John M. Collins
John M. Collins, a well known grocery and real-estate dealer
of Waukon and one of the early settlers in Allamakee county, was
born in Lewis county, New York, July 19, 1843. His parents later
moved to Kentucky and resided in Mason county, that state, until
1856, when they moved to Iowa, making a permanent location in
Taylor township, Allamakee county. Here the father owned one
hundred and sixty acres of land, broke the soil, fenced his
property and began the work of development, which he carried on
along progressive lines for many years, dying upon his homestead
at an advanced age.
John M. Collins was a boy of thirteen when he came with his
parents to Allamakee county and his childhood was spent amid
pioneer conditions. He aided in the opening up of the new farm
and afterward in its improvement and development, spending all of
his time when not engaged with his books in agricultural
pursuits. He acquired his primary education in the public schools
and supplemented this by outside study and reading, fitting
himself for teaching, an occupation which he followed for twelve
consecutive terms, becoming well known in educational circles of
the state. He afterward entered public life, accepting in 1880
the position of deputy county auditor and serving in that
capacity for four years. In 1884 he was elected auditor and at
the end of his first term reelected, afterward serving for nine
consecutive years in the office. He was later again deputy
auditor and in all served as deputy and county auditor for
seventeen years, his public service being at all times loyal,
efficient and interested. During his long term in office people
from all parts of the county came to Waukon to consult him and to
lay before him matters which needed his attention and he was
never known to neglect any phase of his public duty. In this way
he acquired an extensive circle of friends, all of whom hold him
today in the highest honor and esteem. In 1898 Mr. Collins went
to Minneapolis and there engaged in the mercantile business, at
the same time purchasing a half interest in a dry-goods store at
Prairie du Chien. He gave his attention to the conduct of both
concerns for one year and then sold out his interests and opened
a grocery store in Waukon which in the course of fourteen years
he has made one of the largest and most important institutions of
its kind in the city. He carries a complete and well selected
line of goods and has secured an enviable reputation as a careful
and discriminating man of business whose success is the direct
result of the energy, honesty and straighforward dealing by which
it was attained. Mr. Collins is also well known as a real-estate
dealer in Waukon, for he specializes in the buying and selling of
improved Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Missouri
farming lands. He has made some very judicious private
investments and is now the owner of fourteen hundred acres, part
of which is improved land. In 1883 he purchased a residence in
Waukon and has made it his home continuously since that time with
the exception of a year and a half during which time he lived in
Prairie du Chien.
On the 1st day of February, 1874, Mr. Collins married Miss B. T.
Brazell, a native of Canada, who came to the United States in
1860. The have three sons and two daughters, as follows: John B.,
who is married and who assists his father in the grocery store;
Michael L, a farmer in North Dakota; William J., who is also
employed in his father’s store; Mrs. Mary Regan, a widow,
who makes her home in Minneapolis; and Nellie, who assists in the
conduct of the grocery. Mr. and Mrs. Collins had one other son,
Albert, who died in 1900 at the age of fifteen years. The family
are members of the Roman Catholic church, and Mr. Collins is a
member of the Knights of Columbus. For over half a century he has
been a resident of Allamakee county and his labors have been a
cooperant factor in the development and advancement of the
section. He is numbered among the public-spirited and progressive
men of Waukon, giving largely of his time, means and influence in
the promotion of projects for the general good. He occupies a
prominent position in business, social and political circles and
has always shown an interest and abiltiy which have made him a
valued member of the community.
-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by
Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-transcribed by Diana Diedrich
Return to 1913 biographies index