COLLINS. The Collins family of Hartford, who are the descendants
of Hon. Amos Morris Collins and his children, is one of the Colonial families
of New England, a number of whose descendants have been among the leading
and influential citizens and business men of Hartford.
HON. AMOS MORRIS COLLINS was
in the seventh generation from John Collins (2), the American ancestor,
the line of his descent being through John (3), John (4), Daniel, William
and William (2).
John Collins, the first of the family of whom
there is any known record, lived in London, and in Brampton, County of
Suffolk, England, where he died and was buried. His wife was Abigail, daughter
of Thomas Rose, of Exmouth, Devonshire, England. She was buried at Braintree,
County of Essex. Their children were: Edward, John, Daniel, Samuel and
Abigail.
(I) John Collins (2), son of John Collins,
came to New England prior to 1640, living in Boston and Braintree, Mass.,
prior to that date. He was born in England about 1616. He married in England,
prior to 1640, Susannah ———. He was admitted to the Church in Boston in
1640, and that year was made a "freeman." He was an active and prominent
business man in the Massachusetts Colony. He was a member of the Honourable
Artillery Company of Boston. His children were: John, Susannah, Thomas
and Elizabeth.
(II) John Collins (3), son of John Collins
(2), was born about 1640 in Boston. He married (first), in 1662, Mary Trowbridge,
who died in 1667, and he married (second), in 1669, Widow Kingsworth, or
sister of Henry Kingsworth. John died at Guilford, Conn., in 1704. He was
one of the patentees of the town of Guilford, and "townsman" and school
teacher as late as 1702. He taught a grammar school there in 1682. His
children, all by Mary Trowbridge, were : Mary, John and Robert.
(III) John Collins (4), son of John Collins
(3). born in 1665 in Saybrook, Conn., died in 1751. He married, in 1691,
Ann Leete, a granddaughter of Governor William Leete. She died in 1724.
Their children were: Ann, Mary, John, Timothy, Timothy (2), Daniel, Susannah,
Samuel, Mercy, Oliver, Avis and Eunice.
(IV) Daniel Collins, son of John Collins (4),
born in 1701 at Guilford, Conn., married in 1725 Lois Cornwall, of Long
Island, a daughter of Will-iam Cornwall, of Hartford and Middletown. She
was born at Middletown in 1702. Their children were: Anne, William, Lorrain,
Freelove, Avis, Daniel, Zeriah, Demetrius, Augustus and Ruth.
(V) William Collins, son of Daniel Collins,
born in 1728, died in 1775. He married, in 1758, Ruth Cook, daughter of
Aaron Cook, of Wallingford, Conn. She was born in 1738, and died in 1790.
Their children were: Lorrain, William, Aaron C., Daniel, Samuel, Ruth and
Lucy.
(VI) William Collins (2), son of William Collins,
born in 1760, died in 1849. He married, in 1783, Esther Morris, at Morris
Point, near New Haven, Conn., where she was born in 1763. In 1783 they
located in Litchfield, Conn., and in 1822 moved to Illinois. She died at
Collinsville, Ill., in 1834. Their children were: Eliza, William At., Amos
Morris, Almira, Augustus, Anson, Michael, Maria, William and Frederick.
When a lad of seventeen William Collins enlisted for service in the war
of the Revolution. He was a private in a company commanded by Capt. Humphrey,
the regiment being under the command of Col. Jonathan Meigs. Later, in
1779, he served with his uncle, Augustus Collins, who was a major, serving
as brigade major under Brig.-Gen. Ward. William was a deacon in the Church
at Litchfield, Conn., while Lyman Beecher was pastor.
(VII) Amos Morris Collins, third child of William
Collins (2) and Esther Morris, was born March 30, 1788, in Litchfield,
Conn. His father, a deacon in Dr. Lyman Beecher's Church, was a man of
recognized Puritan stamp. His mother was a descendant in a direct line
from Thomas Morris, of the County of Essex, England. The Morris families
of Connecticut and Massachusetts are without doubt descended from the Morris
family of Roydon Parish, County of Essex, England. On April 30, 1811, Mr.
