Michael C. Dunn
What is the Collins History?
If You Already
Know What it Is:
Click Here to Go
Directly to Table of Contents
For over 30 years, I have worked on the history of my Collins family line. My great-grandmother, Effie Lorena Collins Dunn (1879-1962), came from a line of Collinses who first settled in Tidewater Virginia in the 1660s (or earlier), then moved to Franklin County, Tennessee, to Georgia, then to Marshall County, Tennessee, then to Texas and to Christian County, Missouri, where my grandmother and father were born.
As a historian by training, I set myself the task some years ago to try to write the Collins family history on the main Collins line in as thorough a manner possible, seeking to recover all the details that can be recovered for people who were by no means famous or prominent in their own time. The draft history is slowly being written. The written draft runs more than 200 pages, single spaced, with pictures and maps, and goes so far only to the death of my great-great-great-grandfather Henry Collins (1795-1860).
Because I work at two jobs, as Editor of both The Middle East Journal, the academic quarterly published by The Middle East Institute, and of The Estimate, a biweekly newsletter on the Islamic world which I founded in 1989 and continue to publish, opportunities to work on the Collins history are rare, especially now that we are at war in the Middle East. I have also been spending a lot of time working on the genealogy in the other direction, since our adoption in July 2001 of Miss Sarah Grace Dunn. And the next generation, that of my great-great-grandfather John Collins (1819-1888: portrait at the top of the page), the pioneer to Missouri, will be quite lengthy: he was the patriarch of the Missouri family, Sheriff of Christian County during the Civil War, and otherwise a fascinating man; furthermore he left a journal of his journey from Tennessee to Texas, which I eventually intend to publish in full with editor's notes.
I have also worked for some time on all the intermarried lines: my own Dunns, and the Collins collateral lines: the Alexanders, Chestnuts, Cowdens, Martins, and Vinsons, some of whom are likely shared by other Collins descendants depending on their relationship to me. I have temporarily put up some general notes on the collateral lines and will eventually provide full histories like this Collins one. You should also check out our database of family data. It does not include dates or places for living persons, but does show realtionships.
In the meantime, and it may be a lengthy meantime, those parts of the Collins history which have already been distributed to family need to be available to Collins relatives. I have therefore decided to put the text online. Please note that this material is copyrighted. I am delighted to grant permission to relatives to reproduce it for their own families, but it may not be distributed or reproduced for any commercial purpose.
For those of you who already have seen the printed
version, the following differences need to be noted:
All material copyright 2000, Michael Collins Dunn
Brief Table of Contents (Chapter Headings Only);
for Full Table of Contents Click Here.
Introduction:
330 Years (Plus) of Collinses in America
I. Collins Origins: Name and Nationality
James
Collins in the Revolution
Guns and "Towmawhacks"
Guilford
Court House
Locating
Collins' position at Guilford Today
After Guilford
James
Collins After the War
James
Collins: The Marital History Problem
The
Peter Collins Problem
Census
Evidence of an Earlier Wife
The
16 Children of James and Temperance (Vinson) Collins
VII. Henry Collins 1795-1860; Frances Martin Collins 1797-1841
Summary
The Biography
A Collective
Biography
The
Scattering of the Clan
The
Collins Brothers (and Cousins) in Georgia
The
Brothers in the War of 1812 and Indian Wars
The
Georgia Census Evidence
Frances Martin
Holland's
Move to Kentucky: Another Sandy Creek Settlement?
The
Re-Gathering of the Clan: The Move to Tennessee
The
First Land Henry Owned
A
Forgotten First Attempt to Settle in the Ozarks
Henry
Rejoins His Brothers in Tennessee
The
Land and the Neighbors on Spring Place Pike
The Glenn Connection
Where
Was the "Crossroads at Henry Collins'?"
Notes
on the Crossroads' Likely Location
The
Children of Henry and Frances (Fannie) Martin
Return to Top of Table of Contents
Return to Top of Page
Go to the
Database
Back to the Genealogy Welcome Page
Back to Tam and Michael's Home Page