Genealogy and history of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts
This was the Richard Collier of Boston described as a "brazier" who settled in Norwich, Conn., in the latter part of the eighteenth century. This Richard Collier was m. in King's Chapel, Boston, by the Rev. Henry Caner, January 6, 1759, to Mary Green. A complete line of ancestry has not yet been traced for him, but it has been carried back with reasonable certainty for several generations. He was undoubtedly son of the Richard Collier of Boston who m. March 10, 1736, Eleanor Pennimank, of Braintree; and the latter Richard, son of Richard who was m. in Boston to Mary Jarvis, by "Mr. Cotton Mather," January 25, 1699 (records of Boston). Back of the Richard Collier last named all is conjecture. Some of the descendants of Richard and Mary Green Collier have a tradition that they are descended from the Joseph Collier of Newbury referred to in Hinman's "Puritans of Connecticut" as the first of the name in that State, and probably from Salem or Hingham about 1660; but this hardly seems likely, as, for chronological reasons, Joseph, the natal dates of whose children are known cannot be connected in direct line with the Richard Collier who m. Mary Jarvis. This Richard Collier was more probably son of one of the Colliers who resided at an early date in the vicinity of Boston, there being one at Hull and one at Sudbury, of whom but scant mention is made in early records.
Richard and Mary (Green) Collier had three children--Mary (who m. David More, as already mentionend), Thomas, and Margaret. Thomas settled in Litchfield, where he printed the Litchfield Monitor. He m. and reared a large family. His death occurred in Litchfield about 1884. Two of his sons--John Allen and Hamilton--went to Binghamton, N.Y. John (b. 1781, d. 1873) was a graduate of Yale College. He was admitted to the bar at Troy, N. Y. in 1890, and settled the same year in Binghamton, where he became a leading lawyer and a prominent and highly honored citizen, representing his district in Congress. The third Richard Collier had a sister Margaret, who m Richard Draper, publisher of the Boston News Letter.
Father: Richard Collier b: in Boston, Massachusetts
Mother: Eleanor Penniman b: in Braintree, Massachusetts
Marriage 1 Mary Green
* Married: 11 NOV 1758 in Boston, Massachusetts 1
Children
1. Mary Collier b: 1764 in Boston, Massachusetts
2. Thomas Collier b: in Boston, Massachusetts
3. Margaret Collier
Sources:
1. Boston Records.