William Collins

As printed in 1906

WILLIAM COLLINS, one of the honored early pioneers of Berrien county and a member of the boys in blue during the Civil war, resides on his pleasant and well improved farm in section 3, Pipestone township. He was born in Darke county, Ohio, May 16, 1838. His father, Barnabas Collins, was a native of Virginia and a farmer by occupation. When a young man he removed to Darke county, Ohio, and was there married to Ann Miller, a daughter of George and Elizabeth (Cunningham) Miller. Mrs. Collins was also a native of the commonwealth of Virginia, born near Wheeling, but when about thirteen years of age she accompanied her parents on their removal to Ohio. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Collins located on a farm in Darke county, that state, but later moved to Preble county, Ohio, where the father passed away in death in 1846, being survived by his widow for a number of years, she having reached the age of eighty-eight years. They were the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters, and all are yet living, namely: George, a resident of Kansas; William, whose name introduces this review; Lorinda, the wife of Carl Brumbaugh, now o.f Dodge City, Kansas; Martha Ann, the wife of Levi Adams, of Garnett, Kansas; and Robert, who makes his home in Washington county, Kansas.

William Collins spent the days of his boyhood and youth in Darke and Preble counties, Ohio, and was but seven years old when his father died, after which he made his home with an uncle, William Miller, in Darke county until he was fourteen years of age. His mother was a second time married, and he then went to live with her, where he made his home until he offered his services to the Union cause during the Civil war, enlisting in 1862 as a member of Company C, Fiftieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, entering the ranks as a private and serving until the war was over. He was promoted to the rank of corporal, and took part in the siege of Atlanta and the battles of Perryville and Franklin, Tennessee. At the last named engagement he received a gun-shot wound in the calf of his leg, and for six months was confined in a hospital. He was first captured, however, and held as a prisoner about sixteen days, when he was released and taken to Sedgwick Hospital at Louisville, Kentucky, there remaining until he was mustered out of service, being first transferred to Lincoln Hospital at Washington, D. C, where he remained until the Grand Review in that city. He was then sent to Columbus, Ohio, and received his honorable discharge on the 5th of July, 1865.

With a creditable military record Mr.

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Collins then returned to his home in Preble county, Ohio, and in 1868 came to Berrien county, Michigan, purchasing the farm on which he yet resides, on section 3, Pipestone township. Here he owns one hundred and twenty-three acres of rich and fertile land, where he is engaged in general farming and stock-raising, and the many improvements which now adorn this valuable home place are all the work of his hands. On the 8th of November, 1866, Mr. Collins was united in marriage to Emily, a daughter of Tunis Roberts, of Darke county, Ohio, where the daughter was born and reared. To this union have been born five children: Marion O., whose sketch will be found elsewhere in this volume; Albert H., a resident of Pipestone township, Berrien county; Elnora, the wife of Alva Williams, also of Pipestone township; Myrtle, wife of John Horstman, of Cass county, Michigan; and Charlie, now attending the Commercial College at Elkhart, Indiana. Since age gave him the right of franchise Mr. Collins has supported the principles of the Republican party, and he has served as highway commissioner, as a justice of the peace six years and as a drain commissioner for two years. He is a member of the George H. Thomas Post, G. A. R., of Benton Harbor, and for twenty years has been a member of the Grange, in which he has been an active worker and has held a number of offices. Mr. Collins is well known throughout the county of Berrien, which has been his home for thirty-eight years, and during all this time he has taken an active interest in its growth and upbuilding.

As printed in A twentieth century history of Berrien County, Michigan (1906). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.