Ms. Dillon: It would be interesting to see here your abstract of Meredith Collins' Rev. War Military, Bounty Land and Pension record's file; assuming he drew a pension.. . . or, have you already done this? That he was listed as a "Free White" on the 1810 Floyd Co. Census and as "Free Colored" [most likely meaning "Indian" for this area] in the 1820 Floyd Co. Census is interesting. That almost all the COLLINS, and many of those they intermarried with, as later found in Johnson Co., were noted as "Indian" or "Mulatto" does indicate [from my limited research on the family] that these are all from the same lineage. Jim W. Tackitt, 1830 Johnson Dr., Concord, CA 94520; <jtackitt@jps.net> *************************************************************** Tackett Assn. Website: <http://www.jps.net/jtackitt/index.html> RUCollins2@aol.com wrote: > > Fellow Searchers: > > I haven't posted for a while and decided to share a letter that I had saved > from a cousin, Eula Collins Conley, who was a great researcher. She left > behind a lot of info on our Collins line that gave many of us a head start. > Eula , and my mother, > use to communicate by writting letters back and forth and I have saved a stack > of them. Here is one. If anybody sees anything that rings a bell or might help > me in locating who Meredith's parents were I would really appreciate it. > > Brenda Collins Dillon > #1 > Mrs. Russell W. Conley of > 3660 S.E. Tolman St. > Portland, OR 97202 > 2 Nov 1980 > My great grandparents were Meredith and Polly (Holloway) > Collins, and I am the granddaughter of William Collins and Mary > (Molly) (Hatfield) Collins. > Several of my Collins relatives learned through their parents > that the name had not always been Collins; that Meredith had > deserted during the Revolutionary War and changed his name to > Collins. Meredith did not desert as he is shown in the records on > the Circuit Court of Montgomery County, Virginia. He was under the > command of Capt. James McDaniell. Pike County, Ky. has a monument with the > names of sixteen Revolutionary War soldiers and Meredith's name is on it. > The 1820 census of Floyd County, Kentucky shows Meredith > Collins, his son Bradley and one Valentine Collins as "Free Persons > of Color". I feel sure that Valentine was a brother to Meredith > as they were in Wilkes Co. N.C. at the same time along with one > Vardy Collins who probably was related. Meredith was in Russell > Co. Virginia from 1799 through 1807. Valentine was in Hawkins Co. > Tennessee as early as 1805 or before. his son Joshua was born in > 1805 in Tennessee. Joshua died in Johnson County, Kentucky in > 1854. His parents were shown as Valentine and Dicy Collins. > Valentine was still living in Johnson County in 1843. He was not > shown in the 1850 census. > I have been trying to locate the grave of Meredith Collins who > no doubt had a marker as his grave had been located prior to May 30 1929 > when the monument bearing his name was erected. Also, I am > still trying to find the date and place of his marriage. Meredith > died in 1841 in Pike County, Kentucky. > All of Meredith's descendants had been told that we were > Irish and that either Meredith or his father came from Ireland. > Supposedly they came to fight in the Revolutionary War, but this > information was incorrect as Meredith was born in Virginia in 1760. > I have been greatly disillusioned as to where my Collins > ancestry came from, and now after reading the book "The Melungeons Yesterday > and Today" I'm not sure where they came from and why. My grandfather > William Collins was a Baptist preacher. His brothers were Archibald,John, > Bradley, James, and I believe he had two sisters not yet identified.