According to the summary tables for the 1840 Census, Newton County had a total population of 3,790 persons, of whom 169 were slaves (not quite 4.5%). My unproofed list of slave owners below, taken from the census schedules, shows a slightly smaller number of slaves, 164. At the time Newton County included what is today Jasper County, which was made a separate county in 1841.

Again according to the summary tables, the slave population consisted of 73 males and 96 females. The 1840 census does not give names or specific ages for slaves, but does give sex and age ranges. Of the 73 males, 21 were under 10 years of age, 36 were 10 or older and under 24, 7 were 24-36, 9 were 36-55 and none were 55 or older. Of the 96 females, 34 were under 10, 32 were 10-24, 19 were 24-36, 9 were 36-55 and 2 were 55 or older.

The census schedules show 65 Newton County slave owners. George Barker owned the most slaves, with 13, and was the sole owner with more than 10 slaves. Only 8 owners including Barker had 5 or more slaves. Nearly half of the owners, 27, had only a single slave.

The heaviest concentration of slaves was in Benton Township on the eastern border of the county. Six of the 8 owners in the county with 5 or more slaves lived in this township. In the other townships, slave owners had an average of about 2 slaves each. In Benton Township, they averaged over 4 slaves each. This township included the fertile bottom lands along Capps and Shoal creeks, the future location of Jollification, and the nearby fertile prairies, the future location of Newtonia.

The 1840 census combines slave data with the main population census. The list of slave owners below is taken from the 1840 Newton County census schedules, which are available online here: 1840 Newton County Census. Page references are to the census schedules. For each owner, the list gives the sexes and age ranges of his slaves. For example, A. H. Brown's slaves are listed as 2M<10, 3F<10, F 10-24, F 24-36. This means he had 2 male slaves under 10, 3 females under 10, 1 female 10-24 and 1 female 24-36.

Sarcoxie Township (pages 240-241)
 

Moses Angdon	F<10, F 10-24
Daniel Prigmore	F<10
Ephraim Beasley	M<10, F<10, F 10-24
B. L. Massey	2M 10-24, F 10-24
E. B. James	M 24-36, F 24-36, F 55-100
Thomas Morley	M 10-24, M 36-55, F 10-24, F 24-36, F 36-55
Edward Dillon	M 10-24
Miles Carey	F 36-55
C. C. Crigler	M 10-24, F 10-24
John Jones	F 36-55
Cornelius Carnine	F 24-36
E. L. Epperson	M 10-24, F 10-24, F 36-55

Benton Township (pages 243-245)
 

Winford Townsend	M 10-24
Berry Robertson	3F 10-24, F 24-36
James Wilson	M 36-55, 2F<10, F 10-24, F36-55
Gilbert Yarborough	M 10-24
Moses Hudson	M 24-36, F<10, F 36-55
M. H. Clark	2M 36-55
A. H. Brown	2M<10, 3F<10, F 10-24, F 24-36
Thomas Isbel	2M 10-24, 2F 24-36
George G. Barker	5M<10, 2M 10-24, M 36-55, 2F<10, F 10-24, F 24-36, F36-55
Davis Ferguson	M 10-24, 3F 10-24, 2F 24-36
Abel Landers	M<10, F<10
Lewis Robertson	M 36-55, F<10, F 24-36
Sanford H. King	M<10, M 10-24, 2F<10, F 24-36, F 55-100
Larkin Newton	M<10
Edmund Dunn	2M<10, 2M 10-24, F<10, F10-24
William Reed	F 36-55

Shoal Creek Township (pages 247-249B)
 

Andrew Sparling	M 10-24
William Billingsley	M 10-24
James McCutchin	M 10-24, F<10, F 10-24, F 36-55
James Flack	F 10-24
Joel E. Woodward	M 10-24
James Johnson	M 10-24
James Ratliff	M<10, M 10-24, F 10-24
Newton Laughlin	M 36-55
Thomas Ferril	M 36-55
Joshua Davidson	M 10-24, F 10-24
G. P. Sanders	2M 10-24, F<10, F 24-36

Sugar Creek Township (pages 250-251)
 

John Porter	F<10
J. K. Mosier	2M 10-24, F 24-36

Elk River Township (page 252)
 

D. B. Cumings	M 24-36, F 24-36
Alfred Oliver	M 10-24, F 10-24
James Pool	M 24-36, F 10-24
T. L. Neely	2M 24-36

Marion Township (pages 255-257)
 

Leonard Eastwood	F 24-36
Robert Carr	F<10
J. W. Gibson	F<10
L. T. Vivion	F<10
Thomas Mills	F<10, F 24-36
Benjamin Cornelius	F<10
Johnathan Edwards	F<10
Eli D. Johnson	F<10, F 24-36
William Hanna	F 10-24
Banister Hickey	M<10, M 10-24, F 10-24
Elijah P. Dale	F 10-24
Thomas A. Dale	M<10, 4M 10-24, 2F<10, F 24-36
Nicholas Holt	M 10-24, F 10-24, F 24-36
Harris G. Joplin	M 10-24, F<10, F 10-24
John Fullbright	M<10
Lyon Gibson	M 24-36, F 10-24, F 24-36
William Gibson	M<10, F<10, F 10-24
Henry Zachary	M 24-36, F 10-24

Jasper Township (page 258)
 

Thomas G. Walton	M<10, F 10-24
Hugh Stockton	M 36-55

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