Surname Saturday: COLLINS

The COLLINS line for my children ends with one of my ex-husband's great-great-grandmothers, Senna "Senie" COLLINS TOLLIVER, who died in Los Angeles in 1950. The line's beginnings, as we know it, start with Jonathan COLLINS, Sr., in Pennsylvania in 1706. I strongly suspect that this line has Melungeon heritage, due to the facts that COLLINS is a common name among that ethnicity, as well as the family is known to have lived in areas of North Carolina where Melungeon ancestry is common. Furthermore, a close biological relative of my children tested positive for sub-Saharan African ancestry in an autosomnal DNA test.


Stories and History:

Ahnentafel #608 - Jonathan COLLINS, Sr. (1706 - 1779) - born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, he married Ann SMITH (b. 1719) on 2 Jul 1731 in Hardwich, Sussex Co., New Jersey, where later Jonathan died.. They had eight children.

Ahnentafel #304 - Mahlon COLLINS (1756 - 1834) - born in Sussex County, New Jersey, he married Phoebe WEBSTER (1756 - 1841) on 10 Oct 1776 in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. They also had eight children. Mahlon would have been the right age to have served in the American Revolution, but so far, I have neither found, nor honestly looked, for information to support this. This couple likely followed their adult children to Grayson County, Virginia, and eventually to Lawrence County, Indiana, where Mahlon died.

Ahnentafel #152 - John COLLINS, Sr. (1777 - 1850) - born in Sussex County, New Jersey, he married Effie CONLEY (1775 - bef 1830); no marriage details found so far. They had seven children. This couple migrated with John's siblings and probably his parents to Grayson County, Virginia, where John died.

Ahnentafel #76 - Elijah COLLINS (1802 - 1896) - born, married, and died in Baywood, Grayson Co., Virginia, he married Margy COX (1817 - 1904) on 9 Jun 1832. They had 14 children, many of whom moved west to Nebraska and Colorado.

Ahnentafel #38 - Mahlon F. COLLINS (1846 - 1887) - born in Grayson County, Virginia, he married twice. His first wife was Mary A. "Polly" HACKLER (1848 - 1878), to whom he married on 18 Feb 1869 in Grayson County. They had five children, the eldest being my children's ancestor (see below). After Polly's death, Mahlon married Nancy WARD (1843 - 1920) by 1882. They had two children. With his second wife and children, Mahlon migrated west to Nebraska, where he died at age 41, probably in Battle Creek, Madison County.

Ahnentafel #19 - Senna "Senie" COLLINS (1870 - 1950) - born in Grayson County, Virginia, Senie moved west with her father, step-mother, and siblings to Battle Creek, Madison Co., Nebraska, where she met and married Clark Pleasant R. TOLLIVER (1861 - 1918) from North Carolina. They were married on 3 Jul 1886 and had nine children. The family migrated to Hotchkiss Twp., Delta Co., Colorado, where they met the MIDKIFF family. Two of their children married MIDKIFFs, and both families migrated further west into California in the 1910s. Clark died in 1918, and Senie remained unmarried for the rest of her life, another 32 years, living mainly with her children in the Los Angeles area. She died in Los Angeles, and was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in Glendale. I was able to visit her grave in 2010 while attending Jamboree.

Ahnentafel #9 - Margie Ethel TOLLIVER (1889 - 1977)

Ahnentafel #4 - John Franklin MIDKIFF, II (1910 - 1957)

Ahnentafel #2 - my children's paternal grandfather (living)

Ahnentafel #1 - my children's father (living)


More about the COLLINS family:

1. Online database (I update this at least once a month): COLLINS ancestors and relatives (no info on living persons available)

2. Posts about COLLINS ancestors and relatives on this blog

3. Some scanned COLLINS photos

4. Some scanned COLLINS documents

5. My  COLLINS Virtual Cemetery on Find A Grave

6. The Historical Melungeons blog


The COLLINS immigration trail:

Bucks Co., PA > Sussex Co., NJ > Hunterdon Co., NJ > Grayson Co., VA > Lawrence Co., IN > Madison Co., NE > Delta Co., CO > Mesa Co., CO > Custer Co., ID > Los Angeles and/or Butte Co., CA > Yakima Co., WA > Thurston Co., WA > Clark Co., WA > Spokane Co., WA