Joseph Hutchins Colton

Joseph Hutchins Colton was born in Longmeadow, Massachusetts on 5 July 1800. As a young man, he worked in a general store in Lenox, Massachusetts, and as a postal clerk in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1830-1831, he moved to New York City and established J. H. Colton & Co. for the production and publication of maps, atlases, and school geographies, and guide books. His sons George W. Colton and Charles B. Colton succeeded him in the business. He died in Brooklyn, New York on 19 July 1893, at the home of his son Charles.