USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. II > Part 10
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Puritans, whose daughters, granddaughters, etc., married into the Collins family, were the first Hugh Mosher, the first Samuel Hub- bard, the first John Greenman, the first Joseph Clarke and the first Richard Maxson. John Maxson, the senior son of Richard Maxson, the ancestor of George R. Collins in the second generation, had the distinction of being the first white person born on the site of Newport, Rhode Island, the date of his birth being in 1639. John Collins, the ancestor of the subject here written of, in the fourth generation, was Governor of Rhode Island from 1786 to 1790. Histories of New England show the prominence of these men and their descendants down to the present day. The mother of Mr. Collins was Mary A. Banker, a direct descendant of the original patroon, Gerit Bancker, who came from Amsterdam, Holland, in 1656, to New York and settled in Albany, then a mere village. He also had interests at Schenec- tady, New York, and spent a portion of his time there until the terrible Indian massa- cre which desolated that town. After that event he concentrated his business at Albany. He was a fur trader and merchant, and was very wealthy at the time of his death. He left one son, Evert, and one daughter, Anna. The son continued his father's business at Albany with his portion of the fortune, and the daughter married Johanns De Peyster, of New Amsterdam (New York City), thus becoming the mother of the celebrated De Peyster family, her wealth being the foundation of the present massive fortune of that family. The entire line of Gerit Bancker's descendants were successful, con- servative business men, retaining the strong characteristics of the sturdy Holland stock even to the present generation, and it may be readily understood that they have always been progressive, substantial citizens, filling many positions of trust and serving in vari- ous political offices the municipalities and nation they so materially assisted in estab- lishing. To give the military history of the ancestors of Mr. Collins would require an entire volume. He is eligible to membership in the society of the Sons of the American Revolution through their distinguished rec- ords of service. The father of Mr. Collins was a wholesale grocer at Troy, New York, and after retiring from business he removed to Daytona, Florida, to escape the rigors of
Longe Of this Rawcan fly
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COLLINS.
the northern climate. There he died, Febru- ary 8, 1898. The boyhood days of George R. Collins were spent upon the banks of the Hudson River and Lake Champlain. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of Troy, New York, and finished by graduating from the Troy Military Academy. He then went to New York City and entered the em- ploy of the Western Union Telegraph Com- pany, but after a period of fourteen months he realized that promotion beyond an ordi- nary clerkship was improbable, so he re- signed his position and, returning to Troy, took a position in a large dry goods estab- lishment. A few months later he accepted a clerkship in the Manufacturers' National Bank, and remained in that capacity until 1887, when he removed to Kansas City, Mis- souri. Mr. Collins had the same desire to try his fortune in the Western country that is experienced by most of the young men in Eastern States, with the point of difference in his case that the Western idea had a fixed point of location in his mind at an early age. He studied histories of different States dur- ing his boyhood, and chose Missouri as his future location, believing that, for a large number of reasons, it was destined to become one of the wealthiest States in the Union. The location of Kansas City appealed to him as a desirable one, and, pinning faith to the opinion that such a city in such a State could have only a bright future, he decided to cast his lot in the city which has since been his home. In New York he had every advantage which political and social influence could give, but in October, 1887, he acted upon his de- termination and started for Kansas City, hav- ing secured the promise of a position with the American National Bank of that city. Upon his arrival he found that the bank would not be ready for him until the first of the following month, when the new building now used by the same institution would be ready for occupancy. Mr. Collins was ten- dered a place in the bookkeeping department of the G. Y. Smith Dry Goods Company, and accepted it. He was advanced rapidly, and during the following July was made credit manager of the large concern, which position he filled until the company moved its stock to Fort Worth, Texas, in 1890. Mr. Collins declined strong inducements to accompany his employers to the new location. His faith in Kansas City and a purpose many years
