Rhoda Newcomb, an intellectual from Providence, Rhode Island, is known for her efforts to promote the literary career of her son,
Charles King Newcomb. A discerning admirer of
Amos Bronson Alcott, she wrote to Charles on 6 July 1840 that the first installment of Alcott’s “Orphic Sayings” in the
Dial was “full of the highest wisdom.” She was the mother of six children, of whom Charles was the eldest, and died in 1865.