First wife of James DeMarcus 'Jim' Collier. They married September 7 1875. About ten years after Tennie's death, he married Julia Josephine Vann in Zephyr, Brown County, Texas.
***
See letter below about the death of Tennessee Bishop Collier's baby girl in Texas. What a heart-wrenching account of the death of little Cilla Collier! Her mother had died back in Tennessee. Then with a group of both families and neighbors, Cilla and her widowered father, Jim, moved west to Comanche County, Texas, where the little girl and then her grandmother also died. A sad story... but, life was not unrelieved suffering, even so. An amusing family story of little Cilla's birth has come down to us: Cilla's proud mother, Tennessee, sent a lock of her new baby's hair with her husband to her mother. In a joking mood, Jim substituted some mohair for the baby's hair before sending it to the new grandmother. Imagine poor Mrs. Bishop's astonishment at the strange baby hair! The date written on this letter certainly appears to be 1869, but for that date to be correct, our dates for many other events would have to be wrong. Sweet and Duke are apparently married with children at the writing of this letter. Celia Collier died in September of 1879, so the date must be soon after that. Mary Jane, who wrote this letter died in January of 1880, so it has to be before that time. Apparently this letter was written only about six weeks before her death. Her chills must have gotten worse. Alvin, Mary Jane, and their children had moved to central Texas only a short time previously. This letter is written to Amanda Bishop Simpson, the oldest of Alvin and Mary Jane's daughters. Amanda was about 21 years older than her sister Kittie.Family members included in this letter are:
* M. J. Bishop - Mary Jane Cox Bishop, Kittie's mother, aged 53, writer.
* Amanda - Amanda Bishop Simpson (Mandy), Kittie's sister, aged 35, recipient.
* Sweet - Mary Elizabeth Bishop Jackson, aged 24, Kittie's sister.
* Duke - Duke Allen Jackson, aged 30, Sweet's husband.
* Cilla Collier - Kittie's niece, aged 3, whose mother Tennessee Bishop Collier had died shortly after Cilla's birth.
* Mrs. Collier - Cilla's other grandmother.
* Eddy - Edna P. Bishop, aged 12, Kittie's sister.
* Albert - Albert Sydney Bishop 'Bud,' aged 17, Kittie's brother.
* Kittie - Kittie Bell Bishop, aged 14, Mary Jane's daughter, great-grandmother of myself, Peggy Smith Wolfe (redhen).
* Papa - Alvin Bishop, 59, Kittie's father.
* Neely - Amanda's son, James Neely Simpson, age 7, Kittie's nephew.
* Luther - Amanda's son, Luther L. Simpson, age 6, Kittie's nephew.
* Nell - a horse (I hope!)
* Old Ladd - Nell's teammate.
* Lige Allen Hill - Elijah Allen Hill, a neighbor, age 27, Kittie's future brother-in-law, a brother to P. G. "Gid" Hill, my great-grandfather.
---
Mercers Gap, Comanche, Texas
November 25, 1879
Well, Amanda, I will try to write to you all once more. I hope you will not think hard of me for not writing sooner. I lost my specks, had none for some time. I am anxious to hear from you all. We had a letter from Sweet some 3 weeks ago. The children had hooping cough. She said it wasn't hurting them much. She said she was in fine health herself. Duke was improving of his risings [boils?], though I fear that she may take the cough yet. If she does, I hope the Lord will carry her through safe if it can only be his good will. In all of our troubles and afflictions we must humble our selves and call on him to help us and He will carry us through, as the children often sings in their song they learned at school.
Amanda, I thought I would have loved to see you before now. I want to see you all very bad. It seems so very long since I have seen the little children. Kiss them all for me and tell them our little Cilla is gone to heaven. She said she was going to stay with her mama. Mrs. Collier says, "No, Baby, you can stay with me." It seemed to fret her. She [said], "No, I'm going to stay with my mama!" This she talked before she was taken down during sickness. She said, "Mama, Mama!" Mrs. Collier said, "What do you want?" She said, "I want Mama!" She suffered 12 long days. The 13 day, God released her from her pain, and then she went away. I often think, "Why does little children suffer so much in death?!?" We can only say, "That's God's will!" We must be still and know that he is God.
