The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 189 

JOHN MILES NEWMAN.

John Miles Newman has taken many progressive steps leading to the development
of the section of Kittitas county in which he makes his home. He was one of the
founders and promoters of the town of Thorp, has been actively identified with
ranching interests and also with industrial activity as a blacksmith. fie has
prospered in his undertakings and his progressiveness has placed him with the
leading business men of his section. He was born in Sullivan county, Missouri,
August 10, 1851, a son of Michael P. and Olive (Thurlow) Newman, who in 1859
removed from Missouri to Texas, where the death of the mother occurred. The
father, who was a blacksmith by trade, afterward took the family back to
Missouri and in 1864 he crossed the plains with ox teams and established his
home in Union county, Oregon. In 1865 he removed to Silverton, Oregon, where he
resided until 1870 and then became a resident of Benton county, that state,
remaining within its borders to the time of his demise.

In the public schools John Miles Newman acquired his education and in 1878 he
came to the Kittitas valley and purchased a ranch two miles south of Thorp. In
1882 he bought ranch property adjoining Thorp, comprising one hundred and sixtv
acres of land, and in 1896 he took up his abode in the suburbs of Thorp, where
he has since resided. He was one of those who laid out the town of Thorp, the
town site covering a part of land owned by Mr. Newman and by Frank Martin and
Milford Thorp. All of the land was deeded to Mr. Newman, who then deeded it to
the purchasers. The town was named in honor of Mortimer F. Thorp, who was one of
the first settlers of the locality. A postoffice had previously been
established that was called Thorp, and when the town was laid out, Mr. Newman
called it Thorp in honor of this early pioneer, Mr. Newman was also the first
man to advocate the raising of grain without water in this part of the country
and interested other people in trying the experiment, which was profitably
followed. He was also for a long period identified with blacksmithing,
conducting a shop at Thorp until 1905.

In January, 1873. Mr. Newman was united in marriage to Miss Isabel Forgey, a
daughter of John and Matilda Forgey, who crossed the plains in 1852 and settled
in Oregon. Mrs. Newman passed away in June, 1896, and in 1903 Mr. Newman was
again married, his second union being with Mrs. Edna (Hay) Hulbert, of Iowa, who
was born in Wisconsin. The children of the first marriage were ten in number:
Olive, the wife of J. A. Wilcox, a rancher of Kittitas county; Lillie, the wife
of John Marshall, an electrician now at Camp Lewis in government employ; Otis.
who makes his home at Alderton, Washington; Minnie, the wife of Charles Shull.
living at Ellensburg: Fred P.. a rancher of Kittitas county; Jacob, at home;
John A., who also follows ranching in Kittitas county; Jesse R., who is with a
machine gun company in the United States army; and two children who died in
infancy. By the second marriage there has also been one child, Esther, now
fifteen years of age, at home.

Mr. Newman is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, belonging to
Tanum Lodge, No. 155, at Thorp. His political allegiance is given to the
democratic party and he served for four years as county commissioner and also
as justice of the peace. He has likewise been a member of the school board and
he is interested in everything that has to do with the progress and welfare of
the community in which he makes his home. He is a well known pioneer who from
early days has resided in this section of Kittitas county, where he has a wide
acquaintance. He enjoys the high regard of all with whom he has been associated,
for his qualities measure up to high standards of manhood and citizenship. In
business, too, his course has been most commendable and his energy has brought
to him a very desirable measure of success.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.