George Collins, Calhoun County, West Virginia ********************************************************************* USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. ********************************************************************* Interim Report on George Collins (b. 1760-65, d. 1840-50) Dedicated to the Memory of Mrs. Clerissa Tatterson of Pittsburgh, PA Author: John J. Hood Version Level: Second Revision Version Date: December 13, 2000 INTRODUCTION I have written this report to outline the research that I have done on-and-off over the last 18 years (in conjunction with other researchers) on an elusive ancestor of mine named George Collins who appears to have many descendants in central West Virginia. He has been an extremely difficult man to track down as he has a somewhat common name, left few records in his wake, and what records do exist appear to contain fraudulent statements that he made (in regard to his application to receive a pension for alleged services during the Revolutionary War). As far as I am concerned, there is still more work to be done on George Collins, and there is the chance that the discovery few more records could (and I should emphasize *could*) radically alter the picture of George Collins that we have at this time. What started out as two separate searches into my family's history soon merged into one search for George Collins. The first search was to discover the parents of an ancestor of mine named Hezekiah Collins (1817-1903). For the longest time, it appeared that Hezekiah simply dropped out of the sky and into the Leading Creek area of Calhoun County prior to the Civil War. In 1978, Colvin Snider published a "monogram" claiming that Hezekiah Collins was the son of Isaac Collins and Rachel Cunningham Collins. This claim, in my opinion, never had the ring of truth to it. As a descendant of Isaac and Rachel (Cunningham) Collins through another line, I had never met another researcher who listed Hezekiah Collins as a son of Isaac and Rachel (Cunningham) Collins and, so far, no credible records have been found to support this claim. The other impetus that I received for tracing George Collins came from the late Clerissa Tatterson of Pittsburgh, PA. I had the honor of visiting Clerissa in 1982 not long after she had written her history on John Collins of Frederick County, VA. She and five other women had worked for nearly 30 years trying to track down the John Collins family. The records she had collected over the years and the correspondence that she had in her storage boxes was amazing. I was also tremendously impressed by her skills as a researcher. She said that she was only able to prove three sons of John Collins Sr.: Thomas, John Jr. and George. George, she said, was the one son that she knew the least about and that she was going to "pass the torch" on to me to discover more about the family of George Collins (her husband was ill with cancer in 1982 and I think she knew that she was going to do little more in the way of research). She had only discovered two children for George, William and Sarah. We discussed Hezekiah Collins and Colvin Snider's "monogram" and she believed that Hezekiah Collins may have been a son of George as she knew that Hezekiah was a popular name in the Smith family which she believed to be the family from which his second wife came. [Note: I greatly admired Mrs. Tatterson for the work that she had accomplished, and anything I write that may appear to be a criticism of her work is not intended to sound that way. I am building on her work and correcting what I consider to be minor errors that she made.] THE HUNT BEGINS The starting point for "nailing down" both Hezekiah and George Collins was the 1820 census. The 1900 census for Calhoun County, WV stated that Hezekiah Collins was born in February of 1817 in (what was then) Lewis County, West Virginia (and other records have corroborated this fact). Hence, one would expect to find him as a male child under the age of 10 in the 1820 census. Of all Collins households listed in the 1820 Lewis County census, there were only two that had a son in this age bracket: Isaac S. Collins and George Collins. Since Isaac S. had only one male child in this category, it had to be that of his known son, Felix. The 1830 census also shows no "room" in the Isaac S. Collins household for an additional son named Hezekiah (see Appendix "A"). The 1820 and 1830 census records of the George Collins household, however, show a male child the age of Hezekiah, and that male child disappears in the 1840 census when Hezekiah appears as the head of his own household in the 1840 Lewis County census. This builds a strong case for Hezekiah being a son of George Collins, (but it cannot be called "proof"). Not satisfied with the analysis of the census data, I then went to the courthouse in Lewis County to do some more research. Although there is only one George Collins in the Lewis County census records for 1820, 1830 and 1840, there was