Copyright Notice: This article is from the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 volumes, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright ©1979-1996 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

d. ca. July 1709

William Collins (Collens, Collings), justice of the general court and of Pasquotank Precinct Court, came to North Carolina before 1693. He was probably the son of William and Alice Collins, who at some earlier date settled in Perquimans Precinct with their three sons, Thomas, James, and William.

Collins was a justice of the Pasquotank Precinct Court in 1694 and 1697. The surviving records of that court do not show the length of his tenure, but he probably served at least in the intervening years.

On 20 Mar. 1699/1700, Collins was appointed justice of the North Carolina General Court. He held that office through November 1705.

Collins owned five hundred or more acres of land in Pasquotank Precinct. He died before 19 July 1709, when his will was probated. He apparently left no descendants. His widow, Elizabeth, later married Jonathan Jacocks.

References:

J. Bryan Grimes, ed., Abstract of North Carolina Wills (1910).

North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, 3 vols. (1900–1903).

North Carolina State Archives (Raleigh), for Albemarle Book of Warrants and Surveys (1681–1706), Estate Papers of William Collins, and Will of William Collins.

Mattie Erma E. Parker, ed., North Carolina Higher-Court Records, 1670–1696 and 1697–1701 (1968, 1971).

William S. Price, Jr., ed., North Carolina Higher-Court Records, 1702–1708 (1974).

William L. Saunders, ed., Colonial Records of North Carolina, vol. 1 (1886).

Additional Resources:

J. Bryan Grimes, ed., Abstract of North Carolina Wills (1910): https://archive.org/stream/abstractofnorthc01nort#page/404/mode/2up/search/collins

Citation

Parker, Mattie E. E. "Collins (Collens, Collings), William." NCpedia. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press. Accessed on December 24th, 2024. https://ncpedia.org/biography/collins-collens-collings.