Hall Colby was born in September 1800 in Salisbury, New Hampshire.  He was the son of Dr. Zaccheus Colby and his wife, Abigail Hall.  He was their first son and named with his mother’s maiden name. 

When Hall was two years old, his uncles, Ephraim, Jr., Isaac, Abraham, and Timothy, left Salisbury, and struck out for the northwestern New York, currently, the town of Ogden.  Two years later, the rest of the family joined them. They included Hall’s grandparents; Ephraim and Mary Merrill Colby; his other uncles, Eastman and Merrill; and his parents. Everyone in the family settled in the town of Ogden, except Hall and his parents. They settled on Ridge Road, in what is now known as the town of Greece. 

In 1820, Hall Colby married Eliza Barrett, daughter of Benjamin Barrett and Dorothy Day. They had 11 children – Salmon (1822-1892), Irene (1824-1919), Dorothy (1828 – 1892), Ann Maria (1830-1865), Eliza (1834 – 1883), Ephraim (1836), Hannah (1836-1908), Frances (1839 – 1908), George (1840 – 1915), Abigail (1841 – 1934), and Mary (1849 – 1883). 

Hall Colby began life as farmer and appeared to have a scientific mind early in life.  In an article published in the New Genesee Farmer newspaper in 1840, he wrote about his experiments using leached ashes to preserve his fence posts and confirmed it was successful.  He explained how to prevent decay by digging the fence posts 2-3 feet deep, lay ash in the base of the hole, and layer stone and ash to fill around the post.  

Around the mid 1840’s, Hall Colby’s interest moved to studying the solar system.  It’s unclear where he received his education or training, but he became very knowledgeable in solar and nautical navigation.  His first published document was a science teaching booklet named: “ A Plan or Map of the Solar System”, written in 1846. His studies lead him to write other scientific books and become an inventor of multiple nautical instruments.

Some of his many accomplishments were:

• In 1847, he invented and applied for a patent for the “Colby’s Concentric Duplicate Mariner’s Compass”.  

• In 1854, he produced a magnetic Orrey – a chart of the solar system.  

• In 1856 he formed the Colby Nautical Instrument Company.

• In 1859, he wrote a book – The Improved Nautical Almanac or True Navigator.

• In 1872, he wrote a book – On the Physical Laws of the Universe of Matter.

• In 1876, he wrote a book – Nautical Astronomy Corrected.

• In 1879, he was granted a patent on an altitude instrument, which from his testimonies in his booklet “Physical Laws of the Planetary System” had been on trial in steamships for many years.   

Beginning around the late 1840’s, through the end of his life, Hall Colby traveled to port cities such as Ogdensburg, New York; New Brunswick, New Jersey; and New York City to experiment and test his nautical and navigation inventions. He had built a strong relationship with many Naval Officers, and during the Civil War, he voluntarily provided his services to examining and correcting the compasses of the naval vessels in ports of New York. 

Between 1847 and 1875, Hall Colby claimed to have serviced 260 vessels and instructed those operating the ships to keep them in service for the public benefit, without any compensation.  In March of 1875, he petitioned the Federal Government to reimburse him for his services and produced testimonials signed by 23 ship captains and masters, to support his claims.  

• For example, Lieutenant C. G. Hunter certified that Hall Colby put 3 compasses on the U.S. steamer Scourge in 1847, which he cruised in the Mexican War. He verified the compasses were superior to any he had previously used.

For all his services, the House of Representatives Committee on Claims awarded $10,000 to Hall Colby in 1875, which would be around $300,000 today.  

Hall Colby passed away on March 20, 1882 at the home of his daughter Eliza Goodell, in Brooklyn, New York.  He is buried in Hoosick Cemetery with his wife Eliza Barrett.