Alpheus Collins was born 24 Sep 1790 in Brandon, Rutland County, Vermont, an area known for its agriculture and sheep-rearing. Brandon was called Meshawby by the Native Americans. His parents, Esther Foster and Thaddeus Collins, moved to Phelps, NY, in 1799.

Alpheus married Betsey Hall, born New Jersey, on 31 October 1811. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, in which he was a captain and was always called by that title. In roughly 1830 they moved to Michigan. Their son William W. reported that the family came via the Erie Canal and the lakes to Detroit, then by wagon to [Pittsfield] Washtenaw County.

Alpheus was supervisor and justice of the peace in Lyndon Twp for many years, and attended the first Constitutional Convention for Michigan in Detroit from May 11 to June 24, 1835.

Alpheus and Betsey "are credited with having done more to improve and settle this portion of the country than any others of that day." They were instrumental in building roads, schoolhouses, and churches. At the time of their settlement Indians were numerous in the area and they frequently came to the house to trade honey for flour and other commodities. Alpheus and Betsey were strong proponents of temperance.

Rev. Leander Pilcher reported that Alpheus was an energetic and hard-working farmer, rather stern, though of a sanguine temperment.

The children of Alpheus Collins and Elizabeth Hall were:

Selah "Baxter" Collins
Josiah H. Collins
Rev. Wellington "Harrison" Collins
Rev. Walter D. Collins
Rev. Isaac F. Collins
Esther D. Collins
Rev. Judson Dwight Collins
William W. Collins, M.D.
Algernon S. Collins
Sidney Algernon Collins
James N. Collins

Alpheus Collins died 16 May 1862. The brick home he built is still standing, on Roepke Road in Gregory, MI, next to the family cemetery. This is in Section 4 of Lyndon Twp in Washtenaw County.

There is some discrepancy in the family records about the death dates of Alpheus Collins. One account says the day was May 23; his grandson William H. Collins reported that he died in 1860; and another account says the year was 1861.

Two of Alpheus' siblings also settled in MI near their brother. Moses Foster (called Foster) Collins, sometimes referred to as "Colonel," married Mary Wade and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Ann Arbor, MI. Sally Collins (Mrs. Uriah Wade) has memorials in two cemeteries in Jackson County, MI -- West Concord Cemetery and Maple Grove Cemetery.
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In April 2015 I received the excellent suggestion from Find-A-Grave contributor Karen Baker to add the biography of Alpheus Collins that was written by Alfred Seelye Roe in his book "Rose Neighborhood Sketches." The town of Rose is in Wayne County NY, and was the home of the Collins ancestors for many years.

First, I will begin with a sketch of Mr. Roe himself, as written by Frank Dennis: "During summer vacations he interviewed the residents, beginning in 1886 with school district number 7 his native district on the eastern side of the township. These "neighborhood sketches" describe the inhabitants and provide information on their forebears and offspring, as well as on those who had previously lived in the homes they occupied. He begins his travels with, "Starting from the extreme northern part of the district, we have, on the west side of the road, first, the home, or what is left of it, of Joseph Seelye, who died February, 1854, an old man of seventy-seven years." (p. 1). The story continues until all the residences in the district have been visited. On publication of this report in "The Clyde Times", Roe was urged to continue with other districts, and eventually visited every home in the township, in the course of which, "I have walked and ridden above one thousand miles." (preface, p. iii) On completing his sketches of all 12 districts, plus portions of two adjacent districts in Sodus and Huron, he bowed to popular demand and combined the previously published sketches with information on historical background, local organizations/churches, a list of veterans of the Civil War, cemetery records, and the address that he delivered in Rose on the centennial of the founding of Wayne County July 4, 1889. This became "Rose Neighborhood Sketches", published in 1893."

Now on to Alpheus Collins...

