My Moynahan Genealogy Blog: Who Was Henry Collins?

Monday, June 8, 2020

Who Was Henry Collins?

(Photo is undated and found on Page 53 of " St Mary's Anniversary Booklet 1874-1974" , Maidstone, Ontario)

My great-grandfather John Moynahan (1866-1933) is smiling in the photo above with Henry Collins and this is unusual because in ALL of the other photos that I have of him, he always looks so serious!

John Moynahan was a school teacher, township clerk, municipal clerk, civil servant and Justice of the Peace so his unsmiling face in all of the photos made some sense.

John Moynahan: school teacher, township clerk, municipal clerk, civil servant and Justice of the Peace

The undated photo of John Moynahan and Henry Collins made me curious
Were they friends? What did they have in common?
I decided to research Henry Collins and I learned that they had a great deal in common.

My great grandfather married Mary Broderick on the 10th of May 1898

Henry Collins married Margaret Sullivan on the 18th of April 1899

Could the photo of the two of them together have been taken in their bachelor days?

Henry was the son of Jeremiah Collins (1834-1898) who owned the hotel at Maidstone Cross, Ontario

Could the photo of John and Henry have been taken after a visit to the family hotel?

Jeremiah Collins 1834-1898

Jeremiah Collins was Henry's father and he was born in Maidstone, Ontario (son of Denis Collins and Honora Burke) and he established a tavern and a blacksmith shop in Maidstone, Ontario.
The tavern appeared on the 1850 map (and below on the 1882 map)

Hotel located near post office south of Maidstone Cross (293 STR) Source: SWODA

The map below shows the proximity of the Moynahan farms on Talbot and Middle Road to the Collins farm, hotel, and blacksmith shop.

Long before the existence of St. Mary's Roman Catholic church, missionaries would offer masses in the log homes of the early settlers: Halford, Lennon, Cavanaugh and at Dennis Collins' home. (Source: Page 7: St Mary's 1874-1974, Maidstone, Ontario), so the two men likely attended mass together every Sunday.

Map of Maidstone Cross (blue starr) showing Dennis Collins property (1835) at 293 STR (blue) and Moynahan properties in green.

Jeremiah Collins (1834-1898) had a lot in common with John's father Jeremiah Moynahan (1837-1922) - they were both Irish sons, the first generation born in Canada and they were both born in the times of the Great Rebellion in Upper Canada.

And Jeremiah Collin's son Henry (1869-1947) had a lot in common with his friend John Moynahan (1866-1933). Both were the eldest Irish sons (second generation born in Canada ) in their respective families; both with older sisters; both attending the one-room schoolhouse together and both remaining bachelors into their thirties.

FROM The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada 21 Oct 1898, Fri • Page 8

When Jeremiah Collins passed away October 1898, he had provided for his nine grown-up children in his will which he had prepared the spring before.

FROM The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada 28 Oct 1898, Fri • Page 3

Detroit Free Press
Detroit, Michigan
21 Oct 1898, Fri • Page 10

I may never ever know exactly why these two men were grinning in this photo. It just makes me smile every time I look at it. I hope it's because they were good friends and that they shared many laughs over the years.

John Moynahan passed away suddenly in 1933 and Henry Collins passed away Christmas Day 1947.

The Windsor Star

Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Fri, Dec 26, 1947 · Page 8

Other Notable Collins Descendants

From Maidstone, Ont. and Detroit, Michigan

Exploring the Irish Collins family of Maidstone (and Detroit) .... I found farmers, firefighters, detectives, teachers, mothers, fathers, and priests ..... as I continue my research I will add more "Collins clippings" to the collection that I've started below:

The Windsor Star
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
11 Dec 1916, Mon • Page 2

The Project Gutenberg has made available an eBook of

"The Indians' Last Fight", by Dennis Collins
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37922/37922-h/37922-h.htm

"Oldtimers": Kavanaughs, Halfords, Collins, Greenways, McAuliffes (Photo is undated and found on Page 55 of " St Mary's Anniversary Booklet 1874-1974" , Maidstone, Ontario)