Well, Eddy has a chill now. Her, Albert, and me has been having chills some time. They are light on me, not very hard on them. I hope we will wear [them] out after awhile...
Times is hard. I hear corn [is] worth $1.50 per bushel, wheat $1.35, meat 12 1/2 cents. I will close. Write soon, fail not. I remain your affectionate mother until death.
M. J. Bishop
27th
Well, Neely, I will tell you and Luther about Nell. She pitched in the spring the other [day] and broke her neck all up. Today Old Ladd missed her skill yesterday. Your papa, Albert, and Kitty is off picking cotton, a little crop they bought from Lige Allen Hill. Times is hard with us now. Corn and meat high and money hard to get. I hope we'll will live some way and make a crop to live on. Wheat is so high we did not get any to sow.
****
***
See letter below about the death of Tennessee Bishop Collier's baby girl in Texas. What a heart-wrenching account of the death of little Cilla Collier! Her mother had died back in Tennessee. Then with a group of both families and neighbors, Cilla and her widowered father, Jim, moved west to Comanche County, Texas, where the little girl and then her grandmother also died. A sad story... but, life was not unrelieved suffering, even so. An amusing family story of little Cilla's birth has come down to us: Cilla's proud mother, Tennessee, sent a lock of her new baby's hair with her husband to her mother. In a joking mood, Jim substituted some mohair for the baby's hair before sending it to the new grandmother. Imagine poor Mrs. Bishop's astonishment at the strange baby hair! The date written on this letter certainly appears to be 1869, but for that date to be correct, our dates for many other events would have to be wrong. Sweet and Duke are apparently married with children at the writing of this letter. Celia Collier died in September of 1879, so the date must be soon after that. Mary Jane, who wrote this letter died in January of 1880, so it has to be before that time. Apparently this letter was written only about six weeks before her death. Her chills must have gotten worse. Alvin, Mary Jane, and their children had moved to central Texas only a short time previously. This letter is written to Amanda Bishop Simpson, the oldest of Alvin and Mary Jane's daughters. Amanda was about 21 years older than her sister Kittie.Family members included in this letter are:
* M. J. Bishop - Mary Jane Cox Bishop, Kittie's mother, aged 53, writer.
* Amanda - Amanda Bishop Simpson (Mandy), Kittie's sister, aged 35, recipient.
* Sweet - Mary Elizabeth Bishop Jackson, aged 24, Kittie's sister.
* Duke - Duke Allen Jackson, aged 30, Sweet's husband.
* Cilla Collier - Kittie's niece, aged 3, whose mother Tennessee Bishop Collier had died shortly after Cilla's birth.
* Mrs. Collier - Cilla's other grandmother.
* Eddy - Edna P. Bishop, aged 12, Kittie's sister.
* Albert - Albert Sydney Bishop 'Bud,' aged 17, Kittie's brother.
* Kittie - Kittie Bell Bishop, aged 14, Mary Jane's daughter, great-grandmother of myself, Peggy Smith Wolfe (redhen).
* Papa - Alvin Bishop, 59, Kittie's father.
* Neely - Amanda's son, James Neely Simpson, age 7, Kittie's nephew.
* Luther - Amanda's son, Luther L. Simpson, age 6, Kittie's nephew.
* Nell - a horse (I hope!)
* Old Ladd - Nell's teammate.
* Lige Allen Hill - Elijah Allen Hill, a neighbor, age 27, Kittie's future brother-in-law, a brother to P. G. "Gid" Hill, my great-grandfather.
