In the fall of 1876, Rev. Mr. Newgent entered upon his duties as Superintendent of the Tennessee Mission Conference, under appointment of the Home, Frontier, and Foreign Missionary Association. In the meantime he had married Miss Annie Crowther, of Terre Haute, Indiana, who, under the divine blessing, abides as the companion of his joys and sorrows amid the lengthening shadows. She is a woman of rare and excellent qualities, which especially fitted her for her position as the wife of an active and ambitious minister. She is in fullest accord with her husband’s ambitions and tastes, and has contributed her part toward the success of his career. He freely accords to her this credit. With this queenly woman ordering its affairs, the Newgent home has ever been a haven of real rest, a retreat for God’s servants especially. It extends a welcome and hospitality—a true home spirit—that at once makes the wayworn pilgrim feel at ease in body and mind, and charms the hearts of the young as well. At the time of their removal to Tennessee, the United Brethren Church was new in the South. Its attitude of open hostility to slavery largely shut it out of regions south of Mason and Dixon’s line. The Tennessee Conference then had less than four hundred members, with only six houses of worship. So a great field spread out before the new Superintendent, taking him back to conditions in many respects similar to those in which he began his ministerial labors. It was still a time of reconstruction in church affairs as well as in matters political. But his was a work of construction rather than of reconstruction. Aside from the need of laborers and the vast opportunities afforded for building up the church in this section, one reason he had for accepting this appointment was the condition of his own and his wife’s health. Both were threatened with failing health, and a change of climate was advised, the high altitude of eastern Tennessee being recommended as especially adapted to their physical needs. They arrived at Limestone, Tennessee, on a Friday evening in September. Here was illustrated how his fame as a genial, good humored personality had spread throughout the Church, so that the people felt that they were acquainted with “Jack” Newgent (later Uncle Jack) even though they had never met him personally. Arriving at the city some time after dark, worn by the long journey, the discomforts of which were aggravated by their poor health, they little dreamed of finding in that particular realm an acquaintance or anyone who had any concern for them. Great indeed was Newgent’s surprise when, as he alighted from the train, a gentleman, a total stranger, with a lantern on his arm, stepped up and in a familiar manner accosted him, “Hello! Is this Jack Newgent?”