October 20, 1999 Dear Collier Kin -- I am forwarding copies of the latest "Family Tree" charts and backup information that I have collected on the Collier family. I have been sending progress reports to Elva Cahill, Virgil, and Carolyn over the last year or so. I don't think I will find another major source of information in the near future, so want to send along all that I have collected to as many interested parties as possible. Contents of this package - 1) A "Family Tree" chart titled Descendants of Thomas Collier, Rev. Oct. 5, 1999, 11 pages in length. This traces all the direct descendants of the first of our line in America, Thomas Collier, of England, who was among the earliest settlers of Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, NOT INCLUDING our branch. Included here are several generations which stayed in eastern Massachusetts or Maine, up to at least the early 20th century, and some new-found cousins, now living in Utah, California, and Washington. 2) A "Family Tree" chart titled Descendants of Thomas Collier, (Gershom of Chesterfield, Mass.), Rev. Oct. 5, 1999, 8 pages in length. This traces all the direct descendants of "our" line only, which is descended from that Gershom Collier (6th American Generation), (his lineage - Thomas Collier (1), Thomas (2), Lt. Gershom (3), Thomas (4), Ephraim Bosworth (5)) born about 1771 in Boston, who moved to Chesterfield, Hampshire County, Mass., about 1805. Some of this line still lives in Massachusetts, some moved to New York State in the 19th century, and our John Collier and Mary Samson moved to Ohio. The only overlapping in these two charts is that of the family of "Bosworth" Collier, his wife, Ann House, and their children : "our" Gershom of Chesterfield, Anna, and Rebecca. 3) Five individual "Family Tree" sheets, the top one being Descendants of William Bassett, the others ... Lionel Chilton, William Collier, Sir Thomas Southworth, and Edward Winslow These I have highlighted in yellow at the point where these individuals (actually, their Pilgrim and Plymouth Colony descendants) married into the line of Thomas Collier of Hingham. For example, William Bassett, who came to Plymouth on the second ship, the Fortune, in 1621, was one of the ancestors of Sarah O. Stephenson, who married Christopher Collier. I have highlighted the names of Sarah and Christopher on William's sheet, to indicate that we can claim descent from him, through Sarah and Christopher. 4) Two pages from the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, Oct., 1988, which gives most of what we know of the first three American generations of the Collier family. In most cases, I have been able to trace further generations through a combination of Internet and library sources, and have incorporated all of that information into the "Family Tree" charts. 5) A map titled New England in 1675, showing the South Shore towns where the Colliers lived. I have added some notes, and marked the location of Chesterfield, Mass., which wasn't settled until about 1762. 6) My notes of Sept. 20, which give the evidence I had been looking for to connect Gershom "of Chesterfield" to the South Shore family, the few facts I have been able to locate on Gershom and his father, Bosworth, and brief biographies on our own "Pilgrim Fathers and Mothers" -- William Bassett (on the Fortune, 1621), James, Susanna, and Mary Chilton (on the Mayflower, 1620), Thomas Collier, William Collier and his daughter Elizabeth (to Plymouth in 1633), Alice and Constant Southworth (to Plymouth, 1623 and 1628), and John Winslow (on the Fortune, 1621). Page 2 Now, how did we get from Munson, Painesville, and Southington, Ohio to Plymouth, Massachusetts?? I have always been interested in family history, of the Colliers and all my other family lines.. Many years ago Virgil gave me all the Collier background he had, and it was pretty sparse after Grandfather Christopher. His parents, John and Mary, might have been from Massachusetts or Vermont. Some of Christopher's generation might have lived in Michigan and Iowa. My father and Aunt Elva also told me family stories and passed on what they knew. Perhaps two years ago I became familiar enough with personal computers and the Internet to start doing some research using those tools. Very quickly I got some background on the 11th Michigan Infantry, in which Christoper had served, and a bunch of names from Massachusetts, none of which seemed to be the correct John Collier. (The Internet is a marvelous tool for doing research of any sort, but you have to have some starting point of fact, and be able to double-check information you find. There are lots of people and groups attempting to do correct, accurate work in the genealogy field - myself as a modest example - and a lot of people who seem to post a lot of guesswork as fact. Everything I am submitting to you is either from a recognized authority (published history, town birth records, etc.), or, in a few cases, some careful speculation from what I have discovered to be fact. I have nearly a full file drawer of printed material, probably the equivalent in computerized material, and everything I have found has been put into a computer genealogy record. The "Family Tree" sheets are produced from those records, but there is much more that I am not sending -- notes, sources, etc. If any of you have children or grandchildren who could use the computerized information, I will be happy to send that to you or them.) Finally, in July, 1998, I happened upon an Internet message from a Collier family member here in Massachusetts. She was looking for contact with other Colliers descended from Gershom Collier, of Chesterfield, Mass., one of whose sons was John, who had married a Mary Samson on 5 December, 1822, and "removed to Ohio!" We were on our way! Once I had a town, a time period, and a couple of names to start with, I was able to make fairly steady progress in getting more information, using both the computer and several major libraries in the area. I found that there had been several individuals named Gershom Collier in Eastern Massachusetts, but more research indicated that they all were from one family, which had lived in Plymouth County, on the South Shore of Massachusetts Bay. "Our" Gershom was most likely of the same family, I guessed, and I proceeded to look for proof. That took nearly a year to find, but I did find a lot of side information on the way. Among the more interesting tidbits: It is very likely that many of the early Colliers were in the fishing or shipping business, rather