---
Mercers Gap, Comanche, Texas
November 25, 1879
Well, Amanda, I will try to write to you all once more. I hope you will not think hard of me for not writing sooner. I lost my specks, had none for some time. I am anxious to hear from you all. We had a letter from Sweet some 3 weeks ago. The children had hooping cough. She said it wasn't hurting them much. She said she was in fine health herself. Duke was improving of his risings [boils?], though I fear that she may take the cough yet. If she does, I hope the Lord will carry her through safe if it can only be his good will. In all of our troubles and afflictions we must humble our selves and call on him to help us and He will carry us through, as the children often sings in their song they learned at school.
Amanda, I thought I would have loved to see you before now. I want to see you all very bad. It seems so very long since I have seen the little children. Kiss them all for me and tell them our little Cilla is gone to heaven. She said she was going to stay with her mama. Mrs. Collier says, "No, Baby, you can stay with me." It seemed to fret her. She [said], "No, I'm going to stay with my mama!" This she talked before she was taken down during sickness. She said, "Mama, Mama!" Mrs. Collier said, "What do you want?" She said, "I want Mama!" She suffered 12 long days. The 13 day, God released her from her pain, and then she went away. I often think, "Why does little children suffer so much in death?!?" We can only say, "That's God's will!" We must be still and know that he is God.
Well, Eddy has a chill now. Her, Albert, and me has been having chills some time. They are light on me, not very hard on them. I hope we will wear [them] out after awhile...
Times is hard. I hear corn [is] worth $1.50 per bushel, wheat $1.35, meat 12 1/2 cents. I will close. Write soon, fail not. I remain your affectionate mother until death.
M. J. Bishop
27th
Well, Neely, I will tell you and Luther about Nell. She pitched in the spring the other [day] and broke her neck all up. Today Old Ladd missed her skill yesterday. Your papa, Albert, and Kitty is off picking cotton, a little crop they bought from Lige Allen Hill. Times is hard with us now. Corn and meat high and money hard to get. I hope we'll will live some way and make a crop to live on. Wheat is so high we did not get any to sow.
****
First wife of James DeMarcus 'Jim' Collier. They married September 7 1875. About ten years after Tennie's death, he married Julia Josephine Vann in Zephyr, Brown County, Texas.
***
See letter below about the death of Tennessee Bishop Collier's baby girl in Texas. What a heart-wrenching account of the death of little Cilla Collier! Her mother had died back in Tennessee. Then with a group of both families and neighbors, Cilla and her widowered father, Jim, moved west to Comanche County, Texas, where the little girl and then her grandmother also died. A sad story... but, life was not unrelieved suffering, even so. An amusing family story of little Cilla's birth has come down to us: Cilla's proud mother, Tennessee, sent a lock of her new baby's hair with her husband to her mother. In a joking mood, Jim substituted some mohair for the baby's hair before sending it to the new grandmother. Imagine poor Mrs. Bishop's astonishment at the strange baby hair! The date written on this letter certainly appears to be 1869, but for that date to be correct, our dates for many other events would have to be wrong. Sweet and Duke are apparently married with children at the writing of this letter. Celia Collier died in September of 1879, so the date must be soon after that. Mary Jane, who wrote this letter died in January of 1880, so it has to be before that time. Apparently this letter was written only about six weeks before her death. Her chills must have gotten worse. Alvin, Mary Jane, and their children had moved to central Texas only a short time previously. This letter is written to Amanda Bishop Simpson, the oldest of Alvin and Mary Jane's daughters. Amanda was about 21 years older than her sister Kittie.Family members included in this letter are:
* M. J. Bishop - Mary Jane Cox Bishop, Kittie's mother, aged 53, writer.
* Amanda - Amanda Bishop Simpson (Mandy), Kittie's sister, aged 35, recipient.
* Sweet - Mary Elizabeth Bishop Jackson, aged 24, Kittie's sister.
* Duke - Duke Allen Jackson, aged 30, Sweet's husband.
* Cilla Collier - Kittie's niece, aged 3, whose mother Tennessee Bishop Collier had died shortly after Cilla's birth.
