Rev. Alexander Heritage Newton

1852 Tools of the Trade

Alexander Heritage Newton is the only Black youth bound out by the court to be an apprentice to an artisan trade. He was bound out to Jacob G. Gooding, a white man who is also an enslaver, to learn the bricklayer's and plasterer's trade. Newton is painfully aware of the regime of slavery and his status as a second-class citizen.

1854 Acts of Resistance

Newton was placed under Henry E. Bryan, an enslaved artisan hired from another owner. Rather headstrong as a typical adolescent, Alexander Newton defied an order from Bryan and got into a scuffle with him. For that, he was punished severely with 39 lashes by his employer Jacob Gooding. Thirty-nine lashes was the maximum allowed under the apprenticeship code. This whipping put him out of work for three weeks. Newton further resisted and said, "I suppose I could have gone to work sooner, but I was determined that my punishment cost my employer something as well as myself." Newton's experiences sparked his innate desire for liberation and to lift his people from oppression.

1854 A Daring Escape on that Mystic Train "I Was Deeply Interested in this Means of Travel"

Alexander H. Newton, "I tried to get all the passengers for this railroad that I could find." After Newton's foreman Henry E. Bryan disobeyed his master and was threatened with whipping, Newton helps Bryan escape to freedom by dressing him in women’s clothing to get him through town and hid him in a safe house for a week before sending him to the North. “There was a most diligent search made for the slave in the country. A reward was offered, and he was advertised, but all to no avail. He could not be found high or low. At last things quieted down and we found opportunity to get him on the “mystic train” and send him to a chime where he enjoyed his freedom. He wrote, “This was indeed a daring attempt of mine, but it was in me to do it with a great deal of delight. And from that day to this, I have been proud of this one feat of my boyhood life which was on the side of right and humanity."

July 4, 1857 Newton Leaves the South

Alexander H. Newton leaves New Bern for Beaufort, NC and found a job as a cook on a ship heading to New York. In NYC he reunites with his mother who was already there raising money to buy her husband's freedom with the leading abolitionists of the era. He met Robert Hamilton, Black newspaper publisher of The Anglo African and his future father in-law, who found him a job in his trade. In New York, Newton also went to school and attended A.M.E. Churches lead by pioneer Black preachers who made a significant impression on him.

June 28, 1860 Alexander H. Newton Marries Olivia Hamilton

Marriage announcement in the Black owned newspaper The Anglo African of Alexander Newton and his first wife Olivia Hamilton (1839-1868). Olivia and Alexander had two children a daughter named Ada Augusta and a son named William Alexander Newton. They lived in New York and later Connecticut while Rev. Newton traveled the country on ministerial duties, his daughter Ada often accompanied him. Olivia passed away in 1868.

July 1863 Alexander H. Newton is an Eyewitness to the New York Draft Massacre

In his own words he said, "There was a  riot  in New York City. The Colored people were being dreadfully treated, being stoned, killed, and shown how despised they were even in the North. An  orphan asylum  (Colored) was burned, having at that time three hundred children in it. I returned to Brooklyn under the command of General B. F. Butler, who had been ordered to put down the riot. While engaged in this mission I got into the very midst of the rioters. Soon they were after me. I ran through the streets of New York like a wild steer, while the rioters cried out, "Head the Nigger Off!" At length, I reached the New Haven boat which brought us safely to New Haven, Conn."

Enlistment in the 29th Regiment Connecticut Volunteers December 18, 1863

It was after two years into the war and after suffering heavy Union loss of life and needing manpower that African American men were officially allowed to enlist in the U.S. army. By late 1862 Congress did permit  African Americans to enlist, but only in separate all-Black regiments .

January 29, 1864 "If you rise and flourish, we shall rise and flourish.” Frederick Douglass' Speech to the 29th & 30th Connecticut Volunteers

The regiment formed and trained at a camp in the Fair Haven section of New Haven and was the state's  first all-African American regiment . Along with 54th and 55th Massachusetts Regiments, they were among the first all-Black Regiments in the country. These units were allowed to keep their state designation following the issue of General Order 143 by Congress that created the United States Colored Troops.  Frederick Douglass  delivered a speech to the 29th and 30th C.V. soldiers at their training camp in Fair Haven. Douglass said, "You are pioneers of the liberty of your race."

1863-1865 The 29th Connecticut Volunteers Head Into Battle

A.H. Newton served as Sergeant then Commissary Sergeant of the  29th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry . Pictured is unidentified 29th soldier and Daniel S. Lathrop (1846-1924) who served at the same rank., he was an 18 year old machinist native to New Haven when he enlisted.

July 30, 1864 Alexander H. Newton Courage Under Fire

He served throughout the rebellion between the states with distinction and survived many dangerous  engagements  including being wounded at the Battle of the Crater in Petersburg, Virginia in 1864. Recalling one of those battles Newton said, "a twenty-pound cannon ball coming towards me…through the smoke. It looked like it had been sent especially for me.”

