Charles Calvin(I) was born in the Cold Water Creek area of southern Lincoln County, Tennessee, near the Alabama state line. His extended family lived nearby. In the 1830 TENNESSEE CENSUS, Lincoln County, Charles(I) was enumerated in the household of his father, James Collie, as 1 male under 5 years of age. After the death of his paternal grandfather, William Silas Collie(I), his father and an uncle left for new frontiers They traveled in covered wagons to Tishomingo County, Mississippi, where they lived for several years. Older brothers and his younger sister married and were living near the parents when the 1845 MISSISSIPPI STATE CENSUS was enumerated. The next major move was to Ouachita Parish, Lousiana where his mother's family lived. His maternal grandfather, Thomas Cockrell, died and his maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Huey Cockrell, made a settlement with her adult children before remarrying. Charles Calvin(I) married Nancy Cochran and they were enumerated in the 1850 LOUISIANA CENSUS of Ouachita Parish in their own household next to his parents. They were still there in the 1860 census and had five children. The Civil War was brewing and in 1862, the younger men in the family enlisted in the Confederate forces. Charles Calvin(I) served mostly in northern Lousiana. His parents died, during the war and several relatives were killed in action or died of disease. His teenage son, Thomas Phelan, became the male figure in the home. After the war, Charles Calvin(I) took the oath of loyalty and returned to his family and a battle for survival. They moved west to Vienna in Jackson Parish where a daughter died and their younger children were born. Charles Calvin(I) was middle aged when his family joined the great migration to Texas and settled near his younger sister and family in Hunt County. Their older children married and grandchildren arrived. Charles Calvin(I) was an older man when he and Nancy joined their two sons and families in a move to the Montague County area. They all lived together in a log cabin with an earth floor and another grandchild was born. The youngest son, John Charles, decided to move on to Jack County, and his father, Charles Calvin(I) decided to go, too. John Charles was making preparations when his father and brother, Thomas Phelan, became critically ill. Charles Calvin(I) died and John Charles stayed with his brother while neighbors took his father's body to the Crafton Cemetery for burial. They returned and said Charles Calvin(I) was buried by a sapling tree. Some years later, John Charles' young daughter, Willie Mae, etched her grandfather's name on a large, field stone as a grave marker. Many years later, grandchildren of his son, John Charles had a headstone added to the handmade marker.
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Born in Tennessee,
Grew up in Mississippi,
Married and fought a war in Lousiana,
Migrated with his family to Texas,
Ventured forth as an old man to new frontiers,
Ended his journey in a lonely Texas grave.
This pioneer man, Charles Calvin Collie
- Blanche Keating Collie

Children:
1. Thomas Phelan Collie 1847-
2. Amanda E. Collie Graham 1851-
3. Lydia Ann Collie Payne 1854-1892
4. Sarah L. Collie Crowley 1855-
5. Lear Cealia Collie 1857-1869
6. John Charles Collie 1861-1942
7. Infant Collie 1865-1865
8. Laura Frances Collie Moore Cooper 1867-1935
9. Emily Collie Goldsmith 1870-1950