* Mrs. Collier - Cilla's other grandmother.
* Eddy - Edna P. Bishop, aged 12, Kittie's sister.
* Albert - Albert Sydney Bishop 'Bud,' aged 17, Kittie's brother.
* Kittie - Kittie Bell Bishop, aged 14, Mary Jane's daughter, great-grandmother of myself, Peggy Smith Wolfe (redhen).
* Papa - Alvin Bishop, 59, Kittie's father.
* Neely - Amanda's son, James Neely Simpson, age 7, Kittie's nephew.
* Luther - Amanda's son, Luther L. Simpson, age 6, Kittie's nephew.
* Nell - a horse (I hope!)
* Old Ladd - Nell's teammate.
* Lige Allen Hill - Elijah Allen Hill, a neighbor, age 27, Kittie's future brother-in-law, a brother to P. G. "Gid" Hill, my great-grandfather.
---
Mercers Gap, Comanche, Texas
November 25, 1879
Well, Amanda, I will try to write to you all once more. I hope you will not think hard of me for not writing sooner. I lost my specks, had none for some time. I am anxious to hear from you all. We had a letter from Sweet some 3 weeks ago. The children had hooping cough. She said it wasn't hurting them much. She said she was in fine health herself. Duke was improving of his risings [boils?], though I fear that she may take the cough yet. If she does, I hope the Lord will carry her through safe if it can only be his good will. In all of our troubles and afflictions we must humble our selves and call on him to help us and He will carry us through, as the children often sings in their song they learned at school.
Amanda, I thought I would have loved to see you before now. I want to see you all very bad. It seems so very long since I have seen the little children. Kiss them all for me and tell them our little Cilla is gone to heaven. She said she was going to stay with her mama. Mrs. Collier says, "No, Baby, you can stay with me." It seemed to fret her. She [said], "No, I'm going to stay with my mama!" This she talked before she was taken down during sickness. She said, "Mama, Mama!" Mrs. Collier said, "What do you want?" She said, "I want Mama!" She suffered 12 long days. The 13 day, God released her from her pain, and then she went away. I often think, "Why does little children suffer so much in death?!?" We can only say, "That's God's will!" We must be still and know that he is God.
Well, Eddy has a chill now. Her, Albert, and me has been having chills some time. They are light on me, not very hard on them. I hope we will wear [them] out after awhile...
Times is hard. I hear corn [is] worth $1.50 per bushel, wheat $1.35, meat 12 1/2 cents. I will close. Write soon, fail not. I remain your affectionate mother until death.
M. J. Bishop
27th
Well, Neely, I will tell you and Luther about Nell. She pitched in the spring the other [day] and broke her neck all up. Today Old Ladd missed her skill yesterday. Your papa, Albert, and Kitty is off picking cotton, a little crop they bought from Lige Allen Hill. Times is hard with us now. Corn and meat high and money hard to get. I hope we'll will live some way and make a crop to live on. Wheat is so high we did not get any to sow.
****
***
See letter below about the death of Tennessee Bishop Collier's baby girl in Texas. What a heart-wrenching account of the death of little Cilla Collier! Her mother had died back in Tennessee. Then with a group of both families and neighbors, Cilla and her widowered father, Jim, moved west to Comanche County, Texas, where the little girl and then her grandmother also died. A sad story... but, life was not unrelieved suffering, even so. An amusing family story of little Cilla's birth has come down to us: Cilla's proud mother, Tennessee, sent a lock of her new baby's hair with her husband to her mother. In a joking mood, Jim substituted some mohair for the baby's hair before sending it to the new grandmother. Imagine poor Mrs. Bishop's astonishment at the strange baby hair! The date written on this letter certainly appears to be 1869, but for that date to be correct, our dates for many other events would have to be wrong. Sweet and Duke are apparently married with children at the writing of this letter. Celia Collier died in September of 1879, so the date must be soon after that. Mary Jane, who wrote this letter died in January of 1880, so it has to be before that time. Apparently this letter was written only about six weeks before her death. Her chills must have gotten worse. Alvin, Mary Jane, and their children had moved to central Texas only a short time previously. This letter is written to Amanda Bishop Simpson, the oldest of Alvin and Mary Jane's daughters. Amanda was about 21 years older than her sister Kittie.Family members included in this letter are:
* M. J. Bishop - Mary Jane Cox Bishop, Kittie's mother, aged 53, writer.
