View source for Schuyler Colfax

==Background==
Colfax was born in [[New York City]] in late March 1823 to Schuyler Colfax, Sr. and the former Hannah Stryker. His father died of [[tuberculosis]] several months prior to his birth, and Colfax's mother married George W. Matthews three years later.<ref name=ussenatebio/> Colfax attended local common schools until reaching the age of ten, when he began working in his family's retail store.

In 1841, the family moved to [[South Bend, Indiana]].<ref name=ussenatebio/> Colfax married childhood sweetheart Evelyn E. Clark three years later.