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Prudence <I>Wilcox</I> Collins

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Prudence Wilcox Collins

Birth
Delaware County, Pennsylvania, USA
Death
23 Nov 1872 (aged 84)
Colfax, Jasper County, Iowa, USA
Burial
Colfax, Jasper County, Iowa, USA Add to Map
Plot
Lot 2/ Plot 3/ Grave 7
Memorial ID
View Source
Researched and compiled by the Kartchner Brothers

Daughter of John Wilcox and Sarah Walton

Wife of Christopher John Kartchner and Francis B. Collins.

To more accurately state Prudence's name and marital history:
Prudence "Wilcox" [nee Kartchner] Collins.

Occupation : Worked a "rag picker" in paper mills. Kept house.

Based on entries in her son's, William, autobiography. Prudence followed the custom of the time and arranged "apprenticeships" for her young sons to help relieve her of the burdens of raising a large family - as reflected in the 1830 Census.

Little is known of her life with Collins, he was supposedly related to a renown axe maker in Virginia (needs research, the only period Collins Axe making company appeared to be based in Connecticut). Based on verbal accounting attributed to her son William, supposedly, she and Collins - along with her two daughters - initially moved to what is now West Virginia. Then back to the Kensington area of Philadelphia, PA.

1830 Census, she was in Lower Merion, Lebanon, Pennsylvania; this census only recorded head of house and an accounting of persons in house by age bracket. The information matches her being with her two daughters.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records
Name: Prudence Kartchner | Event Type: Residence | Residence Date: Jan 1830
Residence Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Denomination: Baptist Organization Name: Roxborough Baptist Church
( As was her mother, Sarah Wilcox and her eldest daughter, Margaret. Prudence would be baptized January 1831.)

1840 Census, she was living alone in Petersburg Center Ward, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. ( This was the birth place for the eldest granddaughter from the marriage of Sarah and T.G.W. Pigg., if this is her location, it suggests that either Collins left her or died before 1840)

1850 Census, she was with her daughter's family, TGW and Sarah Pigg, in Beauvais, Missouri.

1856 Iowa State Census, she was listed with and near both the families of her son John and Sarah Pigg in Jasper Co.

1860 Census, she was with granddaughter's family, Daniel and Sarah Rees (Sarah was the daughter of Margaret) in Jasper Co, Iowa.

(During the summer of 1861, Prudence filed a second claim for and received Bounty Land Warrants 15050-40-50 & 9277412055 for 246 acres of land in Powesheak, Jasper County, IA, as a result of Christopher John's service in the Pennsylvania Militia during the War of 1812.)

1870 Census, she was still in Jasper Co., Iowa

Prudence filed her first claim with the War Department for Bounty Land Warrants for Christopher's War of 1812 service after her second husband died - but it was denied.

Written about her in later years:
"There was no particular design or reason in the planting of her flower beds, herbs, and vines other than she wanted fragrance and color. It was a large garden enclosed with high picket fence painted white, the little gate swung in and out on its old rusted hinges and a grassy path led to the center where stood an old apple tree strange and sturdy, the bark of Its rugged trunk recording a life time of usefulness and yet in June time pink blossoms added fragrance, mingling with the scent of roses. The old fashioned flowers, pinks, marigolds, forget-me-nots, poppies and touch-me-nots, with their seed pods that would curl up in your fingers when touched were planted in small beds.

Walks through the garden were bordered with mignonette, and lush in the background hollyhock's bright colors mingled with the golden sunflowers as the nodded and turned their faces to the sun. The garden was an enchanting place of beauty and fragrance and here is where you would find her sitting, under the apple tree in a low rocking chair, welcoming friends who came to see her garden. She wore a dress of black with a bit of lace at her throat and a cap with a little rosette of ribbon on her white curls.

Time had robbed away the curves and coloring of youth, yet her eyes were sparkling and her cheeks still the same tint of apple blossoms. Years had not taken from her face the beauty of her inner soul.

Prudence Collins came to Iowa in a canvas covered wagon when the lands were a waving plain of high grass, Indians were roaming the wide prairies, and only a few log houses had been built on farms made ready for planting. She had endured the hardships of pioneer life, her kindness and help in sickness in many homes will always be remembered when no other help could be had in this new country. What changes have taken place since the days of grandmother Collins."


...A tribute by Sadie Hurst, a longtime neighbor of Prudence Willcox Kartchner Collins. (May have been printed in the local Colfax Clipper, Mrs Hurst was the society reporter for it)

She was interned at McKeever Cemetery, IA near her son John C. and many of her grandchildren.

Notes:
1. Marriage Record of sons:
KARTCHNER, JOHN C to ASHE, NANCY , 1847-03-04, PERRY Co, IL
KARTCHNER, PETER W to HENNING, LUCINDA , 1841-06-09, WASHINGTON Co, IL
KARTCHNER, WILLIAM D to CASTEEL, MARGARET JANE, 1844-03-21, HANCOCK Co, IL

2. Sadie Hurst, who wrote the tribute above, was the daughter of Charles A and Mariam "York" Dotson. Her younger sister, Julia, married one of Margaret Kartchner Webb's grandsons, William M Reese - the son of Sarah Webb and Daniel Reese

Sadie herself gain some prominence when she was the first woman elected to the Nevada State Legislature in 1918 and was considered a leader of the suffrage movement in Nevada .

