John David Stokes Newell, Sr. (1837 - March 5, 1899), was a Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

 planter

Plantations in the American South

Plantations were an important aspect of the history of the American South, particularly the antebellum .-Planter :The owner of a plantation was called a planter...

 and lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

 who founded the Tensas Parish town of Newellton

Newellton, Louisiana

Newellton is a town in northern Tensas Parish in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population is 1,227 in the 2010 census, a decline of 255 from 2000. Newellton is some 65 percent African American. It is just west of the Mississippi River on Lake St. Joseph, an ox-bow lake....

, which he named for his father, Edward D. Newell

Edward D. Newell

Edward Drumgould Newell was a pioneer planter in Tensas Parish, Louisiana. The town of Newellton was named in his honor by son, John David Stokes Newell ....

.

Biography

Newell was born in Port Gibson, Mississippi

Port Gibson, Mississippi

Port Gibson is a city in Claiborne County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,840 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Claiborne County.- History :...

, the eldest child of Edward Newell, who was originally from North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, and the former Celia Ann Dorsey, a Claiborne, MS native and daughter of Dr. Samuel Dorsey a Maryland native. He was educated at the University of Virginia

University of Virginia

The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 in Charlottesville

Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

, from which he received his law

Law

Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

 degree in 1859. A year later, he obtained civil law credentials from Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

 (then called "University of Louisiana") in New Orleans. He established his law practice in St. Joseph

St. Joseph, Louisiana

St. Joseph is a town in and the parish seat of Tensas Parish in northeastern Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,340 at the 2000 census. The town is 69 percent African American. St. Joseph is the entry community to Lake Bruin State Park located on Lake Bruin, a relatively clear oxbow...

, the seat of Tensas Parish, located along the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 levee

Levee

A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...

 in northeast Louisiana.

During the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, Newell fought with the Tensas Cavalry

Cavalry

Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 at the battles of Shiloh

Battle of Shiloh

The Battle of Shiloh, also known as the Battle of Pittsburg Landing, was a major battle in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved via the Tennessee River deep into Tennessee and...

, Boonville

Battle of Boonville

The First Battle of Boonville was a minor skirmish of the American Civil War, occurring on June 17, 1861, near Boonville in Cooper County, Missouri. Although casualties were extremely light, the battle's strategic impact was far greater than one might assume from its limited nature...

, and Tenmark in Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

 and Corinth

Battle of Corinth

The Battle of Corinth may refer to a Roman battle, or to one of two American Civil War Battles:* The Battle of Corinth * The Siege of Corinth, Mississippi , also known as the First Battle of Corinth, during the American Civil War* The Second Battle of Corinth...

 and Iuka

Battle of Iuka

The Battle of Iuka was fought on September 19, 1862, in Iuka, Mississippi, during the American Civil War. In the opening battle of the Iuka-Corinth Campaign, Union Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans stopped the advance of the army of Confederate Maj. Gen. Sterling Price.Maj. Gen. Ulysses S...

 in Mississippi

Mississippi

Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. Newell rose to the rank of captain of Company F, McNeill's Regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 of the Louisiana Cavalry. He commanded in all engagements along the Red River.

In July 1864, Newell married his first cousin

Cousin

In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...

, Nannie Newell, a Tensas Parish native. They had four sons: J.D.S. Newell, Jr., Cecil E. Newell, Caroll Harper Newell, and Edward T. Newell.

After the war, Newell returned to cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

 planting at his Cypress Plantation

Plantation

A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...

 and resumed his law practice. In addition to the establishment of Newellton in northern Tensas Parish, Newell promoted burgeoning public education

Public education

State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...

. He served for many years on the Tensas Parish School Board and was its president in 1866 and again in 1892.

Newell's work led to the establishment of Newellton High School, which closed in 2006 because of declining enrollment. Newellton students are now bused to the former Davidson High School in St. Joseph, the only public secondary school remaining in the parish. Davidson was renamed as "Tensas Parish High School". Tensas Parish is majority African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

. A majority of the white students in the parish attend the private Tensas Academy in St. Joseph.

Newell died in St. Joseph and is interred in Vicksburg

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...

, the seat of Warren County

Warren County, Mississippi

-National protected areas:* Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge * Vicksburg National Military Park -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 49,644 people, 18,756 households, and 13,222 families residing in the county. The population density was 85 people per square mile...

, Mississippi.