For almost fifty years Chauncey S. Colton was regarded as a leader in the development of Galesburg. He had been born in Luzurne County, Pennsylvania, September 21, 1800. His parents were Justin and Abigail Sill Colton. They had moved to that state for a year and Chauncey was born during that period. The family then returned to its original home in Maine.

The family was descended from George Colton, a quartermaster in the British army, who had arrived in the Colonies in 1640. Chauncey Colton's grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War.

Chauncey Colton brought his wife and five children to Galesburg in 1836. They traveled by train, boat and horse-drawn wagon to reach the Illinois prairie. At first they shared an eight by ten foot cabin with a Kentucky family. Mr. Colton had brought along small items which were difficult to buy on the frontier. He opened a store in that small abode and within a short time had erected his own cabin and store in Log City.

Chauncey's brother Gad had started a saw mill.  The lumber enabled him to build a store on the northwest corner of the Public Square. The family lived in the building until their own house was erected. Chauncey saw a need for a school so he built one at his own expense on North Cherry Street near the Square. He also taught the students.

Colton began a slaughter business and shipped beef and pork from Oquawka on the Mississippi River to New Orleans. He also bought or extended credit for corn and wheat from local farmers to be shipped to the New Orleans.

After the timbers for the First Church had lain for two years on the lot at the southwest corner of the Square, Colton offered credit to the members of the church. The church was finished and a good many years were required for all the debt to be repaid to him.

Colton appreciated the fact that transportation by horse and wagon was too slow and cumbersome. In 1851 Colton went to the Illinois Legislature to procure a charter for the Central Military Tract Railroad.  It allowed for the building of a railroad from Galesburg in the direction of Chicago.

While in Boston on one of his annual buying trips, he chanced to meet several men who were interested in building a railroad out of Chicago. The eastern investors demanded $300,000 to build a railroad to Galesburg. After canvassing the area, $50,000 was still needed. Chauncey Colton and Silas Willard agreed to provide the balance. They had to borrow most of the money at ten percent interest.

Chauncey Colton's foresight in the building of the railroad was to have astonishing consequences for Galesburg and its people. From December 7, 1854, when the first locomotive arrived, Galesburg was on a path to population growth and business success.

Colton died July 27, 1885, and was buried in Hope Cemetery. He was a man of intelligence and quick perception. He was a man to whom the residents of Galesburg should be grateful down to this day.

As a child Carl Sandburg surely learned about the founders of Galesburg and Chauncey Colton would have been one of the outstanding men on the list.