Newton, Alexander Herritage

Newton was born in North Carolina, the son of free black woman and an enslaved father. As a child, he worked as a servant in North Carolina, until he relocated with his parents to New York in the 1850s. There he became educated and got married, before eventually enlisting in the Union army in 1863 as part of the 29th Connecticut, a regiment in the US Colored Troops. Newton was injured during the Battle of the Crater in July 1864, outside of Petersburg. After the Civil War, Newton became a minister in the AME church and wrote a memoir of his wartime experience, called "Out of the Briars." (By Matthew Pinsker)
Life Span
to
    Full name
    Alexander Herritage Newton
    Place of Birth
    Birth Date Certainty
    Exact
    Death Date Certainty
    Estimated
    Gender
    Male
    Race
    Black
    Sectional choice
    North
    Origins
    Slave State
    No. of Spouses
    2
    No. of Children
    3
    Family
    Thaddeus A. Newton (father), Mary Newton (mother), Olivia Augusta Hamilton (first wife), Lulu L. Newton (second wife), Ada A. Newton Cooper (daughter)
    Occupation
    Military
    Clergy
    Relation to Slavery
    Free black
    Church or Religious Denomination
    Methodist
    Other Affiliations
    Masons
    Military
    Union Army
    How to Cite This Page: "Newton, Alexander Herritage," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/32652.