Oscar Collins
Oscar and Margaret (Dickson) Osborn Collins
Oscar Collins, who has long been actively and successfully
identified with general agricultural pursuits in Allamakee
county, is now living practically retired but still owns a
valuable farm of two hundred and forty acres on sections 16 and
21, Franklin township, which is one of the most highly improved
and most modern properties in the county. His birth occurred in
Montgomery county, New York, on the 27th of October, 1836, his
parents being Josiah and Elizabeth (Wright) Collins, the former a
native of Montgomery county, New York, and the latter of Vermont.
Josiah Collins followed farming throughout his active business
career, and both he and his wife passed away in Montgomery
county, New York. He was a member of the state militia. Our
subject was the first born in a family of seven children, three
of whom are still living and two of whom are residents of the
Empire state.
In the acquirement of an education Oscar Collins attended the
district schools of his native county. His father died when he
was a lad of but ten years and for the next eight years he lived
with an uncle. When a young man of eighteen he began working as a
farm hand and was thus employed in New York until the spring of
1857, when he came to Iowa, here working by the month as a farm
hand until 1861. He was married in the fall of that year and
subsequently cultivated rented land in Monona township, Clayton
county, until the winter of 1864. At that time he enlisted for
service in the Union army as a member of Company L, Seventh Iowa
Cavalry, serving as a private until June, 1866, when he was
mustered out at Sioux City. He did hospital service and was
fortunate in that he was never wounded. Returning to Monona,
Iowa, he rented land and there made his home until 1870, when he
took up his abode on an eighty-acre farm in Franklin township
which he had purchased in 1868. He erected a small house on the
place and continued to reside thereon for ten years. On the
expiration of that period he disposed of the property and bought
the farm on which he now resides and which he had previously
rented for two years. His original purchase comprised one hundred
and sixty acres but he has since extended the boundaries of his
place until it now embraces two hundred and forty acres of rich
and productive land and constitutes one of the best equipped
properties in Allamakee county. His buildings are all of modern
type of the best construction. Mr. Collins makes a specialty of
dairying, keeping about fifty head of high-grade Guernsey cattle
and other stock in proportion. He still devotes his attention to
the management of the farm but is now practically living retired,
leaving the active work of the fields to others. His residence is
commodious and modern in every particular and, as above stated,
his farm buildings are of the latest and most up-to date
construction. The dimensions of his cow barn are eighty-six by
thirty-four feet and the building contains sixty-three windows
and is fitted with adjustable stanchions, adjustable managers and
feed boxes. There are also ventilators to carry away foul air,
and fresh air tubes extend to the center of the structure. The
ceiling is of the hip-roof, self-supporting style and there are
no posts or pillars to interfere with the feed space. The
building has a capacity of one hundred tons of hay and there is
also space for a car load of ground feed or bran. It is fitted
with forty-one stanchions and two large box stalls at the north
end. The barns have cement flooring and light is furnished by an
acetylene plant.
Mr. Collins has been twice married. On the 14th of November,
1861, he wedded Miss Orpha Melissa Cummings, who was born in
Monona township in 1840 and was said to be the first white child
born in Clayton county. Her parents were natives of Illinois and
her mother a Miss Hannah Rowe before her marriage. Her father
became one of the earliest settlers of Clayton county, this
state, and there both her parents died. Mrs. Orpha M. Collins
passed away in January, 1873, leaving four children, namely:
Joseph L., born August 13, 1862, who married Miss Sarah Ferguson
and is a hotel proprietor and ex-railroad contractor of Forest
Grove, Montana; Eunice, born in January, 1867, who is the wife of
Charles Thornton, an agriculturist of Franklin township; Retta,
who was born on the 19th of December, 1868, and is the wife of
Frank Bloxham, an extensive agriculturist of Franklin township;
and Page Wright, born on the 1st of January, 1871, who wedded
Miss Charlotta May Adams, and is a farmer residing at What Cheer,
Keokuk county.
On the 2d of April, 1874, Oscar Collins was again married, his
second union being with Mrs. Margaret (Dickson) Osborn, who was
born in Glasgow, Scotland, on the 18th of March, 1833. Her
parents, William and Margaret (Carmichael) Dickson, were both
natives of that country. In early manhood the father worked as a
weaver. It was in 1850 and he and his wife emigrated to the
United States, residing in New York city until 1857. Coming to
Iowa in that year Mr. Dickson purchased a tract of land and made
his home thereon until he passed away, his demise occurring
during the period of the Civil war. His wife was called to her
final rest about 1885. Mrs. Collins was the third in order of
birth in their family of seven children, four of whom are still
living. Unto Oscar and Margaret (Dickson) Osborn Collins was born
one son, Lyman Robert, whose birth occurred on the 4th of
November, 1876, and who assist his father in the operation of the
home farm.
In his political views Mr. Collins is a stanch republican. He has
ably served in the capacity of trustee and acted as school
director for a period of fifteen years. The period of his
residence in this part of the state covers fifty-six years and he
is therefore well acquainted with its history and people. Mr.
Collins always has been a pioneer in installing the latest
improvements. He built the first modern house, the first
successfully operated silo and was the first man in the county to
have a milking machine which would milk four cows at the same
time. His importance as leader in agricultural developments is
well established by these signs of progressiveness. He has now
passed the seventy-sixth milestone on life journey and can look
back upon an active, useful and honorable career.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich
Return to 1913 biographies index