than farming in any big way. As early as 1649, Thomas, son of the first Thomas, was part owner of a ship. The first immigrants were called "planters," but the word was used to mean "colonist, or settler," rather than farmer. They undoubtedly did some small farming, of course, but Massachusetts has never been a great agricultural area, and the South Shore was even poorer than most parts of the state in that respect.. It was, however, a stronghold for fishing, ship-building, and the shipping business. Several of the family must have been in the militia, although I haven't yet found a record of any service in the early wars with the Indians, or the French. Several did serve in the Revolution, including our ancestor, Bosworth. Both the 2d Thomas (about 1622 - about 1691) and the first Gershom (about 1674 - 1753) were titled "Lieutenant," so must have been officers in the local militia. A Gershom Collier was at the Boston Tea Party, December 16, 1773. This was no doubt the son of Thomas and Bridget Southworth Collier, born in Scituate, Mass., in 1738. He was the only one of the name who would have been of the correct age to be at the Tea Party. All the other living Gershoms would Page 3 have been far too young. This Gershom later moved to Maine, and is the ancestor of two cousins, now living in Utah and Washington, who I correspond with. He might be the Gershom who served a few months in the Army in the later days of the Revolution - 3 months in 1781 - although there was another, born in Weymouth, 1765, who might possibly have served then, at the age of 16. This latter Gershom had a half - brother who was a Colonel in the Army at that time. At least 3 Colliers married into the Lincoln family, distant cousins of Abraham. Abraham's family had left Massachusetts and started moving west about 1700, so any relationship was a distant one. During the 19th century, many of the Collier family lived in Cohasset, Mass., another South Shore town, and became famous merchant ship captains, including some of the "Clipper Ships." One of the sons, who lived in the area until at least 1920, wrote a history of their great deeds, and I have a copy for anyone interested. We had at least two ministers in the family. One was Roland Collier (1784 - 1851), who lived in Maine, and the other William Collier (1771 - date of death unknown), who served in the Charlestown, Mass. area. Both were of the Methodist persuasion. The last Collier in Chesterfield, Mass., of whom I have found a record, at least, died there in 1939. There may be descendants there with other surnames, but I haven't had the chance to look for them yet. Some of the descendants of the Rev. Roland moved west. Some were miners and ranchers in Montana, and others were in the California Gold Rush. In addition to "our" John and Mary, who went to Ohio, a few of the Chesterfield family moved to upstate New York, and several still live there. I am in touch with two cousins from that line. I have not seen, in the records, any indication that any of the Collier name were originally from Scotland. The first Thomas was from England, although we don't know which region. As far as any time spent in Vermont, it is possible that John and Mary might have spent some time there before going to Ohio, but, again, I see no record of it. They married in 1822 (probably in Chesterfield -- I suspect, but have no proof yet, that Mary was from the neighboring town of Worthington) and I am pretty sure that John is the individual listed in the 1840 Ohio census in Auburn, Geauga County, which is just one town north of Mantua, where they were in 1850. So, they might have lived in Vermont for a time, but the Chesterfield history has it that they removed to Ohio. I don't see them in any 1830 census. If I were a betting man, I would say that the Scottish and Vermont traditions came from the Stephensons. I haven't found any family background on Robert Stephenson (born about 1785, Falmouth, Mass.), father of William, but Stephenson could be Scottish or English, of course, and both William Stephenson and his wife, Jane Woodward, were born in Vermont, according to Mormon records of the family. The various Gershom Colliers, all of our line (I have found none in other Collier families) --- Lt. Gershom Collier -- b. Hull, Mass, cir 1674, d. there Feb 19, 1753. Gershom Collier -- son of Lt. Gershom, b. Hull, Apr 5, 1708 -- died young. Gershom Collier -- son of Lt. Gershom, b. Hull, Nov. 1, 1713. Member of Harvard College Class of 1734, probably died prior to 1749 period. Page 4 Gershom Collier -- grandson of Lt. Gershom, son of Thomas Collier, b. Scituate, Apr 30, 1738, died (? Northport, Maine) 2 Nov, 1822. Probably the Gershom "Colyer" who was at the Boston Tea Party, and who served in the Revolution. Gershom Collier -- grandson of Lt. Gershom, son of Jonathan Collier, b. Weymouth, Mass., Jan 13, 1765, died after 1820 (?? Avon, Maine). Gershom Collier -- our ancestor -- Probably born Boston, about 1771. Married Mary Kittle in Boston, 1793. Living in Boston, working as a housewright, 1796 through 1803. Moved to Chesterfield, Mass about 1805. Gershom died there 1819, Mary in 1837. Certainly a g-grandson of Lt Gershom, through Thomas and Bridget Southworth Collier, and I am 99% certain that he was the son of Bosworth Collier. The Vital Records of the later Colonial period in Boston are very poor, and we are not apt to find birth records for Gershom or his siblings, Anna and Rebecca. Enough for now!! I will be happy to provide much more information to anyone who would like it, but this is probably enough for most of you. Thanks to everyone for all your help, information, and moral support. I knew you were there. Let me know of any errors, misspellings, omitted individuals, or anything to add I will be happy to make corrections, although from this point on I will probably do it just as a correction to a particular family group, not a complete new printing of all the pages. I would be most interested in any information on the cousins from Michigan, and, I believe, Iowa. I might be able to find something if anyone has a name or place to start with. Also, can anyone give me any firm information on "Ham," brother of Christopher? My father's recollections, as a young boy, of course, were that he was quite a character, who lived an anything-but-sedate life. Can anyone tell me more? Please send in a brown paper wrapper, if necessary. My love to all, Wade Collier (Reid's son; Randolph's grandson: Christopher's great-grandson.) (This omitted in some mailing to close family)