old refused to let him leave. At this time the Westport Bank was opened and he was offered the position of cashier, which he accepted. He held this until the following year, when he accepted the position of cash- ier of the German Savings Bank, of Kansas City. He remained in that capacity until 1892, when he entered into a partnership with Henry H. Craig and W. S. Sitlington, forming a financial and insurance business arrangement. This continued until 1895, when Mr. Collins sold his interests therein to devote his time to the management of the National Benevolent Society, a large fra- ternal organization which had been started by some of the most prominent business men of Kansas City. Under his management the society has prospered and increased in mem- bership, until now it has many thousands throughout Missouri, the Central and West- ern States. Mr. Collins has been a member of the Kansas City Commercial Club, has been identified with many of the movements orig- inated for the advancement of the business in- terests there, and has unbounded faith in the city's prospects to become the metropolis of the West. It was he who made the discov- ery that in proportion to population, Kansas City does more business per capita, each week, in dollars and cents, as shown by the bank clearings, than any other city of the United States, and his articles on this subject were widely copied by the press and favor- ably commented upon. He has interests in various enterprises, including a cattle ranch in New Mexico and a tract of mining land in the center of the zinc-mining district at Joplin, Missouri. Many of Mr. Collins' an- cestors possessed military disposition, and he naturally inherited their spirit. He was a member of cadet companies until old enough to enlist, when he became a member of the Sixth Separate Company, National Guard of New York, known also as the Troy Citizens' Corps, which was originally organized in 1835. He served continuously with this com- pany until he removed to Missouri, and within a month after his arrival in Kansas City he met the celebrated Captain Thomas Phelan, who was then organizing Battery B at Kansas City. Mr. Collins was induced to enlist in the new battery, and was immedi- ately made first sergeant. He served with the battery . until the following May, 1888, when he was commissioned second lieutenant
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COLLINS.
of Company D, Third Infantry, N. G. M. During the following April he was promoted to the first lieutenancy. In 1889 he accom- panied the regiment as acting adjutant upon its trip to New York City, to attend the cere- monies of the Washington centennial inau- gural. He continued with Company D until March, 1890, when he was commissioned by Governor D. R. Francis to organize a new company for the Third Regiment, to be known as Company H. This he promptly accomplished, and was commissioned captain. His company was more generally known as the Kansas City Fencibles, and in 1892 was sent by the State of Missouri to Chicago to assist in representing this State in the dedi- cation of the World's Fair. The battalion, composed of Company H and other troops, was under his command during the period of absence from the State, and the trip was safely and successfully made. Captain Col- lins continued in command of Company H until the summer of 1896, when he became dissatisfied with the manner in which the affairs of the regiment were managed to such an extent that he resigned. Immediately upon the breaking out of hostilities with Spain, he rented a store room at Eighth and Main Streets, in Kansas City, and organized a regiment of infantry of 1,000 men. He tendered the services of the regiment to the government, but the early collapse of Span- ish resistance precluded the possibility of their seeing active service, and the regiment was therefore disbanded when there was no further prospect of its being needed. The Third Regiment was ordered mustered out of service in 1899, and a new regiment was ordered organized. Captain Collins was selected as one of the organizers, and chose the letter "H," the name of his old company. Primarily a business man, he devotes to mili- tary affairs only that portion of his time which he deems it his duty to devote. Tak- ing no interest in political affairs, he feels it a duty to perform some public service, and prefers this department of it to that offered by the field of politics. Captain Collins is a member of the Presbyterian Church, and of Southgate Lodge No. 547, A. F. and A. M. He was married July 2, 1900, to Miss Blanche W. Hastings, daughter of Hiram C. Hastings, a wealthy contractor, of Frankfort, Kansas. Her parents were among the pioneers of that State, removing to the western country from
the State of New York. Mrs. Collins was. carefully educated and is a woman of refine- ment and culture.
