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Below is a family biography from the book,  The History of Crawford County, Arkansas published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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Samuel Collins, retail liquor dealer, of Van Buren, was born in Botetourt County, Va., in 1829, and is a son of John and Mary (Peery) Collins. The father was born in Lynchburgh, Va., in 1810, where he passed his entire life engaged in agricultural pursuits, and was killed in 1873, by the falling of a tree. The mother survived her husband but one year; she was a native of Virginia. Samuel Collins is the oldest of a family of eight children, and at the age of eighteen began to work at blacksmithing, at which he continued many years. In 1848 he moved to Searcy, White Co., Ark., and in 1851 went to Lewisburg, Conway Co., Ark. In 1860 he married Miss Lizzie L. Green, who was born in New Albany, Ind., in 1845, and is the mother of eight children: Pomp Lafayette, Mary M. (wife of Henry Whitaker, engineer at Fort Smith & Little Rock Railway), Willie Lee (wife of Louis Vogle, groceryman at Little Rock), Samuel C., Frederick D., Ernest C., Precious J. and Bennie E. During the late war Mr. Collins spent three years in New Albany, Ind. In 1876 Mrs. Collins started a boarding-house in Lewisburg, and in 1877 moved to Atkins, Ark., and established the Atkins Hotel. In 1882 they moved to Van Buren, where Mrs. Collins keeps a first-class hotel, known as the “Collins Hotel,” and enjoys a liberal patronage. In January 1887, Mr. Collins started the retail liquor business, in which he is now engaged. In politics Mr. Collins is a stanch Democrat, and his is a member of the K. of H.

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This family biography is one of 222 biographies included in The History of Crawford County, Arkansas published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Crawford County, Arkansas History, Genealogy, and Maps

View additional Crawford County, Arkansas family biographies here: Crawford County, Arkansas

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