Additional biographical profile by John Eady Simmons Jr. to honor this man and his accomplishments and for his descendants and allied family.

William was born in Virginia in Hampton, Elizabeth City County in 1845. His parents were Charles Miles Collier and Sarah Ann Cowles. He was living with his mother in Hampton in 1850. His father had died in 1848.

William was living in Hampton in 1860. When war came to Virginia in April of 1861 William enlisted in Cpt. William A.S. Taylor's Co. (Young Guards), Virginia Volunteers. He enlisted 2 Aug 1861 as a Private at Norfolk, Virginia

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He was mustered into service in Virginia 31 August 1861 by Major Bradford.

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William was present on muster rolls through the period of February 1862. He was detailed for special duty in the office of General Quarter Master.

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William had an older brother, Cowles Miles Collier. This brother was in the Confederate States Marines. Cowles was married to Hannah Shackleford of Early County, Georgia in 1863. Hannah's sister, Ellen Shackleford was married to George W. Gift. George was a Lt in the C.S. Navy and was an officer at Saffold, Georgia naval ship yard when the C.S.S. Chattahoochee was under construction and later the Executive Officer and Commanding Officer of that ship. Lt. Gift wrote to his brother in law, Cowles Miles Collier, during the time the CSS Chattahoochee made the first trip down river and the engine problems that were encountered.

William at some point not yet discovered by this researcher transferred to the Confederate States Navy.

William was appointed Acting Master's Mate on 12 April 1864. He was sent to the C.S.S. Chattahoochee. After completion of repairs the ship steamed from the Columbus, Georgia Naval Iron Works in April of 1864 to Eufaula, Alabama.

While the ship was berthed there In May of 1864 William was part of an expedition to Apalachicola commanded by Lt. George W. Gift. This was an attempt to capture a blockading vessel in Apalachicola and open up the blockade. The expedition failed and the men returned back to Eufaula to the ship. In that failed mission the diary of the second in command Midshipman Blanc was captured along with supplies, weapons, and ammunition. William was named among the officers in the mission.

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He was on a June 1st 1864 list of officers when the C.S.S. Chattahoochee was at Eufaula, Alabama. The ship was ordered to return to Columbus for additional repairs on that day. illiam is among a group of officers and men that were sent to Savannah in July of 1864 under the command of Lt. Gift.

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William was later in 1864 sent to the C.S.S. Roanoke in the James River Squadron. He was an Acting Midshipman by 30 November 1864.

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C.S.S. Chattahoochee

Savannah Squadron

C.S.S. Roanoke

James River Squadron

C.S.S. Patrick Henry

He surrendered in Augusta, Georgia on 2 May 1865 and was paroled on the 3rd.

After the war William moved to Alabama and was married in 1869 in Macon County to Asenath Rebekah Haden. He studied law and became a lawyer. When the Spanish America War began he was appointed as Assistant Paymaster in the U.S. Navy and served aboard the Pompey. She was purchased in April 1898 and commissioned as USS Pompey in May 1898 for service as a collier in the Spanish-American War. During June and July 1898 Pompey supported U.S. naval forces off Cuba. Moving to Key West and then to Norfolk, Virginia, during August, she decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard in January 1899.

William served from July of 1898 until February of 1899. He was in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Territory at the time per pension record.

In 1900 William and his wife were living in Birmingham, Jefferson County, Alabama. He and his wife had 5 children.

His wife died in Nashville, Tennessee in 1903 but was buried in Clanton, Alabama.

William moved to Oklahoma and settled in McIntosh County. He was a lawyer there. He was married again about 1905 and had two more children. In 1912 he was one of the delegates from Oklahoma to the National Democratic Convention. He was appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Supreme Court as a Supreme Court Commissioner. In 1919 he was appointed by the governor as Pardon Attorney. He then served as justice of the Supreme Court. He applied for a pension in 1920 for his service in the U.S. Navy as an officer.

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He was appointed as a justice of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma in 1920. He died in 1922.

Civil War 1862-65

Spanish American 1898-99

He was the son of Charles Miles Collier and Sarah Ann Cowles. His paternal grandmother was Ann Marshall, a cousin of Justice John Marshall. He was educated at Hampton Military Academy, of which John B. Cary, the great educator, was President. His father and uncle, his eldest brother and another brother, Charles H. Collier, were Naval Officers in the service of the United States prior to the Civil War, and he and the said brother, Charles H. Collier, were Naval Officers in the Confederate States Navy. He served as a mid-shipman in the Confederate States Navy under the command of Lieut. Parker, remaining in the service until the close of the Civil War in 1865. After the declaration of the War against Spain in 1898 he he was appointed to serve in the Navy as Assistant Paymaster with the rank of Ensign and served on the Pompey. In 1912 he was one of the delegates from Oklahoma to the National Democratic Convention. He was appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Supreme Court as a Supreme Court Commissioner. In 1919 he was appointed by the Governor as Pardon Attorney, then served as a Justice of the Supreme Court. Judge Collier was the only Confederate soldier who served as a Justice of the Supreme Court or as Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Oklahoma. He was married twice. His first wife and he had two sons who died in infancy, and three daughters, one of which preceded him in death. Mrs. Inez Collier Gullahorn and Mrs. Alice Collier McKinnon lived in Alabama. He and his second wife, May L. Collier, had a son and a daughter, Ruth Collier and William Allen Collier, Jr.

Partial text from the Chronicles of Oklahoma

By Robert L. Williams