placed in the Lycée Napoléon but was soon removed by his father, who at length in 1816 returned to England in deep poverty. The Earl of Bristol soon became interested in the boy, and placed him in Westminster School, where he remained until 1819. In consequence of his father's refusal to comply with certain arrangements proposed by the earl, Zerah was removed from Westminster, and his father then proposed to Zerah that he should study to become an actor. Accordingly, he studied for this profession and was for a few months under the tuition of Charles Kemble. His first appearance, however, dissatisfied both his instructor and himself so much that he was not accepted for the stage, so he accepted a position as an assistant in a school, and soon afterward commenced a school of his own. To this he added the performing of some astronomical calculations for Thomas Young, then secretary of the Board of Longitude. In 1824 when his father died, he was enabled by the Earl of Bristol and other friends to return to the United States. Though Zerah's schooling was rather irregular, he showed talent in languages. He went to Fairfield, New York, as assistant teacher of an academy; not being pleased with his situation, he moved in March following to Burlington, Vermont, where he taught French, pursuing his studies at the same time at the University of Vermont. Toward the end of 1825 he connected himself with the Methodist Church and, after nine years of service as an itinerant preacher, settled in Norwich, Vermont, in 1835, where he was soon after appointed professor of languages at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. In 1833 Colburn published his autobiography. From this it appears that his faculty of computation left him about the time he reached adulthood. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 34 and was buried in Norwich's Old Meeting House Cemetery. Family His nephew, also named Zerah Colburn, was a noted locomotive engineer and technical journalist. See also Ainan Celeste Cawley Notes Further reading External links Picture with information implying he was polydactyl Strongly unsympathetic review of his memoir 1804 births 1839 deaths 19th-century American educators 19th-century Methodist ministers Academics from Vermont American expatriates in England American expatriates in France American Methodist clergy Schoolteachers from Vermont Converts to Methodism Dartmouth College faculty Founders of English schools and colleges Mental calculators Norwich University faculty