Bio of COLLINS, Aid (b.1842 d.1907), Hennepin Co., MN
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EXTRACTED FROM: History of Minneapolis, Gateway to the Northwest; 
Chicago-Minneapolis, The S J Clarke Publishing Co, 1923; Edited by: Rev. 
Marion Daniel Shutter, D.D., LL.D.; Volume I - Shutter (Historical); 
volume II - Biographical; volume III - Biographical
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AID COLLINS - Vol II, pg 761-762
Aid Collins, who for a quarter of a century was in charge of the business of the
Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection & Insurance Company in the Northwest, with
head­quarters in Minneapolis, passed away sixteen years ago, at the age of
sixty-five. The following memorial was prepared by John A. Rawlins Post, No.
126, G. A. R., of Minne­apolis, of which he was elected a comrade on the 19th of
April, 1900:
"Comrade Aid Collins was born in Russellville, Brown county, Ohio, November 29,
1842, and died at his home in Minneapolis, November 7, 1907. He was a son of
Jacob and Elizabeth (Butts) Collins. His father was a cooper by trade. His early
life was spent in the town in which he was born and he received his education in
the public schools of his native village. In the early '50s he associated
himself with his brother William in the work of engineering, which occupation he
followed until September 15, 1861, when he enlisted as a musician in the Fifth
Virginia Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel John L. Zigler. In the winter of 1861
and the spring of 1862 this regiment served in General R. H. Milroy's Brigade,
Mountain Division, West Virginia; later in the Shenandoah valley under General
John C. Fremont, following Jackson to Harrisonsburg, where his regiment took
part in the battle of Cross Keys, June 9, 1862. After the battle of Cross Keys
the troops marched over the mountains to Sperryville, when the brigade of
General R. H. Milroy was placed under command of General Frank Siegel, joining
General Banks in his engagement with a part of Lee's army at Slaughter Mountain.
After a slight skirmish in crossing the Rappahannock, they participated in
Pope's fight with Jackson at the second Bull Run. Here his first enlistment
ended, he having been mustered out August 18, 1862, by an act of congress
abolishing regimental bands.
"Comrade Collins was a good soldier; his enlistment as a musician does not tell
the story of his military life, for it is said of him that he carried-strapped
on his back-his trusted carbine, and when there was any fighting to be done by
his regiment he was there to bear his part, and never failed to share with his
comrades the dangers they had to face. On the 20th of May, 1864, he reenlisted
in Company K, One Hundred and Sixty-second Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry,
organized at Camp Chase, to serve one hundred days. The One Hundred and
Sixty-second Regiment was composed of the Forty-fifth Ohio National Guard from
Stark county and one company of the Fortieth Battalion National Guard from Brown
county. Companies A, C, F and K were assigned to duty at Todd's Barracks,
Columbus, Ohio, while the remaining companies were assigned to duty at Camp
Chase, where they were stationed until the regiment was ordered into Kentucky to
assist in repelling the raid of General John Morgan. Several companies were
placed in and around Covington, Kentucky, and the remainder of the regiment
moved down the river to Carrollton, where they continued a few days, returning
to Covington. Here the regiment performed post duty until December 4, 1864, when
it was mustered out at the expiration of the term of service.
"Aid Collins then returned to New Vienna and took up his work as an engineer in
the flouring mill of that village. From there he went to Cincinnati and was
engaged in the United States Sawmills as an engineer. Leaving his position in
the United States Sawmills, he entered the service of the Hartford Steam Boiler
Inspection & Insurance Company as a special agent for the company in inspecting
boilers and traveled on the road for five years in their employ. In recognition
of his ability and devotion to the interests of the company, he was transferred
and placed in charge of their business in the northwest, with headquarters in
Minneapolis, in which position he remained until the day of his death.
"To find the true estimate of the character of Comrade Collins, you must know
him, as did those with whom he came in contact in his everyday business life.
Their testi mony was that of men who knew him the best. They had measured him
and found in him those sterling qualities that make the man. His honesty and
integrity, his long experience and practical knowledge of his profession, his
recognized ability and clear judgment, his word-good as gold-won the esteem of
his fellow citizens, and made him a great favorite, and his services were sought
after, until his business extended through­out the whole northwest. In his home,
in his office, down in the furnace, out on the street, in the fcrest with his
gun, on the lake with his rod, anywhere, everywhere, he was the same kind,
generous, great-hearted, true and loving friend.

"For thirty years Comrade Collins was the trusted servant of the Hartford Steam
Boiler Inspection & Insurance Company, in charge of their business in Minnesota
and the Dakotas for twenty-five years. His loss to the men at the head of that
great com­pany-all of them his personal friends-is deeply felt, and in
recognition of the faith they had in him and love for him, the chief manager, H.
M. Lemon, and chief inspector, J. D. Ford, came from Chicago to attend his
funeral, and laying a beautiful floral tribute on his bier, bid their last
farewell to their business associate and friend.
"In his early manhood he united with the Masonic fraternity, was an upright
Mason and loved to dwell with his brothers, and true to every vow; but he was
the happiest when associated with his comrades of Rawlins Post. The
companionship born of tribula­tion and war was to him the most holy and lasting
of all human ties. As a citizen, he was quiet and unassuming, endowed with
qualities that command respect in all walks of life. His life as a citizen was
not a rushing torrent, gnawing at either shore and sending its heedless waters
down over the domain of others, but it was a rather silent woodland stream,
circling in pensive mood, among the willow trees. Such a life could harass no
one, or leave a wound to heal. The easy grace of his constant demeanor will ever
linger as a pleasant recollection in the memory of those who knew him.
"On the 1st of January, 1866, he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza C. Hale,
the wedding being celebrated at New Vienna, Ohio. Her parents, Thomas and Mary
(Hines) Hale, were natives of Vermont. Mrs. Collins, together with a daughter,
Gertrude, survives her husband. Another daughter, Nina Blanche, died at the age
of twenty-one. To Aid Collins his home was his paradise, and to him was the best
place on earth. A more devoted husband and father to wife and children never
lived. He also left surviving him five brothers and one sister. He was placed at
rest in Lakewood cemetery of Minneapolis. The funeral service was conducted by
the Rev. John E. Bushnell, pastor of Westminster church, in the presence of his
comrades and many devoted friends.
"Your committee respectfully requests that this memorial be admitted to the
records of the Post; that a copy of the same be transmitted to the family of our
deceased com­rade, accompanied by a tender of its warmest sympathy.
Respectfully submitted,
R. R. Henderson, F. C. Harvey, Silas H. Fowler, Committee."
December 3, 1907.