Excerpt from The Collins Family: Genealogical Record (in Part) Of the Descendants of John Collins, Sr., From 1640 to 1760; A Complete Record of the Descendants of William Collins and Esther Morris, From 1760 to 1897 A scientist traces, with cumulative interest and enthusiasm, the record of an elemental atom, from its brilliant sparkle in a jewel, back through numberless ages of geologic changes and incandescent' fire mists to its fountain in the sun. I take a somewhat similar interest in tracing back along the current of life, though but a century or two, the history of that vital cell which evolves into personality. A soul shall draw from out the vast And strike his being into bounds. And, moved thro' life of lower phase. Result in man, be born and think. And act and love. The currents of life and love meet and mingle, and out of this mystery come personalities, with their relationship of lover, wife, father, mother, child and friend. On this physical basis of life, come moral and spiritual qualities. As the flower-cells in our gardens absorb their surroundings in earth and air into definite moulds of beauty, not less do personalities develop in their evolution, elements of power and heroism, patriotism and piety, service and self-sacrifice, loyalty and love; qualities of character - spiritual, beautiful and immortal. In my investigation of the records, the results of which appear in the book, no disclosures have come to light to cast a shadow upon the honor of the family name. The simple virtues of our remotest known ancestor and the pilgrims who sought a home and larger life in the wilderness of New England, have characterized their descendants. The portraits in this book were selected by those who took an active interest in it, and were willing to share in the expense of the electrotype plates. I should have been pleased to have had a larger representation of the family. In my sketches it has seemed proper that I should preserve such of the family incidents as were of my personal knowledge, and to be wholly forgotten if not thus put on record. For the record of the Collins family from John, of London, to William Collins (born I am indebted to Charles Collins, late of Yonkers, New York. His interest in the family record and his liberality in the use of money laid the foundation without which my work would never have been attempted. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.