Captain John W. Newman served in the engineer corps in the Civil War for the Confederacy. He lived in Kentucky after the war, and moved to Florida sometime in the mid-1880s. In 1892, he was employed by Henry Plant as a civil engineer for the Plant System, most likely with the South Florida Railroad. Newman was in charge of the Expedition as the engineer responsible for the survey. He would have been 43-47 years old at the time of the Expedition. He was assigned to mess No. 1.
When the Expedition party finally arrived in Miami, Newman stayed behind with a few of the men and some local hires to complete the survey that had been abandoned on April 1. Newman created a survey map or plats throughout the Expedition, and he probably maintained his own notes or diary during the trip. Although the map is referenced in multiple sources, the location of the original cannot be determined. At least one copy was given to Florida Land Commissioner Louis Wombwell, and another copy or copies were given as part of an affidavit that Newman submitted to the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1894.
After the Expedition, Newman became convinced that drainage of the Everglades was feasible and dedicated the rest of this life to this belief. In 1896, Newman moved from Sanford to Belleair. In the 1900s, he managed the state's drainage operations in South Florida, serving as Engineer for the Trustees of the Internal Improvement Fund. Between 1905 and 1911, he managed canal and dredge operations at locations such as Fort Lauderdale, New River, Caloosahatchee, and various points in the Everglades.
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For other topics referenced in the Expedition texts, please refer to the Index to Subjects and Names.
1892 Everglades Exploration Expedition : Three Digital Texts, 2015