Papers

This collection consists of photocopies of letters written by various family members, primarily James S. Collins, Martha Louvenia Symth Collins (Mrs. James S. Collins – second wife of James S.), James “Jim” Madison Collins, Lake Huron Collins Madison, Martin Lomax “Max” Collins, Irene (Mrs. Lomax Collins), and Purser Collins. The letters include two notes to Louvenia from James S. written in 1875 prior to their marriage, three letters to her children Jim, Lake and Max from Louvenia in 1928 giving them instructions on how to divide her property and goods between them after her death, and a series of letters written during the Depression (1931–1934) to Lake from Jim, Irene, and Max.

The collection also contains photocopies of the birth, marriage and death pages from several family Bibles. There are also photocopies of typed and handwritten pages of genealogical data and obituaries clipped from newspapers.

There is also a letter from Sarah Johnson of Troy, Alabama, to Marvin Gerry Stewart of Northport, Alabama, dated 16 May 1990, which accompanies a photocopy of the minutes of Wesley Chapel United Methodist Church in Pike County, Alabama. The first page of the minutes indicates that they start on 4 April 1868 and end on 3 September 1874.