Feb 2001 Colliers of MA Research Ltr
February, 2001 Colliers of Massachusetts Research Update
February 16, 2001
The last three months have been eventful ones onthe family front. One of my father’s favorite phrases, "Busier than a one-armed paper hanger," would be a fair description of some of the more hectic days.
Firstly, our granddaughter, Madison, now about 10 weeks old, is growing rapidly and becoming more active all the time.I believe the proud parents are looking into early admission requirements at Allegheny College, Michael’s alma mater.
Secondly, as you will see in the body of this report, we have been able to make exciting progress on a few lines that have been obscured until now.I have also located information on a few important individuals (i.e., people who are significant in a "family history milestone" sense) who had just been names before.The gathering of data from published genealogies on related families, from Internet sources,and from Email from contributing researchers continues on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis.
Finally, I will try to make these reports a little easier to use, both for those I already send them to, and forInternet researchers who may see them in the future, by including an index with each issue from now on.Within a few weeks, I will index previous research letters and post the listings on the Collier Family Genealogy Forum and on my homepage, the two Internet sites where most of my compilations are available to the electronic genealogy researcher.I have sent out 9 more-or-lessformal research reports prior to this one:January 6, 1999 (3 pages); April 25, 1999 (9 pages, + Southern New England and Boston and South Shore maps); June 20, 1999 (2 pages, with 2 or 3 pages of Boston notes on Gershom Collier (ca. 1771 -1819), the ancestor of the Ohio, upstate new York and western Mass. families.Most of this material is on my Ohio branch.); Sept. 16, 1999 (6 pages, primarily a partial bibliography); Sept. 20, 1999 (15 pages, + portrait of Edward Winslow); December 20, 1999 (7 pages); May 1, 2000 (5 pages - the "Overview" of the Colliers of Massachusetts); Sept. 3, 2000 (11 pages); and Nov. 22, 2000 (7 pages).
Some of the material in this series of 10 research updates is repetitious. My first recipients were immediate family members in Ohio, who were as surprised as I was to find an actual record of the origins of "GG-Grandparents John and Mary Samson Collier." Gradually at first - then rapidly - our horizon expanded to include Vermont, Chesterfield, Mass., Maine, the South Shore of Massachusetts Bay, and early Plymouth Colony.As my list of Collier Cousins expanded, the audience for these research updates also expanded., and I am now addressing myself to all the currently known cousins, as well as to those who in the future will realize they are members of the family.
I have also posted some miscellaneous "Collier" information on the Collier Family Genealogy Forum. http://genforum.genealogy.com/collier/ These are also posted on my homepage:
"Published Collier - Variant Genealogies"
"Colliers/Collers in 1790 Census NE, NJ and NY"
"Collier and Variants in Early Mass. and ME"
"Collier and Variants in Mass. Local History"
"Collier "Mysteries" of the 18th Century"
The "Gershoms" of the Colliers of Mass. line
Notes to Gilbert S. Tower’s Colliers of Cohasset-- (included with mailings of this update)
Transcription, with notes,of the "Collier" section of the article "Seventeenth Century Hull, Massachusetts and Her People," Ethel Farrington Smith, NEHG Register, Vol. 142, page 356-359 (Oct. 1988).
Transcription, with notes, of"Collier Notes," H. Minot Pitman, The American Genealogist, Vol. 19 (1942), pages 43-44. (Original courtesy of Mary Beth Wheeler.)
(Those are the items that might be of the most general interest.)
INDEX TO THIS ISSUE --
Page 2-- The Statistics
Page 2-Only Ten Male European Ancestors ?
Page 3-English Origins of Thomas and Susannah Collier
Page 4-Additions to Moses Collier/Collyer line in New Jersey
Page 4-Gershom Collier (1765 - 1830), of Farmington and Avon, Maine
Page 4-Rev. William Collier Descendants ??
