14 April 2010
Zilpha Fletcher
Zilpha Fletcher (ca 1848) was the daughter of John Fletcher (1805-1861) and Emeline Newcomb (1815-1895). Zilpha married Gideon Gerow (or Gero) 3 Oct 1872 in Seneca Co. OH. B.M. Newcomb said that Zilpha's second husband was Herman Fletcher and that she died 27 Mar, 1914, in San Diego. However, in the 1880 census, her first husband, Gideon is listed as a widower, living with the family of her brother Myron.
07 April 2010
Abner B. Woodworth
Abner Woodworth (b. 10 Mar 1879) was the son of Phebe Newcomb (b. 27 Aug 1833) and Buell Woodworth (b. 29 Jan 1831). He married Hazel Beers (ca 1822) in 1909. B.M. Newcomb said that they had no children, but they had two children, Doris and Buell, in the 1920 and 1930 censuses.
02 April 2010
James Pearson Newcomb
B.M. Newcomb wrote:
Mr. Newcomb emigrated with his parents to Texas when two years of age, settling at Victoria. Before he was twelve, he had already acquired a fair English education, and had some acquaintance with the classics. After his father's death he served four years in a printing office. In 1854, when seventeen years of age, he started a newspaper at San Antonio, Texas, and made it a success; he sold out in 1856.
He went to Vermont University at Burlington to acquire a collegiate education; he entered college, but remained only part of a term, being called home to attend to his father's estate. He again began the newspaper business, and published, at San Antonio, the Alamo Express, which rapidly rose to be one of the principal papers in the city, where it combated secession with undying vigor in the midst of enemies. On 13 May 1861, four days after the surrender of Col. Reeve's command of United States troops to Van Dorn's force, Mr. Newcomb issued an "extra", giving an account of the surrender and some strictures on the perfidy of the transaction. At midnight the same day a mob of "Knights of the Golden Circle" and Rangers broke open his office, destroyed his press and material, and set fire to the building. The alarm of fire was given; the city engines and people turned out, but to no purpose. The morning light displayed the charred ruins of the Alamo Express, the last Union paper in Texas. This caused great excitement, and for fear of retaliation the secession offices were guarded. Immediately after, a plot for the hanging and banishment of 150 of the most prominent Union men was discovered.
The day after the destruction of his office, Mr. Newcomb became a refugee. He left the city for the Rio Grande and passed into Mexico, then organized a party at Monterey to cross the country to the Pacific, thence to California. The journey was successfully performed amidst many dangers and hardships, the party arriving at San Francisco in February 1862.
He volunteered to accompany the Union forces then organizing for a campaign across Arizona to Texas, and served as a scout for the army in its march from San Pedro, California. He was discharged at his request after the army went into permanent quarters, and returned to San Francisco, where he printed, in 1862, a "History of Secession Times in Texas, and Journal of Travel from Texas through Mexico to California", an octavo pamphlet of thirty-three pages. He was also editor of the San Jose Tribune.
He was mining in Arizona during 1864, making and losing a fortune. In the spring of 1867 he returned to San Antonio, again engaging in the editorial profession. He served with honor as a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1868-69, which gave the state its reconstructed government, being elected by the people by a large majority. He was nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate as Secretary of State under Governor Davis, serving from 1870 to 1874. In 1874, he was editor and proprietor of the State Journal, the central organ of the Republican party in the state. In 1877 he was admitted to the bar, but never practiced law to any extent. In 1897 he began the publication of the Texas Sun, a newspaper devoted to the subject of immigration, and later edited the Evening Light, which is still published as the San Antonio Daily Light.
In later years, Mr. Newcomb held various public positions, among which was that of postmaster during President Arthur's administration. He was considered one of the most active politicians and one of the best newspaper writers in Texas, continuing his editorial work up until the time of his death. He was man of untiring energy and varied accomplishments, ardent and warm-hearted, whose will and pen were always enlisted in the cause of truth and right. He had hosts of warm friends, both personal and political, and many political enemies. His engagement in politics did not arise from a love of political life, but from a desire to see good government firmly planted in his state. His prominence came to him without his seeking. He passed through many trials and emergencies, and was thoroughly acquainted with the history and men of his time. Having a deep love for nature, he moved with his family, in 1904, to his farm, Great Oaks, ten miles from San Antonio, where he continued his writing.