3. One son has lead to a brick wall on many levels. The son, Peter W's ultimate fate has yet to be discovered. Several of his children have been documented, yet the last known reference for Peter is the 1860 census with his second wife. It is believed that he died about 1868 in either Iowa or Illinois.

[Researched and compiled by the Kartchner Brothers]
Researched and compiled by the Kartchner Brothers

Daughter of John Wilcox and Sarah Walton

Wife of Christopher John Kartchner and Francis B. Collins.

To more accurately state Prudence's name and marital history:
Prudence "Wilcox" [nee Kartchner] Collins.

Occupation : Worked a "rag picker" in paper mills. Kept house.

Based on entries in her son's, William, autobiography. Prudence followed the custom of the time and arranged "apprenticeships" for her young sons to help relieve her of the burdens of raising a large family - as reflected in the 1830 Census.

Little is known of her life with Collins, he was supposedly related to a renown axe maker in Virginia (needs research, the only period Collins Axe making company appeared to be based in Connecticut). Based on verbal accounting attributed to her son William, supposedly, she and Collins - along with her two daughters - initially moved to what is now West Virginia. Then back to the Kensington area of Philadelphia, PA.

1830 Census, she was in Lower Merion, Lebanon, Pennsylvania; this census only recorded head of house and an accounting of persons in house by age bracket. The information matches her being with her two daughters.

Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Church and Town Records
Name: Prudence Kartchner | Event Type: Residence | Residence Date: Jan 1830
Residence Place: Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Denomination: Baptist Organization Name: Roxborough Baptist Church
( As was her mother, Sarah Wilcox and her eldest daughter, Margaret. Prudence would be baptized January 1831.)

1840 Census, she was living alone in Petersburg Center Ward, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. ( This was the birth place for the eldest granddaughter from the marriage of Sarah and T.G.W. Pigg., if this is her location, it suggests that either Collins left her or died before 1840)

1850 Census, she was with her daughter's family, TGW and Sarah Pigg, in Beauvais, Missouri.

1856 Iowa State Census, she was listed with and near both the families of her son John and Sarah Pigg in Jasper Co.

1860 Census, she was with granddaughter's family, Daniel and Sarah Rees (Sarah was the daughter of Margaret) in Jasper Co, Iowa.

(During the summer of 1861, Prudence filed a second claim for and received Bounty Land Warrants 15050-40-50 & 9277412055 for 246 acres of land in Powesheak, Jasper County, IA, as a result of Christopher John's service in the Pennsylvania Militia during the War of 1812.)

1870 Census, she was still in Jasper Co., Iowa

Prudence filed her first claim with the War Department for Bounty Land Warrants for Christopher's War of 1812 service after her second husband died - but it was denied.

Written about her in later years:
"There was no particular design or reason in the planting of her flower beds, herbs, and vines other than she wanted fragrance and color. It was a large garden enclosed with high picket fence painted white, the little gate swung in and out on its old rusted hinges and a grassy path led to the center where stood an old apple tree strange and sturdy, the bark of Its rugged trunk recording a life time of usefulness and yet in June time pink blossoms added fragrance, mingling with the scent of roses. The old fashioned flowers, pinks, marigolds, forget-me-nots, poppies and touch-me-nots, with their seed pods that would curl up in your fingers when touched were planted in small beds.

Walks through the garden were bordered with mignonette, and lush in the background hollyhock's bright colors mingled with the golden sunflowers as the nodded and turned their faces to the sun. The garden was an enchanting place of beauty and fragrance and here is where you would find her sitting, under the apple tree in a low rocking chair, welcoming friends who came to see her garden. She wore a dress of black with a bit of lace at her throat and a cap with a little rosette of ribbon on her white curls.

Time had robbed away the curves and coloring of youth, yet her eyes were sparkling and her cheeks still the same tint of apple blossoms. Years had not taken from her face the beauty of her inner soul.

Prudence Collins came to Iowa in a canvas covered wagon when the lands were a waving plain of high grass, Indians were roaming the wide prairies, and only a few log houses had been built on farms made ready for planting. She had endured the hardships of pioneer life, her kindness and help in sickness in many homes will always be remembered when no other help could be had in this new country. What changes have taken place since the days of grandmother Collins."


...A tribute by Sadie Hurst, a longtime neighbor of Prudence Willcox Kartchner Collins. (May have been printed in the local Colfax Clipper, Mrs Hurst was the society reporter for it)

She was interned at McKeever Cemetery, IA near her son John C. and many of her grandchildren.

Notes:
1. Marriage Record of sons:
KARTCHNER, JOHN C to ASHE, NANCY , 1847-03-04, PERRY Co, IL
KARTCHNER, PETER W to HENNING, LUCINDA , 1841-06-09, WASHINGTON Co, IL
KARTCHNER, WILLIAM D to CASTEEL, MARGARET JANE, 1844-03-21, HANCOCK Co, IL

2. Sadie Hurst, who wrote the tribute above, was the daughter of Charles A and Mariam "York" Dotson. Her younger sister, Julia, married one of Margaret Kartchner Webb's grandsons, William M Reese - the son of Sarah Webb and Daniel Reese

Sadie herself gain some prominence when she was the first woman elected to the Nevada State Legislature in 1918 and was considered a leader of the suffrage movement in Nevada .

3. One son has lead to a brick wall on many levels. The son, Peter W's ultimate fate has yet to be discovered. Several of his children have been documented, yet the last known reference for Peter is the 1860 census with his second wife. It is believed that he died about 1868 in either Iowa or Illinois.

[Researched and compiled by the Kartchner Brothers]


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