Cuthbert Collier, the sixth child of Vines and Sarah Elizabeth Williamson Collier, was born in Brunswick County, Virginia. His tombstone has the year of his birth as 1772, so he would have been approaching his teenage years when his family settled in Georgia in 1785. Researchers tell us he married Nancy Dickee in 1803 in Oglethorpe County, Georgia. By 1816, Nancy apparently had died and Cuthbert married Rebecca Franklin. In 1824, Cuthbert sold the Vines Collier plantation to Peachy R. Gilmer, brother of Governor George Gilmer. In 1830, Cuthbert, Rebecca, and their family appear in the census for Monroe County. By that time, at least three of Cuthbert’s siblings, Robert, Isaac, and Williamson, had settled in nearby Upson County.
From “The History of Monroe County, Georgia”, page 65, we see,
“Cuthbert Collier, a Virginian, who was here to strike his claim when Monroe County implemented the land lottery system, later added to his holdings. By the time plans to build the railroad were being formulated, he was in a bargaining position. He traded the lengthy right-of-way for the consideration of five dollars and a train station guaranteeing passenger service.”
Collier’s Station, not only allowed passenger service, but gave Cuthbert ready access to ship his goods and receive delivery of needed items. This is a portion of an 1855 railroad map showing Collier’s Station.
A topographic map of the area shows that Cuthbert’s choice of property, if not by design, was extremely fortuitous. His plantation spanned across a divide separating two major drainages. For the railroad to have taken any other route than through his plantation would have been difficult and expensive.
Cuthbert Collier died in 1845 and Rebecca in 1872. The two are buried in the cemetery by the railroad tracks on what was once their plantation.
The Collier name remains prominent in the area. The cemetery is just off Big Collier Road and southwest of Little Collier Road.
In 2012, subdivision lots were being offered, marketed as “Collier Place”.
Cuthbert’s Collier Station today still has an active siding with signs marking No(rth) Collier and So(uth) Collier. It can be seen on the road between Barnesville and Forsythe.
A large house house on Collier Road and adjacent to the railroad is reported to have been the home of Cuthbert and Rebecca Collier.
