MONTHLY REPORT. 
DEATH OF HON. ISAAC NEWTON. 
After this report was sent to press, we received the news that our worthy 
Commissioner had passed away to that world where “the wicked cease from 
troubling and the weary be at rest.” We have room only for a brief notice of 
his long and useful life, and his peaceful death. 
Isaac Newton was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, March 31, 1800. 
His early years were passed ona farm; his education and his youthful labors 
were those of a farmer’s boy. He was a member of the Society of Friends, a 
respectable and highly valued member, cherishing the faith and living the pro- 
fession of his people. 
Shortly after his marriage he settled on a farm in Delaware county, Pennsyl- 
vania, not far from Philadelphia. His management soon made his farm cele- 
brated for its neatness, order, and productiveness ; and he early took place in 
the front rank of the model farmers of the Keystone State. At an early period 
he became a member of the State Agricultural Society, and in it offered a resolu- 
tion, which was adopted, urging Congress to establish a national Department of 
Agriculture. He also was among the first to press this measure on the atten- 
tion of Presidents Harrison, Taylor, and Fillmore, with whom he enjoyed inti- 
mate personal acquaintance. Finally, on the election of Mr. Lincoln, he again 
urged this measure, and Congress responded to the President’s recommendation 
by passing the long desired act, which was approved May 15, 1862. 
In anticipation of such a department, Mr. Lincoln, in the spring of 1861, ap- 
pointed Mr. Newton to superintend the agricultural division of the Bureau of 
Patents ; which he did so satisfactorily, that when the act was passed, Mr. Lin- 
coln appointed and the Senate confirmed him as the suitable person to organize 
and preside over the new department, as its Commissioner. 
Thus this department was inaugurated July 1, 1862, as a separate and inde- 
pendent department of our government; and it is a noteworthy fact that our 
martyr President, to the close of his life, gave the Commissioner his confidence — 
and warm approval, and frequently consulted him as an intimate personal 
friend. 
In July, 1866, Mr. Newton overheated himself while working on the experi- 
mental farm. He was became dangerously ill; and, in consequence of pressing 
cares and duties, did not allow himself leisure for full recovery. Frequent re- 
lapses followed, attended by complicating affections of various organs, until the 
over-wrought organism finally failed altogether. He quietly, peacefully, and in 
full consciousness, passed from this life at the house of his son, Isaac Newton, 
jr., in this city, at about 6 p. m., June 19, 1867. 
