THOMAS COLLIER
born: 1824, Pope Co, IL
father: John Collier, born NC in 1761, died 1833 age 72
grandfather: John Collier, of Irish descent, Revolutionary War soldier, had family of 7 sons
mother: Elizabeth Pitchford, md. 1818 in Pope Co, IL Territory, died 1837
married: 1861, Margaret Hogg, dau of Joseh and Keziah (Derman) Vaughn, born 28 May 1834, Pope Co, IL
children: Mary C., wife of Green VanBibber, died Mar 1892; David; Aseneth, widow of John Asbell; James; John W.; 6 more deceased

JOHN NELSON COLLIER

The following was submitted by Evelyn Schessler . Thank you Evelyn for sharing your info.

My grandfather, John Nelson Collier was born February 4, 1874 and died February 4, 1955, at age 81.

He married Susan Asbell, who was born in 1874 and died in 1909 at age 35.

They had five children, one daughter Avo who died at 2-years-old,
There were four sons, Thomas Esco, Harry, Elmer E., and James M., all deceased.

He then married Agnes _______ (last name unknown) and they had two daughters.

My father Thomas Esco Collier, was born in 1891 and died in 1972 at age 81. In 1915, he married my mother, Sarah Elizabeth Schnake of Herod, Illinois. She was born in 1899 and died in 1977 at age 77, ten days before her 78th birthday.

My father and mother were divorced in 1947, and in 1948, he married Crystal Baker.

There were two sons, Howard, deceased, and Matthew, who now lives in Harrisburg.

There were three daughters, Elberta, the youngest child, now deceased, Lucille Halter who also lives in Harrisburg, and Evelyn Avo Schessler, who lives in Redlands, California.

Here is my dad's obituary -

Thomas Esco Collier, 81, of 715 West Lincoln Street, Harrisburg, died at 7:30 P.M. Sunday in Doctor's hospital.

He was born in Pope County on December 20, 1891, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Nelson Collier.

In 1915, he was married to Sarah Elizabeth Schnake of Herod, Illinois, who survives. They were divorced in 1947. In 1948, he married the former Crystal Baker, who also survives.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by five children, Mrs. Earl (Lucille) Halter, of Elgin, Illinois, Mrs. Kenneth (Evelyn) Schessler of La Verne, California, Mrs. Elberta J. Sullivan of Princeton, Indiana, Matthew Collier of Golconda, Illinois, Howard Collier of Elgin, Illinois. Twenty-five grandchildren, a brother, James M. Collier of Elizabethtown, Illinois, two half-sisters, and two stepchildren, Mrs. James M. Phipps of Evansville, Indiana, and Charles Hagler of Detroit, Michigan.

Services will be conducted at 11 A.M. Wednesday from the chapel of the Miller funeral home in Carrier Mills, where friends may call after 4 P.M. Tuesday. The Reverend Alvin Cummings and the Reverend W. T. Parish will officiate. Burial will be in Salem Cemetery.

The following was added by Randy Kincaid on 25 Feb 1999. Randy says any interested researchers may contact him at the email address below.

JOHN COLLIER

The Colliers of Pope County are descended from John Collier who was born in 1761 in North Carolina, of Irish descent. John came down the Cumberland River to Illinois from North Carolina on a flat boat with his first wife whose identity is unknown. One source states the year they arrived as probably 1810 and he is listed in the county's 1816 personal property tax list. They pioneered land reserved for lead miners southeast of One-Horse Gap, in the area known as Sodom - later acquiring the land when the federal government released it for sale. The Collier cemetery, above Lusk, is adjacent to the farm's location. They had two children, believed to be a daughter, Elizabeth, and a son who died while the Colliers briefly lived in Missouri in 1821. (An Isaac Collier appears in county records of the early 1800s that is thought to be John's brother.)

Prior to 1818, John's first wife died, as in that year he married Elizabeth Pitchford, who was born in Georgia. John and Elizabeth had four sons: Davi, b. 1822, Thomas, b. September 22, 1823, and two who died in Missouri in 1821. John died in March of 1836; Elizabeth died on April 27, 1839.

John's daughter, Elizabeth, married Asa Cooper and there is no available information on descendants.

David Collier, married Rebecca ? and they had, at least, four children: Asa, born 1841; Thomas (known as Thomas, Jr. or "Tom Bunt"), born c. 1845; Elizabeth "Betsy", born c. 1846 and Joseph, born 1850.

Thomas Collier, who was only 13 years old when his father died, lived with his brother, David, on the family farm until his marriage in 1861. His wife was Margaret "Peg" Vaughn Hogg, widow of Lewis Hogg and mother of Aquilla, Keziah "Kizzie" and Francis Marion Hogg. Peg's parents were Joseph Vaughn and Keziah Diarman.

Thomas and Peg had five children who survived to adulthood:

Mary C. Collier, b. 1862, married John Greene VanBibber. Descendant family names include: Waggoner, Crabb, Fowler.

David Collier, b. 1865, married Margaret Jennings, Viola Hubbard, Lucy Atkins Vance and Edna Poole Trammel. Descendant family names include Story, Hubbard and Yates.

Asanith Collier, b. 1868, married John Asbell and Elijah "Lige" Carter. Descendant family names include Goolsby, Parchman and Towns.

James "Jimmy" Collier, birthdate unknown, married Julia Asbell, Margaret Maynard and Alice Shelton Cummins. Descendant family names includes Kelley, Drew and Patterson.

John Nelson Collier, born February 4, 1874, married Susan Asbell, Grace Triplett, and Agnes "Maggie" Baker Allison. Descendant family names include Kincaid, Schessler, Cornell, Halter, Goodson, Lynn, Suits, Bennett and Cox.

Sources include:
"The Biographical Review of Johnson, Massac, Pope and Hardin Counties of Illinois, 1893",
Ancestral Annals" by Cora Mae Story Yates,
various public federal census and county records, and family records.

Contributed by Randall L. Kincaid, great-great-great-grandson of John and Elizabeth Collier.

Randy Kincaid rkincaid@sprynet.com