The Family of Moses, Sr. and his wife Hannah (Willis) Collins

Moses Collins, Sr. was likely born in old Granville Co., SC in about 1753. He died January 29, 1816 in Pike Co., MS. He was probably the son of John Collins and his wife who is unknown. On August 6, 1774 he married Hannah Willis, daughter of William Willis and his 1st wife who is unknow. Hannah (Willis) Collins was born December 10, 1754 and died in 1833 in Hinds Co., MS. Moses Collins, Sr. is known to have been a veteran of the American Revolution.

There seems to be a great amount of confusion as to the mother of Hannah Collins. Many have suggested that Susanna Toney was her mother, but this is likely incorrect.
Susanna Toney appeared in the following court record:

Winton (Barnwell) Co., SC Minutes of County Court and Will Book 1, 1785-1791

p.59 – The estate of Isaac Odom decd. To Daniel Odom, admn. Legatees menttioned Jethro Wood, Willm Robison, Eliza. Shoemake, Willm. Cato, Thomas Jones, SUSANNA TONEY, Edwd. Miles. Rec. 3 Sept. 1789. Recorded by order of Court on Monday 3 Aug. 1789

None of the three Toney brothers who lived in the area had a wife named Susanna, so she was likely their mother and the widow of a Charles Toney who appeared on the 1779 Petty Jury list next to Isaac Odom and Edward Miles.

In this same year, a notation was made in the Moses Collins Bible by William Willis:

South Carolina Winton County, I William Willis of New York was married to Susna Toney but Now she is called William Willises wife. Hannah Burnham was my mother's maiden Name. William Willis a Slayor (sailor?) from the Lost Seas Jeremiah Willis a Squyor Jrg (unreadable records which appear to be land warrants). In the year of our Lord and Savior Jesus Crist (sic) 1789.

The logical conclusion derived from these documents is that Susanna Toney was a legatee and daughter of Isaac Odom, that she was the widow of Charles Toney who died between 1786 and 1789, and that she married William Willis in 1789 at the time he made his notation in the Moses Collins Bible.

John Collins, presumed to be the father of Moses Collins, lived in Granville Co., SC in 1765. He later lived in Orangeburg Dist., SC. In 1775 and 1776 he was a member of the Provincial Congress of SC. And, from 1776 to 1784 he was a member of the First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth General Assemblies of SC. As a Delegate from the District Between the Savannah River and the North Fork of the Edisto River, he voted at the state convention in favor of ratification of the federal Constitution.

Leven Collins and James Collins, thought to have been brothers of Moses Collins both lived in old Winton Co., later Barnwell Co., SC. Leven Collins was a representative to the Eighth and Ninth General Assemblies of SC between 1789 and 1791. James Collins was the father of Elizabeth Collins, wife of Benjamin Toney, an early settler of old St. Tammany Parish, LA (now Washington Parish) and old Pike Co., MS (now Walthall Co.).

Moses Collins left Barnwell Co., SC about 1794 and on 20 Sept. 1796 purchased a 600 acre tract of land on Spirit Creek in Richmond Co., GA. By 1812 he and his large family had removed to Jackson Co., MS Territory where he was a justice of the peace. Before 1814 the family moved to old Pike Co., MS Territory where Moses died in 1816.

The children of Moses, Sr. and Hannah (Willis) Collins were:

1. Susannah Collins, born 5-16-1775 in Orangeburg Dist., SC and died 11-19- 1866 at China Grove, Pike Co., MS. She married Judge Benjamin Youngblood on 12-20-1794 in Richmond Co., GA.
2. Nancy Ann Collins, born 1-31-1777 in Orangeburg Dist. SC and died 2-17- 1831at Robinson Springs, Madison Co., MS. She married John Robinson on 12-20-1796.

3. Joseph Collins, born 3-31-1779 in Orangeburg Dist. SC and died 11-30-1863 at Gore Springs, Grenada Co., MS. He married 1st Sarah Williams on 8-12-1804 and married 2nd Elizabeth Johnson on 11-17-1847. Joseph Collins was in his brother, Capt. Moses Collins' Company during the War of 1812.

4. Moses Collins, Jr., born 7-16-1781 in Orangeburg Dist. SC and died 4-10- 1855 at Keatchie (pronounced Keech-eye), De Soto Parish, LA. He is buried in the Collins-Williams Cemetery there. He married 1st Elizabeth Zachary on 5-26- 1802, and married 2nd Matilda Prestridge on 7-31-1828.

At the time of the War of 1812, Moses Collins, Jr. became a captain in Col. George Henry Nixon's MS Militia. During the war General Andrew Jackson promoted Col. Nixon to Brigadier General. General Nixon lived in Marion Co. MS during the war.
In 1817 Moses Collins, Jr. appeared in the 1817 Pike Co., MS Tax Roll. He later had several land grants in Hinds Co., MS in 1825 and 1826. It is not known what precipitated the move, but in 1850 Moses, his wife Matilda and their 19 year old daughter Matilda J. Collins appeared in the census at Keatchie, De Soto Parish, LA. Only a few years later Moses died there.

