Benjamin Azariah Colonna

"Benjamin Azariah Colonna was no ordinary person. He was a farmhand, cadet at VMI, soldier in the War Between the States, schoolteacher, writer, engineer, businessman, speaker, and an advisor to several U.S. presidents and various Native American chiefs. This story includes his dealings with his siblings, especially Charles, at times his business partner. As youth the brothers worked on the family's Eastern Shore of Virginia farm. Benjamin desired an education and received an appointment to the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. At sixteen, Benjamin reported to VMI in August 1860. In April 1861, the War Between the States began and in May 1864, he and the other cadets were called upon to fight in the Battle of New Market, Virginia. Upon graduation in June 1864, he became an officer in the Army of the Confederate States of America. After the war Benjamin built a school on the Eastern Shore and taught his younger brothers and others. The war left his father penniless and the family became separated. Charles was an apprentice ship carpenter in Illinois and Benjamin joined the U.S. Survey in 1870. Five years later he helped Charles to enter the ship repair business. This was the beginning of what is today, Colonna's Shipyard. Benjamin was employed by the U.S. Survey--later the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey--for twenty-five years. He worked in all parts of the United States and many territories. In 1879, he spent nine days on Mount Shasta's summit, twice as long as anyone else. In August 1884, he was badly injured in an avalanche and was transferred to the Coast and Geodetic Survey headquarters in Washington, D.C. In 1890, he married his secretary. They made their home in Washington, and raised an extensive family"--Provided by publisher.