Grayson County TXGenWeb

Newton Hampton Woodring

Newton Woodring was an engineer on the MK&T Railroad, living in Denison, Texas, from about 1887 until his retirement around 1929. In short, he occupied a very prestigious position in a railroad town for more than forty years.

Newton was born about 1859 (or 1851) in Pennsylvania. His parents, also born in Pennsylvania, were Jeremiah C. Woodring Sr. and Susanna J. (born January 1831). In addition to Newton, the couple had at least two other children: Dewitt Clinton Woodring (1856–?) and Jeremiah C. "Jerry" Woodring Jr. (1858–?). Jeremiah Sr. died before 1870, when the census found Susanna remarried to Charles Kinley, a French immigrant, and living in Hazleton, Pennsylvania.

In 1880, Newton was living in Alexis, Nebraska, where he worked on a railroad bridge. Seven years later, in 1887, he was an engineer on the Katy and living in Denison.

Though the chronology is murky, Newton's brother Dewitt Clinton also migrated to Nebraska, and he stayed there. Clinton and wife, Eudora "Dora" Perry Woodring, were living in Lincoln by 1899, when the City Directory listed him as bridge superintendent for the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad. The Denison Sunday Gazetteer of May 1, 1892, wrote: "Mrs. Newton Woodring, wife of Engineer Woodring, expects to leave in a short time for Lincoln, Neb., to spend two or more months." (That was Newton's first wife, name unknown, who died in 1895. Perhaps she was from Lincoln.) Moreover, living with Dewitt Clinton in Lincoln in 1899 was his mother, "Susan, widow of Jerry."

The third brother, Jerry Junior, was a barber in Denison by 1887, with a shop including "bath rooms" at 406 West Main Street. He married and lived at 622 West Owings Street. He disappeared from the Denison City Directories between 1903 and 1907.

Newton and his first wife lived at 618 West Owings, near Jerry, in 1891. After his wife died, Newton lived on the third floor of the Ford Building (231 West Main) in 1896. In 1899, he remarried, a woman named Mary (born in Kentucky around 1875), and had two children: Marjorie "Margie" Woodring (1897–1985) and Clinton Woodring (1903–?). By 1903, the family, including Newton's mother Susan, had moved to 704 West Hull Street, where they remained until 1913.

700-704 West Hull Street.
Residence of N. Woodring."
Robinson, Frank M., comp. Industrial Denison. [N.p.]: Means-Moore Co., [ca. 1909]. Page 77.

700-704 West Hull Street at the corner of Barrett Avenue.
This house originally sat on 160 acres.
Note the 12-over-1 windows.
Photo by Brian Christoper Hander, July 2010. Used by permission.

They moved briefly to 831 West Chestnut Street, then settled down at 527 West Crawford Street.

The 1940 Census listed Newton as retired. He passed away on August 5, 1946. He was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Denison. Mary joined him there on September 26, 1949.

Son Clinton lived in Seattle, married a woman named Beulah H., and in 1940 was working as a general agent for a railroad. Daughter Marjorie became a gifted musician and reported herself as divorced in 1930. At the end of her life, she lived in Pennsylvania.

Source: Davis, Ellis Arthur and Edwin H. Grobe, editors. The Encyclopedia of Texas, Book, [1921 - 1922]; digital images, (http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth21069/ : accessed September 03, 2013), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, http://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries, Denton, Texas.