biography
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1800–67)
|
| biography:
| Agriculturist, born in Burlington Co, New Jersey, USA. By his mid-20s he was managing two farms in Springfield, PA so successfully that he opened a confectionery shop and sold ice-cream made from his dairy surplus. Active in the state and national Agricultural Society, he urged Congress to establish a department of agriculture, and in 1861 President Lincoln appointed him supervisor of the agricultural division of the Patent Office. The next year Congress created the Department of Agriculture with Newton as its first commissioner. In his annual reports he emphasized the importance of weather and climate to agriculture. He died from the effects of a sunstroke he received while working in the department's experimental field. |
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