[1] Her father, Lucius Hart Langworthy, a descendant of New England pioneers, was among the first to explore the lead regions of Iowa, and he was one of the founders of the city of Dubuque.

The lead mines made her father and his brothers wealthy, and soon a group of brick mansions were built on a bluff above the city, where the family lived.

[2] In early girlhood, Collier studied at a Dubuque girls' school taught by Catharine Beecher.

Afterward, she went to Lasell Seminary, Auburndale, Massachusetts, graduating in 1861, at the age of 17, even though she had been ill with "brain fever".

[2] She occasionally used pen names, including "Anna L. Cunningham" and "Marguerite".