PHILANDER COLLINS, well-known in Byron township, Kent county, Mich., for the past quarter of a century as a man of integrity and as a prosperous farmer and dairyman, is a native of Wayne county, was born April 17, I856, about eight miles from the city of Detroit, and is the second in a family of nine children-seven sons and two daughters-born to John and Nancy (Williams) Collins, of which family there are three known still as surviving, viz: Philander, the subject of this sketch; James, and Lucretia, the latter the wife of Owen Blain, a farmer of Gaines township, Kent county. Mr. Collins can trace his paternal ancestry in America for 265 years back, the first John Collins having arrived in Boston only five years after the landing of the Mayflower. From Massachusetts John Collins went to Connecticut, became a major in the Continental army, and from him descends the subject of this sketch. John Collins, father of Philander of the ninth generation and ninth in name from the original John, was born in Windsor, Canada, September 26, I830, and was a ship-carpenter by trade; he had come to Michigan while it was yet a territory, and was here educated in the common schools and learned his trade. His father, also named John, was a wealthy man at one time, located in Detroit when there were very few buildings in that city, and once owned the land on which its city-hall now stands. He was a hero of the war of I812, under the then Capt. William Henry Harrison, later the victor of the battle of Tippecanoe and still later president of the United States. In January, 1872, John Collins, father of Philander, visited Grand Rapids, remained there until the following summer, and then settled on 240 acres of dense forest land in Byron township.. He erected a little frame shanty I4X 18 feet, with but one room, which served the purpose of living-room and sleeping-room. Indians frequently passed by the shanty and deer were to be seen from the doorway. Besides his 240 acres, Mr. Collins owned some city property, all of which had been earned by his own industry. In politics Mr. Collins was first a whig, but became a republican and voted for the
first nominee of the latter party for the presidency-John Charles Fremont. In religion Mr. Collins was a faithful Methodist, and in this faith he passed away August 7, I894, highly esteemed by all who knew him, and in his death the township lost a good citizen, the wife an affectionate husband, and the children a loving father. Mrs. Nancy Collins was born in Wales, near the English line, December 15, 1832, a daughter of Timothy and Dorothy Williams. At the age of twelve years she embarked with her parents on board a sailing vessel at Liverpool, and after a stormy voyage of three months landed in New York city, whence they came, via the Erie canal and Buffalo, to Wayne county, Mich. She now resides with her son, is in good health and of sound mentalitv, and is a devoted member of the Division street Methodist Episcopal church at Grand Rapids. Philander Collins was a lad of sixteen years when he came with his parents to Kent county. He had received a good common-school education, and in his earlier manhood was a member of the Grand Rapids city fire department, yet spent a part of his time as a brick mason, or at anything by which he could earn an honest dollar, but his later years have been passed in agricultural pursuits. Mr. Collins was united in marriage, November 6, I879, with Miss Cecelia Curran, and this union has been crowned with. eight children, born in the following order: Margaret, wife of F. Baker, a farmer of Byron township; Benjamin J., who has completed the eighth grade in school and still resides with his parents; Matthew, C., who has also passed the eighth grade; John H., in the seventh grade; Frank, in the sixth; Mary, Owen and Daniel P., also attending school. Mrs. Cecelia Collins was born in Amsterdam, N. Y., April 15, I855, is a daughter of John and Margaret (Hays) Curran, and was a child when brought by her parents to Grand Rapids, which was then a small town and Monroe street lined with wooden structures and the only railroad the D. & M. Her parents purchased fifty acres of land in Walker township and there and in the city her schooldays were passed. She was confirmed in the Catholic faith by Bishop LeFevre, at Grand Rapids, and in that faith her parents were called away. In the fall of I88I Mr. and Mrs. Philander Collins settled on their farm of IOO acres in Byron township, and all the improvements on the place have been made by Mr. Collins and his estimable wife. His comfortable dwelling was completed in I882, his farm has been well drained, and by hard work and intelligent direction of his energies he has made it one of the most productive in Byron township, the soil being a mixture of clay, muck and sand loam. He has added dairying to farming, and of this he has made a success, being recognized as one of the industrious, enterprising and upright citizens of the township. Mr. Collins is a stanch republican, has served as justice of the peace four years-having been elected in I895-has been an official on the district school board three years, and has several times been selected as delegate to republican county and senatorial conventions. With his wife, he is an ardent friend of the public-school system and of the best grade of schools and teachers, and as a party man has the implicit confidence of his people in his ability and integrity. Mr. and Mrs. Collins began their married life with but little capital, but to-day own a handsome homestead, free from incumbrance, and have afforded an example of enterprise and industry well worthy the imitation of their juniors. They are kind to the poor and benevolent in their contributions to those projects which are designed to promote the public welfare; they have aided financially in the erection of the Congregational church-building in southeast Byron, as well as in many other benevolences, and have well earned the high esteem in which they are held by all the residents of Byron township.