Collins Researchers. Siblings of William Collins CLINE AND RELATED FAMILIES OF WEST VIRGINIA A Supplement to "The Pioneer Clines of Minnesota" published by Marlin G. Cline and Valona (Cline) Strack by Marlin G. Cline 1990 revised November, 1990 (to: Toney E. Cline, Native of the Gilbert Creek Valley of West Virginia, Teacher, Lawyer, Legislator, Advocate of Common People, and Valued Friend. His Research into the History of the Clines of West Virginia has made this compilation possible.) The Collins Family Connection The primary relationship of interest here is, of course, the marriage of Matilda Collins to Jacob "Alum Jake" Cline in 1852, for she became the matriarch of the "Pioneer Clines of Minnesota." Matilda's sister, Arminda, did marry Humphry Trent, son of Jacob Cline's sister, Susannah, as well, and there were other marriages into families related by marriage to the Clines. The 1983 printing of "The Pioneer Clines of Minnesota" devoted 16 pages (pp. 60-75) to the Collins family, almost all of the information furnished by Eula Conley. Since that printing, Mrs. Conley has provided a substantial amount of new information, however, and it has been decided to outline the essential detail of what is now at hand although that repeats information in the 1983 book. The Collins family is given special attention here because Matilda's descendants are the primary audience for whom this supplement is intended. Meredith D Collins was the first of the line for whom any information is available. It has been necessary to piece together fragments of information from Mrs. Conley and from the census data of 1810 and 1820 for Floyd County, KY (now Pike Co., KY), to arrive at what appears a reasonable approximation of Meredith's family. Mrs. Conley's research has established that Meredith Collins married twice and probably had a common-law wife and a child out of wedlock after his second wife died. The name of the first wife is not available, but she is know to have borne Meredith a son named Bradley in 1781 and probably bore him a daughter also before her death. Meredith appears to have married his second wife, Polly Halloway, about 1790-95, and Mrs. Conley provided the names and birth dates of three of her sons: Archibald, born 1800; James, born 1804; and William, born 1806. In addition she knew of an Edward (Ned) and a John W. Collins who she had reason to believe were Meredith's and Polly's sons. The 1810 Census of Floyd County, KY, reported in Meredith's household: 1-male, age over 44 years- Presumably Meredith. He was age 50. 1-female, age 25-44- Presumably Polly. She was born 1765-70. 1-female, age 15-24 (born 1786-1795). 1-female, age 10-14 (born 1796-1800). 2-males, ages 10-14 (born 1796-1800). 4-males, ages 0-9 (born 1801-1810). Bradley known to have been born in 1787 would have been 23 years old in 1810 and had presumably left Meredith's household. The 1820 census showed 6 Collins men as heads of households in Floyd County in addition to Meredith: -Bradley, age 25-44 (born in 1787, so 33 years old). -Edward, age 20-24 (born in 1796-1800). -Reuben, age 20-24 (born in 1796-1800). -William, age 25-45 (born in 1775-1795. -George- failed to record age. -Jeremiah- failed to record age. Of these, Bradley, Edward, and Reuben are consistent with the ages of male children in Meredith's household in 1810. The William Collins who was the son of Polly and Meredith and was the father of Matilda Collins who married Jacob cline. The names George and Jeremiah have not been encountered elsewhere. It appears likely that the William, George, and Jeremiah Collins of the list above were not Meredith Collins' children, although they could have been. From Mrs. Conley's data and the census records, the following appears to be a reasonable explanation of the members of Meredith's household as recorded in the 1810 census: 1-male, age over 44- Meredith Collins, b. 1760 1-female, 25-44 years- Polly (Halloway) Collins, b.ca 1765-70. 1-female, 15-24 years- Unidentified daughter, first wife. 1-female, 10-14 years- Unidentified daughter, of Polly. 1-male, 10-14 years- Reuben, b. 1796-1800 (1820 census) 1-male, 10-14 years- Edward, b. 1796-1800 (1820 census) 1-male, 0-9 years- John W. b. 1800-1809? 1-male, 0-9 years- James, b. 1804 (Mrs. Conley). 