Captain James Collier is said to have commanded more ships and sailed more long voyages than any seafaring man who ever went out from Cohasset. He was born in Cohasset on August 6, 1813, to parents James Collier and Sally Lincoln on Cove Street, now known as Elm Street. His grandfather, Thomas Lincoln, built their home near the Elm Street police and fire station.
At the age of nine, James Jr. gave his parents an ultimatum: "Let me go fishing, or I'll run away." Soon after, he was out with his father on fishing vessels including the Young James named for him. His love for the sea continued to grow, and at age 18, Captain Abraham H. Tower suggested that James Jr. become a captain.
Collier was the captain of 14 ships, including the Profit, Rubicon, Hobart, Julia, Montserrat, E. H. Chapin, Salem, Storm King, Mattapan, North America, Tecumseh, Pharos, Highland Light, and the "new" Pharos that carried general goods and provisions to famine-stricken Ireland. He visited stateside and international ports like Antwerp, Bordeaux, Buenos Aires, Cardiff, Coquimbo, Chincha Alta, Kingston, Málaga, Maracaibo, Mauritius, Montevideo, Puerto Rico, Queenstown, Santiago, Singapore, Valparaíso, and Yucatán. Other travels included two trips to Rio de Janeiro, three visits to Melbourne and Bombay, four trips to Peru's Callao, six visits to the ports of London and Calcutta, seven trips to New Orleans, followed by eight visits to Liverpool, and ten times to San Francisco.
On July 6, 1845, he married Joanna Bates, the daughter of Samuel and Joanna Bates. They had seven children and resided on Highland Avenue, on the corner of Beach Street.
