LIBERTY NEWTON6 (Marshall5, Obediah4, Thomas3, John2, Richard1), son of Marshall and Hannah (Willard-Roberts) Newton, of Shrewsbury, Mass., was born there. May 8, 1766, and died by his own hand in Champlain, Clinton County, N. Y., October 1, 1822.
He married at Shoreham, Vt., about 1790, Cynthia, or Asintha, North, daughter of Abijah and Tryphania (Grant) North of Shoreham, Vt., who came there from Goshen and Farmington. Conn. She was born April 30, 1768, and died June 19, 1823, at Champlain, N. Y., I suppose.
While he was only a boy during the whole of the war, his family states that "he seized several enlistments in the Revolution." In 1789 he went to Shoreham, Vt., where he met and married his wife, and where he settled for a time. He was a blacksmith by trade, and a superior mechanic and workman, and a fine penman. In 1801 he removed to Ticonderoga,N. Y., and built a forge at the upper falls. The First United States Census, 1790, shows Liberty Newton at Shoreham, Addison County, Vt., his family consisting of himself, one male above sixteen years, and three females. This would indicate that he had married and set up a household before the census taker came that year. [See comments about 1790 census later.]
The last two decades of his life brought sorrow to himself and to all of his friends; for he became through drink a dissipated man. brought about by business reverses and mental aberration. September 5, 1805, he signed Articles of Separation" from his wife, and the children were scattered among relatives and friends. Finally, he made a chain, in the shop, with which he hanged himself. Cynthia, his wife, after the separation, lived for a time with her brother Nathaniel North of Shoreham, then moved to Champlain, N. Y., where her brothers Abijah and Lemuel North were early settlers.
One of her granddaughters writes in 1895: -- "As to my grandfather Newton, there is no doubt he was a dissipated man and took his own life; but his children considered him insane, or partially so, for several years before his death. I should judge from what I have heard of his habits, he wandered about the country, as the demented often do. Had he lived in these days he would have been confined in an asylum. But my mother loved her father and ever cherished his memory most tenderly. She always said he was a kind and indulgent father, very fond of his children, until the dark days came. He was in good circumstances in her childhood and youth. She said he was a very generous man; ever ready to help a friend in trouble. In an unfortunate moment he went bail for one of his friends, who repaid him by running away and leaving him with the bonds to pay; which swept away his entire property. After this he became very despondent and soon commenced drinking. Grandmother blamed him and this didn't help matters. Grandmother had the best judgment and was an excellent financier -- that trait runs in the North family. I am sure my mother loved her father quite as well as she did her mother, notwithstanding his faults."
The First United States Census. 1790, shows Liberty Newton head of a household, which consisted of himself, one male above sixteen years, and three females. These people are not necessarily one's wife and children. They were probably a family to work for him in shop and farm.