Collins, Monroe R., Jr., a native son of St. Louis, who has grown into prominence- among the business men and financiers of the- city, was born February 8, 1854, son of Mon- roe R. Collins, Sr. His father came to Mis- souri from Ripley, Ohio, and his mother was- a native of Maryland. He is a nephew of the late Peter and Jesse G. Lindell, who came to St. Louis at an early date and engaged exten- sively in various business enterprises, built up vast fortunes and left their names linked! indissolubly with the city's growth and prog- ress. After completing his education at Washington University, Mr. Collins began his business career as shipping clerk in a whole- sale grocery house. Later he established a general collecting agency in St. Louis, and in 1879, forming a partnership with Delos R. Haynes, engaged in the real estate business under the firm name of Haynes & Collins. In 1884 he established what is now the widely known real estate firm of M. R. Collins, Jr.,. & Co., of which he has since been the man- ager and executive head. Inheriting a por- tion of the Lindell estate, he became largely- interested in the management of the proper -- ties belonging to the estate, and also became- manager of numerous other estates and the representative of many Eastern and local capitalists in the guardianship of their in- terests in St. Louis. In addition to looking. after these trusts, he has been extensively engaged in a general real estate business, and, acting for clients, has laid out several additions to the city and suburbs of St. Louis, two of which have been named for him. One of these is known as "Collins" Addition to Kirkwood." and the other as "Collins' Subdivision" at Ellendale, on the old Manchester Road. He is vice president and secretary also of the Collins Realty Con- pany, a corporation which owns property in all parts of the city of St. Louis. Few men identified with the real estate interests of that city are so well known to the general public as is Mr. Collins, and none exerts greater in- fluence in real estate circles. From Novem- ber 1, 1895, to April 12, 1897, he was secre- tary of the St. Louis Real Estate Exchange, and he has long been one of the most active,. forceful and enterprising members of that
macalling
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COLLINS-COLMAN.
body. He has served one term as a member of the St. Louis House of Delegates, and while in that body was speaker pro tem. of the House, chairman of the ways and means committee, and member of the committee on public improvements. His religious affilia- tions are with St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and in Masonic circles he is well known as a member of Occidental Lodge, No. 163, St. Louis Chapter No. 8, Ascalon Commandery No. 16, and Moolah Temple of the Mystic Shrine. For five years he served as member of the Masonic Board of Relief, and is also a member of the St. Louis Club, the St. Louis Jockey Club and the Missouri Historical Society. He married in 1878, Miss Clara Shewell, of Philadelphia, who belongs to an old English family which settled in the "Quaker City" about the year 1700.
Collins, Monroe R., prominent in St. Louis for many years as a merchant and man of affairs, was born August 13, 1827, in Ripley, Ohio, and died in St. Louis, August 30, 1887. His parents were Eli and Mary (Barrett) Collins, who removed to St. Louis in 1847. The elder Collins was a successful general merchant and pork-packer, who, prior to his removal from Ohio, had been prominent in the politics of that State. The son was educated in the schools of his native town, and came to St. Louis an intelligent, well informed young man, equipped by natu- ral endowments, as well as early training, for a successful business career. His father had met with financial reverses shortly before his coming to St. Louis, and the young man began life there without other capital than brains, energy and a capacity for hard work. During the earlier years of his career he engaged in a small way in manufacturing en- terprises, with such success that the capital accumulated in this way enabled him later to embark in business as a member of the wholesale grocery firm of Miller & Co. En- Colman, Norman JJ., agriculturist, journalist and cabinet officer, was born May 16, 1827, near Richfield Springs, New York. After obtaining an academic education he came west from New York State as far as Louisville, Kentucky, where he engaged for a time in teaching school. While there he also studied law and received the degree of bachelor of laws from the Law Department dowed by nature with the instincts which make men successful in trade, prosperity attended his merchandising operations, which he continued until he retired from business to give his entire time and attention to the management of his property interests and the estate inherited by his wife. In the early part of the year 1850 he had married Miss Esther Baker, a daughter of Robert Baker, .of Louisville University. After graduating
of Berlin, Maryland, and a niece of Jesse G. and Peter Lindell, who were numbered among the wealthiest and most prominent citizens of St. Louis. At the death of the Lindells, Mrs. Collins inherited a share of their estates, and the responsibility of looking after this property devolved upon Mr. Col- lins. Severing his connection with the mer- cantile interests of the city in 1861, he was known thereafter as the representative of large property interests, and the estate com- mitted to his care was largely increased in value as a result of his judicious guardianship and management. While he led a quiet life, he was recognized as a man of keen sagacity and superior capacity for the conduct of affairs, especially accurate in his judgment of real estate and other property values, and in his forecasts of the growth and improve- ment of the city. As a citizen he stood high in the community with which he was identi- fied for forty years, his unquestioned probity and honorable business methods commend- ing him to all with whom he was brought into contact in the relations of everyday life. In his young manhood he identified himself politically with the Whig party, and later be- came known as a staunch Democrat, but he was never active in political campaigns, and never sought or held any political offices. He was a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, South, and at the time of his death was officially connected with St. John's Church, of that denomination, as a steward. Out of his abundance he gave liberally to that church, and his catholic spirit made him a generous donor, also, to other churches and religious institutions. He left at his death two sons, both of whom are now prominent citizens of St. Louis, the elder, Robert E. Collins, being a member of the bar, and the younger, Monroe R. Collins, Jr., be- ing head of the real estate firm of M. R. Collins, Jr., & Co.