one other George Collins who appeared in the records in the Lewis County courthouse during this same time period. The manner in which I could distinguish one George Collins from the other is that one of them was able to write his name and the other signed documents with an "X" (and presumably was illiterate). The George Collins who signed his documents with an "X" caught my eye as this George Collins obtained a land grant for 100 acres of land on Eliases' Run of Leading Creek in present-day Calhoun County, and Hezekiah Collins lived most of his life on Leading Creek. George Collins obtained this land in 1829 as a new grant (so the tax records states) and sold it in on January 1, 1838 to Manley Collins. Not only that, but Hezekiah was married in 1838 or 1839 to Roanna Jane Maze, a daughter of Benaiah Maze, who is known to have made his home in the Yellow Creek area of Calhoun County (a ridge or so away from Leading Creek). In addition to that, this George ("Signs-with- an-X") Collins sold this tract on Leading Creek to Manley Collins, and this is not significant in and of itself until you consider that this Manley Collins (who received the land) and Hezekiah Collins are found listed next to each other in the 1840 census of Lewis County, WV, and also that Hezekiah Collins named one of his sons Manley. Although this was still no proof that George, Hezekiah and Manley Collins were related, the circumstantial evidence was accumulating in such a way that it would be hard to imagine how these people could all be strangers who just acted like family. There were, however, two troublesome findings. In the 1838 deed in which George Collins sells his tract of land on Leading Creek to Manley Collins, it records the name of George Collins' wife as being "Polly", and I had a hard time reconciling "Polly" as a nickname for "Abigail" (as Mrs. Tatterson claimed that George's second wife was Abigail Smith). Also, this means that George Collins was not deceased by September 4, 1833 as Mrs. Tatterson thought but lived beyond that to at least 1838. I wrote to Mrs. Tatterson regarding my findings. She verified the fact that the other George Collins ("Signs-with-his-name") found in the courthouse records in Lewis County was a George Collins that was unrelated to John Collins Sr.. This other George Collins was related to a Robert Collins who moved to Lewis County from Randolph County, WV around 1811. THAT TROUBLESOME SECOND MARRIAGE In George Collins' Revolutionary War pension application dated August 3, 1831, he claimed that he had nine children by a second wife whom he does not name. I (and most everyone else) accepted the notion that this second wife was Abigail Smith as that is what Clerissa Tatterson listed in her work on the Collins family. What was troubling was that when I examined the census records of 1820 and 1830 for the George Collins household, the age of the oldest female (who would presumably be his wife) would have meant that Abigail Smith was between 4 and 14 years old when George Collins married her, and that can simply be dismissed as being impossible. In tracking the household back through to the 1810 census, there emerged a pattern of a family with two sets of children and another marriage occurring sometime around 1809 or 1810. This "hunch" about a marriage occurring around 1809 or 1810 was verified for me courtesy of Dick and Pat Callihan of Duncan Falls, Ohio. In Wes Cochran's published transcription of the Harrison County, WV marriage bonds, they found a record of a marriage bond for a George Collins and a Polly Owens (Cochran also added "Collins?" beside the name "Owens", suggesting that he had a difficult time reading the last name of the bride). The date listed in Cochran's book was "9 MAR 18__" (suggesting, once again, that it was difficult to read), but it was among a list of marriages occurring in 1809, hence it appeared as though this may be the woman in the George Collins' households of 1810, 20 and 30. This made more sense than trying to claim that "Polly" was a nickname for "Abigail" and that Abigail's age had been recorded improperly decade after decade. At this point, I tried to reconcile how George Collins could have had three marriages (to Mary Richards in 1791, to Abigail Smith in 1798 and to Polly Owens/Collins in 1809) when his pension file (in 1831) said that he had nine small children from a second marriage. I thought that George might have stated that he had nine children by "another marriage" and that the clerk recording his testimony just assumed that George meant "a second marriage". Mrs. Tatterson was perplexed as I was regarding these marriages and census records, but she thought that the idea of three marriages for George Collins was the better way of explaining the pattern in the data. However, this "theory" that I hatched was proven false years later by a couple of findings. The first finding to clear-up matters was a letter written by Harvey Maxwell "Max" Collins of Bridgeport, WV (b. 