In July 1906, he received an injury in a runaway accident, which resulted in a cerebral hemorrhage and caused his death more than a year later. He was possessed of such a wonderful constitution and such marvelous vitality of mind and body that, even after the second serious attack of hemorrhage, he drove back and forth to town attending to business and getting the cotton crop to market. At this time he also wrote a sketch of the Republican Governor of Texas, E.J. Davis, for a book on the Presidents and Governors of Texas. His body rests in the Masonic Cemetery, San Antonio.
Mr. Newcomb emigrated with his parents to Texas when two years of age, settling at Victoria. Before he was twelve, he had already acquired a fair English education, and had some acquaintance with the classics. After his father's death he served four years in a printing office. In 1854, when seventeen years of age, he started a newspaper at San Antonio, Texas, and made it a success; he sold out in 1856.
He went to Vermont University at Burlington to acquire a collegiate education; he entered college, but remained only part of a term, being called home to attend to his father's estate. He again began the newspaper business, and published, at San Antonio, the Alamo Express, which rapidly rose to be one of the principal papers in the city, where it combated secession with undying vigor in the midst of enemies. On 13 May 1861, four days after the surrender of Col. Reeve's command of United States troops to Van Dorn's force, Mr. Newcomb issued an "extra", giving an account of the surrender and some strictures on the perfidy of the transaction. At midnight the same day a mob of "Knights of the Golden Circle" and Rangers broke open his office, destroyed his press and material, and set fire to the building. The alarm of fire was given; the city engines and people turned out, but to no purpose. The morning light displayed the charred ruins of the Alamo Express, the last Union paper in Texas. This caused great excitement, and for fear of retaliation the secession offices were guarded. Immediately after, a plot for the hanging and banishment of 150 of the most prominent Union men was discovered.
The day after the destruction of his office, Mr. Newcomb became a refugee. He left the city for the Rio Grande and passed into Mexico, then organized a party at Monterey to cross the country to the Pacific, thence to California. The journey was successfully performed amidst many dangers and hardships, the party arriving at San Francisco in February 1862.
He volunteered to accompany the Union forces then organizing for a campaign across Arizona to Texas, and served as a scout for the army in its march from San Pedro, California. He was discharged at his request after the army went into permanent quarters, and returned to San Francisco, where he printed, in 1862, a "History of Secession Times in Texas, and Journal of Travel from Texas through Mexico to California", an octavo pamphlet of thirty-three pages. He was also editor of the San Jose Tribune.
He was mining in Arizona during 1864, making and losing a fortune. In the spring of 1867 he returned to San Antonio, again engaging in the editorial profession. He served with honor as a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1868-69, which gave the state its reconstructed government, being elected by the people by a large majority. He was nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the State Senate as Secretary of State under Governor Davis, serving from 1870 to 1874. In 1874, he was editor and proprietor of the State Journal, the central organ of the Republican party in the state. In 1877 he was admitted to the bar, but never practiced law to any extent. In 1897 he began the publication of the Texas Sun, a newspaper devoted to the subject of immigration, and later edited the Evening Light, which is still published as the San Antonio Daily Light.
In later years, Mr. Newcomb held various public positions, among which was that of postmaster during President Arthur's administration. He was considered one of the most active politicians and one of the best newspaper writers in Texas, continuing his editorial work up until the time of his death. He was man of untiring energy and varied accomplishments, ardent and warm-hearted, whose will and pen were always enlisted in the cause of truth and right. He had hosts of warm friends, both personal and political, and many political enemies. His engagement in politics did not arise from a love of political life, but from a desire to see good government firmly planted in his state. His prominence came to him without his seeking. He passed through many trials and emergencies, and was thoroughly acquainted with the history and men of his time. Having a deep love for nature, he moved with his family, in 1904, to his farm, Great Oaks, ten miles from San Antonio, where he continued his writing.
