Robert Joseph Collier (June 17, 1876 – November 8, 1918) was the son of
Peter Fenelon Collier
Peter Fenelon Collier (December 12, 1849 – April 23, 1909) was an Irish-American publisher, the founder of the publishing company ''P. F. Collier & Son'', and in 1888 founded ''Collier's Weekly''.
Biography
He was born in Myshall, County Carlo ...
and a principal in the publishing company P. F. Collier & Son. Upon his father's death, he became head of the company and, for a time, was editor of ''
Collier's Weekly
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Colli ...
''. He was president of the
Aero Club of America
The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New ...
.
Early life
Collier was born in New York City, the only son of Katherine Louise Collier ( Dunue) and
Peter Fenelon Collier
Peter Fenelon Collier (December 12, 1849 – April 23, 1909) was an Irish-American publisher, the founder of the publishing company ''P. F. Collier & Son'', and in 1888 founded ''Collier's Weekly''.
Biography
He was born in Myshall, County Carlo ...
.
He attended St. Francis College, then transferred to
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
and graduated in 1894, winning the Merrick Medal from the
Philodemic Society that same year. He received the degree of A. B. from
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
.
[Scannell's New Jersey's First Citizens: Biographies and Portraits, Volume 2 edited by John James Scannell, William Edgar Sackett, 1919, Page 88] He then spent two years at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
and
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...
.
Career
Collier assumed the role of editor and publisher of ''Collier's Weekly'', where he was known to have converted the illustrations in the publication from black and white ink to color.
Collier was an aviation enthusiast. A friend of
Orville Wright and a director of the
Wright Company
The Wright Company was the commercial aviation business venture of the Wright Brothers, established by them on November 22, 1909, in conjunction with several prominent industrialists from New York and Detroit with the intention of capitalizing o ...
, purchased a
Wright Model B
The Wright Model B was an early pusher biplane designed by the Wright brothers in the United States in 1910. It was the first of their designs to be built in quantity. Unlike the Model A, it featured a true elevator carried at the tail rat ...
aircraft in 1911 and loaned it to the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
, which assigned it to Lieutenant
Benjamin Foulois
Benjamin Delahauf Foulois (December 9, 1879 – April 25, 1967) was a United States Army general who learned to fly the first military planes purchased from the Wright brothers. He became the first military aviator as an airship pilot, and achi ...
. Foulois and civilian Wright Company pilot
Phil Parmalee. They used this aircraft to fly along the
Rio Grande border of Mexico and the United States in one of the first scouting duties by the U.S. Army using an airplane. Foulois and Parmalee later crashed the airplane into the Rio Grande but escaped from drowning. Having that plane repaired, he then took it to fly
Jimmy Hare
James H. Hare (3 October 1856 – 24 June 1946) was an English photojournalist active between 1898 and 1931. He was the leading photographer during five major wars, and was the driving force behind '' Collier's'' becoming a large circulation m ...
to film the construction of the Panama Canal by flying over the construction site in the same Wright Biplane, B type. He commissioned a
hydro-aeroplane plane to be constructed in 1913 to attempt to cross the Atlantic.
Collier had many influential friends and an active social life. An enthusiast of polo, he encountered many injuries. In 1899, he was playing polo with
George Jay Gould I
George Jay Gould I (February 6, 1864 – May 16, 1923) was a financier and the son of Jay Gould. He was himself a railroad executive, leading the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGW), Western Pacific Railroad (WP), and the Manhatt ...
for the
Lakewood Team when he fell and broke his
collarbone
The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the right ...
. In 1906 he was playing against
Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney (April 29, 1872 – October 26, 1930) was an American businessman, thoroughbred horse breeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family.
Early years
Whitney was born in New York City on April 29, 1872, as the eldest son ...
when he took a mallet strike to his eye and tore his eye socket.
Country estate
In 1901, in
Wickatunk, New Jersey
Wickatunk is an unincorporated community located within Marlboro Township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. Elevation above sea level is . It was founded in 1695 by three Scottish servants from the community of Toponemus (no longer ...
Collier constructed his country estate for himself and his wife,
Sara Steward Van Alen. He built his summer home on property bought from State Assemblyman John D. Honce. Called "Rest Hill", it was used for many years as the location of personal parties and celebrations including the township
Decoration Day celebrations, it was later donated and eventually became the
Collier High School. He used the estate partly as a landing strip to fly his plane. The estate had grass
tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
courts,
Croquet
Croquet ( or ; french: croquet) is a sport that involves hitting wooden or plastic balls with a mallet through hoops (often called "wickets" in the United States) embedded in a grass playing court.
Its international governing body is the W ...
course, extensive horse
stables
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
and
fox hunting hounds. Spanning many farms and properties, the area was widely used for an annual fox hunt of the "Monmouth County Hounds" which started in East Freehold and ended at the Collier Estate. Collier was known to fly his plane to Freehold, dismount his bi-plane mount a polo pony and lead the fox hunt. He was also known to have commissioned flights overhead to observe the Fox hunt while participating in 1911.
Personal life
On July 26, 1902, Collier was married to Sara Steward Van Alen (1881–1963) in
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...
. Sara was a daughter of
James John Van Alen and Emily (née Astor) Van Alen as well as a granddaughter of
William Backhouse Astor Jr. and
Caroline Webster Schermerhorn. Before his marriage he dated the showgirl
Evelyn Nesbit
Evelyn Nesbit (born Florence Evelyn Nesbit; December 25, 1884 or 1885 – January 17, 1967) was an American artists' model, chorus girl, and actress. She is best known for her years as a young woman in New York City, particularly her inv ...
, amongst others.