June 1870 Rev Newton is Transferred to the Birthplace of the Klu Klux Klan

Newton said, "In June 1870 I was transferred to the South under the care of Bishop John M. Brown. I was sent to Pulaski, Tenn. This was about the time that the Klu Klux Klan was having its way in the South. These men were engaged in every kind of intimidation and cruelty in order to keep the Negroes from voting the Republican ticket. They would kill, torture, or do anything that came into mind in order that their purpose might be realized. At this time there were many Colored people holding office in the South. The unrest and the mental suffering of these times were as severe a strain almost as the period of the war itself. When I arrived at Pulaski, Tenn, I was introduced to what I might expect in the South. I presented my check to the baggage master for my trunk. He refused to take my trunk off the car, but threw it upon the platform in the roughest manner. A white man standing near, saw that I was very much surprised at such treatment and approaching me, asked if I did not like that kind of treatment and that if I did not he would proceed to give me some more of it. I told him that I had made no complaints at all. He asked me where I was going and what I was doing, and I was glad to slip away and find the Steward of the church. I related these things to him and he told me that I had acted wisely in being calm and making no fuss over the matter. He told me that the White folks were Klu Kluxing the Colored people without mercy and going-out of their way to find provocations for such devilish work. The Steward told me that I would have to be very careful as a minister in and out of the pulpit, that the Klu Klux Klan was especially after the preachers to force them to use their influence to make the Negroes vote the Democratic ticket in elections." The group was first formed in Tennessee in December 1865 by six soldiers who had fought with the Confederate States Army in the American Civil War.

June 1, 1876 Rev Alexander H. Newton Marries Again

Newton met Miss Lulu Campbell, secretary of the Sunday School of the Bethel A.M.E. Church in Little Rock, Arkansas when he was transferred there in 1875 by the A.M.E. Conference. Lulu and Alexander had two children together, son Garfield Newton, a scholar and minister and daughter Ella Newton, a Camden, NJ public schoolteacher and accomplished musician.

1871-1921 Rev. Newton was the Leading Minister of the A.M.E. Conference for 50 Years.

Reverend Alexander H. Newton pastored churches in the following states: New York, North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Always striving towards improvement and continuing education, he enrolled in Theology School at the age 72 and studied Hebrew, New Testament Greek and Psychology. He graduated with a Doctorate of Theology degree from Bible College in Philadelphia, PA.

1901 A New Burial Ground

 Mount Peace Cemetery  and Funeral Directing Company Incorporation Papers Filed. Alexander Heritage Newton was one of the original signatories for the establishment of this African American Cemetery located in Lawnside, New Jersey.

1910 "Out of the Briars of Slavery"

"I was born under the curse of slavery, surrounded by the thorns and briars of prejudice, hatred, persecution and the suffering incident to this fearful regime. I, indeed, came out of the briars torn and bleeding. I came out of poverty and ignorance." Rev. Dr. Alexander H. Newtown writes his autobiography titled, " Out of the Briars " which is published in 1910 by the African American publishing house the A.M.E Book Concern in Philadelphia, PA. In it he describes how his unwavering faith got him through some of the hardest times in his life; the Civil War and the untimely losses of many loved ones, including his first wife, his parents, his brother and three children who all predeceased him. His motives for writing it were to inform and inspire, especially the African American youth that anything was possible.

May 3, 1921 Viewing held for Rev. Alexander Heritage Newton

Rev Alexander Heritage Newton passed away on April 29, 1921 at 84 years old. Delegations representing fraternal, patriotic and religious societies attended the viewing of Rev. A.H. Newton at his home at 332 Washington Street in Camden, NJ on the evening of May 3, 1921. His funeral was the following day and interment was in Mount Peace Cemetery in Lawnside, NJ.

2008 Dedication 29th Colored Regiment Monument

 Criscuolo Park  in 1863 was a very different place than it is today. In the fall of that year, in the midst of the Civil War, more than 900 Black recruits for the 29th Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers mustered and trained to fight for their country on those grounds. One year earlier, the governor opposed enlisting Black troops, but as the war wore on, it became difficult to meet enlistment demands. As the first all-Black regiment in Connecticut, the troops of the 29th endured racism and discrimination. They received lower pay than white troops and were often ordered to the back of the corps. Still, the Regiment fought valiantly in several engagements in Virginia and the men of the 29th were the first infantry units to enter Richmond after it was abandoned by the Confederate Army. A few days later, they witnessed history when President Lincoln visited the city and the bloody war was over. Dedicated in 2008, the monument at Criscuolo Park commemorates the soldiers of the Connecticut 29th Colored Regiment C.V. Infantry. The memorial was designed by sculptor Ed Hamilton, who also created the Amistad Memorial in downtown New Haven.

September 30, 2022

The National Park Service National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program accepted the Alexander Heritage Newton Burial Site at Mount Peace Cemetery, owned and managed by Mount Peace Cemetery Association, as one of 17 new listings from the 44th round of applications, representing sites and programs in 13 states across the U.S. These new listings, alongside more than 700 sites, facilities, and programs already in the Network, provide insight into the diverse experiences of freedom seekers who bravely escaped slavery and allies who assisted them. This listing is only the sixth for the state of New Jersey. The submission for Rev. Alexander Heritage Newton Burial Site at Mount Peace Cemetery was researched and written by Preservationist and Historian Dolly L. Marshall.

332 Washington Street, former home of Rev. Alexander Heritage Newton

332 Washington Street named one of New Jersey's first Black Heritage Sites

In 2024, the site of the former home of Rev. Alexander Heritage Newton is a NJ Black Heritage site restoring African American contributions to the landscape.