John Collett was born on January 6, 1828, in Eugene, Vermillion County, Indiana.

In 1847, he graduated from Wabash College with the degree of Bachelor of Arts. In 1870, he was elected to the State Senate from Parke and Vermillion Counties. In politics, he was first a Whig and then a Republican. Senator Collett spearheaded a bill to make public drunkenness a crime, supported holding livestock owners responsible for their cattle and pigs running loose, and promoted gravel roads when many of Indiana’s roadways were still morasses of mud in the winter and spring. He also strove to make children’s education mandatory, build a state mental hospital, and provide homes for orphans. Though he was a widely renowned expert on rocks, fossils, and Hoosier landforms, Collett wasn’t appointed State Geologist until 1879. In 1883, he produced the first geological map of Indiana ever published. His scientific investigations helped Indiana become the greatest limestone-producing state in the U.S. and were also useful to coal miners and engineers.

He died on March 15, 1899, in Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana.

Nursing Sister Georgie H. Colley, resident of the Montreal suburb of Westmount, was particularly involved in the Canadian Nurses Association of Montreal as secretary. After the Canadian Nurses’ Association was founded in 1908, she was among those who attended the International Congress of the International Council of Nurses in London in 1909. In the Montreal organization, she also was a convenor for the Montreal General Hospital, for the Griffintown Club of the Association and for its Mother’s Friendly Club in Griffintown, a section of Montreal. She wrote several articles for “The Canadian Nurse and Hospital Review,” including one in 1905 on “District Nursing” and another in 1908 on “Visiting Nursing.” As of the 1921 Census, she was single and living in Westmount with her two sisters.

John Collier was a photographer who worked in Birmingham, UK in the late 1880s. In approximately 1886, John Collier acquired a photography studio at 66 New Street, Birmingham, that was previously operated by Mr. R.W. Thrupp. Collier was also appointed photographer to the Queen. According to the 1890 Kelly's directory of Birmingham, in addition to offering photography, Collier's business also included art dealing, engraving, and picture frame making.