Henry Root Colman was born October 9, 1800, in Northampton, New York.
His son Henry served as a trustee of Lawrence University for 60 years.
In 1840, he and his family moved to Wisconsin where he was a missionary among the Oneida tribe near Green Bay, and later near Fond du Lac.
He was commissioned by Amos Adams Lawrence to establish a frontier school and raise funds to build the school that would be known as Lawrence University.
[1] Colman died February 7, 1895, in Fond du Lac, aged 94.