1-male, 0-9 years- William, b. 1806 (Mrs. Conley). The outline that follows used this interpretation. To distinguish index numbers of the Collins family from those of the Cline family of PART I, the letter "c" is used as the first digit. *c.-Meredith "Meredy" Collins - Veteran of the Revolutionary War b.1760 Virginia *from Eula Conley. d.1841 Pike Co.KY Revolutionary war- Montgomery-Fincastle Counties Division under Captain James McDaniell. (his name is on a plaque by the courthouse, Pikeville, KY) m.1-Unidentified woman ca.1782-85 h.-probably Russell Co.VA. Name on tax rolls 1799-1807;children: c.1-Bradley Collins b.1787, probably Russell Co. VA d.after 1844, probably Appanoosa Co. IA m.1-Unidentified woman, in Virginia ca 1810. c.1-Andrew Collins b.1811, probably Russell Co., VA d.possibly Iowa, later than 1844. m.Unidentified woman, "Betsy", ca. 1830's h.1-Clay Co. KY, ca 1830-1840 h.2-Chariton Co., MO ca 1840-1844 h.3-Appanoosa Co., IA, 1844-? c.1-Lewis Collins b. 1837, Clay Co., KY. Civil War Veteran. c.2-Samson Collins b. 1841, Chariton Co. MO. Civil War. c.3-Archibald "David" Collins b. 1844, Chariton Co., MO. or Appanoosa Co., IA. c.4-Polly Ann Collins b. 1848, Appanoosa Co., IA. m.Phillip Newton Smith 3/26/1871, Scott Co., MO. c.2-? Bradley had several children by his first wife, but the number and their names are not known. m.2-Catherine Barney, 7/28/1831, Clay Co., KY. No children? m.3-Betsy Griffin, 2/16/1833, Clay Co., KY. No children? m.4-Elizabeth Lunsford, 9/5/1836 Bradley sold his property in Clay County in 1839 and with Elizabeth and his son Andrew's family went to Carroll Co., MO by flatboat down the Kentucky and Ohio Rivers. In 1844, Bradley went to Appanoosa Co., IA with Andrew's family. His wife does not appear in the 1850 census and probably had died. c.2-daughter, unknown name b. 1786-1795 probably Russell Co. VA (based on 1810 census of Floyd Co. KY) Meredith Collins continued: m.2-Polly Halloway ca 1895, Russell Co., VA b.-ca1765 d.ca 1812, Floyd Co., KY (Pike Co., KY) h.1-Russell Co., VA. to ca 1808 h.2-Floyd Co. KY, ca 1808-1841 (Pike Co., KY, after 1821) Believed to have lived in the Shelby-Caney Creek area, about 10 miles south of Pikeville, until 1838 when a Richard P. Robinson was appointed his "overseer" and he was described as a "poor man". He was apparently living in the Robinson household at the census of 1840. One would assume that he was senile. c.3-daughter, unknown name b. 1796-1800 Russell Co. VA (based on 1810 census of Floyd Co. KY) c.4-Reuben Collins b.1796-1800 Russell Co. VA (based on 1810 enumeration of Meredith's household in Floyd Co. KY & a Reuben Collins as head of household in 1820 census of Floyd Co. KY, who was the right age) m.Unidentified woman b.1796-1800 (1820 census) c.1-son b.1811-1820 (1820 census) b.ca 1815? c.2-son b.1811-1820 (1820 census) c.3-daughter b.1811-1820 (1820 census) c.4-daughter b.1811-1820 (1820 census) c.5-daughter b. 1811-1820 (1820 census) Records lacking after 1820 *c.5-Edward "Ned" b. 1796-1800 Russell Co. VA d. after 1870 m.1-Polly Bryant, ca1810, Probably Floyd Co., KY b.before 1795 m.2-Anna Justice There were several children by the two women, the names of only two of whom are known. c.1-Hiram Collins c.2-John Wiley Collins c.3-? Several other children, names and number unknown. * Information mainly from Eula Conley but supplemented by the 1810 and 1820 censuses of Floyd Co., KY, for ages (dates). *c.6-Archibald b. 1800 d. ca. 1886 possibly Roane Co. WVA m.Margaret "Peggy" Coats 5/18/1824 Pike Co., KY b.VA, mother's name "Jensey Coats" h.1-Pike Co., KY, 1824-? h.2-Malden, Kanawha Co., VA (WV) h.3-Roane Co., VA (WV) before 1860- c.1-Matilda Collins b.ca1825 Unmarried. Her parents deeded their land in Roane Co. to her in 1882. c.2-John Wesley Collins b.? c.1-James Russell Collins c.1-Arvid Russell Collins c.3-Euorkia "Yorkie" Collins b.? m.Elija Truman 1/21/1864 Roane Co., WV They were the parents of Harry Truman, who died in the 5/18/1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helen's in Washington State. He was an elderly man. c.4-Henry Newberry Collins (Orvis Floyd Collins', great grandfather) c.5-Jenny Collins c.6-Washington Collins c.7-Lucinda Collins m.Ananias Truman, brother of Elija Truman c.8-Reesse Collins *All of the above from Eula Conley. c.7-John W Collins b. 1800-1809, Probably Russell Co. VA m.1-Unidentified woman m.2-Mary "Polly" O'Roark. John had children by both women, but