1911, the son of Lorenzo Dow Collins and grandson of Hezekiah Collins). In his letter to Mrs. Callihan dated February 17, 1991 regarding the Collins family history, Max Collins stated that George Collins was married twice and that he had ten children by each wife (which the reader will eventually see is surprisingly accurate for oral history). The second finding that ended the confusion over the marriages of George Collins came from Bernie Clark of Humble, Texas. It's a well known and accepted fact that George Collins' brother, John Collins Jr., left the Harrison/Lewis County area around 1817 and relocated in Warren County, Ohio. Many of John Jr.'s children followed him to Warren County, one of them being John Jr.'s son, George (a nephew to the subject of this paper). In his research into the records of Warren County, Ohio, Mr. Clark has found where this George Collins was died in 1824, and that his wife's name was Abigail. His brother, Jacob Collins, was named as his estate executor. Bernie and I are quite certain that this is the George Collins who married Abigail Smith in 1798, hence it rules out three marriages for "old George" Collins and accounts for the one marriage bond in Harrison County, WV for a George Collins. There only seems to be one big question remaining about this second marriage for George Collins, and that is what is the maiden name of Polly? Was it Collins or Owens? To add to the confusion, she appears to have used the name "Mary" later in life instead of "Polly" (this topic covered in a later section). It would be a great help for all descendants of George Collins if someone would attempt to locate the original marriage bond in the Harrison County courthouse and see if it is possible to determine what the last name of the bride is and the year of the bond. THAT TROUBLESOME DATE-OF-DEATH In her history of the Collins family, Clerissa Tatterson stated that George Collins had died by September 4, 1833. She came to this conclusion after examining a photocopy of the jacket that covered George Collins' pension file, which made it appear as though the payments had stopped on this date. However, my research into George Collins found where he had signed deeds in 1835 and 1838 (recorded in Lewis County) and he seemed to be clearly listed as the head of a household in the 1840 census (and the family seemed to track back to the 1830 census). Mrs. Tatterson was not easily persuaded to change her thinking on the death date as she was about a third marriage. She thought that the dates on the deeds might be misleading since they are can be recorded years later, so (in her estimation) that was not proof. She wasn't sure what to make of the 1840 census record other than to say that census enumerators often left much to be desired when it came to the quality of their work. In spite of the fact that she was uncertain about the significance of the 1840 census record, Mrs. Tatterson did some more research on George Collins. She wrote to me and said that she had found where his pension payments were discontinued effective March of 1835. She stated that if he was not deceased by March of 1835, then she was didn't know why the payments would have been stopped. I didn't have a good answer for her at that time, but I now have a good idea of why his pension payments were stopped: he made a fraudulent claim and was caught, hence payments were ended (more on this later). What is the significance of the date September 4, 1833? It is an accounting period. Pension payments were made semi-annually on March 4 and September 4 of each year. I have seen other pension jackets for other veterans whose known dates of death were in 1834 and 1845, and both of their jackets have this same date (September 4, 1833) as well. It appears that a good many pension certificates were issued in the summer of 1833 and Congress has stipulated that the first payment would include payments in arrears from March 4, 1831. Therefore, when the first payments were made, one line included the amount in arrears to the pensioner (from March 4, 1831 to March 4, 1833) as well as payment for the current period (summer 1833) which ended on September 4, 1833. There is another reason to believe that George Collins lived beyond 1833. In his pension file is a slip of paper that reads "The original papers in this case sent to W.G. Singleton, U.S. Dist Atty. Va. Aug 5[?] 