Page 5-Elisha H. Collier (1788-- ?? ) Gun Maker and Inventor
Page6- James Speare Loring (1799-1884)Genealogist
Page 7-Harrison Gray Otis - Samuel Eliot Morison Line
Page 7-James Lincoln Collier, in Ken Burn’s Jazz
Page 7-Thomas Collier, Great Migrationseries
Page 8-Other Progress
The Statistics--
Through today’s postings, my file on the Thomas and Susannah Collier Family contains 4432 individuals, including spouses of direct descendants.Of this total, there are 371 of the surname Collier, or Collyer – many of the New Jersey line used that spelling after about 1740.This total is apt to stay fairly steady, unless we happen to find records of someof the "lost" families.(My November letter indicated 392 of the Collier/Collyer name.I apologize for the miscount.)
Other surnames with large numbers are: Pratt (238), Copeland (207), and Loring (207).The Loring lines descend from 3 different marriages of early Collier ladies, and their records are quite complete, so I anticipate that soon the number of Lorings will be exceeded only by the Colliers.
From Ancestry.comInternet site
Dick Eastman Online
11/15/2000 - Archive
"Only Ten Male European Ancestors?
"European men are almost all related to just 10 male ancestors whose descendants migrated from the East between 6,000 and 40,000 years ago, according to a study released this week. A genetic study of 1,007 men across Europe and the Middle East found that 95 percent of them could be traced to one of 10 family trees.
"Two of these lineages probably migrated from the Middle East to Europe in separate waves between 20,000 and 40,000 years ago during the Palaeolithic period. The other eight forefathers apparently moved to Europe from the Ural Mountains of Central Asia. The international team of scientists, led by Ornella Semino, from Pavia University in Italy collected genetic information from the Y chromosomes of the men studied. The researchers studied the Y chromosomes of 1,007 men across Europe and the Middle East. Only men have Y chromosomes, which are passed down virtually unchanged from father to son. Mutations in the Y chromosome can be used as a kind of molecular clock, and the researchers found that 95 percent of the men's genes could be traced to one of 10 categories. "Ten lineages account for about 95 percent of the 1,007 European Y chromosomes studied," the researchers wrote.
"I still want to see a pedigree chart, however. " (End quoted article.)
(Even movement to Europe as few as 6,000 years ago would mean there have been about 240 generations to reach the present day.Since I am 11th in line from Thomas and Susannah of Hingham, I feel confident I will be leaving some family history work for my sons or my granddaughter. --
Wade C.)
English origins of Thomas and Susannah Collier--
Many of the early settlers ofHingham, Massachusetts were from the vicinity of Hingham, Norfolk, England, in the area known as East Anglia.Daniel Cushing, one of the first Town Clerks of Hingham, Mass., made a list of those settlers who were from Hingham, Norfolk, and vicinity --Thomas Collier is NOT among that group
Charles Edward Banks, an active early 20th Century New England genealogist, in his English Ancestry and Homes of the Pilgrim Fathers (page not noted), indicates that Thomas Collier was from Reading, Berkshire, in the lovely valley of the Thames (I have been in the area).There is probably no justification for this, except that his daughter-in-law, Jane Curtis (step-daughter of Robert Jones, wife of Thomas (2) Collier), was from Reading.
Some Internet sources (sometimes anonymously) say that our Thomas Collier was from Prestwich, Lancashire (a northern suburb of Manchester).There were certainly several Collier births in that area in the late 16th-early 17th Century.The listings I have seen give no source, and the dates of birth for a Thomas are off by about 10 years (Rev. Peter Hobart, of Hingham, Mass., recorded that Thomas (1) was "age 71 years" at his death in 1647 -The Prestwich "sources" say that Thomas was born about 1585, not the correct 1576.)
I recently corresponded with a British genealogical research firm, British Ancestors, which offered a free consultation on the possibilities of successful research for English ancestors, with payment to be given if they did a successful search.I gave them dates of birth for Thomas (1 - 1576), Thomas (2 - 1622), Moses (2 - 1625), the fact that there was a sister Susannah (2), and possibly a son or brother John.They eventually responded by asking whether I had tried several other British genealogical consulting firms.I take this to mean that there is nothing on "our" Thomas and Susannah Collier jumping out of the records.
