Norman Jay Colman (May 16, 1827 – November 3, 1911) was a politician, attorney, educator, newspaper publisher, and, for 18 days, the first United States secretary of agriculture.

One of the trustees appointed to oversee the new school was John Baptiste Ford of Greenville who was a prominent resident and famous for his glass works.

This spelled the end of the older county seminaries for the new law provided that they be closed and their assets turned over to the new public school systems.

Some 100 students had been attending the school paying tuition of $4 to $8 a semester and finding board and lodging in Greenville homes at $1 a week.

He was elected as an Alderman for St. Louis city's 5th ward as a Whig in 1854 and 1855[1] In 1855 he founded the Valley Farmer newspaper.

He also lobbied for the creation of the United States Department of Agriculture and served as its inaugural Secretary at the end of Cleveland's term, February 15, 1889, to March 6, 1889.