Family donates papers, items of 1930s mayor

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Historical Society of Bloomfield recently received a donation of items belonging to former Mayor Harry Newell, who served the township from Jan. 1, 1935, to Dec. 31, 1942. The gift came from Newell’s granddaughter, Ellen Newell Rogers, of Desert Hills, Ariz., and included campaign materials, official Bloomfield Christmas cards, an invitation to the presidential opening of the 1939 World’s Fair and mysteriously, a ceremonial key to the city of Passaic. The package also contained a brief biography of Newell written largely by his wife and updated by his granddaughter.

According to the handwritten document, Harry Newell was born July 7, 1887, in Newark, and through his mother, Louise Berrian Newell, was a direct descendant of Gov. John Winthrop of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

He married twice; his first wife was Dorothy Walsh, who died Jan. 8, 1919, a victim of the Spanish influenza. Newell remarried April 12, 1924, to Ellen Kristine Johnson.

“As a young man, Harry worked for the Lackawanna Railroad and for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a surveyor,” the biography said. “He later worked for the Spanish-American Iron Co. in Cuba. In 1909, he joined the National Board of Fire Underwriters, serving first in municipal survey work and later as assistant chief engineer. During World War I, he was cited by the Army for developing military engineering standards at which time he headed the War Department’s Bureau of Fire Protection. He served during World War II in helping supervise fire protection in the government’s shipbuilding operations.”

In 1919, Newell built his home at 52 Fulton St.and lived there from October 1919 to June 1959, when he died. His wife resided there until her death in 1979.

Newell’s interest in Bloomfield politics led him to run in the 1932 Republican primary, but he was unsuccessful. However, he ran again in 1934 and became mayor.

“While mayor, he encouraged the improvement of the fire facilities and the fire department,” the biography noted. “As a result, the town gained the top rating of the Board of Underwriters held by a few communities.

“In 1935, during the Depression,” the biography continued, “he established the mayor’s Employment Bureau, which operated successfully until its functions were taken over by the state Employment Agency. He also established an electrical bureau for the inspection of wiring installation.”

Newell enjoyed hunting and fishing, spending his summer vacations in Wayne, Maine. He sang well and enjoyed singing at parties, writing poetry and gardening, according to the biography. He is buried in Ridgelawn Cemetery in Delawana, N.J.

In a telephone interview last week, Rogers, Newell’s granddaughter, said that when her grandmother died, her father took possession of the memorabilia given to the Historical Society.

“My parents collected everything,” she said. “My mother suggested donating it to the Historical Society of Bloomfield.”
Rogers’ mother, Elizabeth Howes Newell, is 92 years old but her father, Harry Newell Jr., died in 2012. Her grandfather, the mayor, died a month before her fourth birthday.

“I remember him coming to dinner at my home and me getting off my chair, which was not allowed,” she said. “My parents were very formal.”
Rogers said she learned about her grandfather from her father.

“My grandfather was very active in fire prevention,” she said. “He went to the White House a couple of times and did fire prevention at military bases.”
Rogers also said her grandfather worked for the National Board of Fire Underwriters from 1909 until 1954. He was elected honorary life membership in the American Society of Civil Engineers and was a life member of the National Fire Protection Association, the Liquified Petroleum Gas Association and the American Water Works Association.

Rogers grew up in New Providence and attended Utah State University, where she majored in agriculture; she has lived in Arizona for 15 years and owns eight horses. A sense of civil responsibility was part of her upbringing, she said; both her parents were active in the New Providence Historical Society and she has served on a local zoning board and taught in the nonprofit 4-H Club. Regarding her recent donation to Bloomfield, Rogers said she has no idea why her grandfather had a ceremonial key to the city of Passaic.

  FEATURED, MOBILE