Colliers of South Shore/Chesterfield, Mass. - An Update March 3, 2001 (Related surnames: Bates, Briggs, Bryant, Cudworth, Damon, Edwards, Hathaway, House, James, King, Kittle, Pinchon/Pynchon, Rogers, Samson, Southworth, Taylor, Wetherell.) I have belatedly taken a more thorough look at the Gazetteer of Hampshire County, Mass., 1654-1887, W. B. Gay & Co., Syracuse, NY, 1887. I reported some time ago that this dusty volume at the Fitchburg Library has some information on "our" Gershom Collier, of Boston and Chesterfield, Hampshire County, who was almost certainly the son of Bosworth Collier. I can now report that the Gazetteer has additional information, direct and indirect, on the Collier clan. Perhaps a quick overview of the Colliers of the Massachusetts South Shore who passed through Chesterfield would be useful. Chronologically, as best we can piece the story together, the arrivals were: 1) Jane (5) Collier (1744 - 1820), who came from Hanover, Plymouth County, with her husband, Lt. John House, Jr. sometime between late 1781 and the spring of 1785. 2) Thomas (4) Collier and his wife, Bridget Southworth, Jane House's parents, must have either come from Hull with the House family, or joined them shortly thereafter. Thomas Collier, born 1706, died in Chesterfield 5 March, 1784 "in the 78th year of his age," and Mrs. Bridget Collier died there 12 May, 1798. 3) Susannah (5 ?) Collier, who MAY have been the daughter of Moses (4) Collier, youngest brother of Thomas, above. She was born in Boston, 1758. The Chesterfield records give no background on Susannah, but she married there, probably late in 1784, Thomas James, originally of Cohasset. On January 18, 1788 Thomas James was appointed guardian of: 4) Anna (6) Collier (ca. 1774 - ??), daughter of the recently deceased Bosworth Collier, housewright of Boston, and, 5) Rebecca (6) Collier (ca. 1774 - after 1806), second daughter of Bosworth Collier. 6) Susan (6) Briggs (John Briggs, III/Judith Collier (5), William Collier (4)) came from Scituate with her husband, Charles Cudworth, about 1802-1803. 7) Gershom (6) Collier (ca. 1771 - 1819), who had been a housewright in the Beacon Hill area of Boston, and who was almost certainly the son of Bosworth, and brother of Anna and Rebecca. He and his family of wife Mary Kittle (various spellings) and 7 children came from Boston in 1805, and had two more children in Chesterfield. Another useful name in our study is that of Captain Jedediah Southworth, of Bridgewater and Stoughton, nephew of Bridget Southworth Collier (see # 2, above), who appears in the Chesterfield 1790 Census. Capt. Southworth was active politically, and moved frequently within Massachusetts. He returned to the eastern part of the state, and died in Stoughton. His widow Eunice, however, returned to Chesterfield after his death and "died very suddenly 16 Nov. 1809, at John House's." I would not be surprised to learn that "Mrs. Bridget Collier" was living with the House family at her death in 1798, but I haven't located that fact yet. Those are the Thomas and Susannah Collier descendants who originally moved from the South Shore to Chesterfield, to my present knowledge. In this brief piece I do not propose to trace all the generations of these 7 individuals, but rather to offer a few comments on those that stayed in Chesterfield for some significant time, as revealed by Census Records, the History and Genealogy of the Families of Chesterfield, Massachusetts, 1762-1962, Town of Chesterfield, 1962, (pp.101-103, and other pages), and the Gay Gazetteer of 1887. I will be happy to provide current information on individual lines to those who might be interested, and of course all will be in the final published genealogy. Briefly, however, some members of the House family moved west to the Western Reserve of Ohio. There are records of descendants in Andover, Painesville, Cleveland, and other towns. Thomas and Bridget Collier were elderly when they arrived in Chesterfield and so had no additional children there. Susannah and Thomas James were unusual in the sense that the most of the few generations I have traced stayed in the area of Chesterfield. Anna Collier married Orange King in Chesterfield, and they removed to Lafayette, Onondaga County, New York. Rebecca Collier, Anna's sister, married James Bates, Jr., in Chesterfield, and the couple also removed to New York State. Of Susan Briggs and her husband Charles Cudworth, I have little information beyond that given in the Chesterfield records. Gershom Collier and Mary Kittle were my ancestors, and