COLLIER of DeKalb Co., Ga., Rhea Co., TN
This is a very interesting problem. Quoting Mr. MacKenzie:
"I am a descendant of Merrill and Elizabeth Collier of Atlanta who are buried in the Wesley Chapel Methodist Churchyard in Dekalb Co., Ga. It is for this Collier family (including Merrill's twin brother, Meredith) that Collier Road in Atlanta is named.
The information which was passed down through my family was that Nathan Newton Rawlings of Rhea Co., Tenn. married Malinda P. Collier, daughter of Merrill and Elizabeth Collier. Through research I have been able to determine that the date on file for their marriage in the DeKalb Co., Ga. Courthouse is February 14, 1856. We were then told that Malinda Collier Rawlings (b. Ca 1828/1828 per the 1850 DeKalb Co., Panthersville District Census), died around the time of her daughter's birth. The daughter's name was Malinda C. Rawlings. The word passed on through the family was that Nathan couldn't take care of his young child without a wife so she was raised by her uncle Philip T. Rawlings in Rhea Co., Tenn. and Nathan "went out west", possibly remarried and died there. Philip T. Rawlings will filed in Rhea Co., Tenn. in 1872 references his niece Malinda "who he raised as his own daughter". There was also a story that when Malinda (daughter of Nathan Rawlings and Malinda Collier) was a teenager or perhaps a child, she and her guardians were notified that she had inherited land at or near Five Points in Atlanta which was about to be sold for back taxes. Given the distance and the times, her guardians elected to let the property go rather than claim it. Later in the early 1900's my grandparents, with my great grandmother, visited the Collier family in Atlanta and were welcomed as family....."
In the 1860 Atlanta census the first ward, there is one Malinda Collier who lists her occupation as prostitute. In Merrill Collier's will on file subsquent to an 1855 probate at DeKalb Co., ....named his daughter Malinda Collier, and designates that she receive, at his death, his home in Atlanta, lot number 4 in the fifth block of Hunter Street, his gold watch, and four slaves--a woman named Levina, her two children, and a boy named Guilford.
Mr. McKenzie goes on to say that the 1860 Rhea Co., Tenn census lists Phillip T. Rawlings with a child, Malinda C., age 4. Her reporter father, N. N. Rawlings was found on 1860 Hamilton Co., Tenn. Census as well as the 1860 Ouachita Co., Ark. Census, with small children. (So, Mr. McKenzie wonders why he did take his small child, Malinda).
Malinda Collier m. 2/24/1856 DeKalb Co. Nathan Newton Rawlings. Malinda must have been born towards the end of that year.
I proceeded on the assumption that Malinda C. Rawlings was b. 1856, and that her mother, died about the same year in DeKalb Co., or Fulton Co., and that for some reason the uncle did raise Malinda (according to his own LWT).
The problem that I had with Malinda's marriage to Nathan Newton Rawlings 1856 in DeKalb Co. is the fact that - He was a resident of Hamilton Co., Tenn. in 1850. Of course, this co. is just over the Georgia line, about two hours' drive from Atlanta. But Newton was b. 1818, and he had children born in the years as follows: 1837, 1843, 1845, 1847, 1849, 1848 and 1853. In 1850, he had a wife, Jane, 21 years old, obviously not the mother of the majority of the children. Perhaps she was the mother of Phebra, Phillip and May, but I don't think so. What I think is that this young woman was not his wife. So this means that he did indeed have a first wife, who was the mother of Sherill, Newton and Caledonia, and probably Phebra, Phillip and May.
Newton married 1st ca 1842, and the second time on 2/14/1856 in DeKalb Co., Malinda P. Collier who may have died at the birth of her daughter, Malinda, ca 1856. It may be that he and Malinda resided in DeKalb County in 1856 with the children by his 1st wife, i.e., Sherill, Newton, Caledonia, Phebra, Phillip and May. When Malinda died in 1856 or 1857, he then removed to Ouachita Co., Arkansas where he was found with his children Newton, Caledonia, Phebra, Phillip and May, with no wife. Little Malinda, an infant really, went to live with her uncle Philip T. Rawlings who stated such in his LWT 1872, Rhea Co., Tenn.
Malinda inherited the well-known property at Five Points and two slaves, Guilford and Lavinia. Guilford was listed in inventory of Estate of Merrill Collier which was dated 7/1855, but not Lavinia.
Five Points later became the property of her brother, George Washington Collier who made a name for himself in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. George Washington Collier (1813-1903), came with his father, Meredith Collier to this area of Atlanta in 1823, and were known to be Atlanta's oldest inhabitant. See History of Fulton Co.
After her marriage and death, her inheritance must have gone to the other children. The DeKalb Co. deeds really need to be researched to learn more of this.
