1865 Nov. 15:
This is the date which William J. Collins, Jr., and Mary I. Collins
indicate was the birth date of their father, William J. Collins. There is no birth record for William J.
Collins, Sr., on this date in Ireland.
The date is consistent with other records on William J. Collins, Sr.,
such as his death and marriage records.
However, in his naturalization record in Dauphin Co., PA, his birth date
is listed as 15 Nov. 1866. Family
legend indicated that William was born in either Cookstown or Crookstown,
Ireland. Cookstown, County Armagh, is
in Catholic Northern Ireland.
Crookstown, County Cork, is in Protestant Ireland proper. Since William J. Collins was Protestant and
since his port of embarkation, Queenstown, is also in County Cork, I am inclined
to believe that his birthplace was Crookstown.
In "Irish Families," by Edward MacLysaght, the author
indicates that the largest concentrations of the persons having the surname
Collins or O'Collins occurred either in County Cork near Crookstown, or in
County Limerick near Bruree.
1865 Dec.: This
is the month of birth indicated for Mary Collins in the 1900 Federal
Census. Obviously either this date or
the birth date for William J. Collins, Sr., is wrong.
|
|
|
William James Collins, age 17 (about 1882).
|
1883 Apr. 23:
William James Collins arrived in New York, NY. Family legend indicates that Mariah and her children immigrated
to the United States to avoid the Protestant/Catholic conflicts in
Ireland. This date and port of
immigration was obtained from William J. Collins, Sr.'s naturalization
records in Dauphin Co., PA, and are confirmed by the passenger list for the
S.S. City of Berlin which lists a William Collins as having been on board when
the vessel arrived in New York, NY, on this date after having sailed from
Liverpool, England, and Queenstown, County Cork, Ireland. Queenstown is now called Cobh (pronounced
"Cove") and serves as the port for the city of Cork.
1883: Mary
Collins married John Wallace. This date
is indicated on both the 1900 and 1910 Federal Census.
1889 Oct. 24:
William J. Collins, Sr., married Mary Jane Usaw in Camden (Camden), New
Jersey. Marriage ceremony was conducted
at 3 Cooper St., Camden. William James
Collins is listed as a steelworker who had been born in England. His father's name is listed as William
Collins, place of birth England, and his mother's maiden surname is listed as Boles,
place of birth, England. Both William and Mary Jane are listed as living in
Harrisburg (Dauphin), PA. Rev. W.B.M.
Burrell, who conducted the ceremony, was affiliated with the Methodist
Episcopal Church. Marriage record is on
file in Camden, NJ. (Continued on their own family group sheet)
1900 Jun. 24:
Federal Census shows Mariah Collins as a boarder in the Wallace home,
1314 Sears St., Philadelphia (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania, ED 931, S 18, L 3,
taken by George Mindt.
1910 Apr. 23:
Federal Census shows Mariah Collins living in the Wallace home,
Philadelphia (Philadelphia), Pennsylvania, ED 883, S 18B, L 58, taken by Robert
F. Lafferty. Mariah is listed as having
had nine children of whom five were alive in 1910.
Family legends: Two of Maria Collins' sons settled in
Canada. One son married and was killed.
He had a son who may have immigrated to Australia.
From Irish Families, by Edward MacLysaght, Irish
Academic Press, 1985, p. 65: O'CULLANE, COLLINS. Collins is of course a common English surname: of 29 Collins biographies in the Dictionary
of National Biography 27 are of Englishmen.
Nevertheless in Ireland Collins may be regarded as a genuinely
indigenous Irish name: in fact it is
one of our most numerous surnames, being number 30 in the relevant statistical
list with an estimated Collins population of 14,000 persons. The great majority of these come from
Counties Cork and Limerick. This is as
might be expected because the sept of O'Coileain (possibly derived from the
word coilean, a whelp or young dog) originated in North Desmond which extended
into the modern Co. Limerick, where they were lords of the baronies of
Connello, until in the thirteenth century they were driven southwards by the
Geraldines and settled in West Cork near the country possessed by their kinsmen
the O'Donovans. The well-known Gaelic
poem, translated as "Lament over Timnoleague Abbey" has immortalized
Sean O'Coileain, or John Collins (1754-1817), one of this sept. It should be observed that in the very
territory to which they migrated was a sept called O'Cuilleain also
subsequently Anglicized Collins: these
were of the Corca Laoidhe.
