Grundy County IL Archives Biographies.....Collins, Joshua & Jeremiah 
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Author: 1883 US Bio Dictionary

Joshua and Jeremiah Collins

Saratoga

These men, who were widely known as among the most extensive farmers and stock-
raisers and dealers in Illinois, were twin brothers, the sons of Joshua and 
Margaret Collins, and were born September 19, 1820, on the Hudson River, about 
twelve miles south of Albany, the capital of New York.  The family are of 
Irish descent, two sisters and one brother immigrating to this country in an 
early day, and settling in Rhode Island.  The mother’s maiden name was Rowe, 
and her ancestors were among the early Dutch settlers in New York.  The father 
was born in Rhode Island, but when a young man made his way into Dutchess 
county, New York, where he married.  He learned the trade of a miller, and 
finding it a hard struggle to support his large family of nine children (seven 
sons and two daughters) the family decided to try their fortunes in the Far 
West.  Philip, the second son, then a young man, was sent out first to select 
a location, and the family followed.

They came, in company with several other families, via the Erie canal and the 
lakes, and landed in Chicago September 19, 1834.  A location had been fixed on 
the Aux Sable bottom, in what was then La Salle county, near its junction with 
the Illinois River, and a log house erected, to which the family at once came 
on their arrival.  Chicago had then about two hundred and fifty inhabitants, 
and Mr. Collins was offered and urged to buy lots on Randolph street for $15 
to $30, but declined to bury his money in a mud hole without the least 
probability of ever finding it again.  He had but little money in fact, and 
preferred to invest it in a farm for his boys, and by the time a quarter 
section had been entered, and a few necessaries for the family comfort had 
been purchased, his little store was exhausted.  But the family were rich in 
health and strength, were numerous and full of hope, and strong hands and 
willing hearts were better than a large patrimony without them.

The story is an old one, oft-repeated in this country, but ever fresh and 
interesting, of the early struggles of the brave pioneers.  No roads or 
bridges, no schools or churches, but plenty of Indians, ague and hard work.  
In August, 1841, the father finished his labors and was laid to rest.  The 
sons had been trained to habits of industry from childhood, and as fast as 
they were able to earn money, had added their mites to the family store, and 
helped to bear its expenses.  In this school of poverty they had learned the 
value of money, and how both to earn and spend it.

The family were affectionate and even clannish, and worked together for many 
years.  The twins were fourteen years old when they came west, and till the 
death of the father, about the time they came of age, worked and lived at 
home.  They had, however, saved a little money by outside work, and always 
invested it in calves and young cattle, so that, when they began life for 
themselves, they had quite a little herd.  At first three brothers joined 
forces and worked together.  These were Philip and the twins, and they all 
kept bachelor’s hall together, but this arrangement was soon interfered with 
by the marriage first of Jeremiah and afterward Joshua, and the partnership 
was dissolved.

When, however, both the brothers had got settled in their new relationship, 
they resumed partnership in all their business transactions.  They bought 
stock extensively, fatted it for market and sold again.  They jointly 
purchased large tracts of land till, at the time of their settlement, the 
company land amounted to no less than 2,800 acres.  Their annual transactions 
in fat cattle amounted to many hundreds of thousands of dollars.  They usually 
sent their cattle either to Chicago or to Albany, New York, and for many years 
were among the heaviest dealers in the West. 

In the winter of 1871-72 Joshua had a very severe illness, which occasioned a 
dissolution of the partnership the following spring.  In the settlement which 
followed Joshua purchased his brother’s interest in the company lands entire, 
who even then remained the sole owner of 3,000 acres, while he became by the 
purchase one of the most extensive land owners in northern Illinois.  The 
partnership began in 1858 and ended in 1872, and may be pronounced one of the 
most satisfactory and successful cooperative ventures ever carried out.

Throughout its entire course brotherly affection and mutual confidence marked 
their intercourse with each other, and prosperity attended them in an unbroken 
train.  It is a matter of profound regret that a proper regard for truth will 
not permit the biographer to say that this brotherly affection and harmony, so 
beautiful to contemplate, and to which both owed so much of their joint 
prosperity, should not have sustained them in the final settlement of their 
affairs.  It, however, came finally to a satisfactory end, and we are 
thereafter called upon to follow the history of each separately.

Joshua Collins was married August 28, 1845, to Harriet Crider, the daughter of 
Henry and Mary Ann (Hess) Crider, who came west with their family in October, 
1833, preceding the Collinses by one year.  The young people had been 
companions from childhood, and their union was a very happy one.  They 
remained under the household roof till the following March, when they moved 
into a new log house built for them during the winter on their own land.  Here 
they lived for about nine years; here four of their five children were born, 
and her, Mrs. Collins declares, their happiest days were spent.  In 1854, 
however, the old log house gave place to a comfortable mansion, near the same 
spot.  Mr. Collins was then the owner of 480 acres of land in his own right, 
to which he added from time to time, until at the time of his death he owned a 
very large amount of farming lands, exclusive of a full section of 640 acres 
in the riches part of the state of Missouri.

