His Father is Per Axel Larsson Nyren. His mother is Carolina Johansdotter. He married Maria Charlotta Anderson Newren. They are the parents of Merrill Clifford Newren.

John Alfred Newren was an immigrant from Sweden. He was a shoemaker in Salt Lake City, a boarding-house operator with his wife Marie in Alta Utah mines, a homesteader in Dover Utah, and a shoemaker in Gunnison, Utah. The agriculture economy in central Utah, and in fact much of rural America, was at an all time low in 1887. The hard winter of '87 destroyed many livestock across the plain and mountain states causing many people to abandon their farms and ranches in search of jobs to be able to survive and provide for their families.

John Alfred Newren left Gunnison to find work. He returned to Gunnison months later without funds to support his family as he could make only enough to support himself. When John Alfred Newren learned of the growth in Pleasant Valley, as it was then called, he traveled there to determine the need for boot making and repair. In that bustling community he found there was such a need for a cobbler. He found a place to live with an attached shed for animals and set up his shop. Business was good and he wrote to Marie Charlotta, his wife, that she and his two boys should join him in Scofield. Two of his children had previously died from diphtheria in Gunnison. While they lived in Scofield, four more children were born. They were Isaac Junius in 1886, Katie Aileen in 1889, Leon in 1892, and Merrill Clifford in 1894. Isaac and Katie died in the dreaded diphtheria epidemic of 1890. Maria Charlotta contributed to their financial welfare by taking in washing and ironing to help pay off the family debts.

On a more personal note, the problems of polygamy created some problems and unhappiness in the Newren family. Maria Charlotta lived in Scofield with her husband and four sons. Hulda, a second wife lived in Gunnison with her daughter and two sons. Hulda, tired of living alone, wanted John Alfred to live with her. Marie Charlotta stated in her biography that she thought it would be better that John Alfred should join Hulda. John Alfred Newren left Scofield in 1895 and returned to Gunnison.

US Deputy Marshals had been sent in from the Denver District office to arrest Mormons that were living in Polygamy. John Alfred would travel over the Mountains at night to visit his two families in the two communities. The Deputy Marshals' would watch and keep tabs on women living alone. They would see which ones would get pregnant and then watch for Mormon husbands sneaking in through the night to be with their wife and family. On one such journey, John Alfred was arrested by these federal officers and jailed in Spanish Fork. Hulda was forced to journey up to Spanish Fork and testify before the magistrate that John Alfred was her husband. The documents used, showed Hulda as Hulda Newreen. Evidence of this is most readily evident at the Salt Lake City Cemetery. Hulda is buried as Hulda Newreen and next to her is her husband, John Alfred Newreen. According to the cemetery records, Hulda allowed Maria Charlotta, a distant relative to be buried in a cemetery plot owned by Hulda.

In 1889, Alfred age 13, and Bernard age 11 hired on at the Eccles Canyon Lumber Company. When John Alfred left Scofield in 1895, Young Alfred and Bernard were the sole supporters of this Scofield family. They hauled timbers to the local mines and over the mountain ridge Southeast into Gordon Creek and into Price. The need for higher wages drew them to the mines. They started mining in the Union Pacific Mine (UP) in Scofield. When a new box car loader was purchased at Winter Quarters mine, Superintendent T.J. Parmley talked Alfred into coming to Winter Quarters to install and operate the loader. He later became the main line motorman and stayed until the mine closed in 1928. He was reported to be the highest paid underground worker at the mine. Bernard also went to work at the tipple in Winter Quarters.

In March of 1900, Alfred married Agnes Johnstone, daughter of Mary Hood Johnstone who was manager of the Walton House in Scofield. The Walton House was an upgraded boarding house where all the venders (drummers) and merchants stayed when they were in town. They moved into a house in Scofield next to the railroad "Y". The "Y" was nearer to Winter Quarters and was the place where the railroad engine was able to turn around to go in the other direction.

On May 1st 1900 the Number Four Mine in Winter Quarters exploded. Alfred had been ill and decided he was not feeling well enough that morning to go to work. Bernard was working on the tipple at the mouth of the mine and witnessed the explosion as it exited the mine portal. He was not harmed. He was concerned for the miners safety in the Number 1 mine and with a co-worker entered the mine in an attempt to assist miners in coming out of the mine. Bernard was overcome with the dreaded black damp. The dreaded black damp is a condition in which all the oxygen in the air is used up and replaced with carbon dioxide or monoxide. An explosion needs oxygen to react with the particulate matter in the air and also a flame source to ignite the oxygen and matter. Coal dust was could be highly explosive. Bernard collapsed to the mine floor. His friend helped him to his feet and together they made it to safety on the outside. Agnes Joshnstones' uncle, James Gatherum and his two brothers were killed in the explosion. Agnes also lost a brother to a mine accident in November of 1900.

Maria Charlotta Newren suffered from arthritis and the high altitude. She was advised by the doctor to move to a lower altitude. She moved from Scofield September 1, 1901 with her sons Leon and Merrill Clifford. They returned once more to the family home in Gunnison. Hulda and John Alfred had moved to Salt Lake City and lived on Chicago Street near South Temple where the Union Pacific Railroad heads west.

As the town of Scofield grew, so did the Newren family. Alfred and Agnes added three more citizens: Vera, born in 1901, Clair in 1902, and Bernice in 1907. All three children were born in Scofield. In 1908, the following year, the family moved to Winter Quarters to live. The children finished the sixth grade in Winter Quarters and the eighth grade in Scofield. In 1920, Agnes and the children left Pleasant Valley for Salt Lake City, Utah. All three of the children returned at different times to live with their father in Winter Quarters.