Joel Collins

From time to time I come across interesting and unknown references to people from my home county that makes me stop and do a bit of pondering, and occasionally a bit of research. As my interest in the War of 1812 waxes and wanes, I will grab a stack of books from the shelf, dive in, and then in a couple of weeks place those books back on the shelf. Recently I picked up a copy of Eric Eugene Johnson's Ohio's Regulars in the War of 1812 (Heritage Books, Inc., 2019), a truly niche effort that lists soldiers born, recruited, or living in Ohio during the war. Under the officers section I came across Joel Collins, a name I have come across before when delving into Ohio's involvement during the war, and a name that resonates not far from the family farm where I grew up in Butler County.

Joel Collins was born in Virginia on the ninth day of September, 1772 to Stephen and Catherine (MacHendree) Collins, being the eldest of five children. Joel's father served as a private during the American Revolution. Joel was the eldest of five Collins children. Sometime between 1789 and 1781 the family moved to Clark County, Kentucky, east of Lexington. In 1796 Joel would marry Elizabeth Beeler, a Woodford County, Kentucky native. Her father Samuel had served as a captain during Lord Dunmore's War. Joel himself had served in the Ohio Indian Wars, although it is not clear in what capacity. It is also not clear when Joel and Elizabeth moved to Butler County, but it would have been some time before the War of 1812 as Joel served in the county militia prior to the second war with the British. In this militia Collins would initially serve as a private in Captain William Robeson's company, a unit formed from volunteers who lived west of the Great Miