Jacob A. Collins and Mary Martin

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Husband Jacob A. Collins

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           Born: Abt 1750
     Christened: 
           Died: 1 May 1795 - (Cleveland Co., North Carolina) 1
         Buried:  - Collins Cem., Earl, Cleveland Co., North Carolina

       Marriage: 

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Wife Mary Martin

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           Born: Abt 1750
     Christened: 
           Died: 8 Jan 1848 - (Cleveland Co., North Carolina) 2
         Buried:  - Collins Cem., Earl, Cleveland Co., North Carolina

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Children

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1 M William Collins

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           Born: Abt 1775
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Susannah Hardin (Abt 1780-      )

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2 F Elizabeth Collins ^{3 4}

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           Born: 20 Jun 1781 - North Carolina
     Christened: 
           Died: 5 Aug 1871 - (Cleveland Co., NC)
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Thomas Roberts (      -1840/1850)
           Marr: 1 Sep 1800

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3 F Mary Collins

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           Born: Abt 1884
     Christened: 
           Died: 
         Buried: 

         Spouse: Young J. Hardin (      -      )
           Marr: 14 Feb 1808

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4 M Jacob Collins

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           Born: 1788
     Christened: 9 Feb 1866
           Died: 
         Buried:  - Hutcherson Cem., Waleska, Cherokee Co., Georgia

         Spouse: Jane "Ginna" Hardin (Abt 1790-      )
           Marr: 17 Mar 1807 - Rutherford Co., North Carolina

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General Notes: Husband - Jacob A. Collins

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From a civil Lawsuit filed in Cleveland Co. NC on Aug. 18, 1859. The lawsuit pairs Elizabeth Roberts (wife of Thomas Roberts) against Morris Roberts and his heirs.

"According to Equity Case Elizabeth Roberts of Cleveland County, NC. filed a claim to exclude 50 acres of property from her husband's estate at his death. Elizabeth stated that her father, Jacob Collins, died May 1, 1795. Jacob's heirs were Jacob Collins and his wife, Jane; William Collins and his wife, Ann; Mary and her husband, Young J. Hardin; and Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Roberts. When they had deeds made, they got their uncles, Thomas Martin and Wm. Martin and Neighbor, Captain Abednego Adams to divide and lay off land of Jacob Collins. The group of Collins children, their spouses, William Martin, Thomas Martin, and Abednego Adams worked all day and into the night. William Martin wrote the deeds to each piece of property and dated them September 16, 1809. At that time, Elizabeth disputed her land being deeded to her husband, Thomas Roberts who was a widower with children from his first marriage. At Thomas Roberts' death, Elizabeth filed the above claim to remove her inheritance from her husband's inventory. The date of the depositions in this case was August 10, 1859. Elizabeth stated that she married Thomas Roberts, a widower with children, September 1, 1800."

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General Notes: Wife - Mary Martin

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According to a 1938 WPA project Mary and Jacob are buried in the

COLLINS CEMETERY
The cemetery is located in No. 3 Township, Cleveland County, N.C. about 150 yards east of Lavender Road leading from Highway, Shelby-Patterson Springs road to Grover on Sam McSwain's land. It is about 300 yards northwest of Buffalo Creek, being about one-fourth an acre in size.
Owner of Cemetery: Sam McSwain
Approximate number of marked graves: 2
Before 1914: 2
After 1914: None
Unmarked graves: 9
Earliest marked grave: Jacob Collins, d. May 1, 1795
General condition of cemetery: Very bad condition
Date of survey: Oct. 13, 1938
Workers: B. E. Weathers and A. G. Melton
Inscriptions:
Collins, Mary Collins, Jacob
D. Jan. 8, 1848 D. May 1, 1795 in his
Aged: 80 years 45th year

Many years later Ann C. Merritt, her busband Logan and a cousin embarked on a project to find the cemetery and the gravestones. They succeeded. Subsequently in an 8/29/2009 e-mail message to me Logan says about Mary's tombstone

"the tombstone was printed wrong, with the inscription: 'In memory of Mary Collins who died June 18, 1845 aged 98 years.' The 9 appears backwards, but could also be and upside-down 6."

All 3 elements of the date as well as the age are different from the 1938 reading. In the e-mail message just cited Ann says that the stones were found under about 6" of dirt and that they were 15-20 feet apart.

Today (March 2022) there is a photograph at Find-a-Grave Memorial # 84590824, added 6 Feb 2012. "Jany 8 1848" is pretty clear although "Jany" might be "July". Only the "J" is completely unambiguous. "8" appears 4 times and is made the same way each time. The age appears to be "98" with the "9" being backwards.

1 "Find-a-Grave," Memorial # 84590824.

2 "Find-a-Grave," Memorial # 84591293.

3 Jeffrey Lee Martin, "http://www.angelfire.com/tx/lineage/Collins.html."

4 "http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com db: hendrictim."

5 "Find-a-Grave," Memorial # 10719883.