Vital Records/Death: Certificate of Death, Florida; Vesta Lillian Newcomb, Female, Date of Death: April 5, 1974; White; Age: 95; Date of Birth: 19 Nov 1878; County of Death: Collier; Location of Death: Naples Community Hospital; State of Birth: California; Citizen of U.S.A.; Never married; Surviving Spouse: None; SS#: 265-60-8646; Occupation: Housekeeping; Own home; Residence: Florida/Lee/Estero/P.O. Box 57/Estero; Father: EDWIN NEWCOMB; Mother: Hattie Ball; Informant: Mrs. Joe Bigelow/Rt. #7/P.O. Box564/Estero/Florida/33905; Cause of Death: Congestive heart failure; Burial: Koreshan Unity Cemetery/Estero, Florida; Burial: 8 April 1974; Pittman Funeral
Home/2116 Tamiami Trail, Bonita Springs, Florida.

THE KORESHAN UNITY MEMBERSHIP LIST by Claude J. Rahn: Hattie Newcomb; Born: 28 Jan 1843, St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada; Died: 19 Feb 1932, age 89 years, 22 days

FOLKS WE KNEW WHILE IN THE K.U. by Marie McCready; Hattie Newcomb, mother: "Hattie had charge of the dining room at Estero while I lived there. James was a tall fellow who played one of the coronets in the orchestra and had charge of the cows for awhile. After I recovered from the typhoid, Catharine and I used to wander down to the stable about milking time for an extra drink of milk. He later married Cora Newcomb and they lived at LaBelle. Vesta and Catharine spent a good bit of time together when we first went to Estero and she is now the sole surviving member of those there before Doctor's death still living on the old home grounds."

1910 U.S. Federal Census/Estero/Lee County/Florida; Koreshan Unity; Enumeration Date: 25 Apr 1910; Enumerator: Walter S. Turner, Jr.; Microfilm No.: Fl 1910-H T624; ED: 80; Transcribed by Joyce Nelle Ratliff, January 1995: Harriett M. Newcomb; Sex: Female; Race: white; Age 67; Marital Status: divorced(?); Mother of 3 children; Number of children living: 2; Place of birth: Canada; Place of birth of mother and father: Canada; Language spoken: English; Occupation: Needlework; Employer or worker: worker; No. of months not employed: 0; Can read and write: yes.

1920 U.S. Federal Census/Estero/Lee County/Florida; Enumeration date: Jan 2, 1920; Enumerator: Henry D. Silverfriend; ED: 109; SD: 1; Fourth Precinct; Microfilm roll number: 1820221; Transcribed by Joyce Nelle Ratliff; December 1994: Hattie Newcomb; Relation to head of family: head; Age 76; Widow; Year of immigration to U.S.: 1871; naturalized; Year of naturalization: 1885; Place of birth: Canada; Place of birth of mother and father: Canada; Occupation: None; Place of residence: Dining Hall/Ladies dormitory place

1930 U.S. Federal Census; Estero, Lee County, Florida; Precinct: 12; Koreshan Unity Home; Enumeration date: May 5, 1930; ED: 36-17; SD: 6; Page: 199; Transcribed by Joyce Nelle Ratliff; January 2003: Hattie Newcomb; Radio set: none listed; Sex: Female; Color: white; Age at last birthday: 87; Marital condition: widow; Age at first marriage: either 19 or 29; Attended school since Sep 1, 1929; no; Whether able to read and write: yes; Place of birth: Canada; Place of birth of father: England; Place of birth of mother: England; Language spoken in home before coming to the U.S.: English; Year of immigration to the U.S.: 1840; Naturalized: yes; Whether able to speak English: yes; Occupation: housework; Industry: General house work; Whether actually at work yesterday or the last regular working day: yes.

Burial: Koreshan Unity Cemetery--lot 4; Inscription: Hattie Newcomb; 1843--Feb 1932.

