Daniel Newnan

Daniel Newnan (1780 – January 16, 1851) was an American politician and military commander in North Carolina and Georgia.

Born in Salisbury, North Carolina in 1780, Newnan attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1796 and 1797. He was commissioned as an ensign and second lieutenant in the Fourth United States Infantry on March 3, 1799, promoted to first lieutenant the following November and resigned on January 1, 1801.^[1]

Newnan was adjutant general of Georgia from 1806 to 1817.^[2] During the Creek War, Newnan commanded a group of Georgia Volunteers; he fought the British at the Battle of Fort Peter. After the war, he lived on a plantation near McDonough, Georgia. He was commissioned a major general over the third division of the Georgia Militia in 1817.^[3]

From 1823 to 1824, Newnan was the superintendent of the Georgia State Penitentiary and from 1825 to 1827, he served as the Secretary of State of Georgia.^[4] Newnan was elected as a Jacksonian Democrat and Representative of Georgia to the 22nd United States Congress and served one term from March 4, 1831, until March 3, 1833. He was not reelected.

He died near Rossville, Georgia, on January 16, 1851, and was buried at Newnan Springs Cemetery in Catoosa County, Georgia.

Legacy

The city of Newnan, Georgia was named in his honor in 1828.^[5]

Notes

1. Smith, p. 330
2. Smith, p. 330
3. Smith, p. 330
4. Smith, p. 330
5. Smith, p. 330

References

• Daniel Newnan at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Daniel Newnan at Find a Grave
• Smith, Gordon Burns, History of the Georgia Militia, 1783-1861, Volume One, Campaigns and Generals, Boyd Publishing, 2000.