William E. McCollum was born November 12, 1867 in Cherokee County, Georgia. He grew up with his mother on his grandparents’ farm. He married Mary Chastain on October 28, 1888, and they had 11 children. It’s unclear when the family moved to Kennesaw but we know they were here by the late 1890’s because McCollum was serving on the City Council in 1898.
At around this same time, McCollum worked on the railroad as a brakeman. Historically, the brakes on railcars had to be activated individually. Men would go from car to car, climbing on the roof, to turn a wheel to apply the brake by hand. At around this time, an automatic brake was invented, so it is unclear if McCollum was climbing from car to car.
About 1901 McCollum was ordained as a Baptist minister. For about 20 years he would serve as a circuit riding preacher. He would serve 3 to 4 churches at a time preaching at each one once a month. Originally he traveled by horse, but during the late 1910s he traveled using one of the first automobiles in Cobb County.
Reverend McCollum was very highly respected and loved by many people throughout the area.
He passed away on March 14, 1921, and his funeral was held at New Salem Baptist Church. According to newspaper accounts of the time there were 11 of his fellow ministers and more than 1,000 people in attendance.