James Redmond Collie was born on May 15, 1871, in Franklin County, North Carolina. A resident of Louisburg, Collie served as secretary of the state’s Democratic Executive Committee. Despite having no prior experience in prison administration, he was selected by governor-elect Thomas W. Bickett as the heir apparent to the superintendency of the state prison several weeks before Bickett's inauguration in January 1917. It is also important to note that Collie is related to Governor Bickett by marriage. Their wives—Eleanor Nelson Yarborough Collie and Fanny Neal Yarborough Bickett—are first cousins via their fathers, Richard Fenner Yarborough Jr. and William Henry Yarborough, respectively. Collie died in Raleigh on April 8, 1957.