Jefferson Collier is one who has been long identified with
the farming interests of this section, but he has also used his interests in
furthering all worthy enterprises, and as the result has the confidence, respect
and esteem of his fellow-men. He was born on Collier's Creek, in this
county, on June 15, 1820, to Martin and Mary Belle (Anderson) Collier, the
former born in Tennessee and the latter in Kentucky, in which State their
marriage nuptials were celebrated. About 1812 they came to what is now
Montgomery County, and settled on Caddo Creek, about twenty miles from any
white settler, but did not remain here long, soon moving to what is now known
as Collier's Creek, where they spent the rest of their lives, the father dying
about 1822 and the mother on August 30, 1861, a member of the Baptist Church. For many years their nearest trading point was Little Rock, and their nearest
blacksmith's shop twenty-five miles distant. As it was thirty miles to a
flouring-mill, they often used a mortar instead of making that long (and as
there were no roads at that time), tedious journey. There were no
schools, so the early education of their children was sadly neglected, and as
the husband and father died at an early day, his widow was left with ten
children to care for in this vast wilderness, three or four miles from any
neighbor. She nobly discharged every duty, and her children now
"rise up and called her blessed." Jefferson Collier is the
youngest of the family, and as he received no advantages in his youth, he often
felt the need of it, and after his marriage, began applying himself to his
books and thus obtained a fair education. He was married in August, 1842,
to Miss Susanna, daughter of Thomas and Lydia Markham, natives of Illinois, who
came to what is now Montgomery County, settling above Caddo Gap and there
passing from life prior to the war. Mrs. Collier was born in Randolph
County, Ark., in 1825, and has borne her husband fifteen children, four sons
and seven daughters now living. When first married he settled on his
present farm, which was then an old abandoned place, and this farm of 270 acres
has been his home for nearly fifty years. He is the oldest native
resident of the county, and throughout his long and useful career here, has
kept his name unspotted from the world. Just after the war he was
elected to the State Senate, but did not qualify. He served all through
the Confederate Army, in a company of Cavalry, with Capt. William Carroll, and
was one of the brave and intrepid "boys in gray." He has been a
member of the A.F. & A.M. since 1854, being now a member of New Hope Lodge
No. 42. He organized Cedar Glades Lodge, and Mount Ida Lodge, and for
some time served as their worshipful master. He and his worthy wife have
been citizens who command the respect of all who know them, and for many years
have been members of the Missionary Baptist Church. They have lived a
happy wedded life of nearly half a century and are yet in the enjoyment of good
health. They have reared a large family to honorable manhood and
womanhood, and the following are those who are living at the present time:
Lydia E. (wife of Thomas White), Charles W. (of Texas), Harrison R. (the
presenter surveyor of Montgomery County, and one of its best educators), Alfred
M., Margaret (wife William Robinson), Arzelia G. (wife of Franklin L. Cash) and
Cynthia L. (wife of John J. Peart of Illinois). John W. Collier died at
Camden while serving in the Confederate Army. Charles also served the
Confederate cause. Mr. Collier was reared in the wilds of this county,
and is probably more familiar with the early history of this county than any
other one of its citizen. As an illustration of the expedients to which
the early settlers were sometimes obliged to resort, Mr. Collier tells of how
his mother at one time "knit a pair of socks, from the wool which she
picked from the head of a buffalo, and sold them to a merchant for a pair of
cotton cards. Cards at that time sold for $10 a pair. The merchant's
name was William Barkman. My father was the first settler on Collier's
Creek. He shot a buffalo from his camp pole, and I now live within a mile
of the same place."
Source: "The
Goodspeed Biographical and Historical Memoirs of Western Arkansas." Published by Southern Publishing Company
1891. Chicago and Nashville. page 479-480. (Goodspeed does not use paragraphs, I've added those to make the article easier to read.) Source: Norman Today & Yesterday, Vol. #11, published by NHPP, Inc. from story written by Cindi Barnes. (Note: you can only obtain this magazine through membership to NHPP, Inc.)
Collier Creek, near the Collier home