Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 66

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 978

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Isaac Collins, Jr., married (first), October 4, 1809, Margaret, youngest daugh- ter of Dr. John Morris, of Philadelphia, by his wife, Abigail Dorsey, born in Philadelphia, August 18, 1792. Bereft of both parents at the age of one year, she was reared in the home of her grandmother, Margaret (Hill) Morris, that noble Christian woman an account of whose life and ancestry is given in this work, at Burlington, New Jersey, and continued to reside with her until her marriage in 1810. She suffered from ill health for a number of years prior to her death, and it was with the hope of improving her health that her husband brought her to Philadelphia from New York in 1828. She died April 28, 1832.

Isaac Collins, Jr., married (second) January 28, 1835, Rebecca, daughter of John Singer, of Philadelphia. She was for many years an eminent minister among Friends, and survived her husband nearly thirty years. She died in April, 1892, at the age of eighty-seven years.

Issue of Isaac Collins, Jr., and Margaret Morris:

William Morris Collins, b. July 10, 1811; d. Oct. 30, 1864; m. Nov. 7, 1839, Elza C. Cope;

Martha Lawrie Collins, b. July 21, 1813; d. May 6, 1887; m. Oct. 3, 1838, John B. Bispham;

Gulielma Maria Collins, b. Aug. 28, 1815; d. Feb. 4, 1867; m. June 5, 1839; Philip B. Chase;

Henry Hill Collins, b. March 3, 1818; d. July 20, 1840;

Alfred Morris Collins, b. Jan. 11, 1820; m. Nov. 28, 1843, Hannah Evans:

FREDERIC COLLINS, b. Jan. 21, 1822; d. Nov. 27. 1892; m. Letitia Penn Dawson; of whom presently;

Isaac Collins, Jr., b. May 3, 1824; m. Dec. 9, 1847, Elizabeth B. K. Earle;

Theodore Collins, b. July 27, 1826; d. Sept. 4, 1826;

Margaret Morris Collins, b. Aug. 18, 1829; d. April 6, 1872; m. June 1, 1853; Oliver K. Earle;

Percival Collins, b. December 19, 1831; d. May 7, 1872; m. Oct. 5, 1856, Sarah Levick.

Issue of Isaac Collins, Jr., by his second wife, Rebecca Singer:

Anna Collins, b. Nov. 3, 1835; m. Sept. 26, 1871, John R. Faber;

Stephen Grellet Collins, b. Dec. 2, 1836; m. Oct. 13, 1860, Adelaide A. Knorr;

Mary Foster Collins, b. March 1, 1843; m. Nov. 28, 1867, James M. Walton.

FREDERIC COLLINS, sixth child of Isaac and Margaret (Morris) Collins, born in New York City, January 21, 1822, came with his parents to Philadelphia at the age of six years. At the age of thirteen years he entered Haverford College, and graduated there with high honors. He began his business career as a clerk in the

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large dry-goods establishment of Philip B. Chase & Company, and showed such proficiency and industry that he was admitted as a partner in the firm before com- ing of age. On August 28, 1844, he married Letitia Penn, daughter of Mordecai Lewis Dawson, by his wife, Elizabeth Poultney, and entered the firm of M. L. Dawson & Company, brewers, later Poultney, Collins & Company, and subse- quently Massey, Collins & Company, with which firms he was identified for many years. In April, 1865, with M. P. Read, and Frederic Lauer, he went to Europe in the interest of the United States Treasury, to make a careful study of the excise tax on beer. At about this time the character of the brewing business and the trade in malt liquors became so changed that the associations and methods were distasteful to him and he withdrew from the business, and with his wife and two daughters made an extensive tour of Europe. In 1864 he and his cousin, Lloyd Pearsall Smith undertook a commission to East Tennessee for the purpose of relieving the sufferings of the loyal people of that section who had been sorely pressed and robbed of the means of sustenance by the Confederates of the south. A fund of $250,000 had been subscribed, through the efforts of the people of Philadelphia and elsewhere, and Collins and Smith proceeded to Cincinnati and arranged the details for purchasing and transporting the supplies, being furnished with a letter of introduction and commendation from C. A. Dana, Assistant Sec- retary of the United States Navy. They received every assistance possible from the officers of the army and succeeded in forwarding the supplies through Knox- ville.

