Reports of Admiralty Cases Argued and Adjudged in the District Courts of the United States: For the District of Michigan, Northern District of Ohio, ... of Louisiana, From 1842 to 1857 1857
(Originally published in 1857. This volume from the Cornel...)
Originally published in 1857. This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies. All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume.
John Stoughton Newberry was an American lawyer, manufacturer, and congressman. He was the first provost marshal of Michigan.
Background
John Stoughton Newberry was born on November 18, 1826 in Sangerfield, New York, United States. He was the son of Elihu and Rhoda (Phelps) Newberry. He was a descendant of Thomas Newberry who emigrated from Devonshire, England, to Dorchester, Massachussets, in 1634. Oliver and Walter Loomis Newberry were John's uncles. Elihu moved from Oneida County westward, finally settling at Romeo, Michigan.
Education
Newberry entered the University of Michigan, took high rank as a student, and graduated in 1847.
Career
Having acquired a practical knowledge of civil engineering, Newberry spent two years with the Michigan Central Railroad. Then, after a year of travel, he entered a law office in Detroit, and was admitted to the bar in 1853. He was soon recognized as an expert in admiralty cases and in 1857 published Reports of Admiralty Cases in the Several District Courts of the United States.
President Lincoln appointed him provost-marshal of Michigan in 1862, with the rank of captain of cavalry, an office which he held until 1864, during which time he organized two drafts.
Although this venture led him to abandon the practice of law, it developed into a highly profitable enterprise and formed the basis of his large personal fortune, estimated at his death to be from three to four million dollars. The firm soon had branches in London, Ontario, and St. Louis, and employed some five thousand men.
As investor he held large interests in banks, factories, and centrally located Detroit real estate. So wide and varied were these holdings that at his death he was a director in almost every local industry. With the exception of his term as provostmarshal, he held public office but twice.
In 1862 he was elected to the Detroit board of education, and in 1878 he won the Republican nomination for representative to Congress from the First District, and was elected. He served on several important committees and was chairman of the committee on commerce. After one term he retired, feeling that his business interests demanded his full attention.
He was interested in philanthropic projects and one of his last undertakings was the establishment, together with James McMillan, of the Grace Homeopathic Hospital, to which Newberry gave $100, 000. His will contained bequests of $650, 000 to institutions and charities.
(Originally published in 1857. This volume from the Cornel...)
Religion
A Congregationalist in his youth, Newberry later joined the Jefferson Avenue Presbyterian Church, where he was noted for regular attendance and his stanch support of church activities.
Politics
Newberry had supported and voted the Whig ticket, but upon the formation of the Republican party he joined forces with it and thereafter remained a stanch supporter.
Connections
In 1855 Newberry married Harriet Newell Robinson, who died in 1856 leaving one son; on October 6, 1859, he married Helen Parmelee Handy and to this union were born two sons.