John Allen Collier (November 13, 1787 – March 24, 1873) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Early life

John Allen Collier was born on November 13, 1787, in

Litchfield, Connecticut Litchfield is a town in and former county seat of Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 8,192 at the 2020 census. The town is part of the Northwest Hills Planning Region. The boroughs of Bantam and Litchfield are ...

. He attended

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

in 1803, then studied law at

Litchfield Law School The Litchfield Law School was a law school in Litchfield, Connecticut, that operated from 1774 to 1833. Litchfield was the first independent law school established in America for reading law. Founded and led by lawyer Tapping Reeve, the proprietar ...

. He was admitted to the bar at

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

, in 1809.

Career

After graduating, Collier started practicing law in

Binghamton, New York Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...

. He was District Attorney of Broome County from June 11, 1818, to February 25, 1822. He partnered with Daniel Leroy in developing projects in Binghamton. They built bridges and roads, and developed parcels. Leroy would move west and leave Collier to continue the work himself. Collier was elected as an Anti-Mason to the

22nd United States Congress The 22nd United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1831 ...

, serving from March 4, 1831, to March 3, 1833. He was defeated for re-election in 1832. He was

New York State Comptroller The New York state comptroller is an elected constitutional officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the New York state government's Department of Audit and Control. Sixty-one individuals have held the office of State Comptroller si ...

from January 27, 1841, to February 7, 1842, elected by the

New York State Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the Bicameralism, two houses that act as the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York: the New York State Senate and the New York State Assem ...

to fill the unexpired term of

Bates Cooke Bates Cooke (December 23, 1787 – May 31, 1841) was an American lawyer and politician. Life He was the son of Lemuel Cooke who had fought in the American Revolutionary War. Bates and his brother Lathrop participated in the War of 1812. Bates C ...

. Then, he resumed the practice of law. He was an unsuccessful candidate for election in 1844 to the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

. He was appointed a commissioner to revise the state statutes in 1847. He was a

presidential elector In the United States, the Electoral College is the group of presidential electors that is formed every four years for the sole purpose of voting for the president and vice president in the presidential election. This process is described in ...

on the Whig ticket in 1848. He gave a speech at the

1848 Whig National Convention The 1848 Whig National Convention was a presidential nominating convention held from June 7 to 9 in Philadelphia. It nominated the Whig Party's candidates for president and vice president in the 1848 election. The convention selected General ...

that suggested

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...

as the vice presidential candidate on

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

's ticket. When Fillmore became president, Collier was reportedly selected by Fillmore for appointment as collector of taxes in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, but Fillmore's allies prevented the appointment from happening due to Collier's personal affairs. Collier's son James was appointed to that role, but only served for six months before he was removed from the role due to "fiscal malfeasance".

Personal life

Collier married Barbara Doty in 1810. They had four children. His wife died in 1826. In 1829, Collier married Lydia Shephard. They had one child and she died during the birth in 1829. He then married Elizabeth Morris. They had one child. He had a reputation as a womanizer and was arrested for exposure at an Albany hotel. He was the great-grandfather of United States Representative Edwin Arthur Hall. Collier built Ingleside in 1837. It was a Greek Revival house on Chenango Street in Binghamton. The house was demolished in 1967. Collier died on March 24, 1873, at his home in Binghamton. He was buried at the Spring Forest Cemetery in Binghamton.

Legacy

A street in Binghamton is named in his honor.

References

External links