John L. Collins was born on November 29, 1838, in Mississippi. By the early 1860s, he was living in Yalobusha County, Mississippi.

 

He enlisted in the Confederate army on April 27, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company F of the 15^th Mississippi Infantry. The regiment took part in the Battle of Shiloh and the siege of Corinth. In June 1863, he became aide-de-camp to General John Adams. 

 

He returned to Yalobusha County after the war, and he married a woman named Amanda. They had at least five children: Edmund, born around 1869; Albert, born around 1872; Levin, born around 1874; Robert, born around 1876; and Annie, born around 1878. He worked as a manufacturer, and by 1870, he owned $3,000 of real estate and $2,000 of personal property. He supported the Democratic Party, and he served as a delegate to the Democratic State Convention in 1877.

 

His wife died in 1880, and he married Alice Bibby soon afterward. They had at least seven children: Richard, born around 1882; Frank, born around 1885; Mary, born around 1891; Nora, born around 1893; Willard, born around 1897; Fannie, born around 1900; and Margarette, born around 1903. They lived in Coffeeville, Mississippi, and Collins worked as a “commercial traveler.” According to a local writer, he was a “civic, political and social leader.” He played an active role in Civil War commemoration, attending regimental reunions and joining the United Confederate Veterans. He died in Coffeeville on November 28, 1937.

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