1834. No copies taken for want of time." If George were deceased by this time, then why would Singleton have been actively prosecuting him? Also, the pension file contains another document entitled "Report in the Case of George Collins. Fraud" which was written by Wm. G. Singleton on November 6, 1834. If George Collins were dead, I would have expected it to be a report in the case of "George Collins, deceased" or "George Collins' heirs". In addition to that, I believe that the dates on the deeds in Lewis County (1835 and 1838) are accurate as well as the 1840 census record. There is one more reason (although it is not watertight) to believe that George Collins lived beyond 1833. In Hardesty's History of Ritchie County, it mentions that a George Collins moved into the Union District of Ritchie County in 1838. This matches the year that George sold his land to Manley, and it may mean that he moved from the Leading Creek area to Slab Creek in Ritchie County where Manley and George's widow, Mary/Polly, are found living in the 1850 census. The one reason we must be careful identifying this George Collins as our George Collins is that there was a different George Collins known as the Reverend George Collins who also was an early settler in the Union District but in a different locale than Slab Creek. In summation, I have elected to represent George Collins' date of death as being between 1840 and 1850 since he appears in the 1840 census but is gone by the time of the 1850 census. THE STORY OF GEORGE COLLINS (AS BEST THAT CAN BE DETERMINED AT THIS TIME) George Collins was born between 1760 and 1765 (using the dates from the census records and not the pension file). He was the son of John Collins and most likely was born in Hampshire County near the present-day town of Romney where his father had land. Mrs. Tatterson noted that when John Collins Sr. sold some of his Hampshire County land in 1765, the deeds lacked a dower signature, which is a good indication that his wife had died by that time. George may very well have been the last of their family and it may also be that George's mother died not long after birthing him. He most likely accompanied his father when he settled along the Cheat River in 1769. After that, George's movements are something of a mystery. By his account in his pension application, George Collins joined the militia in New Jersey to fight in the Revolutionary War in 1777. Using the birth years obtained from the 1810 through 1840 census records, he would have been between the ages of 12 and 17 when he enlisted. This could have been possible, since some young men with romantic ideas of war are willing to lie about their age; furthermore, desperate recruiting officers have been known to look the other way concerning a recruit's shortcomings (age or otherwise). However, the story about being in the New Jersey militia seems to be a stretch as there is no reason to believe that he or his father went to New Jersey. It is a proven fact that his brother, John Collins Jr., went to New Jersey during the Revolutionary War since that is the place where his wife, Hannah Cozad, and her father Jacob Cozad, lived prior to the Revolution. The Cozads, being of Huguenot descent and living along the eastern seaboard, may have had no stomach for Indian Warfare and believed the British to be a more civilized adversary. John Jr. presumably would have moved with them for his wife's sake. It would be unlike a Scots-Irish family like the Collins to run from a fight, and the Scots-Irish were very adept at fighting the Indians. Why would George tag along with his older brother to New Jersey? Wouldn't have John Jr. found him a nuisance? Where was John Sr. during the war? John Sr's son, Thomas, who was a bona fide Revolutionary War veteran, served in forces from Virginia, not New Jersey. Hence, I cannot fathom how George would have honestly served in New Jersey during the war. I am partial to the notion that George picked up stories about New Jersey from his brother, John Jr., and thought that he could "spin a yarn" about serving in a New Jersey regiment and make it sound credible (thinking that no one in West Virginia would know much about New Jersey). According to Clerissa's work, both George and his father, John, are listed in the 1785 census of Harrison County, as living in the West Fork settlement. In 1791, it is stated that he moved onto his father's property on Stoney Run of Hacker's Creek. Where George Collins prior to 1785 and between 1785 and 1791? A clue comes from Max Collins' letter to Mrs. Callihan dated February 17, 1991, wherein he stated that George Collins came from Staunton, VA (note that he said that George CAME from Staunton, and didn't say that he was born there). When he moved to his father's farm in 1791, he would have been between 26 and 30 years old and may have even married by this time (to Mary Richards). It may have been around this time George Collins may have gone to school (and "may" cannot be emphasized enough as there is plenty of confusion). When William G. Singleton was building his case against George Collins, he called upon Susannah Mitchell (born about 1782, the wife of John Mitchell [1763-1840]) to testify against him. In her testimony, she claimed to have gone to school with George Collins. This assertion is fascinating since George Collins signed all of his paper with an "X" as though he were illiterate. Did he really go to school but lose the ability to write by having to work with his hands as a blacksmith? Was Susannah Mitchell lying about George? Her maiden name was Susannah Washburn, and if