Cyrenius Adelbert Newcomb Sr. (1837–1915) co-founded Michigan's first department store, Newcomb-Endicott, which became one of the largest mercantile firms in the Midwest prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He was also a leader in reform and philanthropic work. He was also a member of the

Detroit Athletic Club The Detroit Athletic Club (often referred to as the DAC) is a private social club and athletic club located in the heart of Detroit's theater, sports, and entertainment district. It is located across the street from Detroit's historic Music Hall ...

and one of the donors who created the

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the list of largest art museums, largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation a ...

(originally known as the Detroit Museum of Art).

New England roots

Cyrenius Newcomb Sr. was born to Hezekiah and Nancy (Rounds) Newcomb in

Cortland, New York Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 17,556. The city of Cortland, near the county's western ...

, November 10, 1837. His family can be traced to the Newcombs who were actively involved in the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. He was educated at

Bridgewater Normal School Bridgewater State University is a public university with its main campus in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. It is the largest of nine state universities in Massachusetts. Including its off-campus sites in New Bedford, Attleboro, and Cape Cod, BSU ha ...

(Massachusetts). He married Mary Haskell in Hartford, Connecticut on November 12, 1867. The couple had four children: Dr. William Wilmon Newcomb, Cyrenius A. Newcomb Jr., Mary Newcomb (who later married William E. Fuller Jr. and lived in Fall River, Massachusetts), and Howard Rounds Newcomb. After Mary (Haskell) Newcomb died on November 17, 1887, he married Mary Sharp in Detroit on September 20, 1899.

Early business career

Newcomb Sr. began working at age 18 at a dry goods business in Hannibal, New York. Two years later he was employed as a clerk at N.H. Skinner of Taunton, Massachusetts, another dry goods store. Nine years later, he became a partner in the business. In 1868, Newcomb Sr. sold his interest in N.H. Skinner and moved to Detroit, establishing a dry goods store on the corner of Jefferson and Woodward avenues, near today's Hart Plaza. Three years later, the store moved to the first floor of the original Detroit Opera House Building. By 1881, the store moved again to a location on Woodward Avenue which the J.L. Hudson's Department Store later occupied. In the mid-1880s, Newcomb Sr. was one of the donors who gave money to establish a permanent arts museum, now called the

Partnership with John Endicott

Massachusetts native and Harvard graduate

John Endicott John Endecott (also spelled Endicott; before 1600 – 15 March 1664/1665), regarded as one of the Fathers of New England, was the longest-serving governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He ser ...

came to

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

in 1891, becoming head bookkeeper of Newcomb's enterprise. He was "admitted as a member of the firm" in 1896 and became treasurer when Newcomb-Endicott was incorporated as a

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

in 1903.Burton, C.M. ''The Book of Detroiters'', 1912. He was married twice, first to Elizabeth Watson, who died, and then in 1902 to Mary Elizabeth Booth and had three children. His other endeavors included being director of the Michigan State Agricultural Society, and owner of a large stock farm near Birmingham where he bred Hackney horses. Newcomb-Endicott Co. was Michigan's first department store, founded in 1868, predating the J.L. Hudson Co., Crowley-Milner Co., or the Ernst Kern Co.

Detroit Athletic Club connection

When the

(DAC) was reorganized in the early 1910s, merging with the Wolverine Automotive Club and the remnant of the nearly defunct original organization, Newcomb-Endicott was picked as the contractor to provide much of the original interior furnishings. The front section of the April 17, 1915 edition of ''Detroit Saturday Night'' was devoted almost exclusively to how the DAC was built. The store was given an "honorable mention" in the ''Detroit Saturday Night'' paper, which described how it provided "carpets and rugs of handsome design and exquisite workmanship." Newcomb-Endicott had been chosen among Detroit's other department stores because its "ability to handle big orders of this kind has been demonstrated often before in the equipping and furnishing of other public buildings," the paper continued.

Other activities

Newcomb Sr. was president of Newcomb-Endicott up until the time of his death in late 1915, but had abandoned an active role in the business due to failing health. also enjoyed automobiling. He was a Republican and a Universalist. Known for his philanthropic work, he was a member of the board of several charities and was active in politics although he never ran for elected office. Cyrenius Newcomb Sr. died at his home in Detroit on March 9, 1915.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newcomb, Cyrenius A. Sr. 1837 births 1915 deaths American merchants Bridgewater College alumni 19th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American businesspeople People from Cortland, New York Businesspeople from New York (state) Businesspeople from Detroit