Early Monrovia Structures Research

Levi Jackson

Birthdate:

Levi Jackson Newlan was born in 1830 in New York, probably Broome  County.  His father Frederich, born in 1796  in Vermont, was a  blacksmith, a trade that Levi practiced most of his life.  Levi's  mother, Fanny, was born in 1798 in New York.  There are a total of six  living children listed in the 1850 census, and Levi was the third  oldest.

There are no other records for Levi until 1863, when  he is listed in the New York draft registration records.  His record  gives his occupation as "blacksmith" and indicates he is married.  Other  Civil War records show that Levi Jackson Newlan served as a farrier (a  person who shoes horses) in Company A, 25th New York Cavalry, and that  he mustered out of the military on June 27, 1865.

On July 23,  1867, Newlan receives letters of patent for a hand-tool that he has  invented.  The tool is used for cutting or trimming bolts.

The  next record, the Kansas census record for 1875, indicates he, his wife  and two sons, Charles A. and Frank Eugene,  are living in Valley Falls,  Jefferson County, Kansas.

Sometime between 1881 and 1884, the  Newlans moved to Pasadena. The 1884 California Voter Registration lists  Levi and his two sons living there.  It is unclear if his wife Jane  moved with her husband and sons, and she may have died in Kansas. His  occupation and that of his son, Charles A., is given as "blacksmith",  while his other son is a harness maker.

In 1887, the town of  Monrovia,  just a few miles east of Pasadena was established, and Levi  Newlan purchased Levi had purchased Lot 19, Block A, in the Town of  Monrovia, and built a dwelling, valued at $300 on it.  The address for  this lot was 225 E. Lime Avenue, but the house is now longer standing.   The voter registration for 1896 lists his occupation as "Tobacco and  cigar dealer", but the 1900 census indicates he was working as a  blacksmith again.  Tax and voter records indicate that Levi and his son  lived together on Lime Avenue at least until 1900.

Levi  Jackson Newlan most likely died in 1906.  Tax records for 1907 lists the  property being owned by his estate.  There are no records for him being  buried at the local cemetery, so the exact date of death is uncertain.

There  is an entry in a 1920 Monrovia city directory listing Charles A. Newlan  living at 109 E. Orange (now Colorado) Avenue.  This address was the  location of a boarding house.  There are no other records and it doesn't  seem as if Charles Newlan ever married.

Records show Frank  Eugene Newlan lived for a few years in Monrovia, but  by 1896, he was  living in Merced, California, and working as a harness maker.  He moved  around over the years living in Escondido, the Imperial Valley, Los  Angeles, and then back to Pasadena.  He died on September 1, 1941, at  the age of 81.  There is no record of his having married.