Jan 6, 1999 I did make another trip to the Boston Public Library the week before Christmas to continue Collier research. I have also been finding some useful information on the Internet in the last week or so. I have not yet made a visit to the New England Historical Genealogical Society, where I want to spend most of a day.. All of this has been productive. While I didn't find definitive proof of who the Gershom Collier of Chesterfield was, his age, or where he and his wife lived from 1793 to 1805, I did add to the stock of information on several items. I list them in general order of importance. 1) Mary Kittell, wife of Gershom Collier, was probably the Mary Kettell, born in Charlestown, Mass, May 17, 1769, dau. of John Kettell and Katharine Souther Kettell, both of Charlestown. (Page 424, Charlestown Vital Records) This would be the correct birth year, and the correct location, for Mary Kittell Collier, who died in Chesterfield "Dec 4, 1837, aged 68.", The only hesitation about a positive identification is that there is in the Charlestown records an intention of marriage for " Mary Kettell and John Gardner, both of Charlestown, on March 18, 1792." (Page 501) There is NOT a record of the actual marriage, as was usually the case in the Charlestown records I checked, nor any subsequent record in Charlestown for either John or Mary. Gershom Collier and Mary Kittell were married in Boston on June 16, 1793. NOTE: There are 9 variant spellings of Kittell/Kettell in the Charlestown records - Keettle, Ketteel, Ketteill, etc. There were 12 Kettell (and variant) families in Massachusetts at the 1790 Census, at least 4 of them in Charlestown. I checked all the Charlestown Kettells, and there were no other "Marys" of the correct age. The Kettell/Kittell family was quite large and well established in Charlestown, site of Bunker Hill, and, now, the Charlestown Navy Yard and the ship USS Constitution. The first ancestor of Mary in the area was Richard Kettell, who arrived in about 1633. (Mary was of the 6th American generation, while Gershom Collier would have been of the 5th American generation.) Some family members lived in Boston and other towns in eastern Mass, and there was at least one other Kettell family in the area, as well. The genealogy is very complete. Many of the men were coopers, or worked in the shipping business. Several were in the various colonial wars. A sidelight, which had me very excited at first, is that a distant cousin of Mary, Rebecca, was the step-grandmother of Henry David Thoreau, of Concord and Walden Pond fame. Alas, we cannot claim blood relationship. I am quite sure, however, that even though Rebecca died, in Concord, 3 or 4 years before Henry was born, she must have had a great influence on his love for nature, and his writing skills. 2) Hanover Records, Page 251, shows the marriage intention of John House, Jr., of Hanover, and Jane Collier, of Hull, on Apr 7, 1770. Actual marriage date is not given. (Jane was the daughter of Thomas Collier and Bridget Southworth Collier. The House family moved to Chesterfield 1781-1785 ?) This is a second confirmation that Jane was of the family of Thomas-Thomas-Gershom-Thomas Collier of Hingham, Hull and Scituate, Mass, and reinforces my conclusion that the Thomas and Bridget Collier who died in Chesterfield were probably her parents. 3) The discrepancy in the name of the wife of Thomas Collier (2) (? 1622- 1691), of Hingham and Hull, is explained by the fact that his wife, Jane Curtis, was the step-daughter of Robert Jones. Her surname is given variously as Jones or Curtis. (page 172, New England Marriages ...) Other records checked give more background on Robert Jones, who was another early settler (1637) of Hingham, Mass. 4) Added Information on the family of Deacon (Dr.) Jonathan Collier and Tabitha Pratt Porter, parents of Gershom Collier (b. 1765 in Weymouth, MA) from Groton Vital Records (see also Genealogy of the Early Families ... Weymouth, and Descendants of Richard Porter...): a. Birth of Ruth Collier, Nov 17, 1766, from private record (confirms record in the Weymouth book). Ruth married Joel Lawrence, in Groton, December 14, 1790. Ruth died (in Groton ??), November 10, 1801. b. Birth of Jonathan, son of Dr. Jonathan and Tabitha, in Groton, Jan 17, 1775. This entry indicates that their son, Jonathan, twin of Hannah, born in Weymouth 