Antoine Collins
Antoine Collins (possibly also known as Antonio and Anthony) was an early resident of territorial Florida during the antebellum period who operated the Collins Hotel along with his wife and served as Escambia County Sheriff from 1847 to 1851. He also served on the city's Board of Aldermen in 1834, 1847 and 1848.[1]
Antoine Collins was born 1780-1785 in Mississippi Territory, West Florida, Spanish Territory. It is not clear when he emigrated to Pensacola, Florida (likely with Francisco Collins, another resident of the city, who names a son Antonio). By 1810 he had married Mary Pyburn,[2] the daughter of Tensaw settlement pioneers Jacob and Frances Pyburn.[3] Her father, Jacob Pyburn signed an oath December 1784 to the Spanish King [4] and is listed as a resident on the 1785 and 1786 Spanish Censuses for Tensaw.[5] and his wife is found in the 1787 and 1789 Spanish Census for the areas, as well as in the American State Papers, Volume 1, for a land claim under the name of Francis "Fanny" Steele. Frances Pyburn, nee Mullis married William Steele November 22, 1798. [6]
The Household of Antonio Collins in 1820 included the following [5]
- Antonio Collins
- Mary Paiban Collins
- Teresa Collins (actually Innerarity, her marriage record states she is the daughter of James Innerarity and Mary Pyburn)[7]
- Jaime Collins (James, presumed to be a son of James Innerarity) [8]
- Eulalie Collins
- Mary Louisa Collins
- Antonio J. Collins
- Cecelia Collins
- Phoebe Paiban Turvin, widow
Antonio Collins purchased Phoebe Turvin's land shortly after it was affirmed by the United States Government.[9]. The location of his plantation, and that of Phoebe's is north of the city of Pensacola. The term the Antoine Collins and Phoebe Turvin Grant is still used to refer to the geographical areas of the original land patents.
Newspaper accounts reported nationwide the fire at the hotel run by Mary Pyburn Collins in 1841, and then again in 1852 when the plantation also had a fire. Census records indicate that Mary Pyburn and her son, Antoine Collins, Jr. owned slaves, but Antoine himself did not. The 1860 United States Census for Escambia County also shows Antoine Collins net worth as $ 500 for private property in 1860, but his wife Mary had a net worth of $8000 real estate and $14000 for private property. His daughter Cecelia, at this time the wife of Francis Norton, is listed with private property valued at $1500.
In one anecdote, Uriah P. Levy, then commander of the war sloop Vandalia, was in Pensacola and called Collins "a damned blackguard," after which Collins proceeded "to wring his [Levy's] nose severely, without [Levy] making any resistance." For this, Levy was charged with cowardice by his commanding officer.[10]
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References
- ↑ List of Aldermen
- ↑ [This information is obtained from two sources. It is listed as Paiban in the 1821 Spanish Census of Pensacola, as transcribed by Coker, William S. "Spanish Census of Pensacola 1784-1820". It is also found in an article in the Pensacola Journal, April 2nd, 1905, Second Section, in an article by I. E. Allen http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn87062268/1905-04-02/ed-1/seq-9/;words=Pyburn+Marie+Marys?date1=1836&date2=1922&searchType=advanced&lccn=sn87062268&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=&andtext=mary+pyburn&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=1]
- ↑ [Baptism of Mary Pyburn at home of her mother Francis Pyburn, American Nov 5, 1788. Records at Archdiocese of Mobile. Date of birth September 1784.]
- ↑ [Holmes, Jack D. (1971) "The Alabama Historical Quarterly, Vol33 No. 2" pp87-97, Birmingham:Alabama Historical Society http://digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/quarterly&CISOPTR=1069&REC=6]
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 [Feldman, Lawrence H. "Angloamericans in Spanish Archives", Genealogical Publishing, 1991. Lists residents for 1785 under Louisiana Tensas]
- ↑ [Records at the Archdiocese of Mobile, Mobile Alabama.]
- ↑ [Recorded at the CatholicChurch in Pensacola, I have been told the Archdiocese records for this period are in Mobile and not Pensacola]
- ↑ [Jaime's baptism is included in the estate papers of James Innerarity, Panton and Leslie Papers, University of West Florida, Baptised 1808, no father listed. Godparents John and Isabelle Greenwood]
- ↑ [Spanish land grants are digitalized online at http://www.floridamemory.com/collections/spanishlandgrants/ Spanish Land Grants. The information is also in Volume 3 of the American State Papers, Land records, available in most libraries.]
- ↑ James E. Vale. Rocks and Shoals: Naval Discipline in the Age of Fighting Sail. Naval Institute Press, 1996.