Frank Newton (1898–1972)

Frank Newton founded the Harmony Buddhist Mission in rural Arkansas after receiving his full license to exercise the Buddhist ministry in its fullness with the honorific of reverend in 1954, as granted by the Western Buddhist Order in Buffalo, New York. The Harmony Buddhist Mission was founded northwest of Clarksville (Johnson County), near the small community of Hunt (Johnson County), supported in part by Frank Newton’s writings.

Frank Newton was born in Chicago, Illinois, on February 9, 1898; his parents were farmers who lived close to the Mississippi River in Fulton, Illinois. He had two sisters and four brothers.

Newton was an extremely gifted intellectual at an early age and read late into the night by candlelight or oil lantern. He joined the U.S. Army in 1923 so he could make a living while studying and traveling the world as a merchant marine during his leave time. Newton married a woman named Anna and had four children while in the military; he was stationed with them in the Philippines and in San Diego. At the rank of master sergeant and while serving as head of ordnance at Fort Rosecrans, Newton retired from the army in 1945 due to health reasons. During his time in the service, he developed designs for silencers on engines, an escape hatch for submarines, and ordnance to destroy tank tracks during World War II.

After his marriage dissolved, Newton moved to Arkansas. There, he met and married his second wife, Mary, in 1950. They settled in Ozone (Johnson County) but found life too rough and rowdy on the mountain and so relocated to Clarksville. They had three children: Jon Franklyn, Karen Alana, and Metta Joy. As he had studied many religions, he became “enlightened” with the teachings of the Buddha and shifted his life’s work to this testimony. Mary, who was a talented artist who illustrated Newton’s books, was named Sister Karuna.

Newton established the Harmony Buddhist Mission in 1954, building it with his own masonry skills on fifteen forested acres. Many years of labor went into the search for native stones along the dirt roads and creeks of the area. The Harmony Buddhist Mission was listed as a Buddhist Shrine on the United States Department of the Interior Geological Map and was noted on several other maps as a reference point.

However, representing a religion other than Christianity in Arkansas at the time attracted significant negative attention. Many hate crimes were committed against the family and the mission, notably the bombing of the mission on January 14, 1959, as documented in an article that appeared in the Realist later that year. Newton had many newspaper and magazine articles written about his life and mission in rural Arkansas. He was an occasional guest on a Little Rock (Pulaski County) television station. He befriended and debated theologians and welcomed anyone to the mission to discuss Buddhism.

Newton was a prolific writer and translator. He translated the Buddhist text Dhammapada (The Path to Virtue) from Sanskrit sources in the late 1950s; his translation was published and copyrighted in 1971. He also translated The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, which was published in 1964.

Newton died at the Veterans Hospital in Little Rock on December 29, 1972, from lung cancer. He is buried in the family cemetery alongside Mary, with his tombstone bearing the inscription Om Mani Padme Hum (“the dew drop slips back into the shining sea”).

For additional information:
“Buddhist Mission Founder, Frank Newton, Dies At 84.” Memphis Commercial Appeal, December 31, 1972, Section 2 p. 3.

Costello, Jimmy. “‘Duds’ Deserve Respect.” Monterey Peninsula Herald, October 24, 1939, p. 5.

Malone, Ruth. “Buddhist Scholar Operates Mission atop Peak in Ozarks.” Texarkana Gazette, August 7, 1960, p. 3B.

“San Diego Army Man Invents Bomb Described as ‘Most Destructive.” Los Angeles Times, September 25, 1940, p. 12.

“Test Proves Successful.” Tribune-Sun (San Diego, California), December 10, 1941.

Thomas, William. “The Monk of the Mountains.” Mid-South (Memphis Commercial Appeal Sunday Magazine), June 18, 1972, pp. 6–8.

———. “Skeleton of a Dream Waits to Be Fulfilled.” Memphis Commercial Appeal, December 1, 1975, p. 13.

Metta Joy Newton Holman
Clarksville, Arkansas