Children of Moses Collins, Jr.and Elizabeth Zachary:
a. Joseph Collins, b. 1804, married Louise Pierce
b. Sarah Collins, b. 1803
c. Moses Zachary Collins, b. 1807, m. Sarah Ann Alford, early settler in Scott Co., MS.
d. John Hampton Collins, b. 1809, m. Catherine Ann Catchings.
e. Burton Collins, b. 1810, m. Lucy Ann Stovall, early settler in Scott Co., MS.
f. Seaborn J.Collins, b. 1812 (twin), early settler in Scott Co. MS.
g. Thomas J. Collins, b. 1812 (twin), m. Mary Ann________, early settler in Scott Co., MS.
h.Elizabeth Collins, b. 1814, m. James A. Chapman.
I. Lemeul P. Collins, b. 1817, m. Ann Elizabeth Morris, later Phoebe Jane White.
j. James Madison Collins, b. 1818, never married.
k. Rebecca Collins, b. 1823, m. Philip Pitman Williams.
l. Nancy Ann Collins, b. 1827, m. Elisha Bruce Adams.

Children of Moses Collins, Jr. and Matilda (Partridge) May:
m. Jane Matilda Collins, b. 1833, m. Jasper Mc Millan
n. Pamela Collins, b. 1835, m. Thomas B. Weaver, later William Barnes.

4. Hannah Collins, born 8-22-1783 in Orangeburg Dist. SC. It is not known when Hannah died, it has been said she was buried in the Collins-Williams Cemetery in Keatchie, De Soto Parish, LA. Hannah married Samuel Williams on 5-26-1802.

Hannah and Samuel Williams had a son called Moses Collins Williams who was a wealthy plantation owner at Keatchie, LA. He was also a Baptist minister. He and his wife Eliza had a son, Weston Lafayette Williams, who was shown in the 1860 De Soto Parish census as a school teacher. When the Civil War came along, Weston became a captain in the Confederate Army. After the war he enrolled in Baylor College at Independence, TX to further his education. While at Baylor, he boarded at the home of Nancy Lea mother-in-law of the famous General Sam Houston. Sam Houston had died in1863 during the war and his wife Margaret (Lea) Houston had moved from Huntsville, TX to their home in Independence. It was here that Weston Williams met the 17 year old daughter of the Houstons, Margaret Lea “Maggie” Houston (named for her mother). Weston and Maggie were married on 10-17-1867 by Rev. William Carey Crane, a Baptist minister and President of Baylor. Some years later, Baylor College was moved to Waco, TX and is now known as Baylor University.

5. Henry Collins was born 10-8-1785 in Winton Co., SC. He died 4-23-1793 in Winton Co. when he was 7 years old.

6. Sarah Collins was born 10-9-1787 in Winton Co., SC. She died in 1843 in Jackson, Hinds Co., MS. She married 1st to John Hatcher in 1809 Sarah and John Hatcher had a son Rhesa Hatcher, b. 9-19-1810, who was twice mayor of Jackson, MS. He was removed from his seat at the end of the Civil War in 1865, but reinstated in 1871.

Sarah married 2nd to James Phillips on 6-2-1816. James Phillips was a captain in General George Henry Nixon's Militia during the War of 1812. Sometime after the war, he became a justice of the quorum court in Marion Co., MS.

7. Rebecca Collins was born 12-27-1789 in Winton Co., SC and died 7-30-1841 at Jackson, Hinds Co., MS. She was known to have married Archibald Mc Manus, but the date and place are unknown.

8. Ailsey Collins was born 10-26-1792 in Richmond Co., GA. She died 1-12- 1887 in De Soto Co., MS and is buried in the Grove Hill Cemetery there. On 9-5-1811 she married Elias Woodruff.

9. Joshua Collins was born in 1794 in Richmond Co. GA . It is known that he married a certain Mary in 1818, and that he was in the 1830 and 1840 Lawrence Co., MS census records. He was later in the 1850 Scott Co. MS census. Joshua Collins was in his brother Capt. Moses Collins' Company during the War of 1812.

10. Seaborn Collins was born 1-22-1796 in Richmond Co., GA and died 8-2-1868 in Yazoo Co., MS and is buried in the Dover Cemetery there. He married Mary May on 10-30-1816.




Much of the information provided herein was supplied by the late Seaborn D. Collins of Jackson, MS. Cousin Dee, as he was known, was in possession of the old Moses Collins Bible from whence came many of the birth, marriage and death dates of this Collins family. This Bible was printed in 1769.