COLBY. COLLINS. 137 ginia, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Dela- ware, Pennsylvania and the Western Re- serve ; also of the Societt' Numismatit/i/e of Brussels, and the Institute Canadian of Ottawa. Mr. Colburn was married in 1S46 to Eliza Ann, daughter of John and Eliza Taylor (Pollard) Blackmail, of Boston. His residence is Longwood, Brookline. COLBY, JOHN FREEMAN, son of John and Mary Huse (Holt) Colby, was born March 3, 1834, on his father's farm, in that part of Society Land which afterwards be- came a part of the town of Bennington, Hillsborough county, N. H. His early opportunities for education were few and small, but he had a strong thirst for knowledge, which his father en- couraged. By the death of his father, he was early thrown upon his own resources. By industry and economy, he saved enough to secure two terms of schooling, and at the age of seventeen taught his first school. He fitted for college at Mount Vernon and Reed's Ferry, N. H., and as a private pupil of the late Hon. George Stevens, of Lowell, and entered Dartmouth in 1S55. He took the broad, liberal college course of that time ; he taught school every winter ; he learned books as a librarian for three years in one of the college libraries. Upon his graduation in 1S59, a place was waiting for him, and he became prin- cipal of the Stetson high school, at Ran- dolph, Mass. Distinction and promotion continued to open to him as a teacher, and tempting business offers were urged upon him. But he decided to devote himself to the legal profession, and accordingly, in 1864, he moved to Boston and entered the offices of Hon. Ambrose A. Ranney and Nathan Morse. In December, 1865, after less than two years of study, on ex- amination, he was admitted to the Suffolk bar, and has continued in general practice, a conscientious and faithful attorney, and an able advocate, with a lofty conception of the dignity of the profession and an enthusiasm for it which never fails. For the most part Mr. Colby has re- sisted political preferment, but he occupied a seat in the common council of the city of Boston in 1 878— '9, serving on the judici- ary and other important committees, and in 1886 he was elected representative to the Legislature for the iSth Suffolk dis- trict. He was made House chairman of the joint committee on harbors and public lands, and a member of the joint com- mittee on parishes and religious societies. He was re-elected to the Legislature in No- vember, 1887, and served on the judiciary committee, also on the committee on parishes and religious societies. Mr. Colby's religious convictions ma- tured while he was a student at the Merri- mack Normal Institute, Reed's Ferry, and he joined the Congregational church at Mount Vernon in 1854, since which time he has been actively engaged in Christian work. When he moved to Boston, he con- nected himself first with the Mount Vernon church, under the ministry successively of Rev. E. N. Kirk, D. D„ and Rev. S. E. Herrick, D. D., where he became promi- nent in all the affairs of the parish, being a teacher and superintendent in the Sun- day-school, clerk and treasurer of the church, a member of the examining com- mittee, and treasurer of the society. The office of deacon, to which he was elected, he declined. Since 18S4 he has been con- nected with the Union church, of which the Rev. Nehemiah Boynton is pastor. He is also an officer of the Congregational Club, and active in several benevolent organizations. Devoting himself with great ardor to his profession, Mr. Colby, as a rule, has avoided business responsibilities, but he served as receiver of the Mechanics' Bank, after its failure in 1877, and has been for several years one of the trustees of the North End Savings Bank. He also com- bines business with pleasure in the man- agement of the farm connected with his summer home in Mount Vernon, N. FI. COLLINS, Michael Henry, son of Walter and Annie Elizabeth (Lewis) Collins, was born in Quebec, September 28, 1822. His parents were born in London, England. At the age of two years he went with them to Philadelphia, where he received his early education in private and public schools. His first connection in business was in glass-making, and afterward in engineer- ing and as a general inventor. Mr. Collins was married in 1847 to Eliz- abeth, daughter of Captain John and Elizabeth (Erskine) McNear. Of this union is one child : Florence Elizabeth, wife of Frederic F. Clark. He married his present wife, Frances, daughter of Captain Thomas and Katherine (Light) Boyd, in Wiscasset, Maine, October 4, 1855. They have two children by adoption : William Francis and Blanche Collins. Mr. Collins, after living for a time in Chelsea, removed to East Medway, now Millis, in 1S74, where he now resides. He is a man original in his ideas, of indomi-
