Key Facts

Snapshot:	farmer
Parents:	52Josiah Collins 53Elizabeth Carr
Born:	1869 Georgia
Died:	26 February 1919 presumably Hancock County, Georgia
Buried:	Carr Station Cemetery, Hancock County, Georgia Coordinates: N33.20753 W83.10418

26Henderson Collins was born in 18692 or thereabouts in Georgia3-6 to parents 52Josiah Collins and 53Elizabeth Carr.3,7

In the 1870 and 1880 census, we find him with his parent(s) in Hancock County, where (as you'll see from later records) he seems to have lived out his entire life.

1870: 26Henderson's family in militia district 116 (map), Hancock County, Georgia. Full pages: 1, 2.3

1880: 26Henderson's family still in militia district 116. Full page.4

26Henderson married 27Sarah Quinn on 9 March 1890.8

26Henderson's and 27Sarah Quinn's marriage record. Full page.8

An 1890 tax digest shows that 26Henderson owned 300 acres.9 An 1891 homestead record lists his property as a horse, some hogs, corn, 1000 pounds of fodder, "Equipments + arms of a militia soldier + a troopers horse," weaving apparel, a family Bible and other religious works, school books, family portraits, a sewing machine, and other items.10

The photo below may (or may not) show 26Henderson. I think the image is a cabinet card, which was most popular in the 1880's but prevalent until 1910 or so. As you can see, the man in this photo looks similar to the other, somewhat more reliable portrait of 26Henderson above, and the woman beside him looks similar to another photo of his wife 27Sarah. The back of this photo is labeled "Mrs. H. B. Collins" but (confoundingly) also "Jackson" and "Pepperto[n]," yet 26Henderson never lived there, so far as I know, and his wife 27Sarah lived there apparently only briefly near the end of her life. The photo is of poor quality, so to help show details I've heavily modified the image from its original appearance; see the unedited scan.11

This photo may show 26Henderson and his wife 27Sarah. Unedited scan.11

The 1900 and 1910 censuses show the family grow.5,6

1900: 26Henderson's family still in militia district 116. Full page.5

1910: 26Henderson's family still in militia district 116. Full page.6

26Henderson died on 28 February 1919 and is buried in Reynolds Cemetery, Hancock County, Georgia at coordinates N33.20753 W83.10418. Below is a photo of his tombstone.2

Sources Cited:

1: A portrait found hanging on the wall in the home of Jo Anne (née Waits) Gable, daughter of Esse Bell Collins, daughter of 26Henderson, after Jo Anne's death. The back of the portrait is labeled "Grandfather Collins."

2: Tombstone of H. B. Collins (born 1869, died 28 February 1919), Reynolds Cemetery, Hancock County, Georgia. Coordinates N33.20753 W83.10418. Photograph taken by 1Bryant J. Knight, circa 2011.

3: 1870 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 116, Hancock County, Georgia. Page 196, dwelling 1638, family 1652, Josiah Collins household. NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 155. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/details/populationschedu0155unit/page/n432/mode/1up> et seq., accessed 15 June 2020.

4: 1880 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 116, Hancock County, Georgia. Enumeration district 48, page 268A, dwelling 199, family 199, Elizabeth Duffy household. NARA microfilm publication T9, roll 150. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GYBG-P3Y?cc=1417683&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM8GQ-PDT>.

5: 1900 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 116, Hancock County, Georgia. Enumeration district 14, sheet 10B, dwelling 187, family 199, Henderson Collins household. NARA microfilm publication T623, roll 203. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-67JW-WTX?cc=1325221&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AM3JQ-99T>.

6: 1910 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 116, Hancock County, Georgia. Enumeration district 16, sheet 9B, dwelling 183, family 188, Henderson Collins household. NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 197. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRNN-2S3?i=17&cc=1727033&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AML28-L3S>.

7: 52Josiah's will. Hancock County, Georgia. Wills book for the years 1862-1881, pages 157-158. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G93L-YDHH?i=87&cc=1999178&cat=280848>, accessed 17 June 2020.

8: Hancock County, Georgia. Marriage book for the years 1886-1891, page 692, marriage of Henderson Collins and Sarah Quinn, dated 9 March 1890. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-8BZP-3J1?i=379&cc=1927197&cat=214866>.

9: Hancock County, Georgia. 1890 tax digest, militia district 116 (Devereaux's district), pages 3-4, Henderson Collins. Ancestry.com ("Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892," Hancock County, 1890, images 91 and 92 of 204), accessed 27 September 2020.

10: Hancock County, Georgia. Homestead Records for the years 1873-1893, pages 125-126.

11: Photograph labeled "Mrs. H. B. Collins," provided to me by 26Henderson's grandson Lamon Smith on 14 September 2011. Lamon had possession of the original photograph itself. The image depicted above has been cropped and color-adjusted; to see the raw, unedited scan, see here. You may also want to look at the back of the photograph.