Mary Ann Newcomb (1809-1894)

Dear Ken:
A good starting place would be the biographical notes on Mary Ann Newcomb (1809-94) and John Davis or Davies (1810?-85) in Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer Among the Indians and Other Unfinished Stories, ed. Dahlia Armon and Walter
Blair, Mark Twain Library, University of California Press, 1989, pages 317 and 338-9. The notes indicate that she was born in Vermont and educated in the East before moving to Missouri in 1839. In the 1840s, she married John Davis (which he later changed to Davies), a Welsh teamster who later opened a store selling "books and fancy goods" in Hannibal.

The biographical note on Mary Ann Newcomb cites a newspaper article from the Hannibal Evening Courier-Post, 6 March 1935, 12B, which gives more detailed information about her (although it is incorrect about her date of marriage to John Davies): Birthdate: 11 November 1809, Thetford, Vermont. Parents: "John and Mary Curtis Newcomb, who had six sons, four of whom entered the ministry, and three daughters. . . . Her father served in the Revolutionary War. . . . Her mother was of the old Massachusetts Curtis stock. '' Education: "Mary Ann Newcomb was educated at Fredonia, New York, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania." Descendants: The article mentions her daughter, Ruth Davies Watson, and quotes two of her granddaughters, Miss Harriet Newcomb Watson, and Miss Anna B. Watson, who in 1935 lived at 1328 Grace Street, Hannibal.

I hope this is of some use to you.

Sincerely,
Victor Fischer
Mark Twain Project

Newcomb, Mary Ann (1809-1894) Early school-teacher of Mark Twain and model for several characters. Born in Vermont and trained as a teacher in the East, Newcomb came to Missouri and settled in FLORIDA, where she apparently knew the Clemens family. Around 1839, she moved to Hannibal, at about the same time the Clemens family moved there. Initially, she taught at Elizabeth HORR'S school; later she had her own. She apparently taught Mark Twain at both schools and ocassionally boarded at the Clemens house. During the late 1840s Newcomb married John Davis, who was Mark Twain's
model for JONES THE WELCHMAN.

When Mark Twain revisited Hannibal in 1902, he cited Newcomb with forcing him to learn how to read. Newcomb was Mark Twain's model for Miss Watson the spinster who originally owned the slave Jim in Huckleberry Finn. Mark
Twain's notes indicate that she was also his model for Miss Pomeroy in "SCHOOLHOUSE HILL" and Mrs. Bangs in his unfinished "Autobiography of a Damned Fool."

Barb

Below is the transcript from the Genealogy "Andrew Newcomb and his Descendants" by Bethel Merritt Newcomb (pub 1923)
 

< start of transcript >

(Page 153)
153. Capt. Simon Newcomb⁶ , (William⁵, Benjamin⁴, Simon³, Andrew², Andrew¹)
b 20 May 1764 Cornwallis, NS., d. Feb or Mar 1826, at Newfane, Niagara Co., NY.  m. 4 Mar 1790 at Thetford, VT., Hannah of Dracut, Mass. b____.  d. 1824  dau of ____ and  ____ (William ) Curtis.

(Page 154)
Mr Newcomb was a farmer & mechanic. His father had moved Cornwallis four years preceding his birth. Circa 1780 his parents returned to Conn. & settled at Warren and here Simon Newcomb resided until 1790, with the exception of a few years at Canaan, Conn.  In 1790 he removed to to Thetford, remaining there until 1822, when he removed to Newfane, NY.  His children were born at Thetford.

i.   Hannah, b1793,d 5 Feb. 1869, at Hannibal Mo.,  unm., a milener; res. with her brothers & sister.
ii.  Simon, b 2 Apr. 1796
iii. Sarah C.,  b 3 Feb. 1798, d 1831 in Allegheny Pa., while residing with her brother Harvey; an invalid 15 yrs; unm.
iv. George Washington, 1b 15 Nov. 1799 x
v.  John Curtis b 14 Oct .1802 x
vi. Harvey, b.  2 Sept. 1803 x
vii. Mary Ann, b 15 Nov. 1808, m. 15 Jul. 1849  at Hannibal, Mo., his second wife, John Davies, b ____, in
Wales; a bookseller;  no ch. (sic). She was school teacher many years;  res. Hannibal.
viii. a son, d. young.

< end of transcript >

note: marriage Index for Hannibal contradicts the 1849 date in BMN:    Davis, John   Newcomb, Mary Ann  Jun  13, 1850

1...Hannah Newcomb, 1793-1869, was unmarried & res with her brothers & sisters in Hannibal, MO.
2...Simon Newcomb, 1796-1859, married Lydia Cody & settled at Benton, NY; they had 3 children.
3...Sarah C Newcomb, 1798-1831, unmarried, was an invalid for 15 years & res with her brother Harvey the last years of her life.
4...Rev George Washington Newcomb, 1799-1890, married twice - Lodoiska  Philena Keeney & Catharin Orinda Price, and had 3 children.  He was a teacher, attorney & Presbyterian minister & res primatily at Eaton Co, MI.
5...John Curtis Newcomb, 1802-1870, married Elizabeth B Lawrence & had 6  children.  He settled at Brookfield, MO, by way of western NY, PA, NJ & Hannibal, MO.
6...Rev Harvey Newcomb, 1803-1863, married Alithea A Wells & had 5 children. A Congregational minister & author of several children's books, he res variously NY, PA & MA.
7...Mary Ann Newcomb, (detailed above)
8...male Newcomb, died young