names and the number are not known, except for one son, Richard Collins. Little is known of John and his family, He was probably one of the children tabulated as 0-9 years old in Meredith's household in Floyd Co., Ky, in 1810, but he was not head of a household there in 1820, though he had apparently left Meredith's household by that time. In 1850, he was in what is now McDowell Co., WV, with William Collins, Jr. and the two families knew each other. John and his wife both died at relatively young ages, and one of their sons went to live with William Collins, Jr. *Except ages and locations noted from the 1810 and 1820 census reports, the information above came from Eula Conley. *c.8-James Collins b.1804, Russell Co., VA m.1-Susan Holloway 10/4/1824, Pike Co., Ky. The record states that Susan was "over 14 years of age." h.Left Pike Co., KY, in 1825 and recorded by 1850 and 1860 censuses in Kanawha Co. VA (WV), at Tornado. c.1-Seth D. Collins b.ca 1826 c.2-Margaret Collins b.ca 1828 c.3-Susanna Collins b.ca 1833 m.2-Unidentified woman. A gap of 16 years occurred between Jame's third and fourth child (1833-1849). This is thought to signify that Susan (Halloway) Collins died sometime after 1833 and that James remarried before 1849. c.4-Virginia Collins b.ca 1849 c.5-Mary Collins b. ca1854 c.6 -William Collins b.ca1857 *Information from Eula Conley, who used the 1850 and 1860 census records among several sources. *c.9-William Collins b. 4/13/1806, Russell Co., VA d.3/30/1896, Craigsville, Nicholas Co., WV Complete Revision of the Descendants of William Collins, Sr. After the author had sent the manuscript for "Cline and Related Families of West Virginia" to be reproduced, he discovered an obscure note in correspondence from Eula Conley that she believed an Orvis F. Collins of 146 North Brier Road, Amherst, NY 14228, a Professor at the New York State University at Buffalo, was working on the genealogy of the Collins family. The author wrote to Professor Collins, mainly to see if he know what had happened to Mrs. Conley, for the author had not been able to contact her for some time, but also to ask if there would be a document about the Collins family that could be purchased. Professor Collins responded promptly with the information that Mrs. Conley had died and also included with his letter about 30 pages of outline of the descendants of William Collins, Sr., a great grandfather of the author. That information, with much more complete and detailed documentation than this author has provided, goes far beyond the outline of pages 80-83 in the section on the "Collins Family Connection" and reveals a number of errors. It seemed a pity not to include the basic parts of Professor Collins' information as well as correct the errors it reveals. Consequently, with Professor Collins' permission, that which follows is drawn from his data and presented as an addendum to be inserted in the booklet, which had been reproduced and bound. The addendum, like the booklet itself, is on acid-free paper. The author is most grateful to Professor Collins for permission to draw from his material. The addendum is, at best, an abbreviation of the detail provided by Professor Collins. The author has used the data on birth, marriages, and deaths of the first two generations following William Collins, Sr., in somewhat abbreviated form but has been content to list descendants of any following generations, or their numbers if names were lacking, without further elaboration. Index numbers follow the conventions used in the body of the booklet. With the November, 1990, revision, this Addendum, originally used as an insert, becomes part of the more inclusive Addendum beginning on p.101. *c.9-William Collins b. 4/13/1806 Russell Co. VA d.3/30/1896 Craigsville, Nicholas Co. WV m.1-Mary "Polly" Mullins 3/22/1829, Pike Co., KY. Daughter of William H. Mullins. (See "The Mullins Family Connection") h.1-Pike Co., Ky to about 1835 h.2-Russell Co., VA ca 1836- before 1850 (Matilda was born here) h.3-Tazewell Co., VA before 1850 to ca 1851 h.4-Pike Co., KY ca 1851- after 1870 settled at rapids in Tug Fork opposite Bens Creek, where he established a mill using water power. h.5-Logan Co., WV after 1870-1882 h.6 Craigsville, Nicholas Co., WV, 1882-1896 (The above includes homes with both wives) c.1-William Collins, Jr. b.2/2/1830, Pike Co., KY to be cont