14

C.C. Colby entered politics in 1867 when he was elected to the House of Commons as an Independent Conservative representing Stanstead County. He was returned by acclamation in 1872 and 1874 as a Conservative. He was re-elected in
1878, 1882 and 1887, at which time his responsibilities increased notably. He was Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
from 1887-1889 and President of the Privy Council from 1889-91. His career as the representative of Stanstead County ended
with the election of 1891 when he was defeated by T. B. Rider. He had been a Member of Parliament for twenty-four years
and was in his sixty-fourth year.

15

A great orator
1865
Stanstead, Québec

16

During his parliamentary years it was a commonplace in the press that he ranked among the very best speakers of either party.
What impressed me most about his public speaking was its persuasiveness. He was by far the most persuasive speaker I have ever heard at a public meeting - never treating his opponents with the slightest disrespect and giving full value to what was best in their arguments. He was aided too by an admirable diction. Doubtless this gift for public speaking disclosed itself while he was at Dartmouth, and it is no less certain that it was confirmed by the Webster tradition. Fortunately this did not lead him to indulge in imposing oratory.
A Colby Family Sketch by Charles William Colby.

17

William Benton Colby (1833-1884)
1860
Stanstead, Québec

18

William Benton Colby was born in Stanstead 23 January 1833, the younger son and middle child of Moses French Colby and Lemira Strong. He was educated in Stanstead. He married Melvina Wallingford on 23 January 1862. The Wallingfords were a Stanstead family. William and Melvina had two children: Mary French,
born 23 October 1862 and Martha Stoddard, born 21 August 1865.
William Benton Colby, after schooling at Stanstead Academy, entered life insurance work and was appointed agent for the New
York Mutual Life and other companies. He was an active Mason, locally and at the provincial level.

19

In public affairs
1860
Stanstead, Québec

20

There is little biographical information about William Colby. Forests and Clearings only notes 'Mr. Colby has been variously employed in public affairs'. This included periods of work as an insurance agent and customs' officer. He served as a municipal councillor as well. From family correspondence it is known that he participated in the building of Carrollcroft with his elder brother Charles and that he was frequently out-of-work and in debt. He was an active member of the Golden Rule Masonic
Lodge.
William Colby died 24 February 1884. His Masonic brethren paid tribute to his 'keen literary sensitiveness... splendid faculty of expression... profound sympathy with any form of pain or suffering or distress.'

21

William B. and Mary French Colby
1867
Stanstead, Québec

22

Mary and Martha Colby, the two daughters of William Benton Colby and Melvina Wallingford, completed the collegial programme at Stanstead College and were promising students. Both qualified as teachers. Mary accepted a teaching position in Winnipeg and after William's death, his widow and daughter Martha joined her there. Martha started the first private kindergarden in Winnipeg. Melvina Colby died in Winnipeg in 1899 and was buried in Stanstead.
Mary married James Albert Manning Aikins M.P. in 1899, a brother of Somerset Aikins who was married to Abby Colby.
James Aikins later became Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, as his father James Cox Aikins had been before him. They had two daughters Mary Alberta Helena (Helen), 1902, and Elizabeth Grace (Betty), 1903. Helen married Frederick Ney in 1923: Betty married his brother Reginald in 1926. Mary French Colby Aikins died in Winnipeg in 1931 and was buried in Stanstead.
Martha Stoddard Colby married the Reverend Walter A. Cooke, a Methodist minister in 1894. They had one child Albert, born in 1895. The family lived in many localities throughout the West before retiring to Vancouver. Martha Stoddard Colby died in Vancouver in 1951 and was buried in Stanstead.

23

Emily Stewart Colby (1836-1866)
1856
Stanstead, Québec

24

Emily Stewart Colby, youngest child of Moses French Colby and Lemira Strong Colby, married William White. In a Colby Family Sketch by Charles William Colby, it is noted "In Canada, the project of Confederation thrust its way to the front and incited my father's interest in a political career. Yet cultural interests were not crowded out by all these preoccupations. For instance, William White who married my Aunt Emily Colby, was aglow with Shakespearean zeal which communicated itself to our family and its friends. I feel sure that at no time has the Bard claimed so many devotees in Stanstead as then."

25

William White and Charles Carroll White
1866
Stanstead, Québec

26

When Charles William Colby took over the family business after his father's death, he noted : "Conscious of inexperience and
mindful of responsibility I felt that sound advice was needed and so went to Judge White, whose first wife was father's sister and
had continued to be an intimate friend of our family. Out of a full and ripe experience he spoke in favour of great caution, in a
most kindly manner putting in high relief my complete lack of business experience."

27

Harriet Hannah Child Colby
1880
Stanstead, Québec