Russell Brown, Margaret Collier, and Jerry Fischer
It is with a sad heart that we announce the passing of our society's matriarch, Mrs. Margaret Collier. Mrs. Collier died after a long and notable life. Her careers included social worker, school teacher and mother. She is remembered by our society as its co-founder, our first president, life-time society trustee and mother hen, as well as initiator of the National Alger-Sullivan Lumber Company Residential Historic District. During the years that I knew her, she had three great loves: her family, her church, and this society.
Margaret was born in 1926 in Massachusetts. As a young lady she married her life-time love, Luther. Her husband's jobs led him to work around the world; she and her children were often with him. Her adventurous spirit compelled her in those years to lead her family in a discovery of many countries, and to take many mountain and desert treks.
Her children's largest complaints were when mom said, "I wonder what the world looks like from that next little peak". During only one adventure, she and her son traveled several hundred miles along the Appalachian Trail; the hike ended only after word was received of her mother's health.
During the 1960s, her husband's work as a manager with the St. Regis Co. lead the family to Century from Lake City in the days when the Alger-Sullivan saw mill was near the end of its life. She chose to live in Century, and to continue her career as a school teacher there.
She soon became part of the social circle of the town. In 1987, she was approached by her friend Audra Leach with the idea to have Century's Methodist Church added to the national list of historic places. They then began to inquire about the possibilities. The task was soon found to be almost impossible. Mrs. Collier said that in order to have single sites added to the registry, "it almost seemed to be only places where George Washington slept". But, an alternative was suggested to the ladies.
Old Century, as one of the last remaining mill towns in the region, might be named as a national historic district, which would include their beloved little church. To begin the process, the town needed a sponsor organization which did not exist. So, the ladies decided to try and create one. Not knowing what to expect at their first general interest meeting, Mrs. Collier and her friend were surprised to see sixteen people arrive, several who were influential residents of the community.
In 1988 the Alger-Sullivan Historical Society was chartered with forty-three members, and Mrs. Collier was elected as its first president. That same year, the society was successful in its efforts to have several blocks of the old town of Century designated as a national historical district. Within a few years Mrs. Collier gave up the president's position, but continued her efforts.
The society began work towards creating a home in the district. With Mrs. Collier's encouragement, land was found, Century's old post office donated, the Leach House museum begun, track laid for the society's railroad museum, and the society's annual Saw-Mill Day heritage festival begun by 1990. Another opportunity was seen during these years when the Tri-City Ledger invited the society to contribute articles, and by 1991 Mrs. Collier was writing semi-weekly articles about the society and community. She continued these articles for almost twenty years.
I knew Ms. Margaret in the later years of her life and she allowed me to visit her home on several occasions. She was an incessant reader - a book, or several, always lay near the reading lamp. Where there was no book, multiple jigsaw puzzles lay about her small sunroom to satisfy her ever active mind. She loved to document her life with photos and always had many family pictures to show. I have a favorite photo at home: it is Mrs. Collier wearing a strange little necklace, the pendent a shiny flat bar almost five inches long. Actually, the pendent was a surgical splint for a badly broken bone that she endured, but to her it was a memento of another adventure.
There have been exceptional members of our society who have donated more money, worked harder on projects or shown more brightly as public figures, but none have been more dedicated to the society and community than Mrs. Collier.
In the last year she saw two things that she was really proud of. One was the placement of a state historic marker for Century's historic district and the other was a new building for her little church whose dedication was held only three weeks before her passing. The celebration of her life was held at her church last Monday and she was laid down next to her husband at Pensacola Memorial Gardens. She will be sorely missed.
