In 1981, my father and I literally stumbled over Arthur's grave in the "Hunt Family Cemetery," located on property that he had given to daughter Catherine and her husband, William G. Hunt. Later I found this entry in the Hawkinsville Dispatch dated 8 Mar 1888: "We regret to announce the death of Mr. Arthur Newman, a clever and good old citizen of this county. He died very suddenly with heart disease at his home three miles below Hawkinsville on Tuesday afternoon, March 6th, 1888. He had been up attending to business during the day, and had undertaken of a hearty dinner. His daughter, Mrs. Sheriff Hunt, reached him a few minutes before death. Mr. Newman was seventy-three years of age, and had lived in Pulaski County about forty-five years (sic). His remains were buried this [Wednesday] afternoon in the family burial ground near his old home three miles above Hawkinsville."

Arthur came with his family to Pulaski between 1820 and 1830; they were most likely in Sampson County, North Carolina, as of the 1820 census and in Pulaski when the 1830 census was enumerated. Arthur was the youngest of three, possibly four, boys and had a younger sister Sarah who never married. When he was about 24, Arthur married Canzada Shiver Cherry, daughter of Abraham Shiver and widow of George Cherry. They had 11 children together.

1. Catherine Newman, b. 14 Jul 1841; m. William G. Hunt
2. James Newman, b. ca 1842; d. 29 June 1862, Savage's Station, Virginia
3. Abraham William Newman, b. 7 Jun 1843; m. Lucy Fenn, Mollie Conner
4. Jane G. Newman, b. ca 1846
5. Georgianne Newman, b. ca 1847; m. William Stephen Daniels
6. Susan Newman, b. ca 1850; m. John K. Partin
7. Anna Newman, b. ca 1852; m. W. Hawkins Kinchen
8. Nancy (Nannie) C. Newman, b. ca 1855; m. Remus R. Wood
9. Mary Rebecca Newman, b. ca 1857; d. 16 Dec 1880
10. Arthur John Newman, b. Mar 1860; m. Emma Love
11. Fanny Alice Newman, b. ca 1861; m. James S. Frink

I know nothing about Jane Newman, who is not mentioned in Arthur's will. The last record I found of her was the 1860 census, when she was 13. It's probable that she died before 1870 as I found no marriage record for her in Pulaski County, and there is no mention of her in the Hawkinsville Dispatch compilations covering 1870-1888, which there most likely would have been had she married and died elsewhere, given the number of other items related to Arthur and his family in that publication.

James enlisted in Co. G, 10th Georgia Infantry on 20 May 1861 and died in the battle at Savage's Station, Virginia, on 29 June 1862. Arthur submitted a claim for settlement on 11 Apr 1863. Abe served with served with Co. G, 5th Georgia Reserves as a second lieutenant in 1864 and was paroled in Apr 1865.

Canzada died in October 1880 after having been an invalid for many years. Three of hers and Arthur's adult children - Anna, Rebecca and John (Arthur Jr.) - died within days of each other in mid-December of the same year, victims of the typhoid epidemic sweeping the area. Alice's marriage to James Frink occurred on November 28th, a life-affirming event in the midst of so much tragedy. John's widow, Emma Love Newman, remarried 23 Jul 1882, to William Chancey.

Arthur remarried in 1881 to Martha Sanders, and was widowed again in 1885. From the 19 Mar 1885 Hawkinsville Dispatch: "Mrs. Martha Newman, wife of Mr. Arthur Newman, of this county, died very suddenly at their home five miles below Hawkinsville on Saturday night last of apoplexy, aged forty-nine years..."

In his will, Arthur left bequests to his surviving children Catherine, A. W., Georgianna, Susan and Alice, as well as to his son-in-law Hawkins Kinchen and granddaughter Laura Kinchen. Arthur also provided for his sister Sarah's lifetime support from his farm on Big Creek in Pulaski, to be operated by his executor.

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