Governor Anthony Colby (1792-1873)

Description

Anthony Colby Jr., grandson to Anthony Colby I, was born in New London, New Hampshire on November 13, 1792. He was the son of Joseph and Anna (Heath) Colby, original settlers of the town, and Anthony Colby was baptized in Lake Sunapee. Anthony was educated in New London and did not attend college, but he was a successful businessman, an influential politician, and an active member of the New London community. He helped to improve the town through efforts to improve transportation; these efforts included the creation of a stagecoach line that connected Hanover, NH with Lowell, MA. Anthony Colby was also a proponent of and benefactor to Colby Academy which bears his name (today Colby-Sawyer College). Anthony Colby was a major general in the state militia, and he served as a state representative from 1828 to 1832 and again from 1837 to 1839. In 1846, Anthony Colby was elected the first Whig governor of the state, but he served for only one year. Anthony Colby was an active abolitionist and made this known in his political endeavors. From 1850 to 1870, Anthony Colby served as a trustee for Dartmouth College, and Dartmouth awarded him an honorary Master of Arts degree. Anthony Colby was first married to Mary Everett with whom he had three children, and, at some point after her death in 1837, he married Eliza Avery Messenger Richardson. Anthony died on July 20, 1873.