Randolph Cornell Newton (1888-1954)

Last night, Mary asked for some family history bites. I've been contemplating the same for a while, but just couldn't get started. So let's see what happens.

Today, let us consider... Randolph Cornell Newton. Or as we called him back in our youth, Great Uncle Randolph. Daddy Andre' couldn't (or wouldn't) tell us kiddos much about him, just that he had "disappeared" from the family scene, sometime in the 1920's. In my youthful mind, I had him high-tailing it off to the Dark Continent, 'cause, where else do you go to disappear than deepest, darkest Africa. His true story, while not as mysterious as his legend, none-the-less ended up being quite a surprise.

Randy, as I think of him, was born back in 1888 In Little Rock. He was the last of six children born to Edward C. Newton and Mollie Hutt. He grew up at 609 Scott Street, a residential neighborhood about six blocks south of downtown Little Rock, where his daddy managed the local Western Union telegraph office, as well as the newfangled telephone system. Randy attended the local public schools and, along with the other family members, worshiped at the Christ Church Episcopal church, one block away at 509 Scott. 

While the Newton family could not be considered 'rich' they certainly were comfortable. I haven't been able to find a picture of the house on Scott street, but the home at 1814 Spring Street that Ed and Mollie retired to after the kids were gone was (and still is) a handsome edifice in a very nice neighborhood near the Governor's Mansion. I imagine that Randy, as the baby of the family, was probably spoiled, but I have no first hand knowledge of that. His latter life path certainly showed signs of self centered behavior, which may have been tolerated in his youth. He must have been a handsome lad, so it seems, as he became quite the 'chick-magnet' in his prime. 

Randolph married his first wife, Olive Merton of Saint Louis, Missouri, on August 19, 1909. Randy was 21, and Olive was two months shy of her 20th birthday. I haven't heard how they met, but I suspect it was in some dance hall or saloon, as both were musicians. According to Marin family tradition, this marriage was opposed by Olive's mother Elfreda (Elfie) Merton, who "apparently detested Randolph Cornell Newton." Effie probably didn't think that her daughter should marry a lowly musician, especially one that played that devil's music, Jazz.

Randy and Olive settled down in Saint Louis in a small house at 2747 Arlington, just one block away from the in-laws house. The 1910 census lists Randolph as a travelling salesmen of teas and coffees. When he was in Saint Louis, he and Olive would often play music in various jazz clubs around Saint Louis. Olive's daughter by her second husband, Olive Marin, told me that both Randolph and Olive were accomplished musicians. Olive had a wonderful voice and Randolph was a talented musician. She also related to me that Randy was a very handsome man, and that the girls couldn't keep their eyes off him. 

In August of 1911, just before the birth of their first son, the couple bought a house at 1609 Semple Street, on a narrow, 42 foot wide lot. The house was bought from Olive's aunt, Helen (nee Kahlert) Fahle. The neighborhood, in its day, might have been considered middle-class, but has aged badly. Many of the houses have been razed, including the Newton manse, but its neighbor is a handsome two-story brick craftsman-style home.

Olive and Randy had three son, all born in Saint Louis: Randolph Cornell, Jr. (b. October 29, 1911); David Arthur (b. August 2, 1913); and Merton Field (b. February 7, 1916).

On March 23, 1915, the house at 1609 Semple Street was sold by the couple to Olive's mother, Elfie M. [now] Giles. Apparently, the family moved to Little Rock around 1913. Olive filed for divorce there on March 19, 1917, on the grounds of Randolph's failure to support the family.

By the time of the 1920 census (enumerated January 2), Olive and her children had moved back to Saint Louis and were living with her mother at 2826 Semple Street. Boarding there was Gaston Marin, who later married Olive in 1924. The three boys unofficially took the surname Marin, which later caused some legal problems.

Long after the break-up, around 1948, a piece of silverware with an 'N' on it was found by Olive's daughter Olive Marin. It was revealed to her for the first time, by her Grandmother Elfie, that her older brothers were from that first marriage to Randolph Newton. 

Sharon Southerland, the step-daughter of Randolph Newton-Marin, wrote to me that her "stepfather often agonized about the breakup of his parents. marriage, as he was an adolescent at the time. He did not like Gaston Marin, his stepfather.... Effie Giles, the grandmother, apparently detested Randolph Cornell Newton and my stepfather directly blamed her for the breakup."

"The offspring from the Newton branch and the Marin branch," writes Southerland, "could not be more disparate. The Newton's were good-looking; the Marin's definitely were not. The Newton's were gifted. The Marin's not especially."

Randolph wrote in 1916 or before, in collabroration with Will Skidmore, a piano rag-time tune "Bug-House Rag." [Bug-House Rag. Randolph C. Newton & Will E. Skidmore. Kansas City, MO: Skidmore Music Company, 1916.] A copy of the sheet music was sold online sometime in 2006, before I was unaware of the tune, much less its existence in printed form. "The Bug House Rag," wrote Sharon Southerland in a 2010 e-mail to me, "was cheaply printed, black and white, with a picture of an inmate looking out through jailhouse bars." The sheet music was found in Mert (Newton) Marin's effects after his death, but Sharon had no idea what happened to all that music.

Randolph's co-writer, Will E. Skidmore was also a Little Rock native, born eight years before Randolph. He was most likely a classmate with one of Randolph's older siblings. As the Skidmore's and Newton's lived only three blocks apart, the two families probably knew each other. The two young men were possibly playing music together in Little Rock, and perhaps they even went on tours together. Skidmore moved to Kansas City for a while, which might explain why the song was published in Kansas City. 

