Collier Research Update Dec. 2007 I am continuing to make slow progress on Volume II of The Collier of Massachusetts, which will cover the 6th American generation. Over the past couple of months I have gone as thoroughly as possible through what I will call the “Loring-Colliers,” both those who went from the Hull, Mass. area to Maine in the 18th century and those who stayed on the South Shore and in Boston. Of the 136 “primary” individuals who will be covered in Vol. II -- # 77, Ezekiel Loring (1731 – Bet. 1800 – 1802) through # 212, Anna Robinson (1768 – UNK) -- these “Loring-Colliers” account for almost one third, In researching these 41 individuals as completely as my resources and time permit, I have discovered 29 “new” descendants who had children of their own to carry on the Loring and Collier lines. This, of course, means that the 7th generation will be that much larger when I reach that plateau. As I have reported earlier, I will be placing in Vol. II a separate section on those descendants who were covered in Vol. I, and mistakenly thought not to have had children. For the most part, these omissions occurred simply because the published sources I used were lacking in hard facts. Through a combination of information sent to me by others and additional primary research of my own, we have filled in some of the missing lines. As of today, I have information on 15 of these newfound fellow “Colliers” who certainly did have offspring to carry on the line, as well as one or two “possibles.” I choose this addendum method to incorporate the new information so as not to get into some untidy re-numbering scheme for the entire genealogy. I am sure more of this “new” information will come to light in the years to come. ---------- I spent half a day at the NEHGS library in Boston on Friday, December 28. (It being a pleasant early winter day, I also walked through Joy Court on Beacon Hill to take some additional photos of the small house my g-g-g-grandfather Gershom Collier built about 1795-96.) In addition to some research on specific locations or individuals from a long list of “questions to check out,” I looked at and purchased a copy of Early Families of Hull, Massachusetts, by Ethel Farrington Smith (NEHGS, 2007). This is essentially an updating and expansion of her series of articles on the topic which appeared in the NEHG Register in 1988 and 1989. Many of you will be familiar with the earlier work, and I used it frequently in writing Vol. I of the Collier genealogy. Mrs. Smith was a remarkable person, by all accounts, a scientist, medical social worker, sailor, writer and genealogist, and long time resident of Hull. She died in 2005, aged 95. The NEHGS had some years ago persuaded her to update and enlarge the 1988-89 articles, and after her death the work was completed by other hands. The section on the early history of the town has been enlarged somewhat, and an additional 16 or so early Hull residents now have been added to the families covered. At least 3 of these additional families (Binney, Lobdell and Milton) have “Collier” connections. I regret to say that the section on the Thomas Collier family, while valuable, retains some errors. I suspect that someone other than Mrs. Smith did the minimal revision and re-organizing of the Collier section. The appearance of a section on Thomas Collier in the Great Migration series by Robert Charles Anderson, et al., is acknowledged, but very little revision to the Hull family article has been made as a result. The main item is a re-statement of Anderson’s observation that the birth date of Thomas (1) Collier cannot certainly be taken as approximately 1576, as the age at death (71) given in Peter Hobart’s journal at his death in Hingham in 1647 seems to have been added at a later date. A couple of other items I note: Early Families . . ., p.78, quotes Anderson as saying it is a “known fact” that Thomas was born by 1597. Anderson actually gives “[b]y about 1597” as an estimate based on the fact that Thomas (2) was born about 1622. Early Families still states that Thomas (2) of Hull “is believed” to have been the son of Thomas (1), while Anderson gives this relationship as fact. I would think that a major part of the authority for Anderson’s statement is that, apparently in 1637, “Thomas Collier Junior” was granted 2 acres of land in Hingham “next to his father. . .” The author of the revised Early Families article didn’t pick up on that. One additional note – there are other items which I will omit for the moment: In the original Register account of the Loring family, (143:139), it was stated that the Elizabeth Collier who married Deacon John Loring in Hull in 1708/09 “. . .may be a previously