Collins was married to Mary Lyman, only daughter of Col. Moses Lyman, of
Goshen, Conn. Their children were: William L., Morris, Erastus, Charles,
Edward, Maria E., Henry and Mary F. In 1810 Mr. Collins established himself
in mercantile business in Blandford, Mass. In a few years he had turned
into new channels the industry of that and large portions of the surrounding
towns. The impulse which he gave was felt long after his death.
In 1819 Mr. Collins removed with his family
to Hartford, Conn. He and his wife united at once, by letter, with the
First Church of Hartford, then under the pastorate of Rev. Dr. Hawes. Of
the historic North Church Mr. Collins was one of the founders. He was chosen
one of the deacons at the time of its organization in 1824, and retained
the office until his death.
In 1827 Mr. Collins erected the building which
at the time of his death was occupied by Collins Brothers & Company,
in Asylum street. It is a scarcely credible fact that the idea of going
so far out of the way was generally considered ridiculous, and sagacious
men who survived Mr. Collins acknowledge that they thought he had surely
made a very great mistake. He retired from the mercantile business in 1842,
leaving it in charge of his sons.
Mr. Collins' benevolence was systematic, as
well as bountiful. For about twenty years before his death he had taken
the resolve not to lay up property. "All the great societies of Christian
beneficence were aided by his bounty. In this manner he took the rewards
of his beneficence into his own life, and grew by the Christly measures
of his charities." He had always been to a marked degree actively interested
in the general welfare of Hartford, and vigorously aided plans for its
improvement and prosperity. At the time of the proposed extension into
the Farmington valley of the Hartford & Providence railroad he was
chairman of the committee on subscriptions. He himself became as large
a stock-holder as his means would permit, and personally superintended
many of the labors incidental to the extension of the road. Mr. Collins
was a member of the common council for several years; was elected mayor
in 1843, re-elected in 1845, and declined a third term which was pressed
upon him. At the proposed erection of the Hartford High school he was appointed
chairman of the building committee, and with a few others contributed liberally.
At its formation he became in great measure personally responsible for
its success. Mr. Collins was a zealous and working friend of the temperance
cause, known as such from 1826. In its behalf he made excellent speeches
in very nearly every neighborhood in a large circuit around Hartford. He
was early an anti-slavery man, the unpopularity of a good cause seeming
to him a very good reason for helping it. The Free-Soilers once or twice
ran him for Congress. In religious matters Mr. Collins had decided views,
and he could clearly and strongly express them. He was firm, enthusiastic,
and also well balanced and just. After his death, which occurred Nov. 10,
1858, his pastor Rev. Dr. Bushnell, said of him: "Deacon A. M. Collins
was one of the few men or Christians who require to be noted as specialties.
He was among the landmark characters of our city, and a man so positive
in every sphere of action or counsel that the void which is made by his
death will be deeply felt, and for a long time to come.
"There is almost nothing here that has not
somehow felt his power, nothing good which has not somehow profited by
his beneficence. Banks, saving institutions, railroads, the singular anomaly
of a large wholesale dry-goods trade which distinguishes Hartford as an
inland city, the city councils and improvements, the city Missions and
Sunday-schools, the Asylum for the Dumb, the Retreat for the Insane, the
High School, the Almshouse, three at least of the churches, almost everything
public, in fact, has his counsel, impulse, character, beneficence, and
what is more, if possible, his real work, incorporated in it. Whole sections
of the city are changed by him.
"But the Church was dearest to him of all
* * * There was never a better man to support and steady a Christian pastor
* * * I loved him as a friend, as what brother did not? I took him for
my best counsel, I leaned upon him as a prop. Who can estimate the value
of such a man?"
In the troubles that later befell the Church,
arising from the charges of heresy concerning its pastor, Mr. Collins with
two others of its members were among the first to foresee the course to
be pursued. In a paper addressed by him to the Hartford Central Association,
Mr. Collins said: "We think it necessary * * * to take the position of
an independent Church * * * and have therefore withdrawn from our connection
with the Consociation with which we united in our infancy."
The following extract is from the tribute
paid to Mr. Collins by Hon. Joseph R. Hawley in the Hartford Evening Press,
of which he was editor at that time: "Positively, it is precisely true,
and no unmeaning eulogy, if we say that the symmetry and strength of his
physical man harmonized with his fine proportions as a Christian merchant,
citizen, friend and neighbor. He was such an outgrowth of New England hills,
schools and churches as we can point to with pride."
