Newt, as he became known, was short and slim, usually rather quiet, friendly, strong-willed, highly intelligent, hard-working, and extremely frugal. He had only three years of formal schooling, but his native abilities and a fierce determination to succeed soon led to modest prosperity.
A son described him as "an agriculturist and inventor, a farmer with a pronounced mechanical bent." One of his later inventions was a "shocker," a machine that would pick up bales of oats and stand the shocks on end.
In his early twenties, Newt married Ida Clara Von Buttear, a Protestant of German descent and a native of Newark, Ohio. At nineteen, in 1886, she gave birth to a daughter, Eva Natalie Sheen. A few years later Ida died, and subsequently Newt, who now owned a farm near the tiny agricultural town of Minonk, Illinois, married Delia Fulton. The twenty-nine-year-old bride had been raised on a farm in Kickapoo, Illinois, slightly to the northwest of Peoria. Newt joined the Church in order to wed Delia, and he quickly absorbed much of her intense piety and devotion to the Catholic faith.
By the time their first child arrived, the Sheens had moved from the farm to the nearby town of El Paso, where Newt and his brother Andrew ran a hardware. The hardware store, along with much of the business section of El Paso burned down when an errand boy, seeing his father come down the street, ditched his lighted cigarette under the stairs and ignited a fifty-gallon can of gasoline. Newt then moved his family to a farm he inherited from his father. In 1900 the family moved to Peoria as both Newt and Delia were committed to giving their children as much education as possible. Newt made a living by managing two farms, each about thirty miles from the city. Peter's first brother, Joseph, arrived in 1898. Then came Thomas in 1902 and Aloysious in 1908. The family's first home in Peoria, at 111 Seventh Street, had eight rooms, to provide space for the boys and for Delia's parents, who visited and lived with them on occasion.
No matter where they lived, the Sheens were devout Catholics. Regular church attendance, parochial schooling, grace before meals, the nightly Rosary, and frequent visits by clergy were part of the family routine.
A son described him as "an agriculturist and inventor, a farmer with a pronounced mechanical bent." One of his later inventions was a "shocker," a machine that would pick up bales of oats and stand the shocks on end.
In his early twenties, Newt married Ida Clara Von Buttear, a Protestant of German descent and a native of Newark, Ohio. At nineteen, in 1886, she gave birth to a daughter, Eva Natalie Sheen. A few years later Ida died, and subsequently Newt, who now owned a farm near the tiny agricultural town of Minonk, Illinois, married Delia Fulton. The twenty-nine-year-old bride had been raised on a farm in Kickapoo, Illinois, slightly to the northwest of Peoria. Newt joined the Church in order to wed Delia, and he quickly absorbed much of her intense piety and devotion to the Catholic faith.
By the time their first child arrived, the Sheens had moved from the farm to the nearby town of El Paso, where Newt and his brother Andrew ran a hardware. The hardware store, along with much of the business section of El Paso burned down when an errand boy, seeing his father come down the street, ditched his lighted cigarette under the stairs and ignited a fifty-gallon can of gasoline. Newt then moved his family to a farm he inherited from his father. In 1900 the family moved to Peoria as both Newt and Delia were committed to giving their children as much education as possible. Newt made a living by managing two farms, each about thirty miles from the city. Peter's first brother, Joseph, arrived in 1898. Then came Thomas in 1902 and Aloysious in 1908. The family's first home in Peoria, at 111 Seventh Street, had eight rooms, to provide space for the boys and for Delia's parents, who visited and lived with them on occasion.
No matter where they lived, the Sheens were devout Catholics. Regular church attendance, parochial schooling, grace before meals, the nightly Rosary, and frequent visits by clergy were part of the family routine.
Newt, as he became known, was short and slim, usually rather quiet, friendly, strong-willed, highly intelligent, hard-working, and extremely frugal. He had only three years of formal schooling, but his native abilities and a fierce determination to succeed soon led to modest prosperity.
A son described him as "an agriculturist and inventor, a farmer with a pronounced mechanical bent." One of his later inventions was a "shocker," a machine that would pick up bales of oats and stand the shocks on end.
In his early twenties, Newt married Ida Clara Von Buttear, a Protestant of German descent and a native of Newark, Ohio. At nineteen, in 1886, she gave birth to a daughter, Eva Natalie Sheen. A few years later Ida died, and subsequently Newt, who now owned a farm near the tiny agricultural town of Minonk, Illinois, married Delia Fulton. The twenty-nine-year-old bride had been raised on a farm in Kickapoo, Illinois, slightly to the northwest of Peoria. Newt joined the Church in order to wed Delia, and he quickly absorbed much of her intense piety and devotion to the Catholic faith.
By the time their first child arrived, the Sheens had moved from the farm to the nearby town of El Paso, where Newt and his brother Andrew ran a hardware. The hardware store, along with much of the business section of El Paso burned down when an errand boy, seeing his father come down the street, ditched his lighted cigarette under the stairs and ignited a fifty-gallon can of gasoline. Newt then moved his family to a farm he inherited from his father. In 1900 the family moved to Peoria as both Newt and Delia were committed to giving their children as much education as possible. Newt made a living by managing two farms, each about thirty miles from the city. Peter's first brother, Joseph, arrived in 1898. Then came Thomas in 1902 and Aloysious in 1908. The family's first home in Peoria, at 111 Seventh Street, had eight rooms, to provide space for the boys and for Delia's parents, who visited and lived with them on occasion.
No matter where they lived, the Sheens were devout Catholics. Regular church attendance, parochial schooling, grace before meals, the nightly Rosary, and frequent visits by clergy were part of the family routine.
A son described him as "an agriculturist and inventor, a farmer with a pronounced mechanical bent." One of his later inventions was a "shocker," a machine that would pick up bales of oats and stand the shocks on end.
In his early twenties, Newt married Ida Clara Von Buttear, a Protestant of German descent and a native of Newark, Ohio. At nineteen, in 1886, she gave birth to a daughter, Eva Natalie Sheen. A few years later Ida died, and subsequently Newt, who now owned a farm near the tiny agricultural town of Minonk, Illinois, married Delia Fulton. The twenty-nine-year-old bride had been raised on a farm in Kickapoo, Illinois, slightly to the northwest of Peoria. Newt joined the Church in order to wed Delia, and he quickly absorbed much of her intense piety and devotion to the Catholic faith.
By the time their first child arrived, the Sheens had moved from the farm to the nearby town of El Paso, where Newt and his brother Andrew ran a hardware. The hardware store, along with much of the business section of El Paso burned down when an errand boy, seeing his father come down the street, ditched his lighted cigarette under the stairs and ignited a fifty-gallon can of gasoline. Newt then moved his family to a farm he inherited from his father. In 1900 the family moved to Peoria as both Newt and Delia were committed to giving their children as much education as possible. Newt made a living by managing two farms, each about thirty miles from the city. Peter's first brother, Joseph, arrived in 1898. Then came Thomas in 1902 and Aloysious in 1908. The family's first home in Peoria, at 111 Seventh Street, had eight rooms, to provide space for the boys and for Delia's parents, who visited and lived with them on occasion.
No matter where they lived, the Sheens were devout Catholics. Regular church attendance, parochial schooling, grace before meals, the nightly Rosary, and frequent visits by clergy were part of the family routine.
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