Key Facts

Snapshot:	owned slaves; daughter murdered somebody
Parents:	unknown
Born:	circa 1808 Georgia
Died:	26 August 1871 Baldwin County, Georgia
Buried:	unknown

52Josiah Collins was born in Georgia1-4 circa 1808.3-5

He married his first wife Frances Lancaster on 20 January 1833 in Hancock County, Georgia.6

1833: 52Josiah's and Frances Lancaster's marriage record. Full page.6

By 1840 they had five children.7 An 1840 tax digest shows that he owned 540 acres adjoining land owned by "Carr" (perhaps his future father-in-law 106Josiah Carr).8

1840: 52Josiah's family in militia district 116 (map), Hancock County. Full page.7

His 1850 census entries are below, both for his family1 and his slaves.9 The census also surveyed his farm: pages 743, 744;10 template.

1850: 52Josiah's family, still in militia district 116. Full page.1

1850: 52Josiah's slaves. Full page.9

In 1857 his daughter Elizabeth murdered a man.11 (She isn't explicitly named in the newspaper article, but her identity can be deduced from the information therein plus her marriage record.12 Elizabeth seems to be 52Josiah's eldest daughter and is probably the girl age 5-9 marked in the 1840 census.7)

1857: 52Josiah's daughter Elizabeth murdered a man. Full page.11

A newspaper from 7 June 1859 implies that 52Josiah's family had relocated to nearby Baldwin County.13

Just 2.5 years after his daughter murdered a man, one of his slaves murdered somebody, too.14

1859: One of 52Josiah's slaves murdered somebody. Full page.14

He was still in Baldwin County in 1860.2 He had acquired more slaves since 1850.15 The census also surveyed his farm: 1, 2;16 template.

1860: 52Josiah's family in Baldwin County, Georgia. Full page.2

1860: 52Josiah had 12 slaves. Full page.2

His first wife Frances presumably died, since 52Josiah married his second wife 53Elizabeth Carr on 23 September 1861 in Hancock County.17

1861: 52Josiah's and 53Elizabeth Carr's marriage record. Full page.17

The American Civil War began the same year. During the war, many of Georgia's soldiers were sent to fight in more vital locations, e.g. to defend Richmond, Virginia, the Confederate capital. As a result, few soldiers were available to defend Georgia, and slaves were becoming less obedient and more likely to attempt escape. Governor Joseph Brown, worried about the state's predicament, had the state legislature order a special census to list all white males age 16-60 not already in Confederate service, along with militarily significant facts like whether the men owned any guns or horses. This census would help the state government allocate its few home guard soldiers more efficiently. This census is formally called the 1864 Census for Re-organizing the Georgia Militia but is sometimes nicknamed the Joe Brown census. 52Josiah's entry is below.4

1864: 52Josiah on a Civil War militia list for militia district 105 (map), Baldwin County. Full page.4

In 1867 the U.S. Congress passed several Reconstruction Acts. These Acts divided the former Confederacy into several military occupation zones, which were ruled by Union military commanders. The Acts also directed the commanding officers to register Southerners who wanted to vote in upcoming elections. One registration requirement was to swear an oath of loyalty to the United States; the obvious intent was to disfranchise any lingering Confederate resistance. 52Josiah swore his oath on 6 August 1867.18

1867: 52Josiah's Reconstruction-era voter registration oath.18

Despite 52Josiah's advanced age and the war, he and his new wife had had several more children, as shown by the 1870 census.3

1870: 52Josiah's family in militia district 116, Baldwin County, Georgia. Full pages: 1, 2.3

52Josiah died on 26 August 1871. A brief obituary was published in Milledgeville's newspaper:5

52Josiah's will, written the preceding May, affirms that the three children shown in the 1870 census are 53Elizabeth's children.19

An inventory and appraisal of his estate includes 300 acres of farm land, numerous farm animals, 10 shares in a railroad company, various tools, some woodworking equipment (e.g., axes and log chains), a shotgun, tobacco, and a somewhat long list of what seems to be people who owed money to the estate.20

In December 52Josiah's son Samuel (the estate executor) was a party in a legal dispute involving land that 52Josiah had fenced in earlier that year.21

Sources Cited:

1: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 116, Hancock County, Georgia. Page 78, dwelling 586, family 603, Josiah Collins household. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 72. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/details/7thcensus0058unit/page/n730/mode/1up>, accessed 15 June 2020.

2: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Gumm's district, Baldwin County, Georgia. Page 87, dwelling 652, family 602, Josiah Collins household. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 111. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YBF-9F8F?i=2&cc=1473181&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMZM8-NBJ>, accessed 15 June 2020.