We have nothing certain on the English origins of Thomas Collier.
Areas of progress, chronologically --
1)Moses Collier/Collyer Line, New Jersey
Early in January, I corresponded several times with two researchers who have been working on Moses Collier-related lines - Belinda Hughes and Kim Kittell.Their areas of expertise, respectively, are the Sutton and the Doty families. Both were widespread in New Jersey.The Dotys who married Colliers are thought to be descended from Edward Doty, of the Mayflower, although the scholarly debate still goes on.
While at the Haverhill Library two weeks ago I delved into the Doty family history (Mayflower Families Through Five Generations,Vol. 11, part II (Edward Doty), Peter B. Hill, Compiler, Gen. Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1996.) and I also have been looking at the Sutton family history through online books and other Internet sources.
Although I now have records of 348 individuals in the Moses Collier line, including spouses, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done there.From at least as early as 1740, many if not all of the family changed the spelling of the surname to Colyer, or Collyer. I have no descendants for several individuals, probably including a Lt. Thomas Collyer who served in the Revolution from Somerset County, New Jersey.New Jersey counties where descendants lived were, at a minimum, Middlesex, Somerset, Morris, and Sussex.One of the main streets of the small city of Basking Ridge, Somerset County, where many of the family lived ca. 1740 - 1860, is Collyer Lane, where most of the municipal agencies are located, as well as some Somerset County offices.A research trip to the area of Basking Ridge would no doubt provide a lot of data.
(I note that there is a town of Colliers Mills, in Ocean County, NJ, but this is out of the known area of the Moses Collier family.)
Gershom Collier (1765 - 1830), of Farmington and Avon, Maine
Through another group effort, we now have a pretty complete view of the descendants of "Gershom of Farmington and Avon, " and his first wife, Sally Hovey,down to very recent years.My thanks to Nancy J. Porter, Georgia S. Murray (whom we have corresponded with before), Larry Baker, and an Internet source ("kburby") who contributed material, but whom I have not corresponded with.Larry, although not a family member, went far beyond the call of duty to supply printed information from Franklin County, Maine. There are probably still several descendants living in western Maine, and we hope to be in touch with some of them soon..
Rev. William Collier Descendants ??
I included some information on Rev. William Collier (1771-1843) in the November newsletter.He was of the early "Cohasset" line, the son of Isaac Collier and Tamsen Hayden.Although he was a well known figure in early 19th Century Boston, Charlestown, and Chelsea - mentioned in records of all three - I have found no record of present day descendants.
The 1850 Federal Census, images of which are now available through various Internet sites, lists "William R. Collier, age 41," in the 11th Ward of Boston.This should be Rev. William’s son, and he appears to have been unmarried at that time-- no family listed.In the same household are "Mary Ann [Collier], age 39," presumably his sister, born Dec. 23, 1810, and "Ann [Collier], age 65, " who I take to be Rev. William’s sister, "Anna, " born in Scituate,June 25, 1786.Perhaps we may not find any living descendants of Rev. William Collier !The only family which seems to hold out any promise is that of Clarissa Collier and Colonel Benjamin Osgood, who lived in the vicinity of Lowell and Methuen, Mass.
Elisha H. Collier (1788-- Perhaps after 1830, ?England or Massachusetts)
Elisha H. (presumably Hayden, for his mother’s family) Collier was one of the younger brothers of Rev. William Collier.Born in Scituate, there is no further record of him in that town.The death of a daughter is recorded in Boston in 1816.
That is all I had on Elisha H. Collier until about a month ago, when I happened upon his name in Gun Digest 2001, an unexpected genealogy source.In an article on"Birth of the Modern Firearm," pages 8-20, by Ken Aiken, Elisha H. Collier is described as an important gun maker, participating with Artemus Wheeler of Boston in the development of early flintlock revolvers.His weapons, including revolving rifles, had some popularity in both America and Europe about 1818-1820, after which Elisha seems to have left for London.One source says he sold 40, 000 revolving pistols to the British Army for use in India.