their descendants were the first I worked with. My GG Grandparents, John and Mary Samson Collier went to Vermont briefly, then Ohio. James Madison Collier went a little north, to southern New Hampshire. William Collier and several of his family stayed in the Chesterfield area for several generations, although some individuals went to upstate New York. We are lacking details on a few children of Gershom and Mary Having visited Chesterfield twice, I can testify that it is a lovely area, but off the beaten path, and the land is rugged. I am not a farmer, but I am sure that agriculture was a difficult proposition there. Sheep raising was a major industry, not requiring the best land. 15 or 20 miles to the east was the fertile area of the Connecticut River Valley, but that land had long been settled by early comers. Not surprisingly, many of the Chesterfield settlers moved on to the more promising lands of New York and Ohio. The peak of the population was reached in 1820, with 1,447 residents that year. Thereafter, the numbers dropped steadily for many decades. Even today, the population is only about 1,000. Now, to the Collier descendants who stayed in Chesterfield for some period. My primary source here is the 1887 Chesterfield directory in the Gay Gazetteer, with supplemental sources. There may be a few connections that I have missed, in which case I will post an addition later. I attach a map that locates a few of the spots related to the family. For those receiving this update by Email, or on an Internet posting, I have added the map to my homepage. 1) The House name had disappeared from Chesterfield by 1887, but there were two descendants left: Fannie (8) Taylor (?? dates) (George Dickinson Taylor/Juliana House (7), Gershom House (6), Lt. John House/Jane Collier (5)) married Oliver Edwards. They lived at site # 6 on the map, in West Chesterfield, on an unnamed road that as early as 1895 was no longer shown on the map. Mr. Edwards was a "dealer in lumber and agricultural implements [and a] farmer," with 600 acres. One son, also Oliver Edwards, was a Brigadier General during the period of World War I, and one or two other children lived in Chesterfield until the mid-20th Century. Louise J. (9) Bryant (1854 - ?) (Julia Baker/Levi Bryant (8), Hawley Bryant/Almira House (7), Gershom House (6), Lt. John House/Jane Collier (5)) married George W. Rogers in 1875. They lived on Bryant Road, about a mile south of the center of Chesterfield, where George was a "butcher, and farmer" with 120 acres. A cousin of Louise, Franklin Bryant, was also a butcher and farmer in that area, and had 1,000 acres of land. 2) No children of Thomas and Bridget Southworth Collier were born in Chesterfield. 3) There were at least two remaining descendants of Susannah Collier and Thomas James in 1887 Chesterfield, and a few others in neighboring towns: Francis (7) Ransloe Pyncheon (or, Pinchon) (1822 - 1902) (Consider Pyncheon/Susannah James (6), Thomas James/Susannah Collier (5 ?)) married Elmira Bates before 1858, in Chesterfield. They lived on "Pynchon" Road, north of the center. Their only child, Emogene (8), died in 1909, owning property in both Chesterfield and Goshen. Mary (8) Pyncheon (1848 - ?) (William Pyncheon (7), (Consider Pyncheon/Susannah James (6), Thomas James/Susannah Collier (5 ?)) married Osmyn Bates, a farmer with 150 acres. He was also the principal of "Darius Damon & Co.," but the directory does not indicate what that company's business was. The Damons were from Scituate, and were a numerous and important family in Chesterfield. Osmyn and Mary lived in the northern part of Chesterfield, near the border of the town of Goshen. 4 and 5) I do not believe there were any descendants of Anna and Rebecca Collier still in Chesterfield in 1887. Their children no doubt accompanied them to upstate New York. 6) Susanna Briggs and Charles Cudworth had one descendent remaining in 1887: Ambrose ( 8) Cudworth (1848 - after 1887) (Roxy Wetherell/Charles Cudworth (7), Charles Cudworth/Susanna Briggs (6)) lived in the Southeast corner of Chesterfield in 1887, near the Westhampton town line. He was a farmer with 175 acres. The Chesterfield records have no record of marriage for him. 7) Descendants of Gershom Collier (6) and Mary Kittle, and other information: The Gazetteer of Hampshire County has several references to Gershom. The main Chesterfield section is in Part First, pages 200-220, and the 1887 directory is in Part Second, pages 42-47. On page 207, among the list of the first settlers of the town, "Gershom