Born 8 Sep 1802 in Middletown, Hartford, Connecticut, United States

Ancestors

Died 30 Apr 1871 at age 68 in Colllinsville, Connecticut

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Samuel Collins is Notable.

The Eponym of Collinsville, Connecticut^[1]

During the years between 1800 and 1850, Connecticut had over 200 manufacturing villages. Many were named after the founders of the companies. Usually these village names ended in "ville". Samuel Collins objected to the name 'Collinsville' and preferred something like 'Collinsford' or even " Valley Forge"^[2]

Biography

Samuel was born on September 8, 1802 in Middletown, Connecticut. HIs father was Alexander Collins, a lawyer from Middlesex County, CT..^[3] Samuel's mother was an immigrant from England by the name of Elizabeth Watkinson.^[4]

Samuel initially worked for his uncle selling imported steel from Sheffield, England. Collins started an ax company in 1826 with his younger brother, David, and cousin, William Wells, when they purchased five acres in South Canton, Connecticut.^[5]

The shipped their axes "sharpened, honed and hafted" giving them an early edge on the competition. ^[6]

Samuel added steam-powered trip hammers to speed up production. The company grew and he built homes for the workforce. By 1828, South Canton was renamed "Collinsville.^[7]

The Collins Ax Company provided pikes (an infantry weapon with a pointed steel or iron head on a long wooden shaft) for John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry.^[8]

The company went on to supply Union soldiers with swords and bayonets. Among the tools that were made by the company were, several different styles of machetes (sold mainly in Central and South America), scythes, adzes, plows, bayonets, sabers and Bowie knives.^[9]

The most famous manufacturer of machetes used in Latin America were the ones that were made by Samuel Collins. They were so popular that any good machete was referred to as 'un Collins'.^[10]

Collins Klappmachete

In the late 1800s the Collins Ax Company of Collinsville, Connecticut was the largest "integrated ax" company in the world, and by 1871, when Samuel died, it had made 15 million axes with company sales reaching $1 million dollars.^[11]

In 1955 a flood destroyed many of the buildings of the company which the company never recovered. In 1966 the company's business was sold to the Mann Edge Tool of Lewistown, Pennsylvania. The South American part of the business was sold to Stanley Tool.^[12]

Sam Collins Day is celebrated every year on the 3rd Saturday in September in the village of Collinsville in Canton, Connecticut. The village of Collinsville is a historic district and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. ^[13]

Sources

1. ↑ Find-A-Grave
2. ↑ Factories Gave Birth to State's 'Villes'; Hartford Courant; 3 Mar 1986
3. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_W._Collins
4. ↑ unsourced Martin Family Tree; Brad Martin on Ancestry
5. ↑ The Farm Collector; History of Colllins Axe Works
6. ↑ The Legacy of the Collins Company
7. ↑ The Legacy of the Collins Company
8. ↑ The Legacy of the Collins Company
9. ↑ The Legacy of the Collins Company
10. ↑ Machete: Wikiwand
11. ↑ Legacy of the Collins Ax Company
12. ↑ The Legacy of the Collins Ax Company
13. ↑ Sam Collins Day; Wikipedia

• Find-A-Grave Memorial #32165714
• Samuel W. Collins; Connecticut Deaths and Burials, 1772-1934; Family Search
• Martin Family Tree on Ancestry.
• Sam Collins Day on Wikipedia
• The Legacy of the Collins Company
• Machete
• Wikimedia Commons
• The Farm Collector; History of the Collins Axe Works