Cecil Newcorn
Files
Dublin Core
Title
Cecil Newcorn
Subject
Newcorn, Cecil Miller (1906-1970)
Massanutten Military Academy (Woodstock, Shenandoah County, Va.)
Military academies - Virginia - Woodstock
Military education - Virginia - Woodstock
Teachers - Virginia - Woodstock
Description
Portrait of Cecil M. Newcorn wearing a U.S. Army uniform. He is best remembered for the years he served as Bandmaster at Massanutten Military Academy (MMA) in the late 1930’s.
Cecil was from Plainfield, New Jersey, the son of William (1868-1946) Newcorn and his second wife, Mamie (Miller) (1878-1942) Newcorn. His father was a lawyer and judge. His mother’s obituary noted she was “one of the outstanding women in Jewish life in Plainfield and New Jersey”.
Cecil was a 1924 graduate of MMA.
After that, he spent a few years working aboard passenger ships, shuttling back and forth from Europe to New York City. Several Crew lists from the 1927-1929 timeframe include him as Assistant Steward, then Clerk, and finally, Assistant Purser.
His first wife was Florence Lustig, the daughter of wealthy parents from Manhattan, New York. They married in 1932. At that time, he was a manager for a vegetable oil company, Palm Products Syndicate, in New York. The marriage did not last.
By 1935, Cecil lived in Dallas, Texas.
In 1937, Cecil accepted a teaching position at MMA. He replaced a well-loved music teacher, Fred Spiker, who had died. A history of MMA written by Robert Mallory Klein in 2001, said this about Cecil Newcorn’s contribution: “Under … the leadership of Cecil Newcorn, the band raised its performance to a still higher plateau than it had earlier enjoyed.”
In 1938, not long after Cecil came to Woodstock, he married Georgia Marie (Boyer) (1917-2004), born in Woodstock. She was the daughter of Clarence L. and Bashie (Frye) Boyer.
In 1940, Cecil Newcorn lived with his wife’s widowed mother and family on West Spring Street in Woodstock.
Under Newcorn’s leadership, the MMA band gave bi-weekly concerts on the Woodstock Courthouse Square, weekend events at the academy, and various local churches, clubs and organizations. They also gave public concerts as radio broadcasts and regularly did road trips to perform at high schools in Pennsylvania and as far away as Ohio. Finally, the band participated in several parades, including Apple Blossom in Winchester, where they were often awarded first prize.
The most prestigious parade in which the ensemble played (during Cecil Newcorn’s tenure) was the confederate veterans’ parade in Washington D.C. in 1941. MMA’s position of march in that event was just behind the U.S. Army Band and in front of the U.S. Navy Band.
The years of Cecil Newcorn’s involvement at MMA, 1937-1941, seem to have been the band’s most successful period in MMA history.
During the war, in 1942, Cecil left MMA to work in a defense plant. He never returned.
The 1950 census found him and his wife, Marie, living in Dunkirk, Chatauqua County, New York, with their 10-year old daughter, Cecelia F. Newcorn, who was born in Virginia. Cecil managed the Dunkirk Airport for AA Airways, and he is mentioned in many local newspaper articles related to the airport’s operation during his years there.
He and his family did not stay in New York. A census from 1957 found the family living in Roeland Park, a suburb south of Kansas City. Cecil was a Commanding Officer of one of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) groups for Kansas City.
Sometime in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s, Cecil and Marie’s marriage ended.
The early 1960’s found Cecil living in Santa Rosa, California, where Cecil’s title was Executive Director. By then, his third wife was with him. Her name was Veronica Pauline Cumming (1910-2002).
Cecil died in Las Vegas, where he worked as the Executive Director of the Clark County Health Department in Nevada. Surviving relatives were his wife, Veronica, and his daughter, “Celia” Limbaugh of Los Angeles, California.
Cecil was from Plainfield, New Jersey, the son of William (1868-1946) Newcorn and his second wife, Mamie (Miller) (1878-1942) Newcorn. His father was a lawyer and judge. His mother’s obituary noted she was “one of the outstanding women in Jewish life in Plainfield and New Jersey”.
