Families of Newton Falls

Hello Everyone!! My name is Ashley and I am a Reference Associate at Newton Falls Public Library. My friend Kim, who is the Local History Librarian, and I have a podcast about the history of Newton Falls. This blog will be a companion to our podcast Echoes of Newton Falls. 

Let's dive in to our September topic, which is the big families of Newton Falls. 

The DuBois Family is an important family in Newton Falls history. Dr. Henry Augustus DuBois co-founded and laid out the village of Newton Falls. He designed the town layout that would rely on the water power of the falls on the Mahoning River. The DuBois family owned land in the south east portion of Newton Falls. The family only lived in Newton Falls for a short period of time, but while Dr. Henry DuBois was here he built a sawmill, papermill, grist mill and two warehouses. 

The Paper Mill on the East Branch of the Mahoning River was erected by Mr. DuBois on the property owned by him, near the rear of the property, where a spring flowed next to the river bank. Mr Treudly from Virginia moved his paper mill into the building, and continued for an unknown time in the business. The water from the spring was used in the making of the paper. It was carried from the spring to the mill in the box under the water. Only the purest water could be used in making the writing paper. An engine at the mill furnished the power to move the box under the water. The mill was later used as flax mill. In Sept 5, 1907 the mill burned down.

Henry's father Cornelius DuBois purchased property for residence on the west bank of the Mahoning River and asked his son to build a home in 1832. The mansion was completed in 1834. However, Cornelius was not a fan of the house and asked his son to build another home. Construction started in 1838 and was finished in 1842. The site of the new mansion was located between N. Center St, E. Franklin St and Division St. The home was grand and beautiful and in it's prime was "pointed out with pride to visitors, laying claim to being the most famous landmark in this section." The mansion was also looked at with fear in the community. Stories persisted through the 19th and 20th centuries of the mansion being haunted, as well as, stories of the Dr being a mad scientist that lured victims to experiment on them.

The family only lived in the mansion for a decade. In the summer of 1853, the family moved back to Connecticut. The high cost of rent for the house made it hard for anyone to live there, so the mansion lay vacant until 1904. For fifty-one years the house sat in decay, until the B. and O. railroad brought in Italian immigrants to work on the tracks. These men lived in the mansion during this time, and it seems they might not have had permission to stay in the house, but nothing is proven on this. In 1904, the house caught on fire while the men lived there and the fire smoldered for days.

Lyman's Histories and Stories of Newton Falls by Lima Lyman was used for most of the source material. There is a great chapter about the house and the family, in which they explain the grandeur of the mansion and describe in great detail what the mansion looked like. Make sure to check out our podcast, links for the podcast are on our website https://www.newtonfalls.org/ 

https://hub.catalogit.app/newton-falls-public-library?query=dubois