Isaac D. Collier, of the town of Edinburg, the oldest native born citizen of Blue River Township, and possibly of Johnson County, his birth having occurred on the 19th day of April, 1824. His early years were passed in a routine of hard labor, in his father’s saw and grist mill, and while still young he assisted in transporting the products of said mills by flat-boat to New Orleans and intermediate points. At the age of eighteen he began learning the blacksmith’s trade with his father, and after becoming proficient in the same, engaged in the business for himself, and followed it until 1852. In that year he joined the tide of emigration to California, and was there until 1859, mining and working at his trade. Returning to Johnson County in 1859, he purchased the family homestead, and resided upon the same until 1861, when he entered the army as private in Company C, Twenty-seventh Indiana Infantry, Col. Colgrove’s regiment, with which he served seven months, when he was discharged on account of physical disabilities. In 1862, he suffered a severe loss by fire, but soon rebuilt the house in which he at present resides. While making a second trip west, a little later, Mr. Collier met with a serious accident, being thrown from a horse, resulting in the breaking of one of his legs, which disabled him for over nine months. He was absent from home nearly two years, and spent the time hunting an trapping throughout the states of Missouri and Kansas. Since 1872, Mr. Collier has been in the employ of John A. Thompson, as night watch in the large flouring mill near Edinburg. He was married November 1850, to Mrs. Catherine C. Toner ( nee Folander), by whom he has had two children, viz: Annie L., wife of Martin W. Hunt, and Maggie. By her previous marriage, Mrs. Collier is the mother of one child, a son, William Toner. Mr. Collier is a member of the A. F. & A. M., and a republican in politics.