Early Newton history
Drawing of the Teitgen Hotel and Residence, 1878, in Section 4 of Newton.
“At its January meeting of the year 1910, the Manitowoc County Historical Society was treated to a passing glimpse of Newton’s early days”, wrote August Eberhart, an early Newton township settler.
Newton, located in the southern half of Manitowoc County, was named after Sergeant John Newton, a revolutionary war hero who rescued ten American prisoners who were to be hanged by the British. In May 1780, Newton was taken prisoner after the surrender of Charleston and died soon afterwards of smallpox on board a British prison ship. The story was popularized by Mason Locke Weems, better known as Parson Weems (an American book agent and author who wrote the first biography of George Washington immediately after his death) in his school books in the early 19th century.
Drawing of the residence of Frank Truettner in Section 9 in Newton, 1878.
The Newton area was settled in 1846 by five families from a ship arriving at Sheboygan. Frank Truettner was considered the first settler. The township was officially formed in 1850 and at the time included Eaton and Liberty. Boundaries of the township were recorded on March 30, 1850 and are Highway F, Viebahn Street, Rangeline Road and Lake Michigan. A section of the town of Eaton was detached and added to Maple Grove in November, 1851. Liberty was detached November 16, 1857.
Settlement was established around the Truettner farm. Soon the town had a post office, blacksmith shop, a taverns, a store, and a dance hall. The Dumke brothers constructed the first sawmill and gristmill, powered by water from Pine Creek. As years went by, other farmsteads were established along with a church and cheese factory. Among the first settlers were C. Wernecke, F. Schmitz, C. Schmitz, H. Schmitz, H. Meyer, H. Hoefner, Peter Kraemer, A.F. Goldie, and Martin Shanahan.
The first school house was built in the early 1850s and was located between sections 4 and 9. It was a one-story building with basic construction and served the purpose until 1875 when a new building was created. In 1862 there were 101 children enrolled in the school.
An early citizen, Valentine Wintermeyer, had a sawmill near Silver Lake. He was known as one of the “literary guys”. As Dr. Louis Falge described him “he could not only rip off a lot of lumber but also a lot of poetry with equal facility. He conducted all the controversies in which he became involved, whether political or otherwise, in rhyme and rhythm and his effusions found vent in the German county paper.”
Five Schmitz brothers rounded up half a dozen musically inclined residents to form what is considered the ‘first official band’ of Manitowoc County. It was known as Schmitz’s Band and had great success. Reporter John Harmon had said “Schmitz’s group was brassy and noisy and often times both out of step and tune but people of the town of Newton loved their little band.” A singing society, also the first in Manitowoc County, was organized in 1860 by residents. They held their rehearsals at Brun’s Grove until 1877 when the society built a hall dedicated to Peter Strupp one of the town’s oldest and most respected residents.
The first post office was established in 1855 and called Newtonburg. Herman Meyer was the first postmaster. The area would later come to have 4 post offices: Newtonburg, Northeim, Timothy, and Clover. In December 1930, the remaining post office’s name was officially changed to Newton, at the request of Herman Eberhardt, who was the postmaster at the time. Everhard requested that the Postal Department change the name because the post office was in the Town of Newton, the bank was the Newton State Bank, the train depot was called Newton, and when trains approached the area, the conductor called out “Newton”.
In 1910, the population of Newton was 1,578 residents.