We next find Randolph living in Tulsa, Oklahoma in September, 1918. He was a Credit Adjuster for the Continental Supply Co., whatever that might be. He was living at the Cordova Hotel with his nearest relative, Lillian Newton. Nothing more has been found about her, so I can only guess that she was a short-term wife.

On a Draft Registration Card dated September 12, 1918, Randolph Cornell Newton birth date was recorded as January 20, 1886, with his age 32. While this might have been an honest mistake, I suspect there was deceit by Randolph to make himself older in order to avoid the draft. By the guidelines set down by the Selective Service Act, all males aged 18 to 30 were required to register for military service.

Randolph Newton has not been found on the 1920 US census.

A postcard signed by the three sons, Randolph, David and Merton, living at 2826 Semple Ave. in Saint Louis, was sent to the Beaumont Newton's at Christmas-time 1921. Even though Randolph had divorced Olive, she was still keeping in contact with the Newton family.

In the April 1922 obituary notice for his mother Mollie Hutt Newton, Randolph is said to be at Indianapolis, Indiana. In the 1923 obituary notice of his father Edward C. Newton, Randolph is mentioned as being in Kentucky. Whether he is at Frankfort with his Uncle Charlie is unknown. When the family sold the parents handsome house on Spring Street in Little Rock, there was a deposition from Randolph, who was then living in New Orleans, Louisiana, approving the sale.

All these different locations suggest that Randolph was travelling a great deal, either as a salesman, or perhaps as a musician.

Family tradition finds him in Beaumont soon after 1923, where he married his third wife, Mary Durham of Port Arthur. Again, tradition says that he married her for her money. It is unknown to me when and where this marriage took place. 

In the 1930 census for Port Arthur, Jefferson Co., Texas, Mary Newton is listed as the head of household at 314 Sixth St, age 41, and widowed. She is running a boarding house at that address. Is is unknown when or if Mary and Randolph were ever officially divorced. 

We found the widow Mary, age 50, living in Lake Charles, Louisiana at the time of the 1940 census, owning a bar there. By 1941 Mary Newton is found owning the Newton Hotel on Pearl Street in Beaumont, Texas. Later on she was a owner of a bar on Railroad Avenue in Beaumont. In 1953 she is running Mary's Cafe at 605 Pine Street. She died in 1955 in Beaumont, still going by the last name of Newton, with one daughter, Mrs. Myrtle Harris, listed. 

While Randolph was in Beaumont, he and his brother Andre' went into business together selling paint spray guns, a new thing at the time. Around the same time, the sale of the parents Little Rock home took place, and the proceedings were split amongst the children. I seem to remember being told that each child received something like $1,000. 

According to family legend, Randolph somehow got hold of his brother Andre's share as well as the money for the spray gun business, and left town. In my conversations with my father Andre' and my Aunt Elizabeth, both pass on the legend of Randolph that, in his brief time down in Beaumont, stole the family fortune, and disappeared, with no further contact with the family. I have found no mention of any contact after that time.

I have no record of Randolph after 1923 and before 1930. By the time of the 1930 Federal census, Randolph Newton was living in Kansas City, Missouri with a fourth wife, Adele C. (last name unknown.) I have not found a official record for this marriage. Randolph, age 44 and Adele, age 48, are living at the Family Hotel, 601 East Armour Blvd. Randolph is a sales manager, selling paint and plaster.

Randolph married for a fifth time, on March 18, 1942 in Clay County, Missouri (which is just north of Kansas City), to Sallie E. Allen (nee Watson) who was born in 1889 and died in 1963. On the record, Randolph was "of Dallas, Dallas Co., Texas" and Sallie was of Houston, Harris Co., Texas. 

In his brother Andre' Hutt Newton's 1944 obituary, there was no mention of Randolph's whereabouts, but family rumor had it that he had moved to Massachussetts with his three sons. Family rumor obviously had it wrong. 

Randolph Newton was found in the Kansas City City Directory for 1945/47, listed as an Interviewer for The Palace (men's clothing) on Grand Ave and 12th. He was then residing at 3019 Montgall. A Mrs. Sally Newton was listed as living at 3017 Montgall, Apt. 7. Was this his last known wife?

On July 26, 1954 "Cornell R. Newton" (as written on the death certificate) died at 3403-1/2 Independence Ave., in Kansas City, Missouri. He was working in the credit department at Jenkins Music Co. His birth date was listed as January 20, 1888 in Richmond, Virginia. I think that his wife, Sallie Allen Newton, listed as the informant on the death certificate, may have been confused, or misinformed of his birthplace, as well as his parents, whom she listed as George Newton (not Edward C.) and Molly Hutt, both of who were of Little Rock at the time of Randolph's birth. Perhaps Randolph had mentioned to Sallie that the Newton's had come to Arkansas from Richmond. This is worth investigating.

Also of interest, the medical certification was listed as "Cause of Death unknown" and no autopsy was performed. In the box marked 'Accident, Suicide, Homicide' was listed "Natural?"

Randolph was buried in the Walnut Ridge Cemetery in Fayette, Howard Co., Missouri by his last wife, Sallie, who was also buried there in 1963. Sallie's family was from the area, which explains why they were buried so far from Kansas City.

Please send me corrections or additional information if you have it. Thanks!

(Copyright March 21, 2020)