In July 1906, he received an injury in a runaway accident, which resulted in a cerebral hemorrhage and caused his death more than a year later. He was possessed of such a wonderful constitution and such marvelous vitality of mind and body that, even after the second serious attack of hemorrhage, he drove back and forth to town attending to business and getting the cotton crop to market. At this time he also wrote a sketch of the Republican Governor of Texas, E.J. Davis, for a book on the Presidents and Governors of Texas. His body rests in the Masonic Cemetery, San Antonio.
27 March 2010
Wayland Clarence Newcomb and Gurtha Laura Kelley
Wayland Clarence Newcomb was born 7 Jun 1875. He married Gurtha Luara Kelley (b. 26 Oct 1868) in 1889. They had four children: Gladys, Beryl, Elmo and Leola. B.M. Newcomb listed a fifth child, Edwin, but there is no indication of him in the census, and in the 1910 census, Gurtha is listed as the mother four children, all living.
21 March 2010
Mertie Newcomb and Charles Cox
Mertie Newcomb (b. 8 Sep 1874) was the daughter of Arthur Gilman Newcomb (b. 10 Apr 1851, BMN #2953). She married Charles Cox (b. Jan 1872). According to B.M. Newcomb, Charles and Mertie were married in 1903. But in the 1900 census they had already been married seven years and had two children.
14 March 2010
Wesley Newcomb (1808-1892)
B.M. Newcomb wrote:
Mr. Newcomb received an academic education at White Plains Academy, Westchester County, from John A. Gillett, his private tutor in mathematics, and Prof. Amos Eaton in science. He graduated in medicine from Vermont Medical Academy at Castleton, being one of three valedictorians. During his term of three years' study he took courses of lectures in New York and Philadelphia, and spend some time in France. He then became house surgeon of the hospital department of the Albany almshouse, where he remained one year. He opened an office in the city of Albany, and became connected in practice with Dr. Henry Van Antwerp. Subsequently, he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Thomas W. Newcomb, in the wholesale drug business at Troy.
Dr. Newcomb was always a close student, with a penchant for scientific research. Believing that to understand geology in the later formations required a knowledge of the fossil contents of the rocks, he early directed his attention to the study of conchology as the alphabet of palaeontology, a branch of science which has changed the whole character of geology and reduce it to a more perfect science. He was at the time the most distinguished conchologist in America. Upon his second visit to Europe he was cordially received, and even feted, by some of the most celebrated savants of London and Paris.
During a residence of five years in Honolulu he enjoyed facilities for collecting the land shells of the entire group. As one result of these labors may be mentioned his description of over one hundred new species of the genus Achatinella, the larger part published in the Zoological Lyceum of Natural History of New York, Tyron's Conchological Journal, and in Proceedings of California Academy of Natural Sciences. In his various explorations in Europe, the West Indies, South America, Central America and Mexico, he has added much to knowledge in many departments of Natural History. His vast acquisitions obtained by dredging, employing divers, and by personal search on the shores of different countries were placed in the museum of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
For four years Dr. Newcomb was connected with Cornell, where he filled more than 20,000 tablets with the shells of molluscous animals carefully named and classified. He also added many thousand specimens from the radiata, articulata and vertebrata. The collection occupied over 2,000 square feet of surface and was purchased for about $20,000. The mineral and geological collection was also greatly enriched by additions from South America and especially from the state of Nevada.
In 1857 Dr. Newcomb established himself in the practice of his profession at Oakland, California. During the twelve years he spent there he described many of the helices of California, also fresh water and marine species, and delivered a course of lectures on natural history in what was at that time called California College (later the University of California).
In 1870 he accompanied the Santo Domingo commissioners as sanitary expert. During the expedition he discovered the previously unknown locality of La Marck's helicina viridis, and his collection of new species were described in the Journal de Conchologie, Paris.
