In 1854 Melchor Snively Newcomer, my great grandfather, and his family moved from Hagerstown, Maryland to a farm six miles northwest of Mount Morris, Illinois.
In 1866 he joined the German Baptist Brethren (now the Church of the Brethren). He was elected to the ministry in 1869. It is not clear to me, if Melchor was Brethren in Maryland, and thus transferred a congregational membership, or became a Brethren for the first time in 1866. His parents probably were German Baptist Brethren in Maryland.
Melchor helped organize Mount Morris Seminary and College Institute in 1879. After the closure of Rock River Seminary, he bought the seminary for $6,000 from Robert Hitt in 1879. The name was later changed to just Mount Morris College, and, during the Great Depression, the college merged with Manchester College (now, Manchester University) in North Manchester, Indiana.
Note: My dad graduated from Manchester College, and I lived in the student-housing trailers as a toddler.
Melchor Newcomer’s book of poems and prose entitled Golden Gleamings, Comprising Poems and Prose Extracts from the Writings of M. S. Newcomer was published by the Daily Republican Printing and Binding House in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1891.
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For the details on Melchor Newcomer and cousins, please go to my website in RootsMagic.