Mr. Collins was for several years president of the Mckean & Elk Land & Im- provement Company, retiring in 1868. He became a member of the board of managers of the House of Refuge in 1869, and served continuously until his death in 1892. On his return from his European trip, he engaged in the banking and brokerage business with William Elliott, under the firm name of Elliott, Collins & Company, which continued until 1873, when he retired from active busi- ness and devoted much time thereafter to charitable and philanthropic work, and his duties as a director of several corporations, among them the Provident Life & Trust Company, the Western National Bank, and the Western Savings Fund. He was a member of the Society of Friends, and attended the Twelfth Street Meeting. In 1892 he went to Chicago to attend to the preparation for the open- ing exercises of the Columbian Exposition, and returned in excellent health, but soon after contracted a cold which resulted in pneumonia, from which he died November 27, 1892.

Issue of Frederic and Letitia Penn (Dawson ) Collins:

Elizabeth Dawson Collins, m. Charles F. Hulse, who d. Aug. 28, 1876, leaving issue :

Letitia Collins Hulse, b. June 1, 1870; m. Apr. 18, 1898, Samuel Bowman Wheeler;

Margaret Morris Hulse, b. Apr. 22, 1873;

Frederic Collins, Jr., b. Feb. 4, 1868; m. June 19, 1895, Lillie Moffit Brown;

Anne Morrison Collins, m. Apr. 10, 1890, Morris Earle.

SCOTT FAMILY.

UCHTREDUS FILIUS SCOTI, founder of this ancient family of Scott, was a witness to the foundation charters of the Abbeys of Holyrood House and Selkirk, by David II, in 1128-30. It does not appear, however, that this person assumed the name of Scot as a surname but that he was designated "filius Scoti" as a son of a Scotsman, to distinguish him from another person called Uchtred, which was then a common Christian name beyond the Tweed. This Uchtred was the father of,

RICHARD SCOT, who did assume the name of Scot, and was living during the reigns of Malcolm IV and William the Lion ; founded the Priory of St. Andrew's ; was a witness to a charter granted in or before 1158, in which year he died leaving two sons: Richard and Sir Michael.

Richard, eldest son, ancestor of the Dukes of Buccleugh and their cadets, the Earls of Deloraine and the Barons Montague; family of Scott of Malleny, Mid- Lothian; family of Scott of Harden, now Barons Polwarth, from a branch of which the Scotts of Raeburn, county Dumfries, descended Sir Walter Scott, Bart., of Abbottsford, author of the Waverly novels and celebrated poems ; Scotts of Scotstarvet, one of whom, George Scott, of Pitlochie, was a Proprietor of East Jersey; and many other less important, though still prominent cadet branches.

SIR MICHAEL SCOT, undoubted ancestor of the Scotts of Balweary, county Fife, (later of Ancrum, county Roxburgh), was a man of property and power in the county of Fife. He flourished in the reign of King William, ( 1165-1214) and married Margaret, daughter of Duncan Syras, of that ilk. With the consent of his son Duncan and his lady, Sir Michael made a donation to the monastery of Dunfermline, "pro salute animae suae," etc., etc., of the lands of Gascumenfers, county of Fife, reign of King William the Lion. He died soon after and was succeeded by his son :

DUNCAN SCOTT, who confirmed his father's donation to the monastery of Dun- fermline, which was also confirmed by King Alexander II, 1231. Duncan had two sons, Sir Michael, his heir, and Gilbert, who was a witness in a charter of Alex- ander, Earl of Buchan, 1236.

SIR MICHAEL SCOTT, who succeeded his father, had the honor of knighthood conferred upon him by King Alexander II, and was one of the Assize upon a perambulation of the marches between the monastery of Dunfermline and the lands of Dunduff, then belonging to David "hostiarus," 1231. He was a witness to a donation to the said monastery in 1235. In an indenture between William, Abbott of Dunfermline, and Sir William Balweary of that ilk, concerning the lands of Balweary. Sir Michael Scott, Knt., is also a witness in the beginning of the reign of King Alexander III (which began 1249). He married the daughter and sole heiress of the said Sir Richard Balweary, with whom he got the lands and Barony of Balweary, County of Fife, which became the chief title of his family. He was succeeded by his son, also Sir Michael.

The celebrated scholar, Michael Scott, generally known as "The Wizard," has been identified with the son of Sir Michael Scott, Knt., of Balweary, (V), i. e ..

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his successor, Sir Michael Scott, Knt., second Baron of Balweary, but Sheriff Mackey, the writer of the article on the scholar, in the "Dictionary of National Biography," (London and New York, 1897), shows reasonable proof that the scholar belonged to an earlier time than that of the second Baron, though admit- ting that he might be of the same family. He was more probably a brother of Duncan (IV), and would then have been Michael, son of Michael, the same as the second Baron. But though doubtless of an earlier generation than either the first or second Barons of Balweary, some account of him is here introduced, between them, because of his long supposed identity with the latter.

