Harriet Collins (1870)

Born 10 Jan 1870 in Houston, Texas, United States

Biography

Harriet Collins is a part of US Black heritage.

Harriet Collins was interviewed in Houston, Texas about 1937 about her life. She was born after emancipation. However her family had been enslaved by, and later worked for Richard Coke. Coke was a State Senator and Governor of Texas.

"My birthday done come in January, on de tenth. I's birthed in Houston, in 1870, and Gov Richard Coke allus had owned my daddy and mammy, and dey stayed with him after freedom. Mammy, what was Julia Collins, didn't die till 1910, and she was most a hundred years old."

"When I gits married it was eight folkses der. I jus' walks off and goes to housekeepin'. I had a calico dress and a Baptist preacher marries us."

Interview: Harriet Collins was interviewed in Houston, Texas as part of the Federal Writer's Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The results are made available by the Library of Congress. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ [1] Library of Congress - WPA - Slave Narrative - Harriet Collins - Vol. 16, Part 1, Texas, pages 242-245, images 249-252 of 315.

Research notes

The 1870 census of Waco, McLennan, Texas has the enumeration of Richard Coke, lawyer, age 33, born in Virginia. In his household is Julia Page, domestic servant, age 17, born in Kentucky. "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MXG7-HPR : 24 May 2021), Richard Coke, 1870. Could it be that Harriet's mother Julia used a different surname?