Originally posted June 30, 2019
Paschal Smith was a neighbor and friend of the Vines Collier family in the early 1800s in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. Records show that he purchased 15 acres on the Buffalo Fork of Long Creek from Peachy Gilmer. Cuthbert S. Collier (son of Isaac Collier and grandson of Vines Collier) signed as a witness to the transaction. Paschal Smith also served in the Georgia militia, likely alongside some Collier family members. Following Smith’s death, Isaac Collier is on record in 1822 attesting to the proper disposition of Paschal Smith’s estate. Isaac Collier’s first wife was Elizabeth Means Smith, so Paschal may have been a relative. CHF welcomes any information on this possible connection.
Charles Vines Collier, Sr. (also son of Isaac Collier) and wife Rebecca Owen Collier had seven sons. The fifth-born son they named Pascal Smith Collier. He died July 4, 1862 from wounds received in the Seven Days Battle near Richmond, Virginia (see September 14, 2015 post “The Sons of Charles Vines Collier, Sr. and Rebecca Owen Collier”). He was seventeen years old. He was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. The monument below was placed on young Pascal’s grave through the efforts of the late Ramon Collier, a descendant of Charles Vines and Rebecca Owen Collier.
Robert Terrell Collier (son of Williamson Collier and grandson of Vines Collier) married Francis Ann Shattles in 1859 in Upson County, Georgia. Robert Terrell was young Pascal Smith Collier’s first cousin, once removed.
In the 1880s, Robert Terrell and Francis Ann loaded their belongings in a wagon, or wagons, and departed for Texas with their ten children. Making the trip were their sons Absalom Terrell, born in 1874, and Pascal Smith, born in 1881 and named for his deceased second cousin. The family settled in East Texas. Absalom Terrell eventually moved to Nacogdoches, Texas and founded a large Collier family there. Meanwhile, Pascal Smith, known to the Nacogdoches group as “Uncle Pack”, remained near his mother and father in the Gilmer, Texas area (see March 18, 2016 post “Robert T. Collier . . .But Not This One”).
On April 27, 1942, with the world at war, the United States conducted the Fourth Registration of the Selective Service System, or “draft”. Known as the “old man’s registration”, it registered men, not already in the military and born on or between April 28, 1877 and February 16, 1897. 60-year old Uncle Pack was required to register for the draft. Here is his draft card.