About 1830, so the story goes, Samuel Colt happened across one of Elisha’s revolvers, and incorporated many of its features into his first models.On Elisha himself, nothing else is known to me.There was an Elisha Collier in Boston in 1850, possibly a son, but we cannot tell from the records we have.
What is the statute of limitations for patent infringement ??
James Speare Loring (1799-1884)Genealogist
I have seen the name of James Speare Loring in many locations in the course of my family research, and it became more and more obvious that I needed to check further into his work. I have started that investigation, and I will have more to say on him as the months go on.
James Speare (the spelling he preferred) Loring (7), as his name suggests, was a descendant of the Colliers, the Spear[e]s, and the Lorings of Hingham, Hull, and Boston.His Collier line was (Deacon James Loring (6), Deacon James Loring/Mary Spear (5), Capt. Joseph Spear/Mary Collier (4), Lt. Gershom (3), Thomas (2,1). On the Loring side, he was descended from the marriage of Deacon John Loring (1674-1757) and Elizabeth Collier (4 - ca. 1690 - 1744), John (3), Thomas (2, 1).
Professionally, Mr. Loring was bookseller, publisher and editor, first with his father in Boston, then in New York after the autumn of 1853.His father had been a well known publisher in Boston for some 40 years.
James Speare Loring seems to have been the first elected member of the NEHGS, following the 5 founding members.Date of election was Feb. 8, 1845.At one time in the early years of the NEHG Register, he secured a publisher to keep the operation afloat.
A more complete biography is in his obituary, NEHGR Vol. 39, pages 297-298.
He published, as editor, The Hundred Boston Orators, 1852, several short articles in the NEHGR, the Boston Transcript, and left at his death 400 pages of Loring material (later incorporated in the Loring Genealogy, 1917, by C. H. Pope and Katherine Peabody Loring), materials on the Cushing Family of Hingham (his mother's family), the Chase Scrap Book, and a 200 page memoir of his father, Deacon James Loring.
James S. Loring seems to be the only source for the statement that Mary Collier Spear, widow, married, as her second husband, Richard Stubbs, and may have moved to Maine.The article this information appeared in, "Spear Family Record," NEHGR Vol. 18, pages 158-161, is very cryptic and unsourced. I see what appear to be some errors, as well, but will leave them for another exploration.Meanwhile, all honors to a family history pioneer.
Harrison Gray Otis - Samuel Eliot Morison Line
James Speare Loring, in the "Spear Family Record," mentioned above, confirms the marriage ofSally Foster, great-granddaughter of Mary Collier Spear, to Harrison Gray Otis.This confirms again that Samuel Eliot Morison, noted historian and Harvard professor, and descendant of Otis, was a Collier descendant, as I indicated in my November letter.
James Lincoln Collier, in Ken Burn’s Jazz --
I hope that most of you had the chance to watch some of Ken Burn’s Jazz on PBS.
James Lincoln Collier was featured in several segments as a jazz expert.James is a musician- a trombonist, I believe - as well as a writer, and has written some well known
books on jazz, in addition to his many other works.
If you missed it, watch for the repeats in the spring or summer.
Thomas Collier, Great Migrationseries
I do not believe that the next volume in the NEHGS Great Migration series, which should include an article on Thomas Collier of Hingham, has been released yet.I will report on anything new as soon as I can locate it.
Other Areas of Progress--
I have corresponded with Oma Rose, a Lobdell Family researcher, but really have nothing new to report on the descendants of Judith Collier (1697-after 1760 ?).The records are too sparse.
I have also briefly corresponded with some Loring -Bucknam researchers on the lines that went to Maine, and will be doing so again.The Loring Genealogy is very complete up to the early 20th Century, but some of these researchers have some later material.
We have a little more detail about Gershom Collier (1738-1822) of Scituate and Isleboro and Northport, Maine from recently published Vital Records of those Maine towns.Information on some of the later generations is still sparse.
Wade Collier (11) (Reid 10, Randolph 9, Christopher 8, John 7, Gershom 6, Bosworth 5, Thomas 4, Gershom 3, Thomas2, 1)