Historical Sketch:

Sarah King & the Collier Family

Mrs. Sarah King belongs to the extensive and illustrious Collier clan, a prominent family in Rutherford County history.  As a result, a portion of this collection consists of old Collier family correspondence and financial records. 

The majority of the family information in Series I pertains to a Mr. Ingram Blanks Collier III, who was born in 1838.  The heir of a rather successful line of namesakes, I.B. Collier worked as a farmer and cotton broker in Rutherford County.  In addition, he served as cashier at the First National Bank of Murfreesboro.  Collier’s wealth increased as he began to purchase shares of his bank’s stock as well as shares in the N&C Railway.  After marrying young Kentucky widow Anna Cushman Jones in 1869, Collier built three cotton stores along North Maple Street, which still stand today.  Collier also served as mayor of Murfreesboro from 1872-1873. 

Collier-Crichlow House, 511 East Main Street

I.B. and Anna Collier had three children—Nama, Carmine, and I.B. IV.  Nama, the oldest, was born in 1870.  She attended school at both the Haynes’ Institute and Mrs. Price’s School in Nashville.  Gifted with a pleasant voice, Nama performed at the Opera House as the character Beauty in the musical “Beauty and the Beast.”  Much like her sister, younger Carmine (1872) possessed artistic talent.  Particularly, she was well-known for her oil paintings.  Carmine too attended school, although she went to the local Soule College in Murfreesboro.  Ingram Blanks IV, the youngest of the children, was born in 1874, just two years after Carmine. 

Mr. Collier commissioned the Collier-Crichlow mansion on East Main Street in 1878.  Unfortunately, what was to become the three-story Second Empire house was not yet completed when I.B. Collier III died from leukemia in 1879.  However, the first floor was finished, so Anna and their children reluctantly moved into their new home.  Tragedy struck again, however, when son I.B. Collier IV died from diphtheria at age six.  Mrs. Collier was devastated by the loss of her loved ones.  She continued, however, to reside at the mansion with her remaining two children and her late husband’s brother, Newton, and his family. 

Anna Cushman Collier, unidentified date

Nama Collier lived to be sixteen years old.  She died of typhoid fever on November 4, 1886.  Carmine, on the other hand, survived into adulthood.  She continued to live at the Collier mansion with her mother and hosted many social events.  It was through these events that Anna met Colonel Horace Ready.  They married on April 13, 1888.  Carmine lived with her family until her mother’s death in January 1924 (Ready died in 1904).  She never married and passed away in November 1954. 

Sarah King is a distant cousin of Carmine Collier.  The daughter of James McKelley and Lutie Osborn, Sarah was born on November 7, 1921, in Nashville.  She married Walter Hughey King in 1941 and lived with him for some time on the grounds of the Sam Davis Home.  Mrs. King possesses an honorary chair for life with the Daughters of the American Revolution, having served in the DAR at the Chapter, State, and National levels.  She was Honorary State Regent of Tennessee from 1968-71, Curator of the National Society of the DAR from 1971-74, and President General of the National Society DAR from 1983-86.  Under Mrs. King’s leadership, the NSDAR published book entitled “Black Courage 1775-1783,” which contains information on black soldiers and patriots who aided the cause of American independence.  Mrs. King also ran as a candidate for the United States Congress in 1976. 

In addition to her duties with the DAR, Mrs. King served as a Charter appointee to a bipartisan commission in the Coalition for the Peace through Strength Caucus and served by appointment of President Ronald Reagan as an advisor to the United States Congress.  Albert Gore Jr. also appointed Mrs. King as an advisor during his congressional, senatorial, and vice presidential terms.  Sarah King was honored at a reception by the United States Congress as a Tennessean serving the nation as well. 

Mrs. Sarah King with President Ronald Reagan

The following flow chart traces Mrs. Sarah King’s lineage back to Mr. I.B. Collier III and his immediate family.  I.B. Collier IV is the brother of Sarah's great-great-grandmother Emily.

I.B. Collier II---(Martha Covington)

         Emily Collier---(Edmond Cock), I.B. Collier III---(Louisiana Cushman) 

                 Martha A. Cock---(Burgess Jameson)        Nama Collier, Carmine Collier, I.B. Collier IV

                     Lucy (Lutie) Elizabeth Jameson---(Joseph Provine Osborn)

                             Lutie Jameson Osborn---(James Dudley McKelley)

                                      Sarah Elizabeth McKelley---(Walter Hughey King)