Here is a neat little booklet done by C. I. Collier of Winder, Georgia in 1928. It is not error-free, as we know today, but was a landmark for its time. The author and J. C. Collier shared information.
Genealogy-of-the-Collier-Family
Click here to download the file.
Grave of Robert Terrell Collier, Glenwood Cemetery, Upshur County, Texas
This is the marker of the grave of Robert Terrell Collier, grandson of Vines Collier, son of Williamson Collier, and my great-great grandfather. In the 1870s Robert Terrell loaded his family into a covered wagon and left Upson County, Georgia for Texas. He settled in East Texas, an area not unlike his native Georgia. Although he had cousins who had already moved to Texas, there is no evidence they ever made contact.
Records of Confederate soldiers from Georgia showed that Robert T. Collier enlisted with a probable cousin, Green Collier, in the Woodson Guards, Company I, 32nd Georgia Regiment. The unit formed at Thomaston, in Upson County. The same records state the same Robert T. Collier died of the measles while on duty in Savannah. I shrugged this off as typical of military records of that period that are often erroneous or incomplete. Seeking to investigate this discrepancy, I applied to the National Archives for the military service records of Robert Terrell Collier. The reply came back that no records of Robert Terrell Collier could be found. However, the records of Robert Thomas Collier of Upson County Georgia were located.
Robert Thomas, son of Robert Marshall Collier, and Robert Terrell were first cousins once removed. Robert Thomas was born in 1837, and Robert Terrell was born in 1836. Both were from Upson County, Georgia. It’s easy to see the cause of the confusion when looking back over 150 years.
I have yet to locate evidence of Robert Terrell’s military service. In that part of the South where over 25 descendants of Vines Collier wore Confederate gray, it is almost impossible to believe Robert Terrell did not serve. As noted above, military records for the period are poor.
Following are the records provided by the National Archives. They include a letter from Sarah E. (Stafford) Collier, widow of Robert Thomas, in which she seeks her dead husband’s compensation. It is accompanied by a notarized statement from Robert Marshall Collier attesting to the accuracy of Sarah’s claim. See the June 6, 2015 post “Robert Marshall Collier’s Papers” for more on Robert Thomas Collier.
Robert-Thomas-Collier-US-ArchivesThe file may be downloaded here:
I am the great, great granddaughter of Henry Collier, who was born about 1776 in SC and died in Dooly County, GA in 1840. He was the father of John Collier who was born about 1824, in Ga and died in1896 in Crewsville, Ga in 1896. I have been researching for about 30 years (with cousins) to try to find Henry’s ancestors, but have been unsuccessful. Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
This is the third of three posts presenting the research of professional genealogist, Barbara Vines Little. Research was made possible by Elaine Collier Neal. This section covers Collier Lineage.
Collier-LineageThe entire document is available for download at the following link:
This is the second of three posts presenting the research of professional genealogist, Barbara Vines Little. Research was made possible by Elaine Collier Neal. This section covers Collier Maternal Lineages.
Collier-Maternal-Lineages
The entire report may be downloaded by clicking on the following link.
Collier Cousins & Jack Howard (3rd from right) at the Grave of Vines Collier, 2012
This information is made possible by Elaine Collier Neal and professional genealogist, Barbara Vines Little. It will be presented in three posts. The first, presented here, is a summary and the notes compiled by Ms. Little. Later posts will present the Collier Lineage and the Collier Maternal Lineages.
Elaine Collier Neal prepared the following introduction.
For those in the family who like to verify family stories, the following pages detail the Collier lineage in Virginia with exact sources. It can serve as a guide for those who might be interested in joining such lineage organizations as First Families of Virginia. Barbara Vines Little, a professional genealogist, prepared the following report. She was asked to particularly trace Vines Collier and his wife Sarah.
There are many legends surrounding the Collier family in Virginia, some of which can be supported with documentary evidence.
There is little documentary evidence of Vines Collier’s marriage to Sarah Williamson. That portion of the family remains to be discovered.
