Ira Colby Jr.
Ira Colby, Jr., was born on January 11, 1831, in New Hampshire to Ira Colby and Polly Foster. His father was a farmer who owned $5,500 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property. Colby grew up and attended school in Claremont, New Hampshire, before enrolling at Dartmouth College in 1853. He graduated in 1857 and earned admission to the New Hampshire bar three years later.
According to one local observer, he “ranked as one of the most astute and thoroughly grounded lawyers in the state for many years.” He joined the Republican Party in the 1850s and served in the state legislature from 1864 to 1865. During the Civil War, one writer noted, he was “an active and zealous supporter of the cause of the Union.” He married Louise Way on June 20, 1867, and they had at least two children: Ira, born around 1872; and Bertha, born around 1878. By 1870, he owned $2,500 of real estate and $2,800 of personal property. Colby served as county solicitor from 1864 to 1888 and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1876. He served several more terms in the state legislature in the 1880s. He died of cancer on June 27, 1908, in Claremont, New Hampshire.
Image: Ira Colby, Jr. (Otis Waite, History of the Town of Claremont, New Hampshire)
DATABASE CONTENT
| (1027) | Colby, Ira Jr. | 1831-01-11 | 1908-06-27 |
- Conflict Side: Union
- Role: Civilian
- Rank in:
- Rank out:
- Rank highest:
- Gender: Male
- Race: White
Documents - Records: 13
- (1651) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 1861
- (1652) [recipient] ~ Erskine Williams to Ira Colby Jr., 20 August 1861
- (1654) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 13 October 1861
- (1655) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 23 October 1861
- (1656) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 24 November 1861
- (1657) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 6 February 1862
- (1658) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 12 February 1862
- (1659) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 28 March 1862
- (1660) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 26 March 1863
- (1661) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 24 April 1863
- (1662) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 22 May 1863
- (1663) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 29 May 1863
- (1664) [recipient] ~ George Colby to Ira Colby Jr., 26 June 1863
People - Records: 2
- (1027) Colby, Ira Jr. is the [sibling of] (1026) Colby, George
- (1029) Colby, Ira is the [parent of] (1027) Colby, Ira Jr.
Places - Records: 2
Groups - Records: 1
- (3) [politician] ~ Republican Party
SOURCES
1850, 1870, 1880, and 1900 United States Federal Censuses, available from Ancestry.com; Civil War Draft Registration Records, 1863-1865, available from Ancestry.com; New Hampshire Marriage Records Index, 1637-1947, available from Ancestry.com; Vermont Journal, 4 July 1908.
