Newsom, John F. (John Flesher), 1869-1928

John Flesher Newsom earned his master's and doctorate degrees in geology at Stanford from 1898 to 1910, when he resigned to do full time exploratory work for mining companies. He died unexpectedly in October 1928. John Branner Newsom, son of J.F. Newsom, earned his a.b. in geology at Stanford in 1922 and his engineer's degree in 1924.

American mining geologist.

Mining geologist John Flesher Newsom was born on Sept. 6, 1869, at Elizabethtown, Indiana. He completed his undergraduate work at Indiana University in 1891 and his graduate work at Stanford University, earning his Ph. D. in 1901. At Stanford, he was a student and associate of John Casper Branner and worked summers for Branner as assistant geologist on the Arkansas State Geological Survey. From 1901-1904, Newsom was engaged in work on the geology of the Santa Cruz mountains and also performed professional examinations of mining properties. He taught at Stanford from 1898 to 1910 when he resigned to do full time exploratory work for mining companies throughout North and South America and the Orient. Newsom was a member of various professional organizations including the California Academy of Sciences and the Geological Society of America. He was married in 1896 to Adelaide Perry; they had one son, John Branner Newsom. John Flesher Newsom died suddenly on Oct. 24, 1928.

John Flesher Newsom was an Indiana University alumnus and professor of geology.

Biographical/Historical Note

American mining geologist.

John Flesher Newsom was born to Nathan N. Newsom and Mary Flesher Newsom on September 6, 1869. He was born in Elizabethtown, IN, and visited there often even after moving to Stanford, CA. There is mention in the IDS of a brother that he may have had, however there is no other mention of this brother in the collection or in any records about John Newsom in the IU Archives.

Newsom attended Indiana University and graduated with his AB in 1891. While at Indiana he played both football and baseball and was a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. After graduating from Indiana he attained his AM from Leland Stanford Jr. University in 1892 and then returned to IU where he was an instructor in Geology from 1894-1896. During this time he met his future wife, Adelaide Frances Perry, a student of Greek at Indiana University and a member of the Kappa Alpha Tao sorority. She had two brothers who are both mentioned in the correspondence of the collection; Oscar and Orville Perry. Her brothers were members of the same fraternity as Newsom, though he is at least five years their senior. Adelaide and John were married in Bloomington, IN on March 17, 1896. He stayed at Indiana University through 1899, becoming an assistant professor of geology in 1896. They had their first and only child, a son by the name of John Branner Newsom, some time shortly after this. While at Indiana he was also named treasurer of the Athletic Association for the 1897 school year. He was on leave during 1898-1899 and worked for these years as an assistant professor of geology at Leland Stanford Jr. University. He returned to Indiana and after inquiring about his future as a professor at the university decided to move to California to teach at Leland Stanford University and also to work towards his doctoral degree in geology, which he attained in 1901. He worked at Leland Stanford University until 1910, during which time he became professor of geology. He then spent the next fourteen years traveling the world doing professional exams of mining projects.

His geological and mining career started after he attained his AB from Indiana. The summer of 1891 he began a geological survey of Arkansas, which he completed in 1893. He went back to Arkansas in 1897 and examined the phosphate deposits there until 1899. During this time he was also involved in studying the principal mining regions in the central and western United States. He did work in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California during the summers of 1901-1904. He traveled to Alaska, Canada, and the Orient on several different occasions, eventually setting up a mining operation based out of Ipoh, near Singapore. Newsome co-authored two books; Syllabus of Lectures on Economic Geology and The phosphate rocks of Arkansas, both in collaboration with John Casper Branner. He also wrote an article that appeared in the American Geologist entitled, The Red River Clinton Monoclines, Kansas . He was a member of several organizations including The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the California Academic Society, the American Institution of Mining Engineers, the Mineral and Metallurgy Society of American Fellows, the Geological Society of America and the Geological Society of London.

Newsom died on October 24, 1928, of natural causes. He is buried in Bartholomew County, Indiana.