So far, no one has found documentary proof that Vines Collier was a lieutenant in the Colonial Militia. There are official State of Virginia documents that give his pay as an ensign, a military rank just below lieutenant. Yes, we know his tombstone says he was an ensign and lieutenant, but that was placed years later, and maybe in error. An ensign is an officer in the Colonial military and it is a honorable commission itself.
We post this report in hopes that other researchers will expand our knowledge of our family’s early history and share items they uncover. For example, Vines Collier’s Family Bible is missing. Many researchers are also looking for the Powell Bible which might add much to the early history of Vines Collier’s family.
Elaine Collier Neal
The entire document is available for download at the following link:
Collier-Neal-client-reportThanks for the photo, Holly. Do you know the date?
I research ancestry for my family and my wife’s family, based on archives of family records in our possession and using Ancestry-dot-com. My mother-in-law is a Collier by birth, a 4th-GGDaughter of Vines Collier, making my wife a 5th-GGDaughter.
I was very pleased to find this site when I did a web search to identify the “Jena Cuthbert Collier, of Barnesville, GA” named as an important source for the C. I. Collier booklet in my wife’s records. Charles Ira Collier is a Great-Grandfather to my wife.
With my simple search on titles of the letters generously posted here, I did not find any between J. C. Collier and C. I. Collier, as I hoped to find given that they obviously communicated leading up to the booklet’s June 1928 publishing date. Does anyone recall ever seeing any such letters or any mention of C. I. Collier within the J. C. Collier records?
BTW, today for the first time, we enjoyed visiting Barnesville as we drove home from a trip to Florida. We drove around the pair of “Collier Mansions”, and visited the impressive Collier lot in Greenwood Cemetery.
Regards,
Peter
Welcome to CHF. We are happy you found our site. Could you share your wife’s line?
I do recall seeing mention of such a correspondence. I’ll see if I can locate it in the near future.
Glen
Glen,
Thanks for your offer to locate any pertinent correspondence – anything you find would be quite interesting to me and my wife’s family.
Her line follows C. I. Collier’s line as highlighted in his booklet, from Vines Collier & Sarah Williamson >> John Collier & Patsey Gresham >> Charles Pinkney Collier & Sarah Graves >> Minton Monroe Collier & Lucy Emma Griggs >> Charles Ira Collier (booklet author) & Marion Capitola Tarpley >> Herbert Tarpley Collier & Mary Dorothy Misselhorn >> my mother-in-law Collier & her husband >> my wife.
Thanks,
Peter
Here is C. I. Collier and J.C. Collier correspondence. I hope it is helpful to you. There may be more that has not been located or posted.
Go to the “Bonanza for Researchers” post, dated July 8, 2016. Click on the link “Click Here to Access the Remaining 401 Letters.”
In numerical order scroll down to these letters
1928_06_07_Ltr_C I Collier to JCC
1928_06_08_Ltr_JCC to C I Collier
I suspect the following notes on Collier genealogy, because of the dates and subject matter, may be related to the correspondence between C. I. Collier and J. C. Collier.
1928_05_30 Collier Notes
1928_06_02 Colliers
1928_06_02 Collier Records Pike County
1928_06_10 Collier Info
1928_07_25 Collier Records
You might also be interested in reading the correspondence between JCC and Louis A. Burgess regarding credit for genealogy work that went into Soldiers of Virginia 1776. The correspondence starts
1928_03-30
Glen
Glen,
Thanks very much. Interesting these letters are dated only a few days before the date which Charles Ira “signed” his booklet’s Preface.
Nice to see C. I. Collier’s letter on the Winder Hotel letterhead, which hotel I had heard about from my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law said her mother had told stories about the hotel as the place they would make family visits to her father-in-law and his second wife Ellen.
I note that Elmer Roy Collier included C. I. Collier of Winder, GA among those he credits as sources for his family genealogy booklet.
When Charles Ira Collier died in Winder just-less-than 2-years after completing the booklet, he was buried in Fayette County, Fayetteville City Cemetery, with his first wife Marion Tarpley (my wife’s G-Grandmother). Fayette County is where he was born – his father was a second-generation Vines>John-descendant Collier farmer in Fayette.
Peter