COURT RECORD/Lee County Court House--WARRANTY DEED: Hattie Newcomb; 25 Apr 1924; No. 26759; Deed Book 70, Page 209, Entry Number 1

EXCERPT FROM AN ORAL HISTORY GIVEN BY Vesta Newcomb (abt 1970) to her Canadian friend, Lillian Giles: Vesta's father was from England and he was a schoolmaster by trade. He immigrated to Canada where he met Vesta's mother, Harriet, (surname unknown) and they were married. The family moved from island to island in the Pacific and finally settled in the Fiji Islands. After their first child died, they moved to Hawaii for awhile and then to the San Francisco area. Evidently, they became involved with the Koreshan's at that time. About the time the family decided to join the Koreshan Unity, Mr. Newcomb was killed in a train accident. Harriett Newcomb and her two children, Lillian, who Koresh (Cyrus Teed) later named Vesta, and James continued with their plans and joined the Koreshan Unity and moved to Chicago with the California group in 1892. Lillian (Vesta) moved to Estero, Florida, in January of 1894 with the first group of Koreshan pioneers. Harriett and James stayed in Chicago and moved to Estero, Florida, with another Koreshan group in the early 1900's .

VESTA NEWCOMB interview with Lillian Giles: Vesta mentions that her parents first child, a little girl, died while they were living in the Figi Islands.

THE KORESHAN UNITY MEMBERSHIP LIST by Claude J. Rahn: Lillian (Vesta) Newcomb 19 Nov 1878, Calivares Co., California, arr. at Estero among the first group in 1894. This family left San Francisco in May 1892 for the K.U. in Chicago.

FOLKS WE KNEW WHILE IN THE K.U. by Marie McCready; Vesta Newcomb: "Hattie had charge of the dining room at Estero while I lived there. James was a tall fellow who played one of the coronets in the orchestra and had charge of the cows for awhile. After I recovered from the typhoid, Catharine and I used to wander down to the stable about milking time for an extra drink of milk. He later married Cora Newcomb and they lived at LaBelle. Vesta and Catharine spent a good bit of time together when we first went to Estero and she is now the sole surviving member of those there before Doctor's death still living on the old home grounds."

ORAL HISTORY: Oral history given by Vesta Newcomb to her friend, Lillian Giles. Interview in possession of Koreshan State Historic Site, Estero, Florida.

Burial: Koreshan Unity Cemetery--lot 55; Inscription: Vesta Newcomb; Apr-11-74.

*1880 U.S. States Census Household Record; Source information: San Andreas, Calaveras, California; Family History Library Film: 1254063; NA film Number: T9-0063; Page Number: 349B; (www.familysearch.org); Name: Hattie Newcomb; Relation to head of family: Other; Marital status: single; Sex: female Color: white; Age at last birthday: 1; Place of birth: California; Occupation: none; Father's birthplace: Canada; Mother's birthplace: Canada. *( Although the name of Hattie Newcomb is incorrect, I believe this person is Lillian (Vesta) Newcomb. Vesta and her brother are living with L.M. Brenner family. Their mother, Hattie Newcomb, is living nearby and working as a housekeeper for Martha A. Cain, whom I believe has a relative living in the L.M. Brenner household--JN Ratliff)

U.S. Federal Census/Estero/Lee County/Florida--1900; Koreshan Community; Enumeration date: 27 Jun 1900; Enumerator: A. A. Gardner; Precinct 6; Microfilm number: 1240172; SD: 2; ED: 77; Sheet number: 16; Page number: 26: Transcribed by Joyce Nelle Ratliff: Lillian Newcomb; Relation to head of family: partner; Color: white; Sex: female; Born: Nov 1878; Age 21; Single; Place of birth: California: Place of birth of mother and father: Canada; Occupation: assistant; Can read and write: yes; Can speak English: yes.

U.S. Federal Census/Estero/Lee County/Florida--1910; Koreshan Unity; Enumeration Date: 25 Apr 1910; Enumerator: Walter S. Turner, Jr.; Microfilm No.: Fl 1910-H T624; ED: 80; Transcribed by Joyce Nelle Ratliff, January 1995: Vesta Newcomb; Sex: Female; Race: white; Age 31; Marital status: Single; Place of birth: California; Place of birth of mother and father: Canada; Language spoken: English; Occupation: Nurse; Employer or worker: worker; No. of months not employed: 0; Can read and write: yes.