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: 1864 Census for Re-Organizing the Georgia Militia. Militia districts 105, 318, and 319, Baldwin County, Georgia. Page 1, entry 1, Josiah Collins. Georgia Virtual Vault (Militia Enrollment Lists, 1864 / Baldwin / milita districts 105, 318, 319 / page 1 of 2), <https://vault.georgiaarchives.org/digital/collection/1864/id/25/rec/15>, accessed 17 June 2020.

5: "Died," Federal Union (Milledgeville, Georgia), 6 September 1871, page 3, column 6, near the top of the page. FamilySearch, <https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85038488/1871-09-06/ed-1/seq-3/>, accessed 16 June 2020.

6: Hancock County, Georgia. Marriage book for the years 1808-1879, page 56 (However, the pages are not numbered very consistently, so it's more helpful to search by date. This page begins with an an entry for 12 October 1832.), marriage of Mr. Josiah Collins and Miss Frances Lancaster, license granted 18 January 1833 and solemnized 20 January 1833. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-8BZ6-2Z4?i=75>, accessed 15 June 2020.

7: 1840 U.S. Federal Census. Militia districts 114 & 116, Hancock County, Georgia. Page 20, Josiah Collins household. NARA microfilm publication M704, roll 43. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YTL-7VC?i=4&wc=31SJ-FQ7%3A1588665920%2C1588666164%2C1588668598&cc=1786457>, accessed 15 June 2020.

8: Hancock County, Georgia. Tax digest for 1840, section for militia district 116, page 1, entry for Josiah Collins. Ancestry.com ("Georgia Property Tax Digests, 1793-1892" / Hancock County / 1840 / image 61 of 78), accessed 16 June 2020. You can see the full page here.

9: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Militia district 116, Hancock County, Georgia. Page 224, slaves of Josiah Collins. NARA microfilm publication M432, roll 91. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/details/7thcensus0091unit/page/n123/mode/2up>, accessed 15 June 2020.

10: 1850 U.S. Federal Census (Agriculture Schedule). Hancock County, Georgia. Pages 743-744, entry 17, Josiah Collins farm. NARA microfilm publication T1137, roll 2. The NARA provides a helpful template. To see scans of the pages, use these links: , 744.

11: "Trial of Mrs. Hudson," Central Georgian (Sandersville and Sparta, Georgia), Thursday 10 September 1857, page 3, column 2, near the bottom of the page. Georgia Historic Newpapers, <https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034105/1857-09-10/ed-1/seq-3/>, accessed April 2020.

12: Baldwin County, Georgia. Marriages book B (1859-1861), page 369, the marriage of Joseph Hudson and Elizabeth Collins. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9XF-29ZX-B?i=239&cc=1927197&cat=231688>, accessed 16 June 2020.

13: "Letters remaining in the Post Office in Milledgeville, June 1st, 1859," Federal Union (Milledgeville, Georgia), 7 June 1859, page 3, column 6, about one-third of the way down the page.

14: Southern Recorder (Milledgeville, Georgia), 8 November 1859, page 2, next-to-last column, about halfway down the page. The article isn't titled. Georgia Historic Newspapers, <https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82016415/1859-11-08/ed-1/seq-2/>, accessed 16 June 2020.

15: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Population Schedule). Gumm's district, Baldwin County, Georgia. Page 51, slaves of Josiah Collins. NARA microfilm publication M653, roll 142. Internet Archive, <https://archive.org/details/acpl_slavecensus_01_reel01/page/n57/mode/1up>.

16: 1860 U.S. Federal Census (Agriculture Schedule). Baldwin County, Georgia. Pages 1 and 2 (The page is actually labeled as #17, but the numbers on nearby pages seem to follow no logical order whatsoever.), entry 17, Josiah Collins farm. NARA microfilm publication T1137, roll 4. The NARA provides a helpful template. To see a scan of the page, use these links: 1, 2.

17: Hancock County, Georgia. Marriage book for the years 1808-1879, page 94 (However, the pages are not numbered very consistently, so it's more helpful to search by date. This page begins with an an entry for 14 February 1861.), marriage of Josiah Collins and Miss Elizabeth Carr, date 23 September 1861 (although the record isn't clear whether this is the date for the granting of the license, the solemnization, or both). FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-LBZ6-2TM?i=163>, accessed 15 June 2020.

18: Georgia's 1867-1868 Voter Registration Oath Books. Volume 121 (Baldwin County Book B), page 264, entry 1537, Josiah Collins. Georgia Archives microfilm 296/44.

19: 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.

20: Hancock County, Georgia. Mixed estate records, inventories, and appraisals, book Z (1863-1880), pages 317-318. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G935-V4JB?i=166&cc=1999178&cat=214887>, accessed 17 June 2020.

21: Hancock County, Georgia. Superior court minutes book for 1869-1874, page 350. FamilySearch, <https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3QQ-57F3-K?i=545&cat=214877>.