it can be determined when and where she went to school, it may tell us something about George Collins during this period. It appears that George Collins may have been active in the settlement of the district in present-day Lewis County known as "Collins Settlement". In Haymond's History of Harrison County, he (Haymond) cites three deeds where John Collins Jr, Jacob Collins and a George Collins each receive 50 acres of land on both sides of the West Fork River for a penny in September of 1802. From Roy Bird Cook's manuscript "A Sketch Book of Lewis County", he also names John Jr., Jacob and George as the settlers in Collins Settlement and dates the event as happening in September of 1802. Cook names George as a brother of John Jr., and his identification of John Jr. matches that of the John Collins who married Hannah Cozad. However, in examining other records, Bernie Clark and I have deduced that this John Jr. is really John III (i.e., the son of John and Hannah). When John III's grandfather (the one we would call John I) died prior to 1795, his father now became the elder John Collins, so he now became the "Sr" and young John was promoted to "Jr". Who was this George Collins? Max Collins (2/17/1991) has said that George Collins (father of Hezekiah) settled at Collins Settlement in Lewis County, WV. Only more research can settle this issue. The next time that we run into him (that is, when we are certain it is our George) is in 1809 when he marries Polly Owens/Collins. This marriage may have been looked upon with disdain by many as he would have been 44 to 49 years old and she would have been 17 years old (and she may have even been a cousin)! It's not clear where he was living at this time. As stated earlier, Max Collins (2/17/1991) has said that George settled at Collins Settlement in Lewis County, WV, then later moved to Gilmer County, WV. It appears as though George was living in Gilmer County in 1817 when his son Hezekiah was born, and most likely was living there a tenant farmer. In 1829, George Collins obtained his land grant for 100 acres of land on Eliases' Run of Leading Creek in present-day in Calhoun County and made his home there. He would have been between 64 and 69 years old when he made this move. In 1831, George Collins made his now-famous pension application and was later prosecuted for fraudulently obtaining the pension. William G. Singleton, the Special Pension Agent who challenged Georgr Collins' pension claim, was a bumbler (see Appendix B). Singleton based his case entirely on George Collins' age, but there are other reasons to believe that George Collins had lied in order to get a pension. (Note that there is no reason to believe that there were two George Collins' living in the jurisdiction of Lewis County in 1831. There is only one George Collins in both the 1830 and 1840 censuses of Lewis County, so it would seem that he is the same one who filed for a pension for military service in the Revolutionary War.) George Collins' first problem was that he claimed to be older than what he really was. The George Collins that I have tracked through the census records reports a consistent birth date, being between 1760 and 1765 (it may have been his wife that honestly reported his age to the enumerator). The George Collins who applied for his pension appears claims have been born in 1755 or 1756. Another problem was his statement that the only property of any value that he had was three cows. I have a hard time understanding how he could have made such a statement when it was public record that he was in possession of a 100-acre tract of land on Leading Creek. There is yet another interesting statement that George Collins made that is puzzling. He claimed that his discharge certificate was consumed is a house fire around 1821 which destroyed everything of value that the owned. In the 1920's, the Clarksburg (WV) Exponent- Telegram (newspaper) sponsored a contest to see who owned the oldest Bible in the area. Oda Collins Cornell of Clarksburg (a granddaughter of Hezekiah Collins) brought in a Bible to the newspaper office that they thought was a first edition of the King James Bible (1611). Cornell claimed that this Bible belonged to her great-great-grandfather Collins who brought it with him from the Old World when he settled in Virginia. This would mean that it belonged to John Collins Sr. (and presumably passed from John Sr. to George, George to Hezekiah, Hezekiah to his son Manley, then from Manley to his daughter, Oda). If the purported fire in 1821 took everything of value, then the Bible should have been destroyed as well. Again, it appears as though we have another fabrication from George Collins. [Note: The newspaper noted that no one had ever written anything in the Bible] Lastly, the most convincing reason to believe that George Collins had fabricated his military service is that the officers that he named are not to be found in other sources. He claims to have served under a Colonel Morgan or