(1) William Lyman Collins, eldest son of Amos
Morris Collins, was born at Blandford, Mass., Feb. 10, 1812. For about
thirty-five years he was connected with the mercantile interests of Hartford,
first with the firm his father founded as A. M. Collins & Sons, and
later as Collins Brothers & Company. This firm was among the most prudent
and reliable in New England, and so much confidence was reposed in it that,
after the Civil war broke out, when banks and bankers were looked upon
with suspicion, the house of Collins Brothers & Company was offered
large sums of money, with-out security, by its correspondents. Mr. Collins
was for many years a director in the City Gas Light Company, also in the
Merchants Insurance Company, a member of the managing board of the Retreat,
and was for a long time connected with the Society of Savings. The Park
was one of his favorite projects, to which, as chairman of the Park Commissioners
for a number of years, he gave his watchful attention, and Hartford is
largely indebted to his refined tastes and persevering industry for the
plans and laying out of this ornament to the city. He was one of the first
projectors of the Hartford & Wethersfield Horse railroad. The Cedar
Hill cemetery was another enterprise in which he felt deep interest, and
the West End improvements were more due to him than to any other citizen.
He was one of the foremost in establishing the Asylum Hill Congregational
Church. In Mr. Collins' death, which occurred in Chicago, Nov. 15, 1805,
the city lost one of its most enterprising and public-spirited citizens.
Mr. Collins was unosten-tatious, and the public at large could not know
him as be was known and respected by business men who were constantly brought
in contact with him. He was modest in all things, and purely unselfish
in all. His opinions were decided and seldom at fault. He delighted in
liberal works, in encouraging all deserving charities, and no individual
case which called for assistance, and was known to be worthy, was ever
turned off unrelieved.
On Nov. 14, 1835, Mr. Collins married Harriet
Pierson, daughter of Dr. Aaron Pierson, of Orange, N. J. She died Jan.
15, 1871. To this union were born children as follows: Edward Pierson,
deceased; Mary Lyman, deceased; Ellen; Frances, widow of Dr. William H.
Palmer, of Cleveland, Ohio, who died June 19, 1871; William Pierson, deceased;
and Alice, who on April 28, 1881, married Samuel Gurley Dunham, son of
Austin Dunham. Their children: Ethel Collins, Alice Elizabeth, Sarah Root,
Frances Collins, Austin and Beatrice Lyman.
(2) Morris Collins was born Oct. 18, 1813,
and died March 19, 1873. On Nov. 4, 1852, he married Martha Wickes Blatchford,
daughter of Rev. John Blatchford, of Quincy, Ill., and their children were:
John Blatchford; Frances Wickes, Amos Morris, Martha Blatchford, Alice
Blatchford, and Richard Ely. For his second wife Morris Collins wedded
Hannah Adams, and they had one child, Henry Adams, born Feb. 6, 1866, who
died Aug. 19, 1867.
(3) Erastus Collins, son of Amos Morris Col-lins,
and father of Atwood Collins, was born Feb. 10, 1815, in Blandford, Mass.
He came to Hartford with his father's family in 1819, and for years was
associated with his father in the business described above. He was a prominent
and trusted man in Hartford interests. He was a director of the AEtna Insurance
Company, and as chairman of its building committee he superintended the
construction of the present fine brown-stone structure of that company
on Main street, north of the AEtna Life building. He was also director
and vice-president of the Hartford Hospital; a director of the American
School at Hartford for the Deaf; an active and valuable school visitor;
one of the projectors of the Hartford & Wethersfield Horse Railway
Company; a projector of the noble Cedar Hill cemetery, and a leader in
the Young Men's Institute (now the Hartford Library). For two winters before
his death he was especially active in philanthropic work. Mr. Collins was
a true Christian; in his own unostentatious way he lived the life he professed.