"On the east side of the road, before reaching the stone house, perhaps
in the garden thereof, was formerly a small framed house, afterward
removed and used as a tool house, opposite. This building is intimately
connected with one of the best families ever identified with Rose, viz.,
that of Alpheus Collins, the eldest son of Thaddeus, 1st, whose purchases
were about as early as any in Rose. The farm, of 130 acres, was a part of
the large number of acres bought by the pioneer, that he might have his
children about him. His sons, some of them, went west, so that they
might have their children about them, and, in this widening process,
descendants have reached Dakota. After all, the sons do not stay as
fathers wish and calculate. The age is too uneasy and stirring. Alpheus
Collins was born in Vermont, September 30th, 1790. When a boy, his
parents removed to Phelps, Ontario county, where in 18ll, October
31st, he married Betsey Hall, born in New Jersey, October 5th, 1790.
Shortly afterward, they came to this town, where they lived till 1829.
Here their children, save one, were born; one son, born in the west, died
in infancy. The oldest son, Selah Baxter, was born November 12th,
1812, and he married Pamela [Permelia] Green, December 26, 1833. He was a
farmer, and resided, in 1888, in New Richmond, Allegan County, Michigan.
His wife died in 1886. Josiah H. was born May 30th, 1814, and was
married December 26 [24], 1835, to Mary Brown, who died several years since.
In 1888 he also was a farmer, in Lindon [Lyndon Twp], Michigan. Wellington H., born
May 12th, 1816, married Mary Ann Ward, of Butler, September 2d, 1840.
Early in life he taught school, was a surveyor, and finally became a
Methodist minister. In his denomination he held many important
positions. He was twice a delegate to the General Conference, was a
presiding elder, a powerful preacher and much beloved by his people.
He was presiding elder of the Detroit district at the time of his death, in
1848. His wife died two or three years later. Walter D. was born
December 14th, 1817, and became a Methodist minister and a missionary
to the Cherokee Indians, in Indian Territory. His wife was Lodoweskei
(called Lodi) Baker, a sister of the famous war detective ; he returned to
Michigan in 1855, and died at his father's the same year ; his wife went to
Texas, where she had property, and there died, in 1886. Isaac F. was
born August 24th, 1819, and was also a Methodist minister and missionary
to the Cherokees. December 22d, 1843, he married Mary Wolf, a daughter
of the Cherokee chief. Coming back to civilization, he preached in Michi-
gan for several years and then returned to the south, where his wife died.
Marrying again, he went to Nebraska and died soon after. The only
daughter, Esther D., born June 4th, 1821, was a cripple from birth,
although a bright, intelligent girl. She died June 10th, 1849 [1848]. Judson
D., who was born February 12th, 1823, was graduated with first honors
from Michigan University, was a professor in Albion College, and became
a Methodist minister. As such, he was the first Methodist missionary to
China. For five years he was the superintendent of missions in that
country, but his health failing, he came back to America, by way of Cali-
fornia, in 1851, hoping to regain his health, but he died in 1852, at his
father's home. He was never married. William W., who was born May
3d, 1825, has been a farmer, a surveyor and a machinist, and, having been
graduated from the medical department of Michigan University in 1852, is
now a physician in Albion, Michigan. He married Maria K. Palmer,
July 5th, 1849. Being a seventh son, he is very properly a doctor.
Sidney A., who was born May 8th, 1828, is a farmer, living in Lindon [Lyndon].
His wife is Sylvia A. Reed, whom he married November 15th, 1850.
This record has been given thus at length, because I think it one that
Rose may well be proud of. What has been the loss of the town in
sturdy, manly worth, has obviously been the gain of the country ; for we
see that the Collins lines have gone out through all the world. On leaving
Rose in 1829, Alpheus Collins went, with his family, to Washtenaw
county, in the then Territory of Michigan, near Ann Arbor. He took up
an extensive farm, and became prominent in town and state affairs, having
been supervisor, justice of the peace, etc., and a member of the convention
that framed the Constitution for the state. In 1841 he went to a farm in
the town of Lindon [Lyndon], on which he died, in 1871. His wife, a most devoted
and helpful woman, died in 1870. Both were deeply pious and consistent
members of the Methodist Church."

Thank you, Mr. Roe, for writing your fabulous book.