* Amanda - Amanda Bishop Simpson (Mandy), Kittie's sister, aged 35, recipient.
* Sweet - Mary Elizabeth Bishop Jackson, aged 24, Kittie's sister.
* Duke - Duke Allen Jackson, aged 30, Sweet's husband.
* Cilla Collier - Kittie's niece, aged 3, whose mother Tennessee Bishop Collier had died shortly after Cilla's birth.
* Mrs. Collier - Cilla's other grandmother.
* Eddy - Edna P. Bishop, aged 12, Kittie's sister.
* Albert - Albert Sydney Bishop 'Bud,' aged 17, Kittie's brother.
* Kittie - Kittie Bell Bishop, aged 14, Mary Jane's daughter, great-grandmother of myself, Peggy Smith Wolfe (redhen).
* Papa - Alvin Bishop, 59, Kittie's father.
* Neely - Amanda's son, James Neely Simpson, age 7, Kittie's nephew.
* Luther - Amanda's son, Luther L. Simpson, age 6, Kittie's nephew.
* Nell - a horse (I hope!)
* Old Ladd - Nell's teammate.
* Lige Allen Hill - Elijah Allen Hill, a neighbor, age 27, Kittie's future brother-in-law, a brother to P. G. "Gid" Hill, my great-grandfather.
---
Mercers Gap, Comanche, Texas
November 25, 1879
Well, Amanda, I will try to write to you all once more. I hope you will not think hard of me for not writing sooner. I lost my specks, had none for some time. I am anxious to hear from you all. We had a letter from Sweet some 3 weeks ago. The children had hooping cough. She said it wasn't hurting them much. She said she was in fine health herself. Duke was improving of his risings [boils?], though I fear that she may take the cough yet. If she does, I hope the Lord will carry her through safe if it can only be his good will. In all of our troubles and afflictions we must humble our selves and call on him to help us and He will carry us through, as the children often sings in their song they learned at school.
Amanda, I thought I would have loved to see you before now. I want to see you all very bad. It seems so very long since I have seen the little children. Kiss them all for me and tell them our little Cilla is gone to heaven. She said she was going to stay with her mama. Mrs. Collier says, "No, Baby, you can stay with me." It seemed to fret her. She [said], "No, I'm going to stay with my mama!" This she talked before she was taken down during sickness. She said, "Mama, Mama!" Mrs. Collier said, "What do you want?" She said, "I want Mama!" She suffered 12 long days. The 13 day, God released her from her pain, and then she went away. I often think, "Why does little children suffer so much in death?!?" We can only say, "That's God's will!" We must be still and know that he is God.
Well, Eddy has a chill now. Her, Albert, and me has been having chills some time. They are light on me, not very hard on them. I hope we will wear [them] out after awhile...
Times is hard. I hear corn [is] worth $1.50 per bushel, wheat $1.35, meat 12 1/2 cents. I will close. Write soon, fail not. I remain your affectionate mother until death.
M. J. Bishop
27th
Well, Neely, I will tell you and Luther about Nell. She pitched in the spring the other [day] and broke her neck all up. Today Old Ladd missed her skill yesterday. Your papa, Albert, and Kitty is off picking cotton, a little crop they bought from Lige Allen Hill. Times is hard with us now. Corn and meat high and money hard to get. I hope we'll will live some way and make a crop to live on. Wheat is so high we did not get any to sow.
****
Family Members
Siblings
Children
Advertisement
Advertisement