He was by far the most distinguished member of the family, was a man of extraordinary abilities and made a remarkable figure in his time. After pursuing with unusual success the study of languages, belles-lettres and mathematics, at home, he travelled into France, where he resided several years. From France he removed into Germany and lived for awhile at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, a prince, the most eminent of his time, both for his own learning and for the encouragement which he gave to learned men. But that prince being then engaged in war, Michael Scott withdrew from the court to pros- ecute with advantage in retirement his favorite studies of medicine and chemistry. His extraordinary discoveries in the latter science obtained for him the reputation and title of "Wizard," and his great proficiency in all Aristotelic sciences are still the admiration of scholars. He is also said to have been a prophict, and among other events to have foretold the union of Scotland and England. He left behind him several publications, among them a commentary on Aristotle, printed at Venice in 1496, and several treatises on natural philosophy. Sir George Macken- zie calls him one of the greatest philosophers, mathematicians, physicians and linguists of the time in which he lived, and says that had he not been so much addicted to astrology, alcymy, physiognomy and chiromancy, he would have deserved even greater recognition. Of Michael Scott, "Wizard," to this day there are marvellous tales told in Scotland, of his communings with the Evil One. In this capacity, though not as a living man, Sir Walter Scott, himself descended from the same stock, introduced Michael in his "Lay of the Last Minstrel." In a note to Lippincott's edition of Sir Walter's poems, (Phila., 1878) occur the fol- lowing :

"Sir Michael Scott of Balwearie flourished in the 13th century, and was one of the ambassadors sent to bring the Maid of Norway to Scotland, upon the death of Alexander III. By a poetical anachronism he is here placed in a later era. * * * He passed among his contemporaries for a skillfull magician. Dempster informs us, that he remembers to have heard in his youth that the magic books of Michael Scott were still in existence, but could not be opened without danger on account of the malignant fiends who were thereby invoked. (Dempsteri Historia Ecclesiastica, 1627). * * * Dante also mentions him as a renowned wizard: * * * (Inferno, Canto XX). A personage, thus spoken of by biographers and historians, loses little of his mystical fame in vulgar tradition. Accordingly, the memory of Michael Scott survives in many a legend; and in the south of Scotland, any work of great labor and antiquity is ascribed either to the agency of Auld Michael, of Sir William Wallace, or, of the devil. Tradition varies concerning the place of his burial, some contend for Home Coltrane, in Cumberland; others for Melrose Abbey. But all agree that his books of magic were interred in his grave or preserved in the convent where he died." "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" itself supports the claim of Melrose and describes the opening of the Wizard's grave there by moonlight, on St. Michael's Eve, and the taking therefrom of his great Book of Magic. The modern tourist is shown the spot in Melrose Abbey so described; the tomb now being marked with a tall, very grotesque, carved figure, with a placard reading, "Grave of Michael Scott." Another note to the above edition of the "Lay," says: "I have noted one or two of the most current traditions concerning Michael Scott. He was chosen, it is said, to go upon an embassy to obtain from the King of France, satisfaction for certain

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piracies committed by his subjects upon those of Scotland. Instead of preparing a new equipage and splendid retinue, the ambassador retreated to his study, opened his book, and evoked a fiend in the shape of a large black horse, mounted on his back and forced him to fly through the air towards France. As they crossed the sea, the devil insiduously asked his rider what it was that the old women of Scotland muttered at bedtime? A less experienced wizard might have answered that it was the Pater Noster, which would have licensed the devil to precipitate him from his back. But Michael sternly replied, 'What is that to thee ?- Mount, Diabolus, and fly!' When he arrived at Paris, he tied his horse to the gate of the palace, entered, and boldly delivered his message. An ambassador, with so little of the pomp and circumstance of diplomacy, was not received with much respect, and the King was about to return a contemtuous refusal to his demand, when Michael besought him to suspend his resolution till he had seen his horse stamp three times. The first stamp shook every steeple in Paris, and caused all the bells to ring; the second threw down three of the towers of the palace; and the infernal steed had lifted his hoof to give the third stamp, when the King, rather chose to dimiss Michael with the most ample concessions, than to stand the possible consequences."

This note also gives the story of how Mr. Michael as he was called, while re- siding at the Tower of Oakwood, upon the Ettrick, about three miles above Sel- kirk, punished a sorceress, called the Witch of Falsehope, who, on his visiting her to test her skill, by denying positively any knowledge of necromantic art, put him off his guard and played a trick of magic upon him that put him in great danger. The story is too long to repeat here ; it introduces the well known rhyme:

"Maister Michael Scott's Man, Sought meat, and gat nane."