His religious profession, made in his early youth, was in the old North
Congregational Church (now, in another locality, the Park-Church), in 1830—about
the time Dr. Spring was succeeded by Dr. Bushnell, we think, and having
united with that Church he remained in it until the organization, in 1852,
of the Pearl Street Church. He became interested therein, and was one of
the founders. He became, when the Asylum Hill Church was founded, not merely
a member, but one of its leading supporters, contributing at one time largely
toward the extinguishment of the debt. It is to such men as he, and Roland
Mather, that the Church has been indebted for much of its prosperity. Mr.
Collins built up an admirable character in Hartford. It was a life work,
but it is one which wins appreciation, when fellow citizens can view such
a character through a long perspective of philanthropic enterprises and
abounding good deeds.
Mr. Collins was first a clerk, and later
associated with his father in the business of the great house which afterward
became his own. That house took, among other accounts, that of the well-known
Sprague prints. Later, on the failure of the A. & W. Sprague Mfg. Co.,
Collins & Fenn, by a special arrangement, took all the product of the
Sprague mills. This arrangement proved a safe and profitable one for the
Hartford house, and, giving as it did the entire Sprague account to the
Hartford house of Collins & Fenn, largely increased the business of
the commission house. Mr. Collins was a cautious man, in business as in
everything else. He went into no business transaction without fully considering
it from all points of view. He owned real-estate in Hartford, on the south
side of Asylum street, between Main and Trumbull, and land on Asylum avenue,
Atwood and Collins streets. He was also a large owner of gas stock and
horse-railway shares, and other local securities. Toward the close of 1876
Mr. Collins retired from the active business of the house, with which he
was so long connected, and afterward devoted his time largely to philanthropic
enterprises.
On Jan. 26, 1848, Mr. Collins was married
to Mary Atwood, daughter of the late John M. Atwood, of Philadelphia. She
died March 31, 1874, he on April 8, 1880. Their children were: (1) Henrietta
A. was married Feb. 17, 1876, to Daniel Robinson Howe, and their children
are Edmund D., Henrietta C., and Marjorie F. (2) Atwood, married on June
9, 1880, Mary B. Brace. Their children are Gertrude, Frederick S., Elinor
B., Marion A. and Emily B. (3) Caroline Lyman, married, on March 9, 1886,
Dr. Charles Whitney Page, superintendent of Middletown Hospital, and their
children are Atwood C., Charles W., Jr., and Ruth Whitney. (4) William
Erastus is referred to below.
(4) Charles Collins, born April 2, 1817, was
married Sept. 1, 1840, to Mary Hall Terry, daughter of Eliphalet Terry,
of Hartford; she died in 1900; their children are: Lydia Coit married William
Platt Ketcham. Charles Terry married Mary Abby Wood; children, Charles,
Clarence Lyman, Mary Terry and Arthur Morris. Clarence Lyman married Mary
Louise Clark; have one daughter, Edith. Arthur Morris died Jan. 3, 1861.
Louise Terry married William Alien Butler, Jr.
(5) Edward Collins, born Nov. 15, 1820, passed
away Aug. 4, 1822. (6) Maria Elizabeth Collins was married May 13, 1846,
to Rev. Caleb Strong, who died Jan. 3, 1847. (7) Henry Collins, born Jan.
7, 1827, died Aug. 22, 1828. (8) Mary Frances Collins.
William Erastus Collins, son of Erastus Collins,
was born Oct. 10, 1859. In 1880 he graduated from the Hartford Public High
School, and in 1884 from Williams College, after which he became connected
with the editorial staff of the Hartford Courant. He was an ambitious and
brilliant journalist, and his colleagues upon the newspaper state that
"he possessed industry, zeal, a real love of work, clever wit and an individual
style, with a high ideal of journalistic work, and was living up to it.
He had read freely, traveled widely, and his range of information was large
and his culture genuine. He had a home-loving nature, deeply devoted to
his family, and the evident happiness of his domestic life was proverbial
among his friends." He was an active member of the Congregational Church.
His active, noble, manly and unselfish life was suddenly finished May 20,
1893. On May 5, 1886, Mr. Collins married, at Indianapolis, Eva Lee Steele,
and they had one daughter, Ruth Lee
(Photo attached)
Commemorative
Biographical Record
of
Hartford County,
Connecticut
Illustrated
Chicago
J. H. Beers & Co.
1901
pgs 54 - 57
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