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COLONIAL DAMES OF AMERICA.
from the law school he went to New Albany, Indiana, and began the practice of his profes- sion as a partner of Honorable M. C. Kerr, who had formerly been his roommate and classmate, and who in later years, achieved national distinction as a member of Congress, dying while serving as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Well adapted to the pro- fession of law, Mr. Colman built up a fine practice at New Albany, and while there was elected to and held for one year the office of district attorney, resigning the position to come to St. Louis. After practicing at the bar of that city for some time an innate fond- ness for rural pursuits caused him to purchase a country home, and about the same time he began the publication of the agricultural paper which has since become famous throughout the country as "Colman's Rural World." From the beginning of his career he took an active interest in public affairs, and when the country was plunged into civil war as a result of the slavery controversy, he was among the prominent Missourians who stood bravely in defense of the Union. He served as lieuten- ant colonel of the Eighty-fifth Regiment of Enrolled Missouri Militia, and both as soldier and civilian aided in preventing Missouri from joining the secession movement and in establishing national supremacy. After the war he was among those who believed that the victors should be magnanimous in their treatment of those who had suffered defeat, and, as a consequence, affiliated politically with the party which favored restoring all the rights of citizenship to those who had par- ticipated in the Southern uprising. He was elected to the Missouri Legislature in 1865, and, after serving with distinction in that body, was nominated by the Democratic party for Lieutenant Governor in 1868. In that year he was defeated, with all the candi- dates on the Democratic ticket, but in 1874 he was again nominated for Lieutenant Governor and was elected. A warm friend of popular education, he early became inter- ested in the welfare of the State University of Missouri, and for sixteen years was a member of the Board of Curators of that in- stitution. At the same time he was doing all in his power to promote the interests of the farmers of Missouri and of all the Western States, and throughout all the years of his later life he has been exceedingly active in this field of labor. He has served as presi-
dent of the Missouri State Horticultural Society, of the State Live Stock Breeders' Association, of the State Board of Agricul- ture, of the State Dairy Association, and has been officially identified with many other State and national associations organized to advance the interests of the farmers of the country. His broad and practical knowledge of everything pertaining to agriculture and agricultural interests, and his eminent fitness to perform the duties of the office caused him to be appointed United States Commissioner of Agriculture in 1885 by President Cleve- land, with the result that the sphere of this department was immediately afterward very materially enlarged under his administration. In 1889 the Agricultural Department was, by act of Congress, elevated to the dignity of an executive department of the general govern- ment, and it was provided that the head of the department should occupy a seat in the Presi- dent's cabinet as Secretary of Agriculture. President Cleveland at once appointed Gov- ernor Colman to the newly created office, and he served in that capacity until the close of the administration, enjoying the distinction of being the first representative of the agricultural interests of the United States to sit in the President's Cabinet. He dignified the position and rendered services of great value to the farmers of the country by his able and eminently practical administration of the affairs of his department. Upon his retirement from the Secretaryship of Agricul- ture the President of France, through the Minister of Agriculture, conferred upon him the Cross of "Officier du Merite Agricole," which was accompanied by a gold medal and the decoration of the order. Since then he has resided at his country home near St. Louis, devoting his time to the editorial management of his famous journal and to his private farming interests. His influence has always been strongly and aggressively in favor of progress in the highest and best sense, and he has been at the same time an ' ยท able and useful public official, a journalist whose influence has been felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, and a thoroughly public-spirited citizen in all that the term implies.