A third note relates how "Michael Scott was, once upon a time, much embar- rassed by a spirit, for whom he was under a necessity of finding constant employ- ment. He commanded him to build a cauld or dam-head, across the Tweed at Kelso; it was accomplished in one night, and still does honor to the infernal archi- tect. Michael next ordered that Eildon hill, which was then an uniform cone, should be divided into three. Another night was sufficient to part its summit into three picturesque peaks which it now bears. At length the enchanter conquered this indefatigable demon, by employing him in the hopeless and endless task of making ropes out of sea-sand."

Sheriff Mackey in his article on Michael Scott in the "Dictionary of National Biography," says: "He was probably born before 1180. After he had studied successively at Oxford and at Paris, (where he acquired the title of 'mathemati- cus') he passed to Boulogne, and thence to Palermo, the clerk register of the court of Frederick IT. in Sicily. Subsequently he continued his studies at Toledo. It has been conjectured by an anonymous commentator on Dante, that Michael became the young king's tutor in Sicily, and that at Toledo he gained a knowledge of Arabic sufficient to enable him to translate 'the writings of Aristotle on Natural History and Mathematics.' At Toledo he wrote his 'Abbreviatis Avicennae,' of the colyphon in the Vatican manuscript was 'explicit anno domini MCCX.' That he gained a knowledge of Arabic at Toledo is corroborated not only by the evi- dence of this and other works attributed to him, but by the contemporary author- ity of Roger Bacon. In another place Bacon observes, with a touch of the jeal- ousy of a rival scholar, 'Michael Scot, like Herman,' a German Bishop and scholar of the same period, 'ascribed to himself many translations. But it is cer- tain that Andrew, a Jew, laboured more in them; on which account Herman reported that Michael knew neither sciences nor languages.' After completing his studies at Toledo, Michael Scot became again attached to the court of Frederick

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II, with whom his name and writings, chiefly written at the request of Frederick, must always be intimately associated. He appears to have held the office or received the name of astrologer at the court of that emperor, and he is designated in the Bodleian manuscript of his work on astronomy. An earlier work, the 'Liber Intoductorious' professedly treats of astrology and prognostics."

Dean Milman discovered, or at least first pointed out, that Michael Scott, though his studies and works were chiefly secular, had taken holy orders and was patronized by the Pope as well as the Emperor. On January 16, 1223-24, Hon- orious II, wrote to Stephen Langton urging him to find some benefice in his dio- cese for Master Michael Scott, who was distinguished for his eminence in science ; and May 31, 1224, the same Pope granted him a dispensation to hold benefices apparently in Italy, notwithstanding his election to the Irish Archbishopric of Cashel. This had been by the direct nomination of the Pope, contrary to the election of the canons, who had chosen the Bishop of Cork. But Michael de- clined the office on the ground of his ignorance of Irish. Three years later, 1227, Gregory IX, successor of Honorius, renewed the request that a benefice in the diocese of Canterbury might be given to Michael Scott, but he never received any preferment in England or Ireland, though from the reference to benefices which he was to be allowed to retain, it seems that he held more than one, probably in Italy.

In 1230, according to Roger Bacon, "Michael Scot appeared (at Oxford) bring- ing with him the works of Aristotle on natural history and mathematics, with wise expositors, so that the philosophy of Aristotle was magnified among those who spoke Latin" (Apud Latinos). It is highly probable that this refers to a mission to the universities of Europe on which Frederick II sent Scot to communi- cate to them the versions of Aristotle which Michael himself and other learned scholars in the emperor's service had made from the Arabic. He doubtless visited Paris and Oxford, where he possibly met Bacon. He may even have revisited his native Scotland, on whose borders there were various later traditions of his death and burial, at Melrose, Glenluce, Holmecultram and Burgh under Bowness. Walter Scott, of Satchells, historian of the clan, was shown what was alleged to be his tomb at the last named place in 1629, but this date is too late for a trust- worthy tradition. It appears more probable that Michael returned to Italy, where the Italian traditions evidently place his death, though without naming any par- ticular site. He must have died prior to 1235, for in a poem of Vincent of Beau- vais, written in that year, 'veridicus vates Michael' is referred to as dead, 'Sic accusator fatorum fata subivit.'

"His great fame and varied learning soon led to the accretion of legends around his name, * * Villani records two of his prophesies which were fulfilled, that of 'the Dog of Verona (Can Gande) would become the Lord of Padua' and that 'Foolish Florence of flowers will not long stand, but will fall into the dirt and live by dissimilation.' * * Scot is one of the great men accused of magic whom Gabriel Nande defends. He is said to have predicted the place of the death of Frederick, (that he should die in Firenza, (Florence). The emperor to avoid the Prophecy would not enter that town, or, even fearing an equivocation, Faenze, but met his fate at Firenzuola, (Little Florence).