In 1871 Dr. Newcomb was appointed by the President of the United States as one of three commissioners to investigate the Sutro Tunnel, a mining project of great important, leading from Carson Valley to Virginia City; their report met with the approval of the government.
He passed the winter of 1872-73 in south Florida, making explorations and adding to his collection in zoology and botany, now to be seen in many collections, both public and private, in Europe and America.
In his numerous expeditions he was accompanied, except in two or three instances, by his wife, whose skill in delineating delicate and perishable specimens with her pencil was of great service, as well as her aid in preserving specimens.
From Biographies of Notable Americans:
NEWCOMB, Wesley, conchologist, was born in Pittstown, Rensselaer county, N.Y., Oct. 20, 1808; son of Dr. Simon and Sarah (Follett) Newcomb; grandson of Simon and Sarah (Mead) Newcomb, and of William and Lois (Burnham) Follett, and a descendant of Capt. Andrew Newcomb, an English mariner who settled in Boston, Mass., probably before 1663. He was a student at White Plains academy and at the Vermont Medical school at Castleton; attended medical lectures in New York and Philadelphia, and visited hospitals in France. He practiced medicine in Albany, N.Y., with Dr. Henry Van Antwerp. He was married, Feb. 20, 1838, to Mrs. Helen H. Post, daughter of Eliphalet and Hannah (Swift) Wells of Manchester, Vt. He became one of the most distinguished conchologists in America, residing at Honolulu five years, where he collected the land shells of the entire group and described over 100 new species of the genus "achatinella," published in scientific magazines and in the proceedings of various scientific societies of America and Europe. He made explorations in Europe, the West Indies, South America, Central America and Europe; practiced medicine in Oakland, Cal., 1857-69, where he described many of the helices of that state, also fresh water and marine species, and delivered courses of lectures on natural history at Mills college, Oakland. He accompanied the Santo Domingo commissioners as a sanitary expert in 1870, and discovered the locality of La Marcke helicina viridis; was appointed in 1871 one of the three commissioners to investigate the Sutro Tunnel, and spent the winter of 1872-73 in Florida. His famous collection of shells was purchased by Ezra Cornell for Cornell university in 1869, and occupied the top floor of the university museum in the McGraw building. He served as curator of the collection, 1869-92, and as instructor in conchology, 1886-88. He died in Ithaca, N.Y., Jan. 27, 1892.
Mr. Newcomb received an academic education at White Plains Academy, Westchester County, from John A. Gillett, his private tutor in mathematics, and Prof. Amos Eaton in science. He graduated in medicine from Vermont Medical Academy at Castleton, being one of three valedictorians. During his term of three years' study he took courses of lectures in New York and Philadelphia, and spend some time in France. He then became house surgeon of the hospital department of the Albany almshouse, where he remained one year. He opened an office in the city of Albany, and became connected in practice with Dr. Henry Van Antwerp. Subsequently, he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Thomas W. Newcomb, in the wholesale drug business at Troy.
Dr. Newcomb was always a close student, with a penchant for scientific research. Believing that to understand geology in the later formations required a knowledge of the fossil contents of the rocks, he early directed his attention to the study of conchology as the alphabet of palaeontology, a branch of science which has changed the whole character of geology and reduce it to a more perfect science. He was at the time the most distinguished conchologist in America. Upon his second visit to Europe he was cordially received, and even feted, by some of the most celebrated savants of London and Paris.
During a residence of five years in Honolulu he enjoyed facilities for collecting the land shells of the entire group. As one result of these labors may be mentioned his description of over one hundred new species of the genus Achatinella, the larger part published in the Zoological Lyceum of Natural History of New York, Tyron's Conchological Journal, and in Proceedings of California Academy of Natural Sciences. In his various explorations in Europe, the West Indies, South America, Central America and Mexico, he has added much to knowledge in many departments of Natural History. His vast acquisitions obtained by dredging, employing divers, and by personal search on the shores of different countries were placed in the museum of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
For four years Dr. Newcomb was connected with Cornell, where he filled more than 20,000 tablets with the shells of molluscous animals carefully named and classified. He also added many thousand specimens from the radiata, articulata and vertebrata. The collection occupied over 2,000 square feet of surface and was purchased for about $20,000. The mineral and geological collection was also greatly enriched by additions from South America and especially from the state of Nevada.
