Mrs. Alice Russell Newcomb, wife of D. E. Newcomb of La Jara, died suddenly about midnight July 4, 1887.

She had been unusually well and had been riding with her husband and some friends most of the day. In the evening she complained of feeling badly and said she was almost afraid of going to bed. She told her little girl that if she heard any noise in the night to wake her papa who was sleeping in another room . About half past twelve the baby cried so as to rouse the little girl who first went to wake her mother and then called her father who found his wife already gone. She wore a peaceful smile in death as if she had died in sleep without pain.

Mrs. Newcomb was born in Woodstock, Illinois in May 1848, and was a little over 39 years old. She was educated at the State Normal University at Normal, Illinois, and taught school for a time at Golconda, Illinois where she had many friends. In 1873 she came with her husband to Del Norte, Colorado where he had charge of the school and was superintendent of the schools. They settled in 1876 on Alamosa Creek about 4 miles west of La Jara where they have since resided. There has been born unto them eight children, six of whom still live, including two little twin daughters born the 25th of last February.

Mrs. Newcomb was noted for her strong independent character, being a woman of superior intellectual power. Her religious views were very broad and liberal, but her sympathy was tender and true. She was in regular correspondence with prominent ladies of Unitarial. churches in Boston and Iowa, and embraced the views of that organization.

Her life was a ministry of good to others without complaint concerning her own trials. She was greatly beloved by all her neighbors and friends who showed their attachment by a large attendance at the funeral, many coming from great distances on the shortest notice, and all eager to offer the tender tributes of affection at the grave of one they loved.

Source: San Luis Valley Historian, Volume XXX, Number 1, 1998, Alamosa, CO
This page was produced by Bob Newcomb in Brea, CA