"Boccaccio uses as a well known name to introduce one of his novels, 'a great master in necromancy called Michael Scot, because he was from Scotland, who

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received much honor from many gentlemen, of whom some still live, and when he wished to leave laid this charge on two of his scholars that they should always be ready to serve the pleasure of the gentlemen who had honored him (Ith day, 9th novel).' A novel called 'Sir Michael Scot' was published by Allan Cunning- ham in 1828, and Coleridge projected a drama on his life which he deemed a better theme than Faust." This account then gives a list of the works, both printed and manuscript, attributed to Michael Scot (or Scott) which appears to be genuine ; and winds up with a list of the principal authorities on his biography.

SIR MICHAEL SCOTT, of Balweary, second Baron of Balweary of the name of Scott, succeeded his father, Sir Michael Scott, Knt., in the barony and all the possessions of the ancient family of Balweary, of that ilk. In 1290, King Alex- ander III being dead, Sir Michael Scott and Sir Michael Wemyes, of Wemeys, were, by the states of the nation, deputed ambassadors extraordinary to the court of Norway to bring home Queen Margaret, "The Maid of Norway, only daugh- ter of Eric Magnusson, King of Norway, by Margaret, daughter of Alexander III of Scotland, then the undoubted heir to the crown of Scotland, and who was to have espoused Prince Edward, afterwards Edward II, of England." Buchanan calls them "equites Fifani illustres," etc. Another good author says, "nobiles Scotiae duos milites scientia, et moribus proaeclaros, Michaelem Wemyss, et Michaelem Scot," etc. They went on their embassy accordingly, but unhappily for them and their country, the Queen died at Orkney, on her way to Scotland, 1291, and a dispute for the crown was precipitated.

As has been already said this Sir Michael Scot has been identified by some as Michael Scot, called "The Wizard," the celebrated scholar. Sir Walter Scott, author of "The Lay of the Last Minstrel," introduces him into that poem, and in notes thereto, makes a positive statement as to this identity. Playfair, ( British Baronetage, 1811), and Burke (Peerage, 1906, and Landed Gentry), have both assumed this to be a fact. But Sheriff Mackey, in the "Dictionary of National Biography," above quoted, says, "SCOTT or SCOT, MICHAEL, ( 1175 ?- 1234?). mathematician, physician. and scholar, possibly belonged to the family of Scots of Balwearie, near Kirkcaldt, in Fife, whose ruined castle has been identified with Castle Wearie in the weird ballad of Lammikin. Sir Walter Scott erred in identi- fying him with Sir Micael Scot of Balwearie, who, with Sir David ( Michel) Wemyss was sent to fetch the Maid of Norway to Scotland in 1290. The scholar died before 1235." In support of which latter statement he advances, later on, some evidence, as quoted above.

Sir Michael, of Balweary, with most of the nobility and gentry of his country, was compelled to submit to King Edward I, of England, 1296. He left two sons, Sir Henry, his heir, and Duncan Scot, who was proprietor of lands in Forfarshire, and was also forced to swear allegiance to King Edward I, of England, for his lands lying in that country, 1304; he was progenitor of the Scots in the north. Sir Michael died about 1304.

SIR HENRY SCOTT, who succeeded his father, Sir Michael, as third Baron of Balweary, was like his father compelled to submit to Edward I, of England, according to these words in Rymer's Collections: "Dominus Henricus Scot de Fife, miles fecit homagium Edward I, in 1304."

He died in the beginning of the reign of King David Bruce of Scotland, and left a son and successor,

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SIR ANDREW SCOTT, of Balweary, who was an ardent Patriot, and was killed at the battle of Berwick, 1355, while fighting against the English for the liberty of his country. He left an infant son,

SIR WILLIAM SCOTT, of Balweary, who succeeded him, and got a charter of corporation from John, Abbott of Dunfermline, dated June 3, 1393. He died in the end of the reign of King Robert III, and was succeeded by his son,

SIR MICHAEL SCOTT, of Balweary, who by an authentic writ, still preserved, disposed of the lands of Cambrune, and the mill thereon, to Sir John Wemyss of that ilk, 1400. He was one of the hostages for the ransom of King James I of Scotland, 1424. He died in the reign of King James II, leaving beside his heir, Sir William, a daughter Margaret, wife of Sir John Melville, of Raith.

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Colonial families of Philadelphia, Volume II, Part 66

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed Publication date: 1911 Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 978

Author: Jordan, John Woolf, 1840-1921, ed
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: New York : Lewis Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 978