... John and Rebecca lived at the old homestead established by John's grandfather, Thomas Lindley, nearly a century earlier. He bought this estate from his uncle, Jonathan Lindley. Many legends have added to the reputation of John Newlin. In conversation he used the pet expression, "Dear Me," so often that he became known as "Dear Me John." He was so parsimonious that his reputation among his neighbors was colored by it. It showed up in his dress, his meals and in his minor business relations. In spite of his eccentricities he seems to have been well known and respected in his Yearly Meeting of Friends and in his section of North Carolina. He was the first person named on the Yearly Meeting committee to raise funds for, and have charge of the erection of Founders Hall, the building in which New Garden Boarding School (now Guilford College) had its beginning in 1837. He was the Treasurer of the Boarding School building fund and was one of the three North Carolina contributors who made the largest donations for the construction of the building.
Seen in the light of all the Newlin connections with Guilford College, since 1837, John's leadership as one of the Founding Fathers becomes more significant in the family history. Zella Newlin, daughter of Jacob, was one of the fifty pupils in the first year of the institution's history, in 1837/38. A John Newlin, very likely Zella's brother, was enrolled during this first year. Three, and possibly four, of John and Rebecca Long Newlin's children attended New Garden Boarding School. This was a good beginning in the education of the descendants of John and Mary Pyle Newlin at Guilford College and the parent institution. Approximately two hundred of their descendants have been connected in some way with this institution of learning. Most of the two hundred have been students but among them are found: one President of the College, one Treasurer of the Building Fund, three members of the Board of Trustees, and at least six on the teaching staff. A survey made in 1937 showed that no other family equaled this record.
John Newlin was possibly the most influential North Carolina Newlin of his day. It is said to have been in his honor that the name Newlin was given to the township in which he lived in the southeastern corner of Alamance County. This county was set off from Orange County during his lifetime. A study of the census reports of Alamance County for 1850 reveals that he was most likely the wealthiest person in Newlin Township; the owner of several thousand acres of land. His investments in manufacturing and in the mercantile business were rather heavy for that day.
He operated a store and a tanyard at his home place, near Spring Meeting House. His grandfather, Thomas Lindley, had operated a tannery there. In addition to his large tanning operation John had a leather goods business in which he produced harness and shoes on a large scale for that day. "The Hillsboro Recorder" in August 1821 shows that John Newlin was chairman "...of the committee of inquiry, appointed by the Cane Creek Agricultural Society of Orange County..." to find ways to relieve "...the depressed and languishing state of Agriculture among us." His most noted economic venture was in the manufacture of cotton textile goods. In 1844 John Newlin and two of his sons, James the oldest and Jonathan, the third son, formed a partnership under the name of John Newlin and Sons, for the purpose of operating a textile mill. They erected a one story brick building two hundred feet long and fifty feet wide on the east side of Haw River. Ten years later the second and third stories were added. At first they produced only yarn for household weaving, then after the building was enlarged, weaving and dyeing were added to their operations. After John Newlin's death in 1867 a new partnership was formed by James and Jonathan Newlin and their first cousin, George Guthrie.
John Newlin has been referred to as an abolitionist. The widely known legend of his use of slaves in the construction of the textile plant at Saxapahaw has caused some question to be raised but it does not completely negate the statement. According to the legend, part of the work done by the slaves was the digging of the race paralleling the river for a mile from the dam to the mill. The owner of these slaves wished to free them and had put them in charge of John Newlin to find places for them in free territory. The law of North Carolina made it mandatory that a recently freed person leave the state within ninety days after manumission or the freedman would be liable to be sold back into slavery. North Carolina Yearly Meeting of Friends, in the three or four decades preceding the Civil War, had several hundred slaves deeded to it for the purpose of finding slaves in some free territory where they could earn a living. This often required considerable time and the slaves were hired out during the interval to help pay for the operation. The slaves in John Newlin's care were eventually set free but legend accuses him of tardiness in doing so.
John Newlin was a very astute business man. In this he must have learned much from his father. Legend hands down many stories which depict something of his business methods and his life and character in general. These stories indicate that he built up such a reputation for penny-pinching that sometimes a feeling of reproach was directed at him by his neighbors and those who worked for him. He seemed to be constantly engaged in some sort of manual labor, around his home, or in the tanyard, or textile mill. His clothing was such that strangers often mistook him for one of the most menial laborers instead of the wealthiest man around.
While attending the annual sessions of North Carolina Yearly Meeting of Friends his clothing, including old shoes punctured by a big hole in the toe, aroused the pity of some visiting Quakers from England. One of them diplomatically suggested to him that they would like to give him enough money to buy him a pair of shoes for the approaching winter. He is said to have replied, "Why dear me, I don't need the shoes but I could use the money."
Each day of the week he made the eight mile round-trip between his home and the textile mill. This necessitated crossing the river twice each day. The stream was very broad at this point but the water in the ford was generally fairly shallow.
During the construction of the building for the textile mill a young foreman, wishing to get across the river, asked John Newlin for the use of his saddle mare and for a boy to return with the animal. "Why dear me, thee doesn't need to take a boy with thee." "But what shall I do with her when I get across?" "Why dear me, just hang the rein over the saddle and turn her loose. She'll get back alright." When the young man alighted from the saddle at the opposite end of the ford he saw the elderly John Newlin, with his trousers rolled above his knees wading the river a short distance behind. He was so embarrassed that he couldn't speak as the old man mounted the saddle to ride back across the river, with a strong feeling, no doubt, that he had given the young man a good lesson in self-reliance. He seemed immune to the grumbling of his employees, at the low wages which they received from him and at the food served in the textile mill. For himself, he always took a very meager lunch from home.
