighteen years he entered the Continental Army to become a soldier of the Revolution. He served term after term until he had spent seven years engaged in that war. After the war, in the first granting of United States pensions, Marshall Newton, being a man of property, was not included. He felt the injustice; he had given seven years to the government; he had since then been frugal and industrious; he had paid heavy taxes to support the government; but for all that he was denied an equal standing with those who had been idle, with the poor, and with the dissipated. He did not want the money; but the principle was wrong. Later a pension was granted him, but did not reach him until a few hours before his death; $80 per year. His name appears on the army rolls in the following connection : Marshall Newton, Jr. Shrewsbury. Enlistment agreement June 2, 1775, to serve until December 31, 1775, unless sooner discharged. Also, private in Capt. Job Cusliing's Company, Col. Jonathan Ward's regiment, and other services. In these engagements he was under Gen. Artemus Ward, in the right wing of the army occupying Roxbury and Dorchester. He was at Dorchester Heights on March 4, 1776, in the night scene of fortification. Private in Capt. Asa Rice, Col. Job Cushing's regiment, marched July 27, 1777, discharged August 29, 1777; marched to Manchester, discharged at Bennington, Vt. Private, Capt. John Maynard's detachment. Col. Job Cushing's regiment, marched September 29, 1777, discharged October 18, 1777 ; marched to Stillwater. Another roll covers the two latter dates. Private, Capt. Ebenezer Ingalsbe, Col. Job Cushing, enlisted September 12, 1777, discharged November 29, 1777, northern department. Roll sworn to in Worcester County. Private, Capt. Seth Newton's Company, Col. Abijah Stearns' regiment, enlisted April 1, 1778, discharged July, 1778; served at and about Boston. Roll endorsed, "Guards att Roxbury." Private, Capt. John Drury's Company, Col. Ezra Wood's regiment, enlisted June 6, 1778, discharged February 10, 1779. Pay order signed by him, dated at Shrewsbury, April 12, 1779. Marshall Newton. Shrewsbury. 9 months men. Capt. Rice, Col. Job Gushing, mustered July 19, 1779; also descriptive list, 23 years, 5 ft. 9 in., complexion light—many other items; last discharge January 8, 1781. Marshall Newton, Leicester. Private, Capt. John Cutler's Company, Col. Luke Drury's regiment, marched from home August 20, 1781, discharged November 28, 1781. Residence Leicester. Enlisted for the town of Leicester, regiment raised for three months.
While he was with the army, a portable forge was part of the equipage, and some of the time he was detailed as blacksmith to use it, shoeing the horses, mending wagons, etc. He was never wounded, but had some thrilling and desperate experiences; in the battles of Long Island, White Plains, "in the Jarseys," at Saratoga.
After the war, Mr. Newton was in Shrewsbury awhile. In 1784 or '85 he went to Shoreham, Vt., engaging in surveying of the township into lots; thence to Newfane, Vt., where he bought six acres of land and set up a blacksmith shop and gave close attention to business. He began to build his house in 1786, moved into it within two years, but did not complete it for several years. In this house all of his children, except the eldest, were born; here he lived and died. The house still stands and is habitable.
Mr. Newton was a person of good business capacity; versatile, he could adjust his mind and the labor of his hands to the needs of the community; fashioning tools of every description; bartering them for produce, furs and other things; dealing in real estate, etc., all the time without leaving his anvil. He purchased large tracts of land on the Green Mountains that are still in the possession of his family. He accumulated quite a property, from which he was ever generous and hospitable. He called himself a Presbyterian, but there being no Presbyterian church there, he cordially supported the Congregational church of the town. He was a liberal contributor to the Academy and to all public improvements. The first school in the place was opened in his house.
The First Census of the United States, 1790, states that his family in Newfane, Vt., consisted of himself, one male above sixteen years, two males under sixteen years, and three females.
He was above medium height, rather corpulent, weighing nearly two hundred pounds, and generally in good health. He served the town as one of its selectmen for the years 1789, 1797 and 1810.