Moran (no first name) and a Captain John Lewis. I consulted William S. Stryker's "Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War" (Trenton, 1872) and found no man named Morgan or Moran serving as an officer in the New Jersey militia, and the only John Lewis in Stryker's book was a private in the New Jersey militia. The only George Collins listed in Stryker's book was a man in Monmouth County, and IF (and this is a big IF) George Collins really went to New Jersey, then I would have expected to see him in Somerset County (where his brother, John Collins, was a witness to the will of David Sutton) or in Morris County where the Cozad family lived. Thus, it appears that George Collins did, indeed, try to fradulently obtain a pension, The loss of the pension payments in March of 1835 appears to have created a hardship for George Collins. He may have incurred large legal fees and court costs or may have had to reimburse the government. Whatever the case, on April 24, 1835, George and Manley Collins become indebted to Weeden Huffman, and Thomas Bland was made trustee of the land George Collins was living on (Leading Creek). Presumably, George obtained a loan and used his land as collateral. We may also infer that Manley was brought in on this arrangement since he may have been the eldest son of legal age (21 years old). It appears to have been a struggle to satisfy the debt. George Collins (now between 73 to 78 years old) sold the 100-acre tract to Manley Collins on January 1, 1838, even though he still owed $67.00 on it, thus not having clear title to the land. Manley Collins then sold the tract to satisfy the debt on September 11, 1839. As stated earlier, George Collins may have moved to Slab Creek in Ritchie County from Calhoun County in 1838, but that has yet to be proven. He does appear in the 1840 census, but it's unclear as to whether he is living in the Leading Creek area of Calhoun County or in the Slab Creek area of Ritchie County. The 1840 census is the last record regarding George Collins that I have found to date. THE FAMILY OF GEORGE COLLINS AND MARY RICHARDS NOTE: I have done little research into George Collins prior to the year 1809 and no research whatsoever on his the family that he had by his first wife. I have focused more intensely on his family and activities from 1809 until his death. I have obtained the following information from Debbie Malec's web page (updated January 11, 2000) and include it simply to "round out" my picture of George Collins. 1.) WILLIAM: Born 1793 Clarksburg, WV. d. Feb 17 1875 Calhoun, WV. He married (1) Elizabeth ??? Linger in Harrison, WV. He married (2) Elizabeth * Wiant April 5, 1819 in Harrison, WV5. He married (3) SARAH Norman January 01, 1863 in Gilmer, WV 2.) SARAH: b. abt 1805 VA; m. (1) Henry Stallman (2) Aaron Schoolcraft 28 Feb 1822 Lewis, WV 3.) PAUL: m. Susannah Waggoner Jan 7 1824 Lewis, WV 4.) JACOB: m. Clarinda Beaman 17 May 1825 Lewis, WV 5.) COMFORT: b. abt 1801 m. Henry Waggoner 29 Nov 1821 Lewis, WV 6.) CLINE: b. abt 1804 m. Nancy Stout 7 Jan 1821 Lewis, WV A PROPOSED RECONSTRUCTION OF THE FAMILY OF GEORGE COLLINS AND MARY/POLLY COLLINS/OWENS A note about sources for the information below: As mentioned earlier, I believed that Hezekiah Collins' father was George using a process of elimination with census records. In addition to that, Max Collins has stated (2/12/1991) that Hezekiah Collins' father was George Collins. In 1975, Max Collins' father (Charles Ross Collins) told him that Hezekiah's brothers were Limuel and Chaney Collins. M.K. Lowther's book on Ritchie County states that Manley Collins' brothers and sisters were Chaney Collins of Smithville, Phebe Smith (wife of Aaron Smith) from Smith's Chapel, and John Collins of Wirt County and identified their mother as being Mary Collins (they didn't use the "Polly" nickname). Chainey, Eveline and Phebe are enumerated with their mother, Mary Collins, in the 1850 census of Ritchie County. 1.) DAUGHTER: b abt. 1810. One of three of this age in the 1820 census, then two matching entries in the 1830 census, and all three females (from 1820) are one by the 1840 census. 2.) LIMUEL(?): b. 1812? There is an entry for a male of this age in the 1820 census, but no corresponding entry in the 1830 census. In 1975, Charles Ross Collins (a grandson of Hezekiah Collins by his son, Lorenzo Dow Collins) informed his son Max Collins that Hezekiah Collins had two brothers of whom he was aware: a Limuel Collins (who is said to have drowned on Limuel's Run) and Chaney Collins. Since this is the only male for which I cannot account, I identify this one as Limuel, who more than likely died before 1835 (otherwise, his father would have had him co-sign his trust deed the way he did Manley in 1835). 3.) MANLEY: b. 1814. Married Mary Elliot February 29,1835 (Lewis County marriage records). Raised his family on Slab Creek in Ritchie County,WV. He was a blacksmith who appears to have been held in esteem by those in his community. 