After the dissolution of the partnership with his brother Jeremiah, he 
continued the business of raising and dealing in cattle with the same energy 
as before, prospering in everything he undertook until the day of his death.  
June 14, 1879, he was killed by lightning while hitching his horses in his 
stable during a thunder storm.  His sudden death was a great shock to the 
community, and the funeral procession was over two miles long.  His large 
estate was divided equally among his five children without recourse to law, 
everything being satisfactorily arranged with the counsel and assistance of 
Judge Hopkins, of Morris.  It is pleasing to relate that the warm affection 
between the members of the family of Joshua was more firmly cemented by the 
sudden death of the father instead of being ruptured, as is too often the case 
by the division of an estate.  That affection remains undisturbed till the 
present time, and all the sons and daughters are settled in life, happy and 
prosperous.

Cryder Collins, the eldest of the family, is the owner of 970 acres of land, 
which fell to his share from his father’s estate.  He has turned his attention 
largely to breeding horses, and has imported from Europe and the Canadas some 
of the finest animals brought into this country.  He imported a very fine 
Cleveland bay stallion from England at a cost of $2,500.  Two Normans from 
France cost him $1,500 each, and thirteen Clydesdale mares from Canada, the 
present season (1882), $200 each.  He has now twenty-five breeding mares and 
some most promising colts.  He is also paying attention to cattle raising, and 
keeps a flock of Leicestershire sheep, which he also imported.

Joshua, the youngest of the family, has the homestead.  He is not yet married, 
but is a very prosperous and successful farmer and stockman.

The eldest daughter, Jenny, married Storey Mattison.  She brought to her 
husband many acres of the original estate.  Like all the family he is devoted 
to stock and grain raising, and is in every respect a first-class gentleman 
and a successful man of business.

Anna married a cousin of Storey, A. J. Mattison, and Hattie, Joseph Wilson, 
both of whom are rich farmers and upright men, highly esteemed in the 
community where they reside.  The family own among them a total of 7,000 acres 
of land.

The widow Collins resides on the homestead with Joshua, where a free table and 
a hearty welcome awaits all comers, as it did during the life of her husband.  
She is a woman of remarkable energy and strength of character, purity of life 
and gentleness of heart; was idolized by her husband, is worshiped by her 
children, and loved by all who know her.

Jeremiah Collins was married to Hannah Mary Cryder, November 16, 1844.  She 
was a niece of his brother’s wife, and lived only about eighteen months after 
her marriage.  She had one child, a boy, who very soon followed her to the 
grave, leaving a sorrowing father wifeless and childless.  Ten years later, in 
1854, Mr. Collins married Margaret W. Widney, by whom he has had three 
children, Joshua, the eldest, now about twenty-eight years old, Oscar now 
twenty-two, and Mary, who was the idol of her father, and died at the age of 
twenty-three.  It was perhaps the greatest affliction of his life, and he has 
never fully recovered from the blow.

At the time of the dissolution of the partnership with his brother Joshua, he 
was the owner of 3,000 acres of land, 1,000 of which lay in one body, on which 
he built a fine mansion in 1880.  In 1881 he purchased the farm of Samuel 
Holderman, consisting of 5,364 acres, with the finest farm residence and 
outbuildings in the county.  This gives him an estate of nearly 9,000 acres, 
and  places him at the head of the great landed proprietors in this part of 
the state.  On the Holderman farm, his eldest son, Joshua, has taken up his 
residence, and looks after its great interests.  He has on that farm over 500 
head of fatting cattle, 150 head of sheep, and fourteen horses.  He is a 
prudent and skillful farmer, and will probably, in a few years, equal any 
stock man or dealer in the state.  His second son, Oscar, is still attending 
school.

Mr. Collins is a republican in politics, but not a politician; he is a man of 
business, and cares little for political affairs outside of his own county.  
In personal appearance and general disposition the brothers greatly resemble 
each other.  They were men of warm hearts and generous impulses, and like 
their nation could love or hate with equal intensity.  Mr. Collins is a man of 
strong will, and generally succeeds in bending everything to it.  What he 
undertakes he will perform, and from youth up has been remarkable for a sacred 
and steadfast adherence to his word.  Men will take his promise as readily as 
his note, and no man ever knew him to dishonor either.

page 698-702.


Additional Comments:
Source: The United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of 
Eminent and Self-Made Men, Illinois Volume; Chicago and New York: American 
Biographical Publishing Company, H. C. Cooper, Jr. & Company, Proprietors, 1883

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