U.S. Federal Census/Estero/Lee County/Florida--1920; Enumeration date: Jan 2, 1920; Enumerator: Henry D. Silverfriend; ED: 109; SD: 1; Fourth Precinct; Microfilm roll number: 1820221; Transcribed by Joyce Nelle Ratliff; December 1994: Vesta G. Newcomb; Relation to head of family: Boarder; Place of residence: Poultry yard Road; Age 41; Place of birth: California; Place of birth of mother and father: Canada; Occupation: Maid/General housekeeper/Koresh home.

U.S. Federal 1930 Census; Estero, Lee County; Florida; Precinct 12; Koreshan Unity Home; Enumeration Date: May 5, 1930; ED: 36-17; SD: 6; Page: 199; Transcribed by Joyce Nelle Ratliff; January 2003: Vesta Newcomb; Radio set: none listed; Sex: female; Color: white; Attended school since Sep 1, 1929; No; Whether able to read and write: yes; Place of birth: California; Place of birth of father: Canada; Place of birth of mother: England; Whether able to speak English; yes; Occupation: Teacher; Industry: school; Whether actually at work yesterday or the last regular work day: yes.

COURT RECORD/Lee County Court House--WARRANTY DEED: 25 Apr 1924; Vesta Newcomb; No. 26759; Deed Book 70, Page 209; Entry Number 1.

MEMORIES, MEMORIES--DAYS OF LONG AGO chronicled by Marie McCready with participation by Lovelle McCready; Vesta Newcomb: "The other (cottage) was our school for a time and then was used by Marie Fischer and now by Vesta Newcomb." Page 57. "Catharine McCready and Vesta spent much time together." " Vesta (Newcomb) almost never joined in such activities..."--Page 61.

SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX; United States; Vol 2; Vesta Newcomb; Date of birth: 19 November 1879; Date of death: April 1974 in Florida; SS#: 265-60-8646.

Notes of Evelyn Horn: Vesta Newcomb
Vesta was born in Calveres County, California. At the age of 14 she joined the Koreshan group in Chicago with her mother Hattie Newcomb, a widow, and her brother James Newcomb. The father met with his death in the Figi Islands while working with the railroad--a freak train accident.

Vesta served as a personal maid to Victoria. She helped with the children in the school, worked in the family kitchen and dining hall, helped with the mailing in the Guiding Star Publishing House and helped in the laundry. Vesta was in charge of all the decorations and floral arrangements for the Solar and Lunar festivals.

She loved to take long walks with friends around Estero. Her closest friends were Florence Graham, Bertie Boomer, Edith Trebell, and Eleanor Cassel. Vesta was one of the last four original Koreshans taking care of two Koreshan brothers Conrad Schlender and Alfred Christensen. She was loved by all who knew her. She had many friends around the area.

Vesta was a student of Koresh, loved poetry, and her world of books. She was a very close friend to the Boomer family and was often a guest at Mirasol Grove. In later years she was caretaker for the Boomer Estate in Estero.

Vesta was 95 1/2 years old at her death in Naples Community Hospital. She was entered in the Koreshan cemetery. Death: April 11, 1974. She was a tall person--about 5 foot 9 inches, thin, carried herself so graciously. Always wore white for her everyday work. She dressed very nice in dark skirts and long sleeve white blouses. Vesta had blue eyes and light brown hair, fair complexion. Mother Hattie Newcomb died March 1932 at age 89.

