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Our Genealogy Helper

Introduction ...

We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:

  • That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
  • We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
  • On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.

By learning about Newton (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.

As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Newton. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.

Name Variations for Newton ...

When searching records, keep in mind that names and their spelling can change over time. Our sources include documents like maps, railroad schedules, Travel, Express and Shipping Guides. Many of these documents date from the 1800's and it's common to find spelling differences.

In past government published Postal Guides, Newton was referred to as Newton Courthouse.

You might be interested in other communities that are also named Newton. More information can be found on our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Newton.

If you have information about these names (such as the reason for the change, date of change, the origin of the name), please Contact Us.

For more information about how community names might have been affected by the Board of Geographic Names (BGN), see our page about Placename Rules.

Neighboring Parishes/Counties ...

When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring parishes/counties.

For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the southwest corner of their home county. During their lives, most hospitals were in the next county to the west. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the south.

So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring parishes/counties instead of the county in which they lived:  their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the west contained birth and death records; the county to the south contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring parishes/counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.

If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.

Newton is located in Newton County and is the County Seat.

To see how the shape of Texas' counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.

The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Newton County: Beauregard (LA), Calcasieu (LA), Sabine (LA), Vernon (LA), Jasper, Orange & Sabine.

Below are the parishes/counties that are near Newton. For each of these parishes/counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Newton:

  • Newton County     (The home county of Newton)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Newton, with the one closest to Newton listed first.
    • Shanklerville
      (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
      • Shanklerville is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shanklerville
    • Wiergate
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Bon Wier
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
    • Hughes ‑ Historic
      (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
      • Hughes is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hughes
    • Burkeville
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
    • Bleakwood
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
      • Bleakwood is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleakwood
    • Call
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
    • South Toledo Bend
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the north)
      • South Toledo Bend is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Toledo Bend
    • Toledo
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
      • Toledo is located in Newton County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toledo
  • Jasper County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Newton, with the one closest to Newton listed first.
    • Kirbyville
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
    • Jasper
      (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Call Junction
      (20 miles [32.2 km] to the southwest)
      • Call Junction is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Call Junction
    • Beech Grove
      (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
      • Beech Grove is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Grove
    • Sam Rayburn
      (22 miles [35.4 km] to the northwest)
    • Browndell
      (23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
      • Browndell is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Browndell
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 204 people
    • Harveytown
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northwest)
      • Harveytown is located in Jasper County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harveytown
  • Sabine County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Newton, with the one closest to Newton listed first.
    • Fairmount
      (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
      • Fairmount is located in Sabine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
    • Brookeland
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
    • Mason
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the north)
      • Mason is located in Sabine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mason
    • Pineland
      (30 miles [48.3 km] to the northwest)
  • San Augustine County
    • Powell
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the northwest)
      • Powell is located in San Augustine County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Powell
  • Tyler County
    • The following are listed by their distance from Newton, with the one closest to Newton listed first.
    • Town Bluff
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
      • Town Bluff is located in Tyler County
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Bluff
    • Spurger
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Beauregard Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Newton, with the one closest to Newton listed first.
    • Merryville
      (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southeast)
    • Newlin
      (23 miles [37 km] to the southeast)
      • Newlin is located in Beauregard Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Newlin
    • Singer
      (24 miles [38.6 km] to the southeast)
    • DeRidder
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • DeRidder is located in Beauregard Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for DeRidder
      • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,521 people
      • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for DeRidder <1>
    • Ludington
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the east)
      • Ludington is located in Beauregard Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ludington
  • Sabine Parish (LA)
    • Rock ‑ Historic
      (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northeast)
      • Rock is located in Sabine Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock
  • Vernon Parish (LA)
    • The following are listed by their distance from Newton, with the one closest to Newton listed first.
    • Evans
      (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
    • Savage Fork
      (26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
      • Savage Fork is located in Vernon Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Savage Fork
    • Pinewood
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
      • Pinewood is located in Vernon Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Pinewood
    • Rosepine
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the east)
    • Elmwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Elmwood is located in Vernon Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood

For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Newton, see our County-by-County Page for Newton.

Cemeteries Near Newton ...

Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Newton.

This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.

Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Newton - one of the links might be able to help.

If not found below, our Cemetery List for Newton covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.

The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Newton, with the one closest to Newton listed first.

  • Wilkinson Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Big Spring Cemetery
    (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Odom Cemetery
    (7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
  • Kyle Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Herrin Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Davis Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Griggs Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the northeast)
  • Shanklerville Community Cemetery
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
  • St. Johns Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Simmons Cemetery
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Hughes Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
  • Hughes Cemetery
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)
  • Continue List   (122 more) ...
    • Wilson Cemetery
      (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Whitman Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Inman Cemetery
      (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)

Nearby Communities in 1895 ...

We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<4>

The Rand McNally Atlas shows that Newton had a population of 85 people in 1895 with a post office and no railroad service. In 2020, Newton had a population of 2,329 people.

These communities are listed based on their distance from Newton, with the one closest to Newton listed first.

  • Farrsville
    (9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)
    • Farrsville is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Farrsville
  • Bleakwood
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the south)
    • Bleakwood is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bleakwood
  • Burkeville
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Belgrade
    (12 miles [19.3 km] to the southeast)
    • Belgrade is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belgrade
  • Erin
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
    • Erin is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Erin
  • Jasper
    (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Magnolia Springs
    (18 miles [29 km] to the southwest)
    • Magnolia Springs is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Magnolia Springs
  • Beech Grove
    (21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
    • Beech Grove is located in Jasper County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Beech Grove
  • Fairmount
    (23 miles [37 km] to the north)
    • Fairmount is located in Sabine County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fairmount
  • Toledo
    (24 miles [38.6 km] to the northeast)
    • Toledo is located in Newton County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Toledo
  • Brookeland
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the northwest)
  • Town Bluff
    (25 miles [40.2 km] to the west)
    • Town Bluff is located in Tyler County
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Town Bluff
  • Continue List   (4 more) ...
    • Spurger
      (27 miles [43.5 km] to the southwest)
    • Caney
      (28 miles [45.1 km] to the northeast)
      • Caney is located in Vernon Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caney
    • Elmwood
      (29 miles [46.7 km] to the northeast)
      • Elmwood is located in Vernon Parish (LA)
      • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elmwood

We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Newton. See our List of 1890's Communities around Newton.

Newspapers Published in the Vicinity of Newton ...

An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).

To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.

Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 17 newspapers that have been published in the area around Newton.

We have organized these newspapers into two lists:

  • A Local Newspaper List - focusing on the papers published in the immediate area of Newton. There are actually two parts to this list - papers printed in the immediate area of Newton and those printed in the larger area surrounding Newton.
  • An Extended Newspaper List - a longer list, sorted by paper name and containing those papers published within 15 miles [24.1 km]<2> of Newton.

Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

When we do our genealogical research, we start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These professional and volunteer websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.

To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Newton:

Footnotes ...

<1>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<2>Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Newton) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'.
<3>The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com.
<4>We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Newton, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy.