Person:Edward Collins (6)

"3. Dea. Edward¹ Collins (John, ? John), of Cambridge and Charlestown, Mass., merchant, gentleman, baptized at Bramford, co. Suffolk, England, 25 Mar. 1603, died at Charlestown 9 Apr. 1689, aged 86 years. (He deposed in Middlesex County, Mass., in 1659, aged 56, and again on 29 Apr. 1660, aged about 57 years.) … The relations or narratives of persons joining the Cambridge church give information about the life of Edward Collins in England, stating that he was brought up by godly parents, that after his father's death he was placed in a gentleman's house, that afterwards he spent a year with old Mr. Rogers of Wethersfield [co. Essex, England], that he was apprenticed in a worthy family, and that later he went to Dedham [co. Essex], England. (Cf. Pope, Pioneers of Massachusetts, p. 112, where also may be found statements from the 'relation' of his wife and other statements about him.) According to Pope, op. ext., Edward Collins was a proprietor of Cambridge, Mass., in 1636, but he probably did not arrive in New England until a year or two later. He was a deacon of the First Church in Cambridge in 1638, and was admitted a freeman 13 May 1640. He was a town officer, and, as already stated (supra, p. 73), he was a representative in the General Court of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay from 1654 to 1670, inclusive, except the year 1661, and he lived for many years on the plantation of Governor Cradock at Medford, Mass. (where Pope, op. cit., places him in 1656), finally buying this plantation and selling 1600 acres of it to Richard Russell and other parts of it to Dea. Thomas Willis of Medford and others. Although he lived many years on his estate in Medford, he retained his citizenship in Cambridge until his formal admission to Charlestown, 15 Jan. 1671 [? 1671/2]. (Vide supra, pp. 73-74, for reasons for doubting the statement of Savage that John Collins of Boston, Mass., shoemaker, was a brother of Dea. Edward Collins of Cambridge. An additional reason for doubting this relationship is found in the fact that no baptism of a John Collins is recorded among the entries in the Bramford registers given in the preceding instalment of this article, supra, p. 76.)"

"1. Edward¹ Collins appears first at Cambridge, Mass., in 1638, where he was deacon of the first church, and was made freeman May 13, 1640. From 1654 to 1670, with the exception of the year 1661, he was a representative in the General Court. He lived many years on the plantation of Gov. Craddock at Medford, and at last purchased it, selling off considerable portions of it. He and his brother John¹ were all their lives active men. Cotton Mather, in the Magnalia, speaks of Edward¹ as the 'good old man, the deacon of the church at Cambridge, who is now gone to heaven; but before he went thither, had the satisfaction to see several most worthy sons become very famous persons in their generation.' He died in Charlestown, Mass., Apr. 9, 1689, aged 86 years. The place from which they emigrated in England has not been ascertained."

"Edward (Collins), Cambridge 1638, freem. 13 May 1640, was deac. rep. 1654-70, exc. 61, liv. many yrs. on planta. of Gov. Cradock at Medford, and at last purch. it, sold to Richard Russell 1600 acres, and other parts to others. Mather, Magn. IV. 8, in his whole chap. on the tw. s. John and Nathaniel, does not equal in value the few lines of Mitchell, from wh. we learn, his w. was Martha, and ch. Daniel, a. 9 yrs. old when his parents unit. with his ch. possib. f. of Phebe, wh. d. at C. 5 Jan. 1654; liv. at Koningsburg, in Prussia; John, H. C. 1649; Samuel, liv. in Scotland for some yrs.; and Sibyl, w. of Rev. John Whiting, all b. in Eng.; beside these, Martha, b. Sept. 1639; Nathaniel, 7 Mar. 1643, H. C. 1660; Abigail, 20 Sept. 1644; and Edward, 1646, all bapt. here. Abigail m. prob. in 1663, John Willet, s. of capt. Thomas, wh. d. 2 Feb. 1664; and Martha, it is thot. m. Rev. Joshua Moody. The patriarch d. at Charlestown, 9 Apr. 1689, aged a. 86."