WESLEY NEWCOMB

In 1849 Dr. Newcomb came to California with his family. Due to Mrs. Newcomb's ill health and lack of suitable living accommodations, the doctor decided to move his family to Hawaii, and on February 27, 1850, Dr. and Mrs. Newcomb and their two children arrived aboard the "Fanny Forrester" from San Francisco.

He soon made a place for himself in community as well as medical activities. When the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society was being organized in May, 1850, Dr. Newcomb was a member of the committee which contacted planters, farmers, and others interested in forming an organization devoted to agricultural interests. He became a charter member of the Society and was appointed to serve on the Executive Committee. In December of the same year, he was appointed a member of the first Board of Health. The doctor was also active in the Hawaiian Temperance Society.

In 1852 Dr. Newcomb and Dr. William Hillebrand joined forces with their office at Hopewell Place on the corner of Beretania and Smith streets. The bond between the two men was further strengthened in November when Dr. Hillebrand married Dr. Newcomb's stepdaughter, Anna Post.

During the small-pox epidemic of 1853, Dr. Newcomb was in charge of one of the city divisions. He was chairman at the meeting when the Committee of 13 was formed and Dr. George Lathrop read a series of "pungent" resolutions against the policy of Minster of Finance, Dr. G.P. Judd, the Minister of Public Instruction, Mr. Richard Armstrong, in the handling of the epidemic. Dr. Newcomb was especially incensed about the manner in which the small-pox vaccinations were being forced on the people and about the quality of the vaccine material itself. He was one of the signers of the petition for the removal of Judd and Armstrong. As a result of arousing public opinion, Dr. Judd was forced to resign.

On March 8, 1855, Dr. Newcomb and his family left Honolulu aboard the "Frances Farmer" to return to New York where they settled in Albany for three years. Subsequently, they moved to Ithaca, New York.

Dr. Newcomb was a most enthusiastic conchologist, and while in the Islands he made a special study of the achatinella, a genus of land shells peculiar to Hawaii, and described over 100 new species. During his years in Hawaii, he shared with Dr. Gulick an interest in natural history, and the two often met to compare collections and exchange specimens. Dr. Newcomb carried on an extensive correspondence with prominent men in the field of natural science and made a visit to London and Paris for the purpose of visiting leading conchologists of those countries. He was also a contributor to scientific journals. In August, 1868, Dr. and Mrs. Newcomb returned to the Islands, and the doctor spent some weeks dredging the harbors at Honolulu and Hanalei, Kauai, for shells to add to his collection, which was later purchased by Cornell University.

Dr. Newcomb died in Ithaca, New York, January 25, 1892, at the age of 83.

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