03 August 2014

John Newcomb's Cane

According to the old Newcomb genealogy, written in 1874, Jonathan Newcomb (b. 29 Jun 1796) of Braintree/Quincy had in his possession a cane which had been given to his 3-g-grandfather, John Newcomb, in 1712. The cane was described as "of mangrove wood with an ivory head and a band of silver 3/4 inch wide, upon which is the inscription, 'John Newcomb March 1712.'" John Newcomb (1634-1722) was a member of the Francis Newcomb line.

It appears that Jonathan Newcomb had no descendants. Upon his death the cane may have been passed to one of his brothers (William, Benjamin and George) or to a nephew or some other relative.

I have received an inquiry from a member of the Francis Newcomb line who wonders what happened to the cane. It would certainly be interesting to find this item still in possession of a Newcomb descendant.

If you know anything about what happened to the cane, please respond in the comments or send me an email. Thanks!
 

3 comments:

  1. This should help you in the matter of John Newcomb's cane:
    From http://www.historicnewengland.org/
    They have 326 collections in various locations

    CANE
    Description
    Brown wood w/ heavy bone knob handle; silver notched collar; holes for tassel w/ leather strip remaining in hole; silver band at tip (lacquered?); knob handle etched w/ dots in scroll pattern.
    Details
    Maker
    unknown
    Date
    1712
    Inscriptions
    Engraved at collar in script: ""John Newcomb March 1712""
    Location of origin
    England
    Material
    ivory (tooth component)
    leather
    silver (metal)
    wood (plant material)
    Object type
    Personal Gear
    Descriptive terms
    accessories
    CANE
    canes (walking sticks)
    ivory (tooth component)
    leather
    Leather
    Men's personal gear
    Silver
    silver (metal)
    Vegetable Ivory
    wood (plant material)
    Dimensions
    33.25 (H) (inches)
    Accession Number
    1929.509
    GUSN
    32685


    Hope this helps. From Patricia jkohnen@frontier.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very interesting! Thanks.

      Delete
    2. I am having trouble understanding this so I sent this as anonymous. My name is JoAnn Farrell. My husband received an item from his family after the death of an aunt. We were told where they thought it came from and the story behind it. I opened the back and read a note in it that leads me to believe it belongs to the family of Stanley Stowell Newcomb. I thought I would try to find children, grandchildren or a family member that might be interested in it. Our email is celtite@yahoo.com or you can message me on facebook, Sean Farrell. Sean and I live in Texas. His family that he got the item from lives in North Carolina.

      Delete

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