In 1857 Dr. Newcomb established himself in the practice of his profession at Oakland, California. During the twelve years he spent there he described many of the helices of California, also fresh water and marine species, and delivered a course of lectures on natural history in what was at that time called California College (later the University of California).
In 1870 he accompanied the Santo Domingo commissioners as sanitary expert. During the expedition he discovered the previously unknown locality of La Marck's helicina viridis, and his collection of new species were described in the Journal de Conchologie, Paris.
In 1871 Dr. Newcomb was appointed by the President of the United States as one of three commissioners to investigate the Sutro Tunnel, a mining project of great important, leading from Carson Valley to Virginia City; their report met with the approval of the government.
He passed the winter of 1872-73 in south Florida, making explorations and adding to his collection in zoology and botany, now to be seen in many collections, both public and private, in Europe and America.
In his numerous expeditions he was accompanied, except in two or three instances, by his wife, whose skill in delineating delicate and perishable specimens with her pencil was of great service, as well as her aid in preserving specimens.
From Biographies of Notable Americans:
NEWCOMB, Wesley, conchologist, was born in Pittstown, Rensselaer county, N.Y., Oct. 20, 1808; son of Dr. Simon and Sarah (Follett) Newcomb; grandson of Simon and Sarah (Mead) Newcomb, and of William and Lois (Burnham) Follett, and a descendant of Capt. Andrew Newcomb, an English mariner who settled in Boston, Mass., probably before 1663. He was a student at White Plains academy and at the Vermont Medical school at Castleton; attended medical lectures in New York and Philadelphia, and visited hospitals in France. He practiced medicine in Albany, N.Y., with Dr. Henry Van Antwerp. He was married, Feb. 20, 1838, to Mrs. Helen H. Post, daughter of Eliphalet and Hannah (Swift) Wells of Manchester, Vt. He became one of the most distinguished conchologists in America, residing at Honolulu five years, where he collected the land shells of the entire group and described over 100 new species of the genus "achatinella," published in scientific magazines and in the proceedings of various scientific societies of America and Europe. He made explorations in Europe, the West Indies, South America, Central America and Europe; practiced medicine in Oakland, Cal., 1857-69, where he described many of the helices of that state, also fresh water and marine species, and delivered courses of lectures on natural history at Mills college, Oakland. He accompanied the Santo Domingo commissioners as a sanitary expert in 1870, and discovered the locality of La Marcke helicina viridis; was appointed in 1871 one of the three commissioners to investigate the Sutro Tunnel, and spent the winter of 1872-73 in Florida. His famous collection of shells was purchased by Ezra Cornell for Cornell university in 1869, and occupied the top floor of the university museum in the McGraw building. He served as curator of the collection, 1869-92, and as instructor in conchology, 1886-88. He died in Ithaca, N.Y., Jan. 27, 1892.
06 March 2010
Mary Newcomb, Hiram Simons, Adam Alkire
Mary Newcomb (b. 20 Mar 1826) was the daughter of William Newcomb (ca 1777, JBN #511) and Mary Parvis (ca 1785). Hir first husband was Hiram Simons. Her second husband was Alkire (ca 1806). Mary was Adam's second or third wife. J.B. Newcomb indicated that Mary's first husband, Hiram Simons, died in 1849, that Adam and Mary were married in September 1851, and that Ellen was Adam's daughter, born in October 1852. However, the 1860 census gives Ellen's (age eight, which is in agreement with the birthdate per JBN) last name as Simons, which suggests a different timetable for Hiram's death and the marriage of Adam and Mary.
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