Barbara Jean "B.J." McNamara
Group Administrator, TROTT-DNA Surname Project
North American Representative, TROTT One-Name Research Group (TONRG)
2542 Birch Tree Drive, Germantown TN 38138 U.S.A.
Phone: 901-756-4295
E-mail: mart2542@aol.com
**If anyone has information to add or questions to ask, please email Barbara**
ROBERT CHRISTOPHER COLLINS
08 November 1833 - 15 January 1917
A single photo of Robert Christopher Collins (don't know year it was taken).
A group photo of Robert with his children:
Back Row (L-R): Sarah
Eleanor, Lula Annamae, Rachel Indiana, Missouri Eveline
Front Row (L-R):
Lottie Deloras, Robert Christopher Collins (seated), Erasmus William,
and Zerilda.
The
little girl standing at his right side is my grandmother, Lottie
Deloras Collins. She looks to be about four years old, so my
guess is the photo was taken about 1891 (she was born in 1887).
Photo of Robert Christopher Collins and wife, Margaret Baptiste/Battiste. This photo was taken about 1912 -- Margaret died in 1913.
Robert Christopher Collins (1833-1917)
was the son of Joshua Collins (1809-1871) and Sarah "Sally" Baker
(1810-aft1880). Sally was the d/o Christopher Warren
Baker and Nancy Daniels(?).
Baker and Nancy Daniels(?).
Joshua Collins (1809-1871) was the
son of Christopher C. Collins (1768-1855) and Rachel Hendrick
(c1775-aft1836). Rachel was a direct descendant of Thomas Graves
(1580-1635), Gentleman of Jamestown, who arrived in VA in 1608.
Christopher C. Collins was born in
NC. Christopher and his three brothers, Stacy, Joshua
and Jacob, moved to South Carolina, then Georgia, and finally
settled in
Wayne Co MS about 1813. Jacob remained in Wayne Co, Stacy moved over to Jones Co MS, and Christopher and his brother Joshua moved into Mobile Co about 1828.
Joshua's home at Spring Hill (56 Oakland Avenue) was built in 1829 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Robert's first wife, Martha L. Seales, is a real enigma. Her brother, Barnabas Seales, signed the marriage bond and stated her parents were dead and she was a
maiden over age 15. Robert and Martha are listed on the 1860 Mobile Co census - her age is given as 17. This would give Martha a birth year of about 1843.
Barnabas is a very unusual name -- I did a national search on the 1850 census to try to find him and his sister. No luck. We have no idea what happened to her.
She and Robert did not get a divorce (not listed in Index of Divorce Cases, Mobile Co 1816-1918). I think she died while Robert was in the Civil War, because
he remarried just a short time after he was released in 1865.
Robert enlisted during the Civil War as a Private on 13 October 1861 at Halls Mill, Alabama in the 21st Alabama Infantry, Co. I and continued until 12 May 1865.
He was paroled at Meridian, Mississippi. Information was obtained from the 1907 census. To view an image of his census, click on the icon below.
His obit (Mobile Register 17 Jan 1917) states he "was one of the heroes of the Confederacy. He served as a locomotive engineer on various Southern lines and had many thrilling experiences. He first enlisted in an infantry company under the colors of the Confederacy, but his value as an engineer was soon ascertained by his superior officers. After the war, Mr. Collins returned to Mobile and took up his occupation, retiring several years ago on account of failing eyesight." To view an image of the
Obituary, click on the icon below.
Robert's father, Joshua
Collins b. 1809, also enlisted in the Civil
War. He served for a very short time and doctors released
him due to
"old age and poor eyesight". I believe he was only in his early
50s at
the time! I don't know where Joshua and wife, Sally Baker,
are
buried. They may be in that cemetery on his uncle's homeplace at
Spring Hill that we're now trying to locate.
Copyright ©2006,
Lisa
McKinney,
southerncemeteries.org, all rights reserved.
Wayne Co MS about 1813. Jacob remained in Wayne Co, Stacy moved over to Jones Co MS, and Christopher and his brother Joshua moved into Mobile Co about 1828.
Joshua's home at Spring Hill (56 Oakland Avenue) was built in 1829 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Robert's first wife, Martha L. Seales, is a real enigma. Her brother, Barnabas Seales, signed the marriage bond and stated her parents were dead and she was a
maiden over age 15. Robert and Martha are listed on the 1860 Mobile Co census - her age is given as 17. This would give Martha a birth year of about 1843.
Barnabas is a very unusual name -- I did a national search on the 1850 census to try to find him and his sister. No luck. We have no idea what happened to her.
She and Robert did not get a divorce (not listed in Index of Divorce Cases, Mobile Co 1816-1918). I think she died while Robert was in the Civil War, because
he remarried just a short time after he was released in 1865.
Robert enlisted during the Civil War as a Private on 13 October 1861 at Halls Mill, Alabama in the 21st Alabama Infantry, Co. I and continued until 12 May 1865.
He was paroled at Meridian, Mississippi. Information was obtained from the 1907 census. To view an image of his census, click on the icon below.
His obit (Mobile Register 17 Jan 1917) states he "was one of the heroes of the Confederacy. He served as a locomotive engineer on various Southern lines and had many thrilling experiences. He first enlisted in an infantry company under the colors of the Confederacy, but his value as an engineer was soon ascertained by his superior officers. After the war, Mr. Collins returned to Mobile and took up his occupation, retiring several years ago on account of failing eyesight." To view an image of the
Obituary, click on the icon below.
1907
Census 
1917 Obituary
Submitted by John Ellis, csnavy.org
Pine Crest Cemetery
1917 Obituary
Submitted by John Ellis, csnavy.orgPine Crest Cemetery
