Cleric, educator, farmer, administrator.
Born in Oxford County, Upper Canada [now Ontario] on 5 February 1846, son of Enos Wolverton (1810-1893) and Harriet Newel Towl (?-1856), he served in the American Civil War until his discharge from northern forces in May 1863. He returned to Canada and attended the University of Toronto, graduating in 1874. Three years later, he completed studies in Theology and served as a Baptist cleric at Onondaga, New York. In 1877, he became Professor of Mathematics at Woodstock College, succeeding Samuel James McKee, and eventually became its Principal. He established a meteorological observatory at the college. He threatened to resign from the position when the college's Theology Department was moved to McMaster University and its Ladies Department was discontinued and re-established at the Moulton Ladies College in Toronto. He remained on and established a Manual Training School, supposedly the first of its kind in Canada.
In June 1891, he was appointed the President of Bishop College at Marshall, Texas where he was interested in the development of agricultural methods. He served in the position until 1898 when he returned to Canada. He came to Manitoba, served for a short time at Baptist churches in Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie, and taught Doukobors who had just arrived from Russia. In the Spring of 1899, he visited Samuel James McKee in Brandon and decided to move there. He met John Nesbitt Kirchhoffer who showed a farm near the city that had been owned by Clifford Sifton. He bought it for $13,000 and brought his family back, arriving in June 1899. He assisted in forming Brandon College and in raising funds to construct buildings on its campus. In 1903, the federal government sent him to England, Ireland, and Scotland to lecture on conditions in western Canada, to encourage immigration. He was the President and Manager of the Brandon Binder Twine Company for a time.
In the spring of 1906, he sold the Sifton Farm and its implements, horses, and cattle to John D. Ross for about $40,000 and succeeded Spencer Argyle Bedford as Superintendent of the Brandon Experimental Farm. He resigned the position in early 1907 when the necessity of getting permission from the government before undertaking new initiatives at the facility proved irksome. He moved to the fruit-growing Kootenay area of British Columbia, following a son who had moved there in 1904. He became involved in land and development projects, remaining at Nelson for 22 years. He and his son organized the Kootenay Motor Boat Company that produced high-powered motorboats.
He was married twice, first on 23 July 1879 to Isabella Cowie (1854-1890, daughter of John Cowie) and they had three children: Alfred Newton Wolverton (1880-1954), Harold Alonzo Wolverton (1888-1966), and Bella Rose Wolverton (1890-1959). On 4 July 1893, he married Frances Lucy Matthews (1860-1947) and they had five children: Dora Ann Wolverton (1894-?), Jasper Matthews Wolverton (1896-1977), Frances Mary Wolverton (1898-?), Elizabeth “Bessie” Wolverton (1900-?), and Alice Maude Wolverton (1903-?).
In recognition of his service to Baptist academic institutions, he received an honorary doctorate from McMaster University (1907).
He died at Vancouver, British Columbia on 31 January 1932.
Birth registrations [Elizabeth Wolverton, Alice Maude Wolverton], Manitoba Vital Statistics.
“New farm director,” Brandon Sun, 12 April 1906, page 18.
“Resignation is accepted,” Brandon Sun, 2 May 1907, page 20.
1901 and 1906 Canada censuses, Automated Genealogy.
Death registrations [Newton Wolverton, Frances Lucy Wolverton, Alfred Newton Wolverton, Bella Rose Wolverton, Harold Alonzo Wolverton, Jasper Matthews Wolverton], British Columbia Vital Statistics.
Dr. Newton Wolverton by A. N. Wolverton.
This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 7 March 2025
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