unidentified sister. . .” of Experience and Jane Collier, who also married Loring men. Proof that this identification was correct was published almost immediately, in the Register (143:361, 1989). The author of the revised Collier and Loring sections seems not to have seen this correction, as in Early Families . . ., p.81, John (3) and Mercy Collier are still said to have had only 2 daughters, Experience and Jane. The relevant part of the Loring article (Early Families . . ., p. 142) seems not to have been touched at all, as Elizabeth (Collier) Loring is still said to be a possible “previously unidentified sister. . .” Enough. Despite these drawbacks, it is still nice to have in hand a book in which our family is given an honored place. In the revisions to the early town history are some items about lots in Hull village and on some of the Boston Harbor Islands which family members owned at various times. There are a few images of early Hull, and reproduced early documents, as well. I attach an image of the front cover of Early Families of Hull, Massachusetts. The cover photo of Hull is from the late 19th century. The house with the large center chimney, middle background, is the Loring House, 121 Spring Street. This dates from the late 17th century. Thomas (2) Collier’s house was somewhere near the Loring House, but was gone before 1877. The tower on the hill in the background is at Fort Revere Park, while in the right background is a corner of Hull Village Cemetery, where many “Colliers” were buried. ----------- William Miller Collier One of the better known Colliers in early 20th century America was William Miller Collier (1867 – 1956) of New York State. Mr. Collier was a lawyer, author, diplomat, lecturer in law at both NYU Law School and George Washington University (where he was also President 1918 – 21), and diplomat. In his spare time he was also a genealogist. I hasten to say that he was NOT a “Massachusetts” Collier, but was descended from Jochem Kaljer (various spellings for both first and last name), who came to New Amsterdam by the 1640s. Some of the family stayed in the New York City and Long Island area, while others moved up the Hudson Valley. During the years I have been working on the Colliers of Massachusetts, I have corresponded with at least 3 people who claimed to be descendants of William Miller Collier. Our exchanges were universally brief and unsatisfactory, at least from my end. Typically, I would note a posting on one of the “Collier” Internet forums claiming that ALL the Colliers, Collyers and Colyers in the US of A were related, and that Mr. Collier had collected proof of this. I would - politely - ask for the source of this proof, as my research indicated that an occupational surname, such as Collier and variants, likely had arisen in several locations, and how would one ever locate proof from, say, the 14th or 15th century. The person, if they responded at all, would say that, since I had the nerve to “doubt” their statement, the h—l with me! I could go to Europe and look for the proof, just as Gran’pappy William Miller Collier did. And, don’t let the door hit me on the way out! Mr. Collier donated at least two of his genealogical papers to the NEHGS. I had looked at one previously, covering the Calyer/Kaljer line in general, as I recall. Friday I looked at the other, a privately distributed letter from 1949, rather clumsily titled “Casper, a Collier, Hallenback, Conyn name : with memoranda as to bearers of it, and incidental reference to Colliers named Jochem (Jehoiakim), Michael and Isaac.” The contents are just as described, and Mr. Collier devoted 41 well-reasoned and researched pages and an addendum of 5 pages to the topic. Of particular interest to me, considering my exchanges with Mr. Collier’s kin, was the following aside, from page 25: “. . .If [“any Collier, Colyer or Collyer who thinks he may perhaps be related to us”] will give me information as to the names, dates of birth, and place of residence of their ancestors back for three and possibly for four generations, I might easily tell whether they trace back to our Progenitor [Jochem Kaljer]; although it may be they are of English origin and not related to us at all.” (My emphasis in that last clause. wrc) I like it! Since Mr. Collier lived some six years after completing this letter and addendum, I suppose it is possible that during that time he found his breakthrough on the inter-relationships of all the Colliers. I doubt it myself, but perhaps if I write even more politely to those 3 grandchildren they will fill me in this time. I have done a little more research, haven’t I? Continued best wishes for you and yours in the New Year. Wade Collier