4.) HEZEKIAH: born February 24,1817, probably in Gilmer County. Married Roanna Jane Maze about 1838 presumably in the Calhoun County area. He became involved in the Methodist Protestant church when a young man and remained active in it most of his life. He raised his family on Coal Fork Leading Creek in Calhoun County, WV. Died October 21, 1903 in Calhoun County, WV. 5.) EVALINE: born 1821-22. Married Hiram P. Cain July 17, 1853 in Ritchie County. Said to have died at the home of her daughter in Parkersburg, WV. 6.) DAUGHTER: Born 1820-25. Alive in 1830 (judging from census) and gone by 1840. 7.) JOHN: Born about 1824. Married Eva --?--. Resided in Wirt County most of his adult life. No death record on file in Wirt County for John. 8.) SEDGWICK CHANEY: Born about 1825-26. Minnie Kendall Lowther identifies Chaney Collins of Smithville as a brother to Manley Collins of Slab Creek. Charles Ross Collins (1975) informed his son Max Collins that one of the brothers of Hezekiah was Chaney Collins. He was known as "Chany", "China" and "Chana" by his friends and neighbors. He married Ruhama Elliott April 28, 1853 in Ritchie County. During the Civil War, he enlisted in Co. "C" of the 11th WV Infantry. He filed for a pension later claiming that he suffered dizziness and headaches as a result of being knocked unconscious by an exploding shell during the battle of Cloyd's Mountain on May 9, 1864. He stood between 5'6" and 5'8" tall, had brown hair, black eyes and dark complexion. In 1907, claims to have been born in 1821 in Harrison County, WV. He died April 3, 1908 at his home in Smithville. Granville Tingler said of him: "...he is a man who is very truthful and his be relied on." Witnesses for his pension application testify as to him living with his wife and having a stable marriage (and not all veterans had such marriages). 9.) PHEBE: Born 1831-32. Married Aaron Smith December 14, 1873 in Ritchie County, WV. Thus far, this is the only child of George and Mary's for which a marriage or death record has been found, and Phebe's marriage record states that her parents were George and Mary Collins. She resided at Smith's Chapel (according to Lowther). 10. and 11.?) TWO OTHER DAUGHTERS? The 1840 census makes it appear as though there may have been another daughter born 1830-35 and another one born 1835-40. However, the microfilm is difficult to read, and/or these may have been other children living with them. [When Phebe was born, the last child of which we are certain that George fathered, he was between 66 and 72 years old.] [NOTE: It certainly appear as though George Collins had nine small children living at home in 1831 just as he claimed on his pension application.... which may have been the only truthful statement that he made.] AND WHAT OF MARY/POLLY OWENS/COLLINS? Mary/Polly has been found in the 1850 and 1870 census records, but not the 1860 census. She stated that she was 57 in 1850 and 78 in 1870, which gives us a birth year of 1792. In the 1880 census, most of her children claim that they were born in Virginia and that their mother was born in Virginia. They must have meant the legal jurisdiction of Virginia since her son Sedgwick stated that he was born in West Virginia and that his mother was also born in West Virginia. Hence, we may reasonably state that Mary/Polly was born within the borders of present-day West Virginia in 1792. What of her family? Was she from a family of Owens or a family of Collins? Since the marriage bond was recorded in Harrison County, it would mean that she was residing in Harrison County at that time (regardless of where George Collins was living in 1809). We know that (unfortunately) she was unable to read and write. We know that she was a young bride (17) marrying a man who was nearly 30 years her senior, had a family from a previous marriage and may even have been a cousin to her. The early records have her name as "Polly", but once she was widowed, she appears as "Mary". This may indicate that the nickname "Polly" was thrust on her and she disliked the name. Let there be no doubt that "Polly" and "Mary" are the same woman. Not only do all of the census records match (from 1810 to 1870), but M. K. Lowther stated in her book that Mary Collins was the mother of Manley Collins (b. 1814). [Note: Lowther never mentions the name of man who is the father of Manley and husband of Mary Collins] The 1870 census is the last record found thus far for Mary/Polly Collins, and given her age in the 1870 census, we may be reasonably certain that she died between 1870 and 1880. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ------- John J. Hood PO Box 248 McDonald, TN 37353 e-mail: thetnhoods@cs.com APPENDIX A: THE FAMILY OF ISAAC S. AND RACHEL (CUNNINGHAM) COLLINS The only list of the children of Isaac and Rachel Collins that we genealogists have is the one provided in Minnie Kendall Lowther's book. Although Lowther's book is notorious for it errors, the list that she provides us matches what we see in the early census records (given the known birth-years for the children of Isaac and Rachel). As evidence, I present: 1820 Virginia Census, Lewis County Isaac S. Collins 1 male under age 10 (This, certainly, is Felix) 1 male at least 26, under 45 (Isaac S.) 3 females under age 10 (Phebe, Hannah & Nancy) 1 female at least 26, under 45 (Rachel) 1 engaged in agriculture (Isaac is a farmer!) 