John and Cheever Newhall were born in Lynn, Massachusetts. In 1824, Cheever bought a house with extensive grounds on the north side of Ashmont Street, nearly opposite Carruth Street, approximately where the Dorchester Calvary Baptist Church now stands. John Newhall purchased property near the intersection of Ashmont and Adams Streets. Another brother, George, who worked with John and Cheever, purchased land in northern Dorchester.
The image from the 1874 atlas shows the land that Cheever Newhall owned the area near Ashmont Street.
Cheever Newhall was a founder of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and was its treasurer from 1829 to 1832 and vice-president from 1840 to 1858. In their transactions in 1901, the Massachusetts Horticultural Society mentioned Newhall and his property his lot was perhaps of twenty-five acres, lying on the northerly side of the present Ashmont Street, and stretching towards Adams Street. Here he had flourishing orchards, principally of pear trees, of which there were several hundred.
John and Cheever Newhall went into business together they named their business Cheever Newhall and Company they owned and operated shoe factories in eastern Massachusetts and retail outlets in Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans, Louisiana. Cheever became a director of the Shoe and Leather Bank.