GUY PORTER COLLINS

BIOGRAPHY

AS RECORDED IN:

COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF TOLLAND AND WINDHAM COUNTIES CONNECTICUT.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS AND OF MANY OF THE EARLY SETTLED FAMILIES.

PUBLISHER: J.H.BEERS & CO., CHICAGO; 1903 P. 644

GUY PORTER COLLINS, one of the most highly respected citizens and substantial men of Ellington, Tolland county, is a descendant of the Collins family, which at one time had numerous representatives in Columbia, where Benjamin Collins, the great-great-grandfather of our subject, resided.

Benjamin Collins was born in 1690, and died in 1759. Elizabeth, his wife, born in 1700, died in 1778. Their children were: Zorahbabel; Benjamin; Abraham; Rufus; Julius; Phoebe, married to John Woodworth; and Lucy, married to Ebenezer Gary.

Rufus Collins, son of Benjamin, was born in 1726, and died in 1795.

Deacon Rufus Collins (2), son of Rufus, was born in 1751, in Columbia. He was married three times and was the father of a large family. From Columbia, he went to Ellington and located in the northeast part of the town, where he bought a good farm and followed farming quite successfully until his death, which occurred July 20, 1808, and he is buried in Ellington. He was a deacon in the Congregational Church. Of all his children, only the father of our subject, and a half-brother, Joseph, located in Ellington. Joseph, who was a farmer, later returned to Columbia, where he died.

Jabez Collins, son of Deacon Rufus and the father of our subject, was born Sept. 18, 1782, in Columbia, Conn., and came to Ellington when a small boy, and was reared on a farm. When a young man, he worked at the trade of a joiner and also owned and operated a sawmill on his farm. During his early manhood, he was a farmer, but later his health failed. Having been very industrious, he died in comfortable circumstances. His farm was located one-half a mile south of where his father resided. In politics, he was a stanch Whig, and held a number of the town offices, and for two terms represented Ellington in the State Legislature. For many years he attended the Congregational Church, and his death occurred June 24, 1854.

On March 4, 1812, Jabez Collins was married to Miss Loisa Porter, who was born in Ellington, Nov. 24, 1788, a daughter of Deacon Jonathan Porter (who was a farmer and died July 5, 1793), and his wife Mercy Porter. Mrs. Loisa Porter Collins died Dec. 19, 1829. The children born to Jabez Collins and wife were: Horace P., born July 2, 1812, died July 12, 1812; Julia, born Sept. 10, 1813, died unmarried Nov. 30, 1849; Lemuel A., born Feb. 4, 1816, married Clara B. Pennel, in Portland, Maine, where he died Sept. 9, 1843, having been employed as steward on a steamboat between Boston and Portland, Maine; Louisa, born March 4, 1820, married Carlos E. Kibbe, and died in Ellington Oct. 28, 1892; Jane, born July 22, 1822, is the widow of Franklin Miller, and resides in Ellington; Mariette, born Jan. 26, 1825, is the widow of George Barker, and lives in Windsor, Conn.; Irwin, born July 17, 1827, died March 12, 1828; and Guy Porter, our subject, born Dec. 3, 1829. Jabez Collins wedded May 26, 1831, for his second wife, Clara Kibbe, born July 7, 1786. There was no issue of the second marriage.

Guy Porter Collins was born in Ellington, and received a common school education until he was fifteen years of age. Until his father's death, he assisted the latter upon the home farm, and having become attached to the home, he purchased the interests of the other heirs, and engaged in general farming, tobacco and stock raising until 1871. That year he removed to Ellington Center and purchased his present home, but while living in it, he continued to manage his farm until 1894, when he retired from active business life. Upon taking possession of the home farm, he erected a fine new house and made many substantial improvements.

On March 21, 1855, Mr. Collins was married to Marinette Moore, born Jan. 30, 1833, a native of Union, Conn., who was brought to Ellington, Conn., in infancy by her parents, Charles W. and Ann (Corbin) Moore. Mr. Moore was a prominent farmer, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere. The following family was born to Mr. And Mrs. Collins: (1) Ella Louise, born March 28, 1856, married Willard Philo Fuller, a merchant in Somers, Conn., (a sketch of whom appears elsewhere), and they have one child, Willard C., born April 7, 1889. (2) Abbie Jane, born April 26, 1858, married Sept. 3, 1879, George C. Marcy, a shoe manufacturer of Hartford who attained success before he died in that
city. After his death, his widow removed to Ellington, and for several years made her home with her parents until her health failed, and she went to the Adirondacks, where she died April 15, 1895, and she is buried in Ellington; she had one child, Alice L., who died when five years and five months of age. (3) Alice P., born Feb. 10, 1862, died in May, 1882.

In politics, Mr. Collins is a Republican and has served most acceptably on the board of selectmen and one term as chairman of the board. As a member of the Legislature in 1869 he served on the committee on Roads and Bridges. Both he and his wife, as well as their daughter, are earnest members of the Congregational Church at Ellington, of which Mr. Collins has been treasurer as well as member of various social committees. The family is highly thought of in the community, and the success which has followed them is but their well-merited reward. The example of such a man in a community can scarcely be over-estimated, for his uprightness of purpose, his sterling honesty and untarnished reputation demonstrate that after all it is not by evil ways that men succeed, and that to establish forever a good name, is worth more than untold wealth. However, when deeds of charity, of mercy and strict honesty, meet with reward; when a man accumulates his property by legitimate business opportunities, then is the example more striking. Truly may it be said that the history of a nation is the history of its men. New England's wonderful record would never been placed upon the undying pages of fame had it not been for just such men as Guy P. Collins, a worthy descendant of an honorable ancestry.

Reproduced by:

Linda D. Pingel - great-great granddaughter of Cyrus White of Rockville, Ct.