Following is one of the Biographies and Stories which where gathered by Charles Sumner McKamy in the 1950s for publication in a Crawford County History Book. Unfortunately he passed away before the book was published.
Miss Mary Newlin, the only daughter and oldest child of Dr. LeRoy Newlin and Louise Vance Newlin, was born in Hardinville, September 4, 1894. Two sons of this family, Harold V. Newlin and John E. Newlin, both businessmen now residing in Robinson, were also born in Hardinville. Dr. LeRoy Newlin, a son of Thomas and Mary Ruckle Newlin, was born in Crawford County, near Bellair, March 8, 1860, not long before his father left with the Northern Army for the Civil War, and later died at Vicksburg.
In 1818 there came to this country, settling in Licking Township in Section 10, Town 7, North of Range 12, West, Thomas Newlin and his family from North Carolina. The Newlin family were probably the best-known early settlers in this County, others were Nathaniel, John and Eli Newlin. Thomas according to family history was the father of Dr. LeRoy Newlin. Dr. LeRoy Newlin received his early education in the District Schools near their home and by working on farms he saved a little money which he used to help pay his expenses for a course of training in the State Normal School at Terre Haute, Indiana, to enable him to become a teacher. For about ten years before ho took up the study of medicine at the Kentucky School of Medicine in Louisville, he was studying and teaching school at Porterville, Trimble, Oblong and others. As was the practice of preparing for a physician in the early days, a young man spent time with and read the medical library of an older practicing doctor. It was with Dr. Columbus Barlow of Eaton, Illinois (Porterville by common name) that LeRoy Newlin began his medical education prior to entering the Kentucky School of Medicine from which he graduated in 1891. After graduation he began his career as a Physician in the Village of Hardinville, where he continued for 16 years as a country doctor, riding on horseback, or in a buggy to answer calls, both day and night, in all kinds of weather. Here he gained a valuable experience as a skillful and conscientious physician and surgeon, but in 1907, feeling that he needed a wider field of operations, he located in Robinson, where his two brothers, the late Enoch E. Newlin and Thomas J. Newlin resided. Dr. Newlin was a devout Christian, being an active member of the Hardinville Christian Church until he moved to Robinson when he transferred his membership to the First Christian Church in Robinson and there he was elected an Elder in 1908, where he served later as Chairman of the Church Board until his death. Every one had high regard of him both in the Church and as a citizen of Robinson.
The Mother of Mary Newlin was Louise O. Vance Newlin, who was a daughter of Mahlon T. Vance and Margaret Lamb Vance, both of whom emigrated to Licking Township in Crawford County from Licking County, Ohio. She received her education in the county public schools, Merom College at Merom, Indiana, and the Central Normal School at Danville, Indiana, after which she taught school in the County for several years, until her marriage to LeRoy Newlin on March 26, 1893.
Dr. LeRoy Newlin died February 17, 1934 and Louise O. Newlin departed this life in April 1943.
Mary Newlin lived with her parents in Robinson, where she attended school and was graduated from the Robinson Township High School in 1912. Following this she attended the Eastern Illinois State Normal School for two years and returned to Robinson as a Grade Teacher for five years. After a leave of two years, while she attended school and received a degree from the University of Chicago (and later a Master's Degree) she returned to the Robinson High School as an instructor. For thirty years she held various positions in the High School and in June 1953 she retired as High School Principal after thirty-five years of service in the public schools of Robinson. On May 24, 1953, more than 300 people paid tribute to her with a lovely reception held in her honor at the Masonic Temple.
In addition to her school work, Mary found time and energy to contribute to community services. She is a Past Matron of Eastern Star, a Past President of the Robinson Business and Professional Woman's Club and of the Crawford County Branch of A.A.U.W. Since 1908 she has been an active and loyal member of the First Christian Church in Robinson and her influence for good with our younger people cannot be measured in dollars and cents, a long list of those boys and girls who are today some of our best citizens and who are leaders in our Churches have became so through the guidance and love they have for Mary Newlin.
Mary believes the greatest job in life is to stand well in he eyes of one's fellow citizens and fellow workers, regardless of their station, while the greatest achievement, in what may be called human engineering, is to know how to get the best from the people with whom one is associated. How well she has accomplished this, particularly among the hundreds of boys and girls that she has taught in school in this city, and the writer thinks he is in a position to know, she having taught his children, Bill and Betty, and knowing what splendid influence she had with his own son and daughter while in school.
The citizens of Robinson and this community appreciate and owe her more than words can express or money could ever repay her for the influence for good in not only her school work here but the part she has played in the making of good and useful citizens of the younger generation -- a most entertaining and educational citizen who has meant much to the betterment of our community.
After Mary's retirement as Principal of our Robinson High School, she decided to spend some of her hard earned money in seeing some of our foreign countries and in summer 1953 she made a tour around South America. In March of 1956 she visited the Near East and the Holy Land.
On returning home after a few days rest, she spoke of many civic organizations and projected many pictures of places she had visited, which were very educational and entertaining to our home people and particularly to students in our county.
In November 1953 she decided to take a much-needed vacation and has spent some time in Florida during the winter months
Would that we had more people like Mary Newlin.
The writer considers it quite an honor for Mary to request us to write the history of her family with her giving us information necessary to make an interesting story. We think the real reason for her requesting us to do this, when we know she could do a much better job than the writer, was the fact that the writer knew her father intimately for some 50 years, first when he lived in Hardinville when he often came to Robinson and visited his brother, Judge Enoch E. Newlin where I was a stenographer in his Law Office about 1895, where we became well acquainted. After her father and his family moved to Robinson, he was elected an Elder in the First Christian Church, later becoming Chairman of the Church Board when I was a member of the Board.
Dr. Newlin was a sincere, conscientious Christian man, well educated and one of our best citizens in his day. The value of his service to the people of Crawford County is measured by what he did to leave this world a better place in which to live than it otherwise would have been. No wonder Mary is one of our outstanding citizens of this day, also like her parents in that they were quiet, unassuming people