Vital Records/Death: Certificate of Death, Florida; Vesta Lillian Newcomb, Female, Date of Death: April 5, 1974; White; Age: 95; Date of Birth: 19 Nov 1878; County of Death: Collier; Location of Death: Naples Community Hospital; State of Birth: California; Citizen of U.S.A.; Never married; Surviving Spouse: None; SS#: 265-60-8646; Occupation: Housekeeping; Own home; Residence: Florida/Lee/Estero/P.O. Box 57/Estero; Father: Edwin Newcomb; Mother: Hattie Ball; Informant: Mrs. Joe Bigelow/Rt. #7/P.O. Box 564/Estero/Florida/33905; Cause of Death: Congestive heart failure; Burial: Koreshan Unity Cemetery/Estero, Florida; Burial: 8 April 1974; Pittman Funeral
Home/2116 Tamiami Trail, Bonita Springs, Florida.

Newspaper Obit--The American Eagle/May 1974 KORESHAN PIONEER DIES
Miss Vesta Newcomb of Estero, 95, died at Naples Community Hospital after a short illness. She was in the first group of the Koreshan Unity to settle in Estero in 1894. She came with her mother, the late Hattie Newcomb, to Chicago from Calvares, Calif. in 1892 where she joined the Koreshans. Her name was changed by Koresh, founder of the Unity, from Lillian to Vesta. She did housekeeping at the Pioneer Place. She is survived by a niece Mrs. Gordon (Olive) Chauvin of Houston, Texas.

In a letter to the editor Alton D. Bessemer of Fort Lauderdale reminisces of early years in Estero when "Sister Vesta was assisting her mother who was in charge of the dining room and kitchen.... Vesta had an infinite patience with children and it was her reading to my six year old sister that gave her a first love for books...Her many friends will miss her."