In 1914, he developed
uremic poisoning
Acute kidney injury (AKI), previously called acute renal failure (ARF), is a sudden decrease in kidney function that develops within 7 days, as shown by an increase in serum creatinine or a decrease in urine output, or both.
Causes of AKI are c ...
from
kidney failure
Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...
at his summer home in
Raquette Lake, New York
Raquette Lake is a hamlet in the town of Long Lake in Hamilton County, New York, United States.
The community is on New York State Route 28 on the western side of Raquette Lake
Raquette Lake is the source of the Raquette River in the Adiro ...
. He died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
at his dinner table on November 8, 1918, a few hours after arriving home from France. He was in France for work related to the
Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...
and his publishing empire. He was apparently reporting on the war and had press credentials. However, shortly before his return to New York,
General Pershing had personally cancelled his press credentials and ordered him home.
His funeral was held in the
Church of St. Jean Baptiste on Lexington Ave.
Orville Wright,
Condé Montrose Nast
Condé is a French place name and personal name. It is ultimately derived from a Celtic word, "Condate", meaning "confluence" (of two rivers) - from which was derived the Romanised form "Condatum", in use during the Roman period, and thence to t ...
,
Francis P Garvan,
Finley Peter Dunne
Finley Peter Dunne (born Peter Dunne; July 10, 1867 – April 24, 1936) was an American humorist, journalist and writer from Chicago. In 1898 Dunne published ''Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War'', a collection of his nationally syndicated Mr. Dooley ...
and
Joseph Kennedy
Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...
were some of his pallbearers. His estate was valued at just $2,194. He made no provision in his will for his wife; however, the beneficiaries of the will provided a renunciation of their part of the will so she could receive some funds.
Loss of heir
As detailed in the fourth episode of the first season of the TV series ''
Who Do You Think You Are?'', they had a son, Robert Jr., who was born prematurely and only lived for two days, April 22–24, 1903. This little-known fact goes some small way in explaining his frittering away of his fortune, and his wife's decision to leave their country estate to nuns who would take care of children. He wrote a letter to the memory of his son which says in part:
"This is your birthday little boy, your first little anniversary. So, your father's thoughts are with you. Have the dear angels lighted you this candle, and are you happy in their gifts and laughing for love of their bright faces around you? You may not remember the day you visited a dreary place called Earth, a year ago; but your mother and I remember. We were very selfish, I fear, little boy, for we wanted to keep you with us. Your mother is very lonely for you dear. There are times when only you could comfort her. You were to be our little..."
At this point the letter stops and remained unfinished.
Legacy
In his will he made three friends—Peter Finley Dunne, Harry Payne Whitney, and Francis Patrick Garvan—the residuary legatees of his estate and, thus, his publishing company. Collier evidently believed that his wife had sufficient money of her own. In fact, she did not and would receive only a few thousand dollar from her husband's will. Dunne, Whitney, and Garvan renounced the bequest so that Mrs. Collier could benefit fully. In addition to selling the troubled publishing company, his wife donated their home in the
Wickatunk section of
Marlboro Township, New Jersey
Marlboro Township is a township in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The township is located within the Raritan Valley region and is a part of the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township had a ...
to the
Sisters of the Good Shepherd who made it a home for troubled young women. This was later opened up to children of all ages and became
Collier High School.
He was largely responsible for starting the
Lincoln Farm Association which raised money to purchase the Lincoln birthplace estate which was then donated and turned into a
National Park.
During World War II, a Liberty Ship was named in honor of Robert J Collier. Following the war, it was ordered to Belgium with a load of coal but was lost when it ran aground in the
Scheldt
The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...
Estuary.
In 1910, Collier, as president of the
Aero Club of America
The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New ...
,
commissioned Baltimore sculptor
Ernest Wise Keyser
Ernest Wise Keyser (1876-1959) was an American sculptor born in Baltimore, Maryland on December 10, 1876. He studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore and at the Art Students League in New York City and at the Académie J ...
to make the ''
Aero Club of America
The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New ...
Trophy''.
First awarded in 1911 to
Glenn H. Curtiss for his successful development of the
hydro-aeroplane.
[ Collier presented his namesake trophy several times before his death in 1918; after his ]World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
service. In 1922, when the Aero Club dissolved, the award was taken over by the National Aeronautic Association
The National Aeronautic Association of the United States (NAA) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and a founding member of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI).
Founded in 1905, it is the oldest national aviation club in the Uni ...
(NAA) and it was unofficially renamed the Robert J. Collier Trophy, which became official in 1944. The award is presented once a year by the NAA president for "the greatest achievement in aeronautics or astronautics
Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the theory and practice of travel beyond Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science its overarching field.
The term ''astronautics'' (originally ''astron ...
in America, with respect to improving the performance, efficiency, and safety of air or space vehicles, the value of which has been thoroughly demonstrated by actual use during the preceding year." The trophy is permanently displayed at the U.S. National Air and Space Museum.
In popular culture
He was portrayed by Phillip Reed
Phillip Reed (born Milton LeRoy; March 25, 1908 – December 7, 1996) was an American actor. He played Steve Wilson in a series of four films (1947–1948) based on the '' Big Town'' radio series.
Early years
Reed was a star athlete at Er ...
in the 1955 film on Evelyn Nesbit, ''The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing
''The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing'' is a 1955 American film directed by Richard Fleischer from a screenplay by Walter Reisch and Charles Brackett, and starring Joan Collins, Ray Milland, and Farley Granger. The CinemaScope film was released ...
''.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, Robert
1876 births
1918 deaths
American publishers (people)
Astor family
Georgetown University alumni
Harvard University alumni
Alumni of the University of Oxford
People from Marlboro Township, New Jersey
Collier (publishing company)
Philodemic Society members
American military personnel of World War I