13, 1769, had probably died young. c. Marriage of daughter, Hannah, to Daniel Hemmenway, in Groton, Nov 7, 1793. d. Marriage of daughter, Lucy, (dau. of Jonathan and first wife, Judith Goold) to Benjamin Farwell, in Groton, Nov 2, 1780. e. Marriage of dau. Ruth and Joel Lawrence (see above). f. Col. Ezekial Porter, half brother of Gershom Collier (see above), married Betty Wyman, of Groton, Dec 16, 1784, in Groton. The Porters are supposed to have lived in Hallowell, ME, then moved to Farmington, ME in 1790. Gershom Collier went with them. Mrs. Porter is buried in the Village Cemetery, Strong, ME, died Oct 23, 1848, aged 85 y (born about 1763 ?). Her name on the gravestone is Betsey, wife of Col. Ezekial Porter. At least 2 children of Ezekial and Betsey are also in the Village Cemetery. g. Mrs. Tabitha Colier is listed as head of a household in Groton in 1790, indicating that Jonathan had probably died by that time. I do not have date or place of death for either Jonathan or Tabitha. h. There are no Collier deaths in the Groton Vital Records. The fact that Dea. Jonathan and his family had so many connections to Groton, Mass. gives me reason to check town records in that area for evidence that Gershom and Mary (Kittell) lived in the area between 1793 and 1805. I have not found anything yet. Groton is only 7 or 8 miles from where we live, so I will do some research there on one of my bicycle rides next spring. 5) The Anna Collier who is listed in the Chesterfield History and Genealogy..., and who married Orange King there, in 1793, may be the sister of John House/sister-in-law of Jane Collier. Ephraim Bosworth Collier, Jane's brother, married Ann House in Hanover, Mass less than a year after John and Jane Collier were married. there. There is no further record of Ephraim or Ann/Anna in Hanover, Hull, Scituate, etc. The Chesterfield record is too brief to prove the possibility, however. 6) Regarding Mary Sampson/Samson, wife of John Collier, who moved to Ohio - there were many Sampson families in Massachusetts at the 1790 census, including some in western Mass., not many miles from Chesterfield. I have not had a chance to check the 1800-1810-1820 census data -- John and Mary having married December 5, 1822. The Chesterfield History and Genealogy...has a few entries for Sampsons, but none by the name of Mary. I would think it likely that Mary was from that general area, but will have to be very lucky to prove it. Sampson was a very common name in colonial Massachusetts, being found in Plymouth either with the Mayflower, or shortly thereafter. 7) There were several Collier families in the central-western area of Maine in the time period 1775 to statehood (1820). Maine was part of Massachusetts until that time. We know that Gershom Collier of Weymouth moved to that area in 1790, but have nothing further on him at present. I need to find some reliable records from that area, as well as check further for Gershom and Mary Kittell in the Boston and South Shore area (have already checked many town records), Concord and Groton, Mass areas, and the general Hallowell, Leeds and Farmington, Maine area. (Leeds had Colliers who were "well known in the early history of" the town.) Judging by the thoroughness I have found in most early town records, I think eventually we can find where Gershom and Mary were from 1793 - 1805, as well as the birth dates of their first children. I checked the following records, among others, at BPL: Dec 22, 1998 Boston Births to 1800 Collier Boston Marriages from 1700 to 1809 Collier 1790 Federal Census, Massachusetts (Collier, Sampson, and Kittell, variants) Charlestown Genealogies and Estates Pages 574-584 - Kettell, and variants) Charlestown Vital Records, 3 Vols Kettell and variants (Many families and individuals) History and Genealogy of the Families of Chesterfield, Massachusetts Cudworth Fam Genealogies ... Cohasset. Pages 37, 200-203 Bates and James "Families in Massachusetts Local Histories" (?? Exact title) Page 82 - Collier Groton Vital Records, 2 Vols Collier and Porter, Births and Marriages History of Hanover [Mass.] Hanover (Vital) Records [Mass.] New England Marriages Prior to 1700 Page 172 - Collier Pioneers of Massachusetts, C. H. Pope, 1900 (reprint) Pp 112, 217 - Collier and Harwood History of Scituate, Massachusetts .. to 1831, Samuel Deane, 1831 (reprint) Page 241