FORT MYERS NEWS-PRESS, Thursday, October 18, 1979: "The End of an era marked by memories by Marian B. Godown: Vesta Newcomb--the last survivor of the original Koreshan Unity settlers--lived most of her life in Estero. She remained in the small............in 1894 by mystic-minded Dr. Cyrus R. Teed for almost 80 of her 95 years, watching Florida develop from a raw frontier (where she once slept in a tent on the ground for almost a year) to the state which pioneered the space program.
Along the way, she kept up with the latest happenings and retained her wry sense of humor. At 90 after she took her first flight from Fort Myers to Miami and back, she asked, "How soon can we go again?"
Vesta was the last of Dr. Teed's original adherents, following him to the sultry Southwest Florida wilderness almost 85 years ago. Now, five years after her death, Vesta is being honored in a special way that would have pleased her.
Approximately 20 acres of unspoiled pine, palmetto and scrub oak woodland on the beautiful Estero River near the boat ramp in the Koreshan State Historic Site have been deeded to the Florida Audubon Society by George D. Boomer in memory of "Sister Vesta" Newcomb.
It will be known as the "Sister Vesta Newcomb Preserve" and will be retained in its natural state as a tribute to Miss Newcomb.
When Vesta died in May 1974, her death attracted scant attention. It was a busy time at the Unity. It was preparing to host the Spring Lunar Festival commemorating the birthday of Dr. Teed's helpmate, Mrs. Annie G. Ordway.
Vesta's two-paragraph death notice in the newspaper mentioned she did housekeeping at the Pioneer Place. But Lillian Newcomb, dubbed Vesta by Dr. Teed, also had worked in a variety of interesting capacities during the eight decades she lived on the Unity grounds, 16 miles south of Fort Myers.
She was educated as a teacher. She had infinite patience with children and enjoyed teaching, both in Chicago and in Estero.
She also learned to operate the huge Linotype machine and helped set copy for the Unity's official periodical, "The Flaming Sword," and the original Unity weekly newspaper, "American Eagle." She taught others to set type and assisted in the Unity printing plant until it was destroyed by fire in 1951.
Vesta performed nursing duties (later admitting she rebelled at this), directed the Unity Library and also helped her mother, "Sister Hattie," in running the dining room and kitchen.
Before the turn of the century, she worked at the Unity-operated sawmill at the southern tip of Estero Island during the sect's enthusiastic efforts to create the star shaped community of "New Jerusalem"out of the Florida jungle...........
Dr. Teed's dream drew converts from Illinois, New York and other northern places to isolated Estero on the Florida frontier. Vesta was among the first to leave Chicago in 1894 to help lay the groundwork for the budding "Center of the Universe" city.
She was only 15 years old, a tall and slender girl with long blonde hair; worn back from her forehead.
It took hardy souls to endure the week-long trek from Chicago. Wearing heavy Victorian-style clothes, the travelers had to change trains seven times before they reached the end of the line at Punta Gorda, then finished their trip by sailboat.
Several years ago, Vesta Described the ordeal.
"We tackled with the wind this way and that way," Vesta explained, "and we were all sick." At Mound Key, she said, they were rowed in a towboat to Halfway Creek where they pushed north through the bush carrying their belongings and a parrot in a cage.
We finally reached an ox-team trail," Vesta continued, "turned south over a rustic bridge, and there we established our settlement." (At that time, sleepy Fort Myers was a cow town with about 350 people.)
"We pitched our tents and slept for 10 months on the (sometimes muddy) ground," Vesta said, "We cooked and ate around a bonfire." Everyone did his share of the work.
During their first winter in the Sunshine State, the transplanted Northerners were in for a big surprise,. Much to their disbelief the mercury plunged to below freezing on December 28, 1894. About five weeks later, a more disastrous freeze killer tender young shoots of vegetatio
Vesta said that although afterwards the Unity grew to be self-supporting, at first "there were times we went hungry." One winter, she remembered, all they had to eat was peanuts.
Fish were plentiful. The Koreshans used a fireboat (a small boat with a fire in its prow which was pushed from behind by a steamer). According to Vesta the mullet would jump toward the flame and land in the boat. "It was my job then to stand on the deck of the steamer, cook the mullet on a kerosene stove and serve it on slabs of bark to the hungry people."
After Vesta's death, Ernest Dunning, a history buff from Fort Myers, described his delightful visit with her in the Caloosa Quarterly published by the Southwest Florida Historical Society. "The women were all on this side of the creek," Vesta told Mr. Dunning. "and the men on the other side." Noting a foot bridge, Dunning asked if it was there in the old days. "Oh; no, no." Vesta answered quickly, with a sly twinkle in her bright blue-gray eyes. "There was a foot log."
A lover of the arts and music, Vesta also read up on current events and never missed the radio news and weather reports. When Dunning asked her if she still believed in the theory that we live inside the earth, she replied, "I did until the boys landed on the moon. When that happened, I knew it couldn't possibly be true."
Vesta adjusted easily to life in Florida, principally because of two "horribly cold winters" She spent in Chicago. In Lee County, her friendly nature and warm concern for others won her many friends. Today, learning of the memorial to Vesta, many who knew her are sharing their memories of her.
All remember how she loved to walk. Spry and alert even in her 90s, she didn't let the years slow her pace as she took her daily "constitutional."
Often her friends recall, she carried a Brazilian pepper twig to ward off pesky mosquitoes. As she did not own a car or drive, she walked many miles delivering messages or items. Frequently on her walks she visited the ranger offices at the entrance to the state park along the Tamiami Trail in Estero.
Vesta's close friend, Miss E. G. Rugg of Iona, reminisced about how Vesta "could quote poetry and writing no end." She was jolly and witty, too, and delighted in downing a glass of beer and a hamburger, thinking it was "real naughty."
Miss Rugg's friendship with Vesta started during Dr. Teed's lifetime when, as a four-year-old she arrived at the Unity. She recalls that Vesta lived in the "sister's dormitory" above the bake shop when the rooms were closed off with sheets, and later lived alone in a cottage.
"Vesta was truly wonderful," another old friend, Irene Wyka (Mrs. Raymond C.) Holstlaw of Fort Myers, says. She did an awful lot of good for a lot of people. Although she had a sweet disposition, she was strict. "She wouldn't allow you to talk sassy, but she had the interests of the children at heart."
Vesta's roots in the Unity stretched back to another century and across a continent. Born on Nov. 19, 1878, near Stockton, Cal. "quite close to the big (redwood) trees," she was the daughter of Harriet and Martin Newcomb. Newcomb was an English schoolmaster who immigrated to Canada where he met and married her mother.
Because of her father's itchy foot, her parents moved from island to island in the Pacific before settling for a time in the Fiji Islands and in Hawaii, and later in California.
"My mother was an idealist with a religious turn-of-mind." Vesta revealed. When she heard of the Koreshan Unity, she took the family (her brother James was a year older) to "all those meetings" in San Francisco, where Dr. Teed had recently set up a branch. "We were about to be received into the Unity when my father, only 42, was killed in a train accident."
Advised by other sect members to carry on with her plans, Mrs. Newcomb took her children to the Unity in Chicago. Vesta left her mother and brother behind in the Windy City to "start out on this great adventure"--a new life in a strange, far-off land. Mrs. Newcomb and James came south four years later, Vesta said.
Vesta suffered from a heart condition. After a brief bout with pneumonia, she died April 5, 1974, in the Naples Community Hospital. She was buried in the Unity graveyard where almost half a century before her mother was buried.
Because of the inaccessibility of the cemetery, Vesta's coffin had to be moved from the hearse to a four-wheel drive vehicle for the trip through the woods to the remote cemetery.
With the death of the last member of the original Koreshan Unity settlers, an era in Southwest Florida has ended. As the Unity gets ready to open a new headquarters building and research library across the Tamiami Trail on Corkscrew Road in Estero, old timers say it seems fitting that this memorable Koreshan pioneer should be remembered with a gift that symbolizes her long devotion to the Unity."

