That is really interesting Alvin. I'll bet he wasn't a bachelor in spirit. Probably they loved each other and because they were not allowed to marry, he just remained faithful to her by being a "bachelor" in the public view and her his "mistress"...but they considered themselves as man & wife. How romantic. Lesser men would have married to keep the public from guessing the truth and thereby have a white wife in her face everyday, in order to "save" his reputation. I am sure folks at the time understood exactly what was going on..He was a brave man for the times. I hope you are proud of him. Most people today would wilt under public pressure.

My own great-great-grandmother would never talk of her Native American blood (her mother was full blood) because she grew-up being made ashamed of it....all the lost heritage and family stories!

I have looked on the census for slaves in connection to my TN ancestors. I didn't find any but they were very poor people. The Kentucky ancestors were Hardin, Perrin, Ratliff...they came down through VA and so it is possible they did have slaves.

Hello - I logged on to your page to see if your Collins were related to mine. But I guess not. I started looking at your photographs - That is an amazing collection! and what makes it so amazing is the amount of info you know about everyone. Thanks for sharing them! Jim Avery, Dover PA

Hi Alvin - I actually have 2 Collins lines but both from the north. One is my dad's mother's sister Cecelia Byrne or Burns married John Collins and lived in Cazenovia NY. My dad's father's sister Roxy married George Collins and lived in Gillett PA. Have you met Erin Bradford yet? She is a member here. Her specialty is free African Americans in North Carolina. She is doing a chat about North Carolina beginning soon. Stop in the chatroom and talk genealogy with us and make some new friends!