Cecil was a 1924 graduate of MMA.
After that, he spent a few years working aboard passenger ships, shuttling back and forth from Europe to New York City. Several Crew lists from the 1927-1929 timeframe include him as Assistant Steward, then Clerk, and finally, Assistant Purser.
His first wife was Florence Lustig, the daughter of wealthy parents from Manhattan, New York. They married in 1932. At that time, he was a manager for a vegetable oil company, Palm Products Syndicate, in New York. The marriage did not last.
By 1935, Cecil lived in Dallas, Texas.
In 1937, Cecil accepted a teaching position at MMA. He replaced a well-loved music teacher, Fred Spiker, who had died. A history of MMA written by Robert Mallory Klein in 2001, said this about Cecil Newcorn’s contribution: “Under … the leadership of Cecil Newcorn, the band raised its performance to a still higher plateau than it had earlier enjoyed.”
In 1938, not long after Cecil came to Woodstock, he married Georgia Marie (Boyer) (1917-2004), born in Woodstock. She was the daughter of Clarence L. and Bashie (Frye) Boyer.
In 1940, Cecil Newcorn lived with his wife’s widowed mother and family on West Spring Street in Woodstock.
Under Newcorn’s leadership, the MMA band gave bi-weekly concerts on the Woodstock Courthouse Square, weekend events at the academy, and various local churches, clubs and organizations. They also gave public concerts as radio broadcasts and regularly did road trips to perform at high schools in Pennsylvania and as far away as Ohio. Finally, the band participated in several parades, including Apple Blossom in Winchester, where they were often awarded first prize.
The most prestigious parade in which the ensemble played (during Cecil Newcorn’s tenure) was the confederate veterans’ parade in Washington D.C. in 1941. MMA’s position of march in that event was just behind the U.S. Army Band and in front of the U.S. Navy Band.
The years of Cecil Newcorn’s involvement at MMA, 1937-1941, seem to have been the band’s most successful period in MMA history.
During the war, in 1942, Cecil left MMA to work in a defense plant. He never returned.
The 1950 census found him and his wife, Marie, living in Dunkirk, Chatauqua County, New York, with their 10-year old daughter, Cecelia F. Newcorn, who was born in Virginia. Cecil managed the Dunkirk Airport for AA Airways, and he is mentioned in many local newspaper articles related to the airport’s operation during his years there.
He and his family did not stay in New York. A census from 1957 found the family living in Roeland Park, a suburb south of Kansas City. Cecil was a Commanding Officer of one of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) groups for Kansas City.
Sometime in the late 1950’s or early 1960’s, Cecil and Marie’s marriage ended.
The early 1960’s found Cecil living in Santa Rosa, California, where Cecil’s title was Executive Director. By then, his third wife was with him. Her name was Veronica Pauline Cumming (1910-2002).
Cecil died in Las Vegas, where he worked as the Executive Director of the Clark County Health Department in Nevada. Surviving relatives were his wife, Veronica, and his daughter, “Celia” Limbaugh of Los Angeles, California.
Creator
Morrison Studio
Source
Morrison Studio Collection - Shenandoah County Historical Society
Publisher
Shenandoah County Library
Date
Undated
Contributor
Biographical information was compiled from public records.
Information about the MMA band's achievements was extracted from "An American Century - The History of Massanutten Military Academy" by Robert Mallory Klein, 2001, page 90.
Rights
IN COPYRIGHT - NON-COMMERCIAL USE PERMITTED
Relation
Cecil Newcorn appears in Morrison Studio Collection images 007854, 008152, 009346, 001414, 002346, 003410, and 020132.
Identifier
003410
Still Image Item Type Metadata
Original Format
Glass Negatives
Collection
Citation
Morrison Studio, “Cecil Newcorn,” Shenandoah County Library Archives, accessed November 24, 2024, https://archives.countylib.org/items/show/30133.
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