Artist: Ernest Sigmund Klempner (1867–1941)
Isaac Newton
NEWTON, ISAAC (1800–1867), inducted between 1920–1941
Isaac Newton was the nation’s first Commissioner of Agriculture, named to the post when the US Department of Agriculture was first created by President Lincoln in 1862. (The department was not elevated to Cabinet level, with a Secretary, until 1889.) Prior to his promotion, Newton served as superintendent of the Agricultural Division in the US Patent Office. Born in Burlington County, New Jersey, Newton established a progressive dairy farm near Philadelphia, and his farm supplied butter to the White House. (He was a close friend of President and Mrs. Lincoln.) As the first Secretary of the USDA, Newton established a national agricultural library and museum, as well as an experimental farm on the National Mall. He advocated that daily weather reports be telegraphed across the nation—a precursor of the US Weather Service. Newton also helped advance President Lincoln’s interest in the science of agriculture by hiring a chemist, botanist, entomologist, and statistician for the department. Isaac Newton was inducted into the National Agricultural Hall of Fame in 1998.
Source: Saddle & Sirloin Guidebook 2026, p. 150