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laura black collier

1863-1946

Life Story

Early Life in Reconstruction-Era Mississippi

Laura Black Collier was born on April 16, 1863, in Mississippi during one of the most turbulent periods in American history. Her birth came only months after the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and during the final years of the Civil War.

She grew up in Newton County during Reconstruction, a period that brought both new opportunities and new challenges for formerly enslaved families seeking to establish independent lives. By 1870, six-year-old Laura was living in Township 6, Range 10 of Newton County in the household of her mother, Mariah Black.

The household included Laura’s younger brothers, Austin and Phillip, and reflected the realities faced by many African American families in the years immediately following emancipation. The census enumerator recorded the family’s race as “Mulatto,” a classification commonly used by census takers during the nineteenth century.

Although opportunities for formal education were limited, Laura learned to read and speak English. Like many Black women born in the Reconstruction era, however, she never learned to write.

Marriage and Building a Family

Around 1880, Laura married Patrick “Pat” Collier, beginning a marriage that would last more than three decades.

The young couple established their home in Beat 4 of Newton County, where farming became the foundation of their livelihood. By 1880, eighteen-year-old Laura was already managing household responsibilities while helping build a family and farm that would become deeply rooted in the Lawrence community.

Over the course of their marriage, Laura became the mother of twelve children, ten of whom survived into adulthood.

Children recorded in the family include:

By 1900, Laura and Patrick had been married approximately twenty years. Their household was one of the largest in the community and also included Laura’s elderly mother, Mary Black, who spent her later years with the family.

The Collier home was a place where farming, family labor, education, and faith came together to create stability in an era marked by segregation and economic uncertainty.

Life on the Farm

Throughout her adult life, Laura worked alongside her husband and children on the family farm.

The 1900 census reveals that Patrick owned the farm free of a mortgage, a remarkable accomplishment for an African American family living in Mississippi during the Jim Crow era. Landownership offered a degree of independence and security that many Black families struggled to achieve.

By 1910, Laura was still actively engaged in farm work. The census recorded her as the mother of twelve children, ten of whom were still living. Several children remained at home, helping maintain the farm and contributing to the family’s livelihood.

Together, Laura and Patrick built a life that reflected the aspirations of many Black farming families—landownership, self-sufficiency, and the ability to provide opportunities for future generations.

Debt and the Threat of Losing the Farm

Like many farmers in the early twentieth century, the Colliers occasionally relied upon credit to sustain their agricultural operation.

On February 10, 1911, Patrick and Laura executed a deed of trust securing a debt owed to Ruby S. Tatum. To guarantee repayment, they pledged approximately seventy-seven acres of land located in Section 26, Township 6, Range 10 East.

The arrangement reflected the financial realities of farming. Even successful landowners often depended upon credit to purchase supplies, equipment, or seed.

Following Patrick’s death in 1913, the debt remained unresolved. In February 1917, a public notice announced that the property would be sold by trustee D. Blackburn to satisfy the obligation.

For many families, such a loss would have been devastating.

Widowhood and Perseverance

Patrick Collier died on November 27, 1913, leaving Laura a widow with children still at home.

Yet Laura proved remarkably resilient.

Despite the financial challenges that followed her husband’s death, the 1920 census records her as the head of her own household and operator of a general farm. Most notably, she was once again living on property that was owned free of a mortgage.

Living with her were several of her children, including Patrick Jr., Annie, and Wallace, as well as her grandson, J.T. Revish.

By 1930, Laura remained on her farm in Beat 4. At sixty-seven years of age, she was still maintaining her household and living among her children and grandchildren.

Her ability to continue farming and maintain her independence after widowhood speaks to her determination and strength during a period when opportunities for elderly Black women were extremely limited.

The Great Migration and Final Years

After spending nearly her entire life in Newton County, Laura eventually joined the migration stream that carried many African Americans northward during the twentieth century.

By 1940, seventy-five-year-old Laura was living in St. Louis, Missouri, on Spruce Street with her daughter Annie Mae and son-in-law Phillip Moore.

The move allowed her to spend her final years surrounded by family while participating in the broader story of the Great Migration that reshaped African American life across the United States.

Death and Burial

Laura Black Collier passed away on September 17, 1946, at the age of eighty-three.

Although she died in Missouri, her family returned her to the community that had shaped her life. She was laid to rest in Union Chapel Methodist Church Cemetery in Lawrence, Mississippi.

Her burial brought her home to the place where she had raised a family, worked the land, and spent most of her life.

Legacy

Laura Black Collier’s life spanned the Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II.

She witnessed extraordinary changes in American society while remaining deeply committed to her family and community. As a wife, mother, farmer, widow, and matriarch, she helped sustain multiple generations of the Collier family.

Perhaps her greatest legacy was her resilience. She survived the death of her husband, weathered financial uncertainty, maintained her independence as a farmer, and lived long enough to see her children and grandchildren establish families of their own.

Today, her descendants continue to preserve the history of a woman whose life reflected the strength, determination, and endurance of African American women in rural Mississippi.

Resting Place

Union Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery

Photos/Albums

Laura Black Collier
Laura Black Collier, 1863-1946

Sources

  • 1870 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Township 6, Range 10, household of Mariah Black.
  • 1880 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, household of Patrick and Laura Collier.
  • 1900 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, household of Patrick Collier.
  • 1910 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, household of Patrick Collier. Deed of Trust, Patrick and Laura Collier to Ruby S. Tatum, February 10, 1911, Newton County Chancery Clerk Records.
  • “Notice of Trustee’s Sale,” The Newton Record (Newton, Mississippi), February 8, 1917.
  • 1920 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, household of Laura Collier.
  • 1930 U.S. Census, Newton County, Mississippi, Beat 4, household of Laura Collier.
  • 1940 U.S. Census, St. Louis, Missouri, household of Philip and Annie Moore.
  • Missouri death records and burial records for Laura Black Collier, 1946.

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