Benjamin Solomon Newman

Benjamin Solomon Newman  b. August 26, 1841  d. August 12, 1903
to Samuel Maxwell Newman  b. Sept. 20, 1820   d. Apr. 10, 1864 and
Margaret Ann Herring  b. Jul. 21, 1825  d. Jul. 29, 1898
Benjamin married Dec. 3, 1840 to
Sarah Jane Knox  b. Oct. 13, 1848  d. Aug. 27, 1896





They had
George Pinkney Newman  b. ?,?,1871  d. ?,?,?
Martha Arlie Newman  b. Dec 11, 1874  d. Nov. 27, 1961
Benjamin Gordon Newman  b. Aug 26, 1841  d. Aug. 12, 1903
Nolan Nevils Newman  b. Jul. 27, 1879  d. ?,?, 1937
Lydia Ann Newman  b. Sept. 12, 1881  d. Sept. 2, 1957
Emma Lillian Newman  b. Nov. 5, 1884  d. Oct 5, 1955
Edwin Cato Newman  b. Jun. 30, 1892  d. Jul. ?, 1968
Ella Edna Newman  b. Aug. 26, 1841  d. Aug. 12, 1903

Benjamin Solomon Newman

Betty's 2nd Great Grandfather

Benjamin Solomon Newman was born in the northeastern part of Franklin County, Mississippi, probably in the general area of the Solomon Newman Plantation Home.  Later, when his father, Samuel M. Newman, acquired a farm in Section 3, T7N, R3E, which bordered Middle Fork Creek at the Jefferson County Line, it was here that he spent his years growing into manhood.
According to family accounts, it was during his teenage years that Ben Newman suffered an accident which left him crippled in his left knee for the balance of his lifetime.  Accounts indicate that he was working on his father’s farm on a particular day, chopping wood with an axe, when somehow the axe, striking a glancing blow, then hit Ben in the area of his left knee.  It caused a terrible wound and resulted in the loss of a considerable amount of blood.  After the wound had healed, the knee could no longer flex properly, and Ben also suffered an antipathy to the sight of blood.  Consequently, his ambition which he had held to study medicine and become a physician, was then lost.  Furthermore, at the beginning of the American Civil War when the young men of the South were answering the call for military duty for the Confederacy, enthusiastically enlisting in Southern regiments and returning home on leave in their smart-looking uniforms, Ben was unable to qualify for military duty because of his disability.  He probably felt an acute sense of alienation as he saw his father and brother, Joseph, going off to serve in the cause of the Confederate States.
It appears that Benjamin Newman met his wife, Sarah Jane Knox, as a result of his employment by Sarah Jane’s step-father, David P. Holmes.  The 1870 population Census record for Franklin County, Mississippi included B. S. Newman in the household of D. P. Holmes, indicating that he was working as a mechanic.
Approximately one month after the enumeration of the 1870 Census, Ben Newman and Sarah Jane Knox were married by Reverend S. Bufkin, M.G., minister at Union Baptist Church which is located near Whiteapple Village, a few miles north of the Knox home.  Then about a year and a half later, two of Ben Newman’s sisters married Sarah Jones two surviving brothers:  Ione Newman married “Ferd” J. Knox and Eudora Newman married Calvin H. Knox. Earlier, the 1860 population Census enumeration included Sarah Jane’s eldest brother, George W. Knox., who was killed in 1865 as a result of a wild turkey hunting accident.
According to the record of the Grand Commandery of the Knights Templar in Mississippi, Benjamin Solomon Newman had been initiated, passed and raised in the Concord Masonic Lodge #181 in Jefferson County during the year 1864.  He allowed his membership to terminate in 1875, since the lodge was located in Jefferson County, and at that time he was apparently living at too great a distance to maintain his attendance.
Following their marriage in 1870, Benjamin and Sarah Jane (Knox) Newman probably continued to live in the home of David P. Holmes, Sarah Jane’s step-father, as a result of Ben Newman’s employment with Mr. Holmes.  David P. Holmes and his wife, Mary, the mother of Sarah Jane, continued to live in Section 26, T5N, R1E of Franklin County, and it was part of the original land tract acquired by John N. Knox’s father, George Knox, about the year1815 - 1816.  About the year 1861, David Holms sold the John N. Knox plantation to G. & E. Kennedy, and he then purchased about 232 acres of land in Section 9 of T5N, R1E from Mrs. Lucinda Kennedy.  It appears that the family then moved to a house on this tract of land, about a mile northwest of the Knox home, and it was at this location that the family was enumerated in the Census of 1870.  Ben Newman and his wife, Sarah Jane apparently lived here until the death of her mother, Mary, about the year 1875.
After the death of Mary (Lowery) Knox Holmes, it appears that Benjamin and Sarah Jane Newman then moved back to the home of Margaret Ann (Herring) Newman, his mother, whose home was located bordering Middle Fork Creek near the Jefferson County line.  On the 15th of January 1878, Margaret Newman then deeded 150 acres of land in Section 5, T7N, R2E of Franklin County of her son, Benjamin Newman.  This tract of land was part of her inheritance from her father, Aaron Herring.  She had inherited this tract of land following the death of Aaron Herring on the 5th of April in 1874 and the subsequent settling of his estate in the probate court of Franklin County.  Having been Part of Aaron Herring’s plantation, this tract of land was located near the head of Morgan’s Fork Creek and bordered the Jefferson County line, north of the village of Hamburg.  The 1880 Population Census Record indicates that Ben and Sarah Newman had moved to their new tract of land and had established their own home.
At this new home, Benjamin Newman operated a small, self-sustaining livestock farm consisting mostly of a sizable herd of hogs, some cattle, and chickens.  He also grew an annual vegetable garden near the house.
Benjamin Newman’s principle occupation, however, was that of carpentry, and he is known to have built a number of houses in the Franklin - Jefferson County area and some store buildings, including onces at Hamburg and McNair.  He also built the two-storied house in which he and his family lived north of the village of Hamburg, and which was near the older home of his grandfather, Aaron Herring.  Following the marriage of his eldest son, George P. Newman, Benjamin Newman and his son worked together to build a home for his son’s family.  This home was located in or near Section 32, T8N, R1E of Jefferson County on the road which led from the Newman house to the village of McNair.  Ben Newman was also skilled at making household furniture and kitchen utensils.
For a considerable time, Sarah Jane (Knox) Newman suffered from a skin cancer located on her cheek, and finally on the 22nd day of August 1896, she passed away after it had advanced considerably.  Her burial in the New McNair Cemetery at the village of McNair in Jefferson County was among the earliest burials in that cemetery.  Late in the night of August 12th 1903, Benjamin S. Newman passed away in his home with his children at his bedside.  He was buried next to his wife in the cemetery at McNair, Jefferson County, Mississippi.