Background
Cyrenius Newcomb Senior was born to Hezekiah and Nancy (Rounds) Newcomb in Cortland, New York, November 10, 1837.
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Cyrenius Adelbert Newcomb
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Cyrenius Adelbert Newcomb Senior founded Michigan"s first department store, Newcomb-Endicott, which became one of the largest mercantile firms in the Midwest prior to World War I. He was also a leader in reform and philanthropic work, including being one of the founders of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Education
University of Michigan.
Career
His family can be traced to the Newcombs who were actively involved in the American Revolution. Starting in the dry goods business at age 18, Newcomb Senior came to Detroit from Taunton, Massachusetts in 1868 and set up a dry goods store on the corner of Jefferson and Woodward. 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 that Hudson"s would later occupy.
Cyrenius Newcomb Senior died in late 1915. Massachusetts native and Harvard graduate John Endicott came to Detroit in 1891, becoming head bookkeeper of Newcomb"s enterprise.
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 Junior., the second of C. A. A.
Membership
He was “admitted as a member of the firm” in 1896 and became treasurer when Newcomb-Endicott was incorporated as a department store in 1903. Newcomb Junior."s hobbies included sailing and he was also a member of the Detroit Boat Club, Detroit Curling Club and the Aldine (New York) Club.
