Placer
County
Biographies
JOHN COLLINS
The business interests of Rocklin
are entrusted to a board of trustees, one of whom is
Mr. Collins, and in the faithful discharge of his duties he manifests a loyal
and progressive spirit that is of marked benefit to the community. Mr. Collins was born in Staffordshire,
England, on the 5th of September, 1841. His father, James Collins, was born in
Ireland and belonged to a wealthy and prominent family who owned large estates
there. In England he married Miss Bessie
Elizabeth Hughes, who was born on the merrie isle and was of English
lineage. By trade the father was a glass
cutter and engraver, but his business career was not of long duration as he
died in the thirty-fourth year of his age, leaving two sons to the care of the
widowed mother. The daughters died when
very young. In 1844 Mrs. Collins married
John Meyrick, a blacksmith, by whom she had six
children: Richard, Martha, William,
Samuel, Janey and Lucy. Richard and William are deceased. Mrs. Meyrick passed
away in the fifty-eighth year of her age, in the city of York, Yorkshire,
England. Mr. Meyrick’s
father kept the Royal Oak Inn at Clayhills, near
Ludlow, Shropshire.
The subject of this review was
educated in England and in his native land learned the blacksmith’s trade. He chose as a companion and helpmate on
life’s journey Miss Sarah Hannah Francis, who was born in England and belonged
to one of the old families there. A
daughter came to bless their home, to whom was given the name of Ann Elizabeth,
and with their first-born they crossed the Atlantic to the United States in
1869, settling in Wyoming, where Mr. Collins worked as a blacksmith for the
Union Pacific Railroad Company for one year.
He then removed with his family to Carlin, Nevada, where he remained for
two and a half years, and then came to California, taking up his abode in
Sacramento. In the latter part of
September, 1876, he arrived in Rocklin, where he has since resided and has been
continuously employed as a blacksmith for the Southern Pacific Railroad Company
at this place. He is a sturdy, capable
and industrious man and an expert mechanic, capable of making anything out of
iron. He has ever given the best
satisfaction to the company through his excellent service and enjoys the
unqualified confidence of those by whom he is employed.
Four children have been born to Mr.
and Mrs. Collins in California, namely:
Fannie, now the wife of Paul Walters; Charles Albert; Arthur and Alma
Willard. Mr. Collins has erected a
commodious residence in Rocklin and owns six city lots, on which stand his home
and outbuildings. The grounds are
ornamented with trees, flowers and shrubs of his own planting and the art of
the landscape gardener has added much to the attractiveness of the place. He also has a forty-acre farm a short
distance from the town, and his possessions are as a monument to his industry
and enterprise.
Socially Mr. Collins is connected
with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Ancient Order of United
Workmen, and politically he is a Republican.
He was elected one of the trustees of the town in April, 1900, an office
which he is filling with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. He is spoken of as a sensible, practical man,
ever ready to do his part in promoting the best interests of the town, and he
and his family are held in high esteem by their fellow citizens among whom they
have so long resided.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
“A Volume of Memoirs and Genealogy of Representative Citizens of Northern
California”, Pages 715-716. Chicago Standard Genealogical Publishing Co. 1901.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.