Gardner Colby (1810–1879) was a prominent businessman and Christian philanthropist. He is the namesake of

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philant ...

in Maine.

Early life

Colby was born in

Bowdoinham, Maine Bowdoinham is a town in Sagadahoc County, Maine, United States. The population was 3,047 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area. The town is located on the west ...

in 1810 and spent part of his childhood in Waterville, Maine. His father, Josiah Colby, died in 1814 after having lost his fortune during the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, and Josiah Colby had spent time manufacturing gunpowder in Waterville before his death. To aid Colby's mother,

Jeremiah Chaplin Jeremiah Chaplin (January 2, 1776 – May 7, 1841) was a Reformed Baptist theologian who served as the first president of Colby College (then called the Waterville College) in Maine. Chaplin was born in Rowley, Massachusetts (now Georgetown ...

, a Baptist minister who served as the first President of Waterville College (later

) arranged for the Colby family to operate a store in Charlestown, Massachusetts.

Career

Gardner Colby eventually started his own store in Boston and became involved in various other businesses including railroads, shipping and manufacturing. As a lifelong Baptist, Colby was very involved in various Christian causes. During the Civil War in 1864 the college in Waterville was facing hardships, so Colby made the first of several large donations to the college and it was subsequently renamed "Colby University" in his honor. He served as a trustee from 1864 to his death and many of his descendants became involved with the school. Colby also served as treasurer and made several large donations to what is now Andover Newton Theological School, which was a Reformed seminary located near Colby's home in Newton, Massachusetts.A tribute to the memory of Gardner Colby
(Franklin press., 1879)

Places named after Colby

* Colby Hall (Newton, Massachusetts) *Colby Chapel at Andover Newton *

Early life

Career

Places named after Colby

References

Further reading