History of Joseph Newall & Company
The Joseph Newall & Co., Westerly RI, established in 1885, was a branch of the D.H. & J. Newall, in Dalbeattie, Scotland established by David, Homer and Joseph Newall in 1820. For many years, they had exported to the United States, but opened a quarry in 1883 in Niantic, RI, now Bradford, and started the manufacturing business run by David McG. Newall. This quarry produced blue-white Westerly granite, ideal for monument work.
On June 26, 1901 the Newalls purchased property just off Oak Street along the main railroad line and moved their cutting shed to Westerly. According to sources at the time, they had “improved machinery and appliances necessary for carrying on their business.”
Because of the Scottish connections, Newall employed many of the Scots in the area, Dinwoodies among them. Born in 1859 in Dalbeattie, Scotland, John Dinwoodie came to Bradford in 1889 to work at Newall Quarry as a stonecutter and later became “boss quarry man” or superintendent. His son, John Dinwoodie, Jr. (1886) began as “water-boy” at Newall Quarry at age 10 and became “tool-boy” at age 14.
The Joseph Newall & Co. on 40 Oak Street before it was purchased by the Joseph Coduri Granite Company in 1916. The close proximity of the railroad track was instrumental in making the shipping of monuments easier.
Windows provided adequate light for the cutting operation for the more than twenty-five workers in the Joseph Newall & Co. shed in the early 1890’s.
14th Wisconsin Infantry Monument–Shiloh National Park, Shiloh, TN
Carson Mausoleum–Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA
Elkins Mausoleum–Laurel Hill Cemeterly, Philadelphia, PA
Loveland-Langworthy Angel–River Bend Cemetery, Westerly, RI
Thomas Platt Monument, Owego, NY
John Sherman Monument–Mansfield Cemetery, Mansfield, OH
Tea Burning Monument, –Ye Greate Street, Greenwiuch, NJ
Lew Wallace monument–Crawfordsville, IN
Widener mausoleum–Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA
