Vincent Colyer

Vincent Colyer
Study of Buffalo Heads by Vincent Colyer (undated, private collection)
Born	1825 New York, New York
Died	July 12, 1888(1888-07-12) Darien, Connecticut
Nationality	American
Known for	Painting, Watercolor

Vincent Colyer (1825– July 12, 1888) was an American artist noted for his images of the American West. He was a humanitarian who worked with philanthropic and Christian groups; he founded the United States Christian Commission during the American Civil War. He also worked with the U.S. government to try to help freedmen and Native Americans.

Colyer was born in the Bloomingdale, New York and grew up in a Quaker family. His faith was the center of his life and the inspiration for many of his activities.

He studied art for four years in New York with John R. Smith, and then was a student at the National Academy. He became an associate member of the National Academy of Design in 1851. From then until the Civil War he painted in New York City.

Colyer married Mary Lydia Hancock, a grandniece of Massachusetts Governor John Hancock.

During the war, Colyer founded and served with the United States Christian Commission. As superintendent of the poor in New Bern, North Carolina under General Ambrose Burnside, he wrote the Report of the Services Rendered by the Freed People to the United States Army in North Carolina, in the Spring of 1862, After the Battle of Newbern (1864). With the government decision in 1863 to allow black troops to fight, Colyer began to recruit and train the men for the United States Colored Troops. He also served with the Indian commission.

Colyer traveled the American West in 1868-1871. "He represented Friends of the Indians, a Quaker organization that was concerned with the humanitarian treatment of the native inhabitants in government custody. While he did not paint Indian portraits, his sketches reveal some of the earliest forts in Indian Territory and in the Southwest."

Colyer advocated the establishment of reservations for the Apache, Yavapai, and neighboring tribes in New Mexico and Arizona to improve their living conditions. This effort earned him the strong opposition of white mining, cattle and agricultural interests. His mission ended in failure.