Is there a marriage or death record in Mercer Co., OH, or Jay Co., IN, or
elsewhere, for subj. Major R. or N. COLLINS, b. + or - 1825, DE or MD?
Solomon Collins 1800/1849, Sussex Co.DE / Gibson Tp., Mercer Co.OH, willed
Major, listed as oldest son, "after the decease of my beloved wife one
feather bed that formerly belonged to his Mother, & one cow or the price of
her & if my wife shall see proper she can deliver those articles to him in
her lifetime".
Major R. might have been younger than sister Mary b Dec. 1825; he's not in
mother Nancy widow's household in 1850 census, might have been married and
away as was Mary. Other sisters have desc. McDANIEL, CLARK & CUMMINS Mercer
Co., OH. Younger brother John Fremont Collins. Youngest died Civ. War.
Whether he got the bed & cow or not, I wonder what happened to Major. Major
must be a proper name rather than title, as there were others with given name
Major in bygone eras. I don't imagine he'd been to West Point and for what
action or skirmish might he have gotten a commission?
Some family lore has it that mother Nancy 1798/1873, widowed 1849, was known
to have traveled alone from Mercer Co. to Cincinnati or environs by horse &
buggy - MAYBE TO DELIVER THE BED & COW???