Collier, from Boston" is erroneously included, although we know that he did not arrive until about 1805. On page 208 is the first mention of the mills, now known as "Bisbee's," of which Gershom was the 4th owner. On page 213 we learn that Gershom bought a house on Bagg Road, near the center, upon arrival in 1805. This was about 2 miles from the mill. Page 217 has a brief history of the Bisbee Mill, including Gershom's time there - about 1805 to his death in 1819. By 1887 there were only two remaining "Colliers" in Chesterfield: Rebecca/Rebekah (Hathaway) Collier, 2d wife and widow of William (7) (ca. 1803 - 1885) (Gershom (6)), was living in West Chesterfield, probably on a side road called Windy Lane, which is now only a dead end track leading west to Worthington. Rebecca died in 1894. About a mile away from Rebecca, on Main Road (now Mass. Route 143 - also here called the General Lafayette Trail), was Daniel G. (8) Collier (1835 - 1900), son of William and Rebecca. He married Jane Meacham, of Worthington, but the Chesterfield records do not indicate that they had surviving children. Daniel was a farmer, with 90 acres. Also on Main Road in West Chesterfield was Elijah Hayford Higgins, a manufacturer of small parts for firearms, whose first wife had been Zilpha (8) (1825 - 1851)Collier, daughter of William (7) and his first wife, Parnel Shaw. The Chesterfield records do not indicate any surviving children of Elijah and Zilpha (William and Rebecca Collier had other children, including daughter Hannah Maria (8) (1840 - 1903). She married Otis Greene Baxter, and they removed to the vicinity of Canton, New York. Cousin Paul Watson has a very complete record of their descendants. Another son of William and Rebecca, Dorus (8) Collier (1832 - 1862), although he died during the Civil War, had a son, Welcome Luther (9) Collier (1858 - 1939), who seems to have been the last Collier to live in Chesterfield -- the records are not very clear about his place of death, however.) The last Gershom Collier descendant that I can identify as still being in Chesterfield in 1887 is Gershom (8) Damon, (1822 - 1893) (Jason Damon/Jane Collier (7), Gershom (6)). He married Sarah Bird in 1842, and in 1887 he was living on East Street, near Bisbee Mill, and was a "carpenter, joiner [and] farmer," with 125 acres. There were a few other cases of half siblings of Collier descendants, or 2d spouses of descendants, in 1887 Chesterfield, but I will not post those at this time. Of the remaining children of Gershom (6) Collier and Mary Kittle, the first 7 probably born in Boston, but dates and order of birth uncertain: Mary (7) Ann Collier (ca. 1795 - 1851) married Joseph Wetherell. Both buried in Center Cemetery, Chesterfield. No children known. Elizabeth (7) Collier (ca. 1796 -- ??) married Luther Torrey in Chesterfield, moved to Florida, Berkshire County, Mass. The Chesterfield records indicate 3 sons born in Florida, but I have not confirmed yet. Thomas (7) Collier (ca. 1798 - ??) married Lodema Hawkins in Chesterfield, late 1818, then disappears from the records. Jane (7) Collier (ca. 1799 - 1847) married Jason Damon, and was the mother of Gershom Damon, mentioned above, and other children. Jason remarried after Jane's death, remained in Chesterfield, and died there in 1868. John (7) Collier (Aug. 24, 1802 - after 1860) married Mary Samson Dec. 5, 1822, in Chesterfield. They soon removed to Vermont, then to Ohio not later than 1833 This is my own line, and I can provide considerable additional information to those interested. William (7) Collier is briefly discussed above. Catherine (7) Collier (ca. 1805 - ??) married Joel Pelton, had 3 children in Chesterfield, but little else known. Priscilla (7) Collier (April 26, 1807, Chesterfield - Mar. 26, 1847, Chicopee, Mass.) married Dorus Vinton. Between 1830 and 1840 they removed to Ellicottville, Cattaraugus County, New York with others of his family. I presume that Dorus died there in the 1840s, and Priscilla returned to Massachusetts. I have found no record of children, but have not seen New York records. James (7) Madison Collier (July 9, 1809, Chesterfield - aft 1856), sometimes called "Madison," married Dorinda Drewry, or Drury, of Montague, Massachusetts, and lived for some time in Swanzey, southern New Hampshire. They had 9 children. James married 2d the widow Bullard, no children. Cousin Tammy Stevens has some information on descendants. Wade Collier wcollier@massed.net http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/c/o/l/Wade-Collier-MA/index.html