Peter Collier

Background

Peter Collier was the son of Jacob and Mary Elizabeth. He was born on August 17, 1835 at Chittenango, New York, United States where he passed his childhood and youth.

Education

Between the ages of fourteen and nineteen Collier was engaged for some portion of his time, first in a drug store and then in selling merchandise. Fitted for college at Late’s Polytechnic Institute in his home town, he entered Yale College and graduated in the class of 1861. He then took graduate work in chemistry at Yale and became a special student under Prof. S. W. Johnson. Here he acquired his interest in the applications of chemistry to agriculture. He took the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in 1866 and in 1870 the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

Career

In 1866 Collier was made an assistant in chemistry at Yale University. In the following year he was appointed professor of chemistry, mineralogy, and metallurgy in the University of Vermont, and of toxicology and chemistry in the medical school. In 1870 he became the dean of the medical faculty. His special interest in agriculture and knowledge of the relations of chemistry to this and other commercial interests was recognized by his election the next year as secretary of the state board of agriculture, mining, and manufacture.

He became more and more engaged in the problems of the farm and in promoting agricultural education; and with all his other duties found time to conduct a series of farm institutes throughout the state. In 1873 he visited the International Exposition at Vienna as one of the United States commissioners and made an extended report on the fertilizer materials in the exposition. He resigned his positions in Vermont in 1877 to become chief chemist in the United States Department of Agriculture.

His chief work here, besides a study of grasses and forage crops made jointly with the department botanist, was an elaborate and careful investigation of sorghum, the problems of its growth and the commercial production of sugar from it, which was the first really important chemical research work done in the department. In 1883, with a change in the administration, he left the agricultural department and devoted his time to writing a work embodying the results of his investigations: Sorghum, Its Culture and Manufacture, economically, considered as a Source of Sugar, Syrup and Fodder (1884).

After four years of residence in Washington, D. C. , he was chosen in 1887 director of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, New York, succeeding Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant. Attacked by a fatal and lingering illness, he resigned in 1895 and went to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he died. An excellent portrait of Collier, the gift of a classmate, is owned by Yale University.

Achievements

• Collier was remembered as a major proponent of the food safety urging the legislation to stop food alteration. He was also noted for his service at New York Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva. His management of the station directed investigation along lines which, without impairing its scientific character and value, made very direct appeal to the farmers of the state because of its practical applications. His labors resulted in finally fixing the character and great practical value of the institution in the minds of its patrons and supporters. During his administration the equipment of the station was much increased, its staff increased threefold, and work on special projects was begun in different parts of the state.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Sorghum; its culture and manufacture economically considered as a source of sugar, syrup and fodder

    (This book was originally published prior to 1923, and rep...)

Personality

Collier was a man of personal charm, ready wit, and prized either as a casual acquaintance or as a familiar friend.

Connections

On October 18, 1871 Collier married Caroline Frances, daughter of Honorary Andrew A. Angell of Scituate, Rhode Island. His wife and a daughter survived him.

Mother:

Mary Elizabeth Collier

Spouse:

Caroline Frances Angell

farther:

Jacob Collier

References

• The Handy Nutrition Answer Book (The Handy Answer Book Series)