Editing Newton County, Mississippi (section)

==History==
The land that would become Newton County was purchased from the [[Choctaw]] under the terms of the [[Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek]]. Newton County was split off from the southern part of Neshoba County and organized on February 26, 1836.<ref>{{Cite web |last=r2WPadmin |title=Newton County |url=https://mississippiencyclopedia.org/entries/newton-county/ |access-date=December 15, 2023 |website=Mississippi Encyclopedia |language=en-US}}</ref> The county is named for scientist [[Isaac Newton]].<ref name="Rowland">{{cite book | last = Rowland | first = Dunbar | title = Mississippi: Comprising Sketches of Counties, Towns, Events, Institutions, and Persons, Arranged in Cyclopedic Form | publisher = Southern Historical Publishing Association | year = 1907 | url = https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/records/item/548960-redirection | volume = 2 | page = 339}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Newton County Mississippi |url=https://www.newtoncountyms.net/ |access-date=December 15, 2023 |website=Newton County |language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[Battle of Newton's Station]] was fought in the county on April 24, 1863, during [[Grierson's Raid]] of the [[American Civil War]]. Union troops pulled up railroad tracks and burned the depot at [[Newton station (Mississippi)|Newton's Station]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Grierson's Raid Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=77265 |access-date=December 15, 2023 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref>

In February 1864, [[General William Tecumseh Sherman]] crossed the county, burning the county seat at [[Decatur, Mississippi|Decatur]] and was nearly captured during the [[Meridian Campaign]]. Sherman stopped during the return trip from Meridian and slept at Boler's Inn in the town of [[Union, Mississippi|Union]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boler's Inn Historical Marker |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=140951 |access-date=December 15, 2023 |website=www.hmdb.org |language=en}}</ref>

On October 8, 1908, a Black [[sharecropper]] named Shep Jones had a dispute with his white employer regarding his work schedule. The altercation escalated, resulting in the employer's death. In response, a white mob terrorized the local Black community, destroying property, burning a church and meeting lodge near Gardlandville, and threatening families. Unable to locate Jones, the mob targeted and lynched his father-in-law, William Fielder, on October 9. The following day, the mob lynched two other Black men, Dee Dawkins and Frank Johnson, who were associated with Jones. The violence prompted many Black residents to flee Newton County. No one was held accountable for the lynchings or the destruction of property.<ref>{{Cite web|date=August 19, 2021|title=Descendants of Lynching Victims Dedicate Historical Marker in Hickory, Mississippi|url=https://eji.org/news/descendants-of-lynching-victims-dedicate-historical-marker-in-hickory-mississippi/|access-date=October 12, 2021|website=Equal Justice Initiative|language=en-US}}</ref>