Editing Schuyler Colfax (section)

==Early life==
{{further|Schuyler-Colfax House}}
[[File:Schuyler-Colfax House.jpg|thumb|right|[[Schuyler–Colfax House]], ancestral home of Schuyler Colfax's grandparents William and Hester. Originally built in 1695.]]

Schuyler Colfax Jr. was born in [[New York City]] on March 23, 1823, the son of Schuyler Colfax Sr. (1792–1822),<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Sr88AAAAIAAJ&q=Schuyler+Colfax+Sr.+(1792%E2%80%941822) ''The Magazine of History'']</ref> a bank teller, and Hannah Stryker (1805–1872), both of English and Dutch ancestry, who had married on April 25, 1820.{{sfn|BDOA_CS_1906}} His grandfather, [[William Colfax]], served in [[George Washington]]'s [[Commander-in-Chief's Guard|Life Guard]] during the [[American Revolution]] and married Hester Schuyler, the second great-granddaughter of [[Philip Pieterse Schuyler]].{{sfn|BDOA_CS_1906}}<ref name=Nelson1876>{{cite book| title = Biographical Sketch of William Colfax, Captain of Washington's Body Guard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ETYuAAAAYAAJ | year = 1876 | author = William Nelson}}</ref>{{rp|146–148}} and a cousin of [[Major General (United States)|General]] [[Philip Schuyler]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Phelps |first=Charles A. |author-link=Charles A. Phelps |date=1868 |title=Life and Public Services of General Ulysses S. Grant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ajMFAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA322 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Lee and Shepard |page=322 |via=[[Google Books]]}}</ref> William Colfax became a general in the [[New Jersey Army National Guard|New Jersey Militia]] after the Revolution and commanded a brigade during the [[War of 1812]].<ref name=Nelson1876/>{{rp|151}}

Schuyler Colfax Sr. contracted tuberculosis and died on October 30, 1822, five months before Colfax was born.<ref name="NewNetherland">{{cite web |url=https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/dutch_americans/schuyler-colfax/ |title=Schuyler Colfax (1823–1885) |website=newnetherlandinstitute.org |publisher=New Netherland Institute |location=Albany, NY |access-date=July 25, 2021}}</ref> His sister Mary died in July 1823, four months after he was born.{{sfn|BDOA_CS_1906}} After the senior Colfax's death, Colfax's mother and grandmother ran a boarding house as their primary means of economic support.<ref name="NewNetherland"/> Colfax attended school in New York City until he was 10, when family financial difficulties caused him to end his formal education and take a job as a clerk in the store of George W. Matthews.{{sfn|BDOA_CS_1906}}<ref name=Hollister1886>{{cite book |last=Hollister |first=Ovando James |title=Life of Schuyler Colfax |year=1886 |url=https://archive.org/stream/lifeofschuylerco00holluoft#page/14/mode/2up |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |location=New York |oclc=697981267 |pages=14–19}}</ref>

Colfax's mother married George Matthews in 1834, and the family moved to [[New Carlisle, Indiana]], where Matthews ran a store that also served as the village post office.<ref name="NewNetherland"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Brisbin |first=James S. |title=The Campaign Lives of Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax |year=1868 |publisher=C. F. Vent & Company |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AQWfiyXXqdMC |via=[[Google Books]] |page=359 |access-date=April 6, 2019 |ref={{sfnRef|Brisbin}}}}</ref> There, Colfax became an avid reader of newspapers and books.<ref name=ColfaxUSSen/> The family moved again, in 1841, to nearby [[South Bend, Indiana]], after Matthews became [[St. Joseph County, Indiana|St. Joseph County]] [[County auditor|Auditor]].{{sfn|BDOA_CS_1906}} He appointed Colfax as his deputy, a post that Colfax held throughout the eight years Matthews was in office.{{sfn|BDOA_CS_1906}}