Colonial Dames of America .- A society composed of women, each of whom is descended in her own right from some an-
formanstohumu
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COLONIZATION SOCIETY.
cestor who resided in an American colony prior to 1750, this ancestor, or some one of his lineal descendants, being a lineal ascend- ant of the member; or who held some important office in the Colonial government, and, by distinguished services rendered prior to 1776, contributed to the founding of this great nation. The object of the society is the commemoration of the brilliant achievements of the founders of this republic and to stimu- late women as well as men to better and nobler lives; to diffuse information of the past and create popular interest in American history ; to inspire love to country and teach the young to venerate the memory of their ancestors. In furtherance of this object the society collects manuscripts, traditions, relics and mementos of bygone days for preserva- tion, and gives loan exhibitions from time to time. The local work of restoration and preservation of historic buildings is neces- sarily limited to the residents of the original thirteen Colonies; the restoration of the Senate chamber, Congress Hall, Philadelphia, in 1896, by the Pennsylvania Society of Colonial Dames being a notable instance.
The Missouri Society of the Colonial Dames of America was organized October 10, 1895, and incorporated December II, 1896, with the following officers: Mrs. George H. Shields, president ; Mrs. Hamilton Gamble, first vice president ; Mrs. William A. Hardaway, second vice president; Mrs. H. N. Spencer, secretary ; Mrs. William S. Long, treasurer ; Mrs. James J. O'Fallon, registrar. Additional members of the governing board : Mrs. Amos M. Thayer, Mrs. Henry W. Eliot and Florence Boyle-all of St. Louis, with the exception of Mrs. Gamble, who resides in Kansas City. At the end of six months there were in Missouri only seventeen members of this exclusive organization, most of these re- siding in St. Louis. The growth of the so- ciety is necessarily slow, as, aside from the hereditary restriction, applicants can present their credentials only on invitation, and each member is permitted to invite only one in a year. The board meetings are held in St. Louis, at residences of officers, at noon, on the last Saturday of alternate months from Octo- ber to June. The name of a candidate pro- posed at one meeting is passed upon at the next, two adverse votes preventing election. In the words of the president, Mrs. Shields : "Our work for the first year has been prin-
cipally in organization ; for the coming year we have other plans. In our non-Colonial States we can not have loan collections of Colonial relics or visit the places made sacred by the deeds of our noble ancestors, but we can reawaken and keep alive interest in and love for the traditions of Colonial days, that when the opportunity occurs to pay defer- ence to the memory of the founders of our great country their descendants may not be found wanting in patriotism, but may be worthy the name inscribed on the bar of the insignia-the name loved and honored by Colonial ancestors."
During the recent War with Spain the Colonial Dames demonstrated their active patriotism. The society as a whole was the first women's organization to contribute to the relief fund. Their services were formally offered to the President and formally ac- cepted by him on the day that war was declared, and theirs was the first contribution to the relief ship "Solace." The members of the St. Louis society worked along with their sister organizations in this common cause. They are now interested in the coming centenary celebration of the Louisiana Pur- chase, and have issued a letter to the schools throughout the State offering two cash prizes of twenty and ten dollars for the best essays relating to this subject written by pupils dur- ing the year. This educational work will be continued and medals will be provided for awards for future essays by pupils on given subjects. The seal adopted by the Missouri Society in December, 1897, was originated by Mrs. William A. Rucker, of St. James, Missouri, and is directly commemorative of the Louisiana Purchase. Within a ribboned Napoleonic wreath of wild roses and wheat heads are the French and American flags, crossed above a quill treaty pen. Half en- circling the wreath from below is a flat garland, with ends notched and pendant, bearing the words, "Missouri Society of Colonial Dames of America."
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