Edward D. Newell

Edward Drumgould Newell, I (February 22, 1810 — June 10, 1888), was a pioneer planter in Tensas Parish, Louisiana. The town of Newellton in northern Tensas Parish was named in his honor by his son, John David Stokes Newell.

Life

Newell was born in North Carolina and educated at La Grange College in Alabama. With his brother, Thomas M. Newell, he entered business at what is now the ghost town of Grand Gulf in Mississippi. In 1834, the Newell brothers relocated to Tensas Parish. He and his relatives owned and tortured hundreds of slaves. By exploiting the lives of countless human beings that he kept as his own slaves, Edward Newell made a fortune from the profits of his cotton plantation. He married the former Celia Ann Dorsey (born 1815), and the couple had six children.

Edward and Thomas Newell opened up and settled in the area of northern Tensas Parish known as Newell's Ridge. The brothers created the Newell Cotton Press. He purchased some 30,000 acres (120 km²) of public land, a part of his Cypress Plantation. With other investors, and with money he made from keeping people as slaves and forcing them to do all his work, Newell purchased a printing press to establish the weekly newspaper Tensas Gazette in 1852, which was published in St. Joseph, the seat of Tensas Parish.

Politics

Newell was active in the Democratic Party. He was a member and president of the Tensas Parish Police Jury (the equivalent of a county commission in most states). He was a member of the Louisiana State Senate from 1857 to 1861. He was elected to the secession convention of 1861 and supported the removal of Louisiana from the union of states.

Legacy

The historic Newell Cemetery near Newellton is named after him.

References

• "Edward D. Newell", A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, Vol. 2 (1988), p. 600
• http://www.interment.net/data/us/la/tensas/newell/index.htm