1830 Virginia Census, Lewis County Isaac [S.] Collins 1 male under age 5 (Probably John, but can't tell) 2 males at least 5, under 10 (One is Felix, the other Thomas?) 1 male aged 30 to 40 (Isaac S.) 2 females under age 5 (Barbara, Leah?[age is odd]) 1 female at least 5, under 10 (Nancy? Age seems odd) 1 female at least 10, under 15 (Hannah) 1 female at least 15, under 20 (Phebe) 1 female at least 40, under 50 (Rachel) 1840 Virginia Census, Lewis County Isaac [S.] Collins 1 male under 5 (Who's this?) 1 male at least 5, under 10 (Isaac N.) 1 male at least 10, under 15 (John D. or Thomas) 1 male at least 15, under 20 (Thomas or John D.) 1 male at least 20, under 30 (Felix) 1 male at least 40, under 50 (Isaac S.) 1 female under 5 (Young Rachel? Age is a little off) 1 female at least 5, under 10 (Barbara) 1 female at least 10, under 15 (Leah? Age seems off a little) 1 female at least 20, under 30 (Nancy, age seems OK) 1 female at least 40, under 50 (Rachel) Note: Phebe married in 1835 and Hannah in 1836, so they had left the house by 1840. Although there is some difficulty with the ages of the children, the number of sons and daughters matches with the names in Lowther's book, and Lowther does not list a Hezekiah Collins. The census records show that there is no room for an "extra" son named James Hezekiah Collins (or simply, Hezekiah Collins, which I believe is his real name). Rather than being the son of Isaac Collins, I strongly believe that Hezekiah Collins is the son of George Collins. APPENDIX B: AN UNOFFICIAL INDICTMENT AGAINST WILLIAM G.SINGLETON Excerpts from "The Border Settlers of Northwestern Virginia", by Lucullus Virgil McWhorter The following are synopses of what McWhorter wrote regarding William G. Singleton, a Special Pension Agent, who attempted to remove many Revolutionary War pensioners from Lewis County, (West) Virginia from the pension rolls. Quotes from McWhorter appear in quotation marks, and my notes (i.e., Hood) appear in brackets. pp. 151-152: John Schoolcraft obtains a pension after having P. McCan and James Brown vouch for him (in regards to his military service and trustworthiness). In 1834, Singleton talks to Christopher Nutter (age 74), John Reger (age 66), William Powers (age 70), John Neely and Nicholas Carpenter, all of whom say that Schoolcraft was too young to have served in the Revolutionary War. [William Powers and Nicholas Carpenter also testified against George Collins] pp. 277-279: Henry McWhorter is granted a pension, but upon re- examination by Singleton, his pension is reduced as Singleton does not count his time serving in the Indian wars as military service. [Singleton seems to have had no idea of how the British used the Indians as military allies, attacking white setllers west of the Alleghenies during the Revolutionary War] p. 420: Lewis, Peter and Jacob Bonnett, and Adam Flesher are initially granted pensions, but upon re-examination by Singleton, they are dropped from the pension rolls for being too young to have been able to serve in the Revolutionary War. Jesse Carpenter and Thomas Cottral are dropped from the pension rolls for the same reason. "In many instances his [Singleton's] rulings appear very arbitrary and unjust." p. 424: Thomas Hughes is granted a pension, but upon re-examination by Singleton, is denied his pension. Singleton obtained testimony against Hughes from Christopher Nutter and William Powers. "In a few instances, his [Singleton's] charge of dishonesty is based upon the testimony of those whom he, in other cases, branded as frauds. He decried others, whose good character was vouched for by men of unquestionable integrity. This inconsistency is painfully manifest in more than one case." p. 444: David W. Sleeth is denied his pension upon re-examination by Singleton. Singleton based his testimony on the discrepancies he found in Sleeth's testimony from his original pension application and Sleeth's testimony upon re-examination. Singleton also obtained supporting testimony from Christopher Nutter and William Powers. [Singleton seems to have overlooked the fact that these men who were applying for pensions were old men who were trying to recall events that occured 50 to 60 years earlier. Discrepancies in what one can remember should not be surprising]. p. 486: Singleton re-examines Joseph Kester and OK's his pension. p. 504: Hezekiah Hess obtains a pension. Singleton re-examines his claim. Hess is then denied his pension as Singleton is told by Benjamin Copelan (age 84) Christopher Nutter (age 74) that Hess is a liar. [Benjamin Copelan also testified against George Collins].