THE NEWS-PRESS; A Gift of history to residents of Florida by Marian B. Godown, News-Press Historical Columnist (not dated): When 15-year-old Vesta Newcomb packed her bags in 1894 and left Chicago for the Southwest Florida wilderness to help build the city of "New Jerusalem," the scenic Estero River was at the end of nowhere.
Today, fronting on part of the untouched south side of that fascinating river where Miss Newcomb swam as a girl, is the newly acquired Vesta Newcomb Preserve. It is named in memory of Miss Newcomb, the last of the original Koreshan Unity settlers, whose love for nature was almost life-long.
The 20-acre tract, just west of the boat ramp in the Koreshan State Historic Site, was recently deeded to the (unreadable) Audubon Society by (unreadable) George D. Boomer of New York City and Estero. Basically, a wildlife sanctuary, it will be retained in its natural state and used for the purpose of research and teaching. Already busloads of pupils have studied the variety of plants and trees in the preserve.
At the request of the Florida Audubon Society, environmentalist Bill Hammond, former head of the Audubon Society of Southwest Florida, and current president Charles Foster took an inventory of the undeveloped river front woodland. They were aided by Charles Lee, vice-president of conservation for Florida Audubon and Craig Hartman, biologist at the Lee County Nature Center.
They found that the property, which runs one-eighth of a mile long, contains original upland very suitable for wildlife habitat. Sixty percent of the tract is pure Pine forest, which the rest Palmetto and Scrub Oak, according to Foster. There's natural upland and lowland, including a marsh near the river and a fringe of Mangroves. The acreage also includes "pioneer trees" such as Camphor, stands of tall Bamboo, and large moss-draped Live Oaks, Needle Grass and Leather Ferns.
Exotic (imported) plants grow around the remnants of an old homestead where Georgine Boomer, mother of George Boomer, lived for many years. Dock pilings along the curving and historic river speak of the time the Estero was the lifeline of the fledgling Koreshan Unity colony, founded by Dr. Cyrus R. Teed.
Twelve-foot-high river banks line a portion of the northern boundary. This area--ideal for gopher tortoises--will be used in experiments to help the burrowing gopher tortoise make a comeback.
There used to be a colony here, Hammond says, but it was poached out. Although not endangered, the edible gopher is declining very fast. Plans call for releasing gopher tortoises with high school students assisting in the project.
The land in the sanctuary was owned originally by the Unity. It was acquired by Mrs. Boomer (once a member of the Unity) over half a century ago.
It is said that history doesn't linger long in this century. But through a gift of unspoiled land next to the state park in Estero, another bit of Florida history is being preserved--in the name of a modest woman pioneer.