Henry “the starchmaker” Collins of Lynn

Added by Elwin Nickerson II, My 8th Great Grandfather, Arrived in the "ABIGAIL" in 1635.

Settlers from Salem purchased land in an area known as Saugus from the Indians. This land originally included the towns of Swampscott, Nahant, Saugus and Lynnfield. In 1630 the land was incorporated as the Town of Saugus. The settlers changed the name to Lynn in 1637 in honor of their first official minister, Samuel Whiting, from King’s Lynn, England.

Children of Anne and Henry Collins, Sr.

1. Anne Collins
2. Henry Collins, Jr.
3. John Collins
4. Margery Collins Williams
5. Hannah Collins Ingersoll
6. Joseph Collins
7. Mary Collins Johnson
8. Benjamin Collins He had a contingent of five servants Joshua Griffith, age 25; Hugh Alley, age 27; Mary Roote, age 15; Jo: Coke, age 27 & Geo: Burdin, age 24.

Henry Collins, Sr. was born in 1606 in Stepney Parish, London, Middlesex County, England. His parents were Henry Collins (1580) and Ann (1582).

He married Ann whose last name is not know about 1627 in Stepney Parish London, Middlesex County, England.

He was a starch maker. He brought his family to Amercia in 1635. He was made a freeman of Massachusetts Bay Colony on March 9, 1637. In 1638 eighty acres of land, upland and meadow, were assigned him. He lived on Essex Street. Lynn records show that he served as selectman. In 1639 he was a member of the Salem Court. In 1657 he was selected to help lay out Nahant in planting lots.

In September, 1662 he testified that he was about 55 years old and that he knew the mill on Sangamon Hill in Lynn that had belonged to John Humfrey and that it had been very useful. After Humfrey left the country they had to take their corn to Salem to grind since the other mill in Lynn was sometimes dried up in summer and frozen in winter.

His will was dated February 10, 1686.  He mentioned his wife, his son-in-law Johnson (Mary’s husband), sons Henry, Joseph, and Benjamin and daughters Margery, Hannah, and Elizabeth. It referred to his son John, deceased. 

He died on February 20, 1687 in Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts and was buried in Lynn.

Will

Henry Senior's will is dated 10 February 1686/7 [Suffolk Probate 1532].
"In his will, dated 11 February 1686/7 and proved 31 March 1687, 'Henry Collins, Senior, of Lynn, aged 82 or thereabouts, being weak and infirm in body' confirmed the gifts of land given to 'my own natural children or those that stand related to me by marriage with any of my daughters' including 'my son Johnson upon marriage with my daughter'; 'my dear and loving wife, who hath ever been tender of my and industrious in her place in procuring what outward estate God hath bestowed upon us' to receive the benefit of all the housing and lands; 'my movables, chattels, cattle, etc. 'at her disposal to either 'my own chiledren or my grandchildren as she shall see cause at her decease'; after wife's decease, lands and meadows wheresoever divided equally 'among my three sons, Henry, Joseph and Benjamin, only my eldest son Henry have 30 pounds worth of land more'; to 'my son Benjamin,' ten acres of land in my planting field'; to 'my daughter Margery,' £30; to 'my daughters Hannah and Elizabeth,' £20 a piece; 'as for my son John deceased his portion he received in his life time and so that his child4en do greatly and peaceably enjoy the same'; 'my children' to be dutiful and tender to 'their aged mother'; 'my loving wife and eldest son, Henry Collins,' executors; 'Mr. Oliver Purchase and Mr. Jeremiah Shepard' overseers[23].

Links

• http://www.anamericanfamilyhistory.com/Collins%20Family/CollinsHenr...
• http://kristinhall.org/fambly/Collins/HenryCollins1.html
• http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=thomascol...
• _____________________________
• Henry Collins of Lynn, and some of his descendants in Southborough, Massachusetts and Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire (1916)
• https://archive.org/details/henrycollinsofly00coll
• https://archive.org/stream/henrycollinsofly00coll#page/1/mode/1up
• 1. HENRY COLLINS, starchmaker, aged 29, with his wife Ann, aged 30, three children and five servants, came in the ship Abigail in June, 1635. They were certified from the parish of Stepney, England. Probably this was not their home, but the place of their last sojourn in England. The servants were evidently his workmen in the business which it would seem he had been carrying on in England.
• He settled at Lynn. March 9, 1636-7, he was made freeman," which means he became a citizen of the colony, entitled to the privilege of voting and holding office in the colony. .... etc.
• https://archive.org/stream/henrycollinsofly00coll#page/2/mode/1up
• .... The will of Henry Collins cannot now be found, but it is referred to in probate records. It was dated February 10, 1686, and was probated March 31, 1687. Later an agreement was made by the sons to carry out the provisions of the will, and this agreement is on file at Salem.
• Ann, the widow of Henry Collins, died September 29, 1691. Her blindness, which she mentions in the following will, explains the fact that she was unable to sign her name, but made her mark instead. .... etc.
• https://archive.org/stream/henrycollinsofly00coll#page/4/mode/1up
• Children :
  • i. Henry2, b. in England about 1630.
  • ii. John, b. in England about 1632.
  • iii. Margery, b. in England about 1633.
  • 2. iv. Joseph, b. about 1642.
  • v. Benjamin.
• https://archive.org/stream/henrycollinsofly00coll#page/5/mode/1up
• 2. Joseph2 Collins (Henry1) deposed in the case of Edward Richard's estate in Lynn, March 24, 1689, giving his age as "about fourty & Seaven yeares." This would make his birth fall in the year 1642 or 1643. He was mentioned in the will of his father and was one of the brothers who made an agreement regarding the lands which their father had owned and bequeathed to them, in the year 1694.
• He was a housewright, or carpenter and builder. He lived at Lynn and owned considerable land. February 20, 1721-2, he deeded land and buildings to his son Ezekiel, on condition of Ezekiel's taking care of himself and wife and paying certain sums to the other children; but March 28, 1724, they joined in a "disannulling" deed.
• He married first, Sarah ---- ; she died February 25, 1682. He married second, October, 1684, Maria Smith. He died February 4, 1734.
• Children : .... etc.
• _______________________
• History of Lynn, Essex County, Massachusetts, including Lynnfield, Saugus, Swampscot, and Nahant, 1629-[1893] (1890)
• https://archive.org/details/historyoflynness00inlewi
• https://archive.org/stream/historyoflynness00inlewi#page/151/mode/1up
• Pg.151
• Henry Collins — was a starch maker, and lived in Essex street. He embarked in the Abigail, of London, 30 June, 1635. In 1639 he was a member of the Salem Court. He was born in 1606, and was buried 20 Feb. 1687, at the age of 81. His wife Ann was born in 1605. His children were, Henry, born 1630; John, b. 1632; Margery, b. 1633; and Joseph, b. 1635, and his descendants remain. [I think this settler must have been the same individual who is by some genealogists called Henry Colesworthy. The son John was lost by shipwreck, in 1679. His wife Abigail survived him, and to her administration was granted in June, 1680. His estate was valued at £365 1s. 6d. He left twelve children, several of whom were quite young. A son Samuel, had "a good trade of a gunsmith."]
• _________________________________
• The pioneers of Massachusetts, a descriptive list, drawn from records of the colonies, towns and churches and other contemporaneous documents (1900)
• https://archive.org/details/pioneersofmassac00pope
• https://archive.org/stream/pioneersofmassac00pope#page/112/mode/1up
• Henry, starch-maker, ae. 29, with wife Ann, ae. 30, ch. Henry, ae. 5, John, ae. 3, and Margery, ae. 2, and servants Joshua Griffith, ae. 25, Hugh Alley, ae. 27, Mary Roote, ae. 15, John Coke, ae. 27, and George Burdin, ae. 24, came in the Abigail in June. 1635, cert. from the parish of Stepney, Eng. He settled at Lynn. Frm. March 9, 1636-7. Town officer.
• Will dated 10 Feb. 1686, ae. about 82 years, prob. 31 March, 1687, beq. to wife; to son-in-law Johnson, sons Henry, Joseph and Benjamin, daus. Margery, Hannah and Elizabeth; refers to son John, dec.
• ______________________
• Henry Collins
• M, #66427, b. 1606, d. 20 February 1687
• Henry Collins was born in 1606 at Stepney Parish, London, Middlesex, England. He married Ann before 1630. Henry Collins died on 20 February 1687 at Lynn, Essex, MA.
• Family Ann b. 1605, d. 1691
• Children
  • Henry Collins+ b. 29 Oct 1629, d. 14 Oct 1722
  • Joseph Collins+ b. c 1642, d. 4 Feb 1734
• From: http://our-royal-titled-noble-and-commoner-ancestors.com/p2211.htm#...
• _______________________
• Ann,
• b. 1605 England
• d. 29 SEP 1691 Lynn, Essex, Mass.
• Family:
• Marriage: ABT 1628 England
• Spouse: COLLINS, Henry
• b. 1606 England
• d. 19 FEB 1686/7 Lynn, Essex, Mass.
• Children:
  • COLLINS, Henry
  • COLLINS, John
  • COLLINS, Margery
  • COLLINS, Hannah
  • COLLINS, Mary
  • COLLINS, Riall
  • COLLINS, Joseph
  • COLLINS, Benjamin
• From: http://www.genealogyofnewengland.com/f_1a3.htm#35