[p. 833] member of the Select Council of New Castle, chief of the fire department of Mahoningtown and a member of the fire commission of New Castle, has been in business as a general merchant, on the corner of Liberty and Wabash Streets, since 1903. He was born at Mahoningtown, January 3, 1858, and is a son of Archibald and Mary (Frisbee) Newell.
The grandfather, Archibald Newell, died in Ireland, and there the second Archibald was born and reared to the age of nineteen years. He then crossed the Atlantic Ocean to Canada, later made his way to Pennsylvania and there became a member of the engineering corps that assisted in making the survey for the old Erie Canal. He later established his home at Mahoningtown, where he embarked in a general mercantile business, about 1841, being one of the pioneers in that line in the village. While residing there he married Mary Frisbee, who was a daughter of Samuel Frisbee. Mr. Frisbee was of New England birth and was an early settler in Taylor Township, Lawrence County. He built the first substantial steamboat ever constructed in Pittsburg, having been sent there by Robert Fulton. The Kate Frisbee was originally intended for service on the Sacramento River, in California, and was taken there by a sailing ship around Cape Horn, but for some reason it was never devoted to that service, and after its return it was utilized for many years on the Lower Mississippi River. His second wife was Jane Davis, whose family owned all the land around the present village of Davisville, Allegheny County. Mr. Frisbee owned a farm, purchased from a Dr. Pollock, which now adjoins West Pittsburg, but he was not satisfied with the quiet of an agricultural life and shortly afterward returned to Pittsburg, where his activity continued until his death.
Archibald Newell was the leading merchant at Mahoningtown for many years. In 1870 he built the store building that his son, A. D. Newell, now occupies, and continued in business for some ten years following, when he retired. At this time his sons, A. D. and J. D. F. Newell, took over the business and three years later A. D. sold his interest. For a short time he lived in Colorado, but made no permanent investments there and after his return to Pennsylvania he worked for his uncle, J. D. Frisbee, at Connellsville, for about eight years. In 1883 his brother, J. D. F. Newell, died and Mr. Newell took charge of the business. It has been reorganized, with I. R. Zaniser as a partner, and is now conducted under the firm style of A. D. Newell & Company.
Mr. Newell is the only survivor of the family of six children born to his parents. His father died at the age of seventy-six years and the mother when aged eighty-two years. She was well preserved and when almost eighty years of age did not hesitate taking a trip to California alone. Mr. Newell married Wilhelmina Lemley, who is a daughter of G. Lemley, who is vice-president and manager of the Youngstown Carriage Works. They have one daughter, Elizabeth C.
Mr. Newell has been very active in public life and is a leading Democrat. He was postmaster at Mahoningtown during the second administration of President Cleveland. In the spring of 1908 he was elected a member of the Select Council. He was the first man appointed chief of the fire department of Mahoningtown. Mr. Newell is a Knight Templar Mason.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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