One of the Trolleys of the Hattiesburg Traction Company, with its conductor and motorman standing in front of it.
Newton Blount was an exceptionally well educated member of his household. While the rest of his household consisted of highschool dropouts, Newton would actually end up a college graduate. He attended Hattiesburg High School, from which he would graduate in 1937.
From high school, Blount went on to attend Mississippi State University's business school, where he would complete a four year college degree before joining the military. Newton was an active member of the Mississippi State community. He participated in Greek life, being a member of the fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon. He also participated in two clubs: Commerce club and the "M" club. Blount was also a member of Mississippi State's boxing team, and seemed to be fairly skilled at the sport, as he scored the only point for State in two boxing matches against more skilled college teams. Blount would graduate from Mississippi State just before the summer of 1941.
Newton Buford Blount Jr was born on April 28, 1919 to his parents Ida and Newton Blount in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Blount had two full siblings, Bernard and Mary Ophelia five and seven years younger than Newton, respectively. Newton Sr., his father, was a successful businessman. He owned a wholesale grain and feed company and co-owned a grocery store, Thirty Lane Store, in southern Hattiesburg. Additionally, Newton Sr. was also among the primary partners in the Hattiesburg Traction Company, which was an electricity and streetcar company providing public transportation to Hattiesburgers.
When Newton Jr. was only seven years old, his father died of cancer on October 29, 1926. August 29, 1928, less than two years after his father died, his mother remarried to a man named JQ Fountain, who was also a successful businessman (and doctor) in the Hattiesburg area. Ida would not take her children into her new husband's household, instead leaving her three kids, Newton the eldest, to live with their uncle and her brother, John Baylis. For the rest of Newton's life outside of the military, he would live with his aunt and uncle, and on government documents, they are listed as Blount's next of kin, despite Ida, Newton's mother, far outliving him. It would be Captain Blount's aunt and uncle who received the letter that he was MIA.
Blount in his boxing uniform for the Mississippi State boxing team
