The Journal-Record - Bicentennial Edition Thursday, July 1, 1976 Section B, Page 2 W. A. COLLINS WAS EARLY STANDARD OIL DEALER Note: This article has border that overprints part of the text. W. A. COLLINS was born August 12, 1880, and came to Guin with his father, J. ?. COLLINS in 1888. His father bought thirty acres of land and two hundred dollars and built the second house there after the town was started. Dr. Jerry GUIN having had the first and Jim KIRK the next after Mr. COLLINS. This thirty acres is a part of the acreage that the town of Guin is built on today. Dr. __ J. COLLINS bought forty acres just north of Guin, somewhere around the same period and built the first hotel known as Wail Hotel. Leaving Guin in 1893, the COLLINS family returned in 1912, the year that the Marion County High School came into being. Mr. COLLINS remembers that D.r John B. CLARK was the first principal and J. B. HODGES was on of the teachers. He also remembered Clark WHITE and Company's opening the first store and that Tom KIRK was the first postmaster. Mr. and Mrs. COLLINS were married in 1901, on December 21, and have lived most of their years in Guin. Mr. COLLINS became the third agent for Standard Oil, White ANTHONY being the first and Jim POLLARD next in line before Mr. COLLINS. For a time, Mr. COLLINS delivered oil by mules and wagon, but in 1917, he bought the chassis of a Model T, and equipped it with a tank. In 1917, in the fall of the year, Mr. COLLINS bought a Republic Truck, with solid tires all-round, for use as an oil truck. He stated that he believed this to be the first truck in the county at that time. The COLLINS family put in a Delco System in 1920, the first electrical system in Guin, and the one unit furnished power for the COLLINS home and for the Methodist Church of Guin, the church in which the COLLINS have been most active. Mr. COLLINS had served forty-four years as a Steward in the church and twenty-five years as Superintendent of the Sunday School. He also was a member of the Guin Lions, the Masons of Guin and Guin O.E.S. Mr. COLLINS was elected Mayor of Guin in 1932 and served for a period of twelve years. he was in power at the time that the City Water System was installed. Mr. COLLINS was very interested in al civic, religious and educational movements toward the betterment of Guin and surrounding communities. Mrs. COLLINS had been most interested in making a home for her husband and children. but she was also active in the Methodist Church, S. C. S., Guin Chapter of Order of Eastern Star, Guin Garden Growers, having been a charter member in some of the organizations. Their children include: Cecil G. COLLINS, who is in business in Guin; H. F. (Jack) COLLINS, a businessman of Talladega; Dana COLLINS of Pensacola, Florida; and Mr.s Paul GUIN (Blanche COLLINS) who lives in Guin. Mrs. Paul GUIN has also been most helpful in securing valuable information from the family of her husband, regarding this edition.