George Radcliffe Colton, the son of Francis and Frances A. (Garey) Colton, was born on April 10, 1865 in Galesburg, Illinois, United States. He was a descendant in the eighth generation of Quartermaster George Colton who emigrated from England before the middle of the seventeenth century, served in King Philip’s War, and lived to become a trusted and prominent citizen of Massachusetts.
At an early age young Colton went West where he worked as a ranchman in New Mexico; then, when about twenty years old, he moved to Nebraska and entered the banking business, eventually becoming cashier and manager of the Central Nebraska National Bank of David City, Nebraska. He served a term as a member of the state House of Representatives from David City and in 1897 was a national bank examiner.
He had affiliated himself with the National Guard of his state and at the outbreak of the Spanish-American War was one of those instrumental in organizing the 1st Regiment of Nebraska Volunteer Infantry. He saw service in the Philippines as lieutenant-colonel of his regiment and, upon the American occupation of the Islands, organized the customs service at Manila and remained in this work until 1905 when he was sent to Santo Domingo to organize a customs receivership under the modus vivendi between the United States and the Dominican Republic.
In 1907 he was reassigned to the Philippines where for two years he acted as Insular Collector of Customs. While in this position he drafted and presented to Congress a new tariff for the Philippines. This was enacted at a special session of Congress in 1909. In November of that year Colton went to Porto Rico as governor of the Island. He held this post for four years, returning to the United States in November 1913. He then became connected with banking interests in this country.
George Radcliffe Colton was regarded as an authority on matters relating to customs duties and tariffs. He rendered valuable service to his country at the time when tariff revision was a pressing need, and brought his expert information to the problems of tariff protection or free trade, especially as they pertained to the insular possessions of the United States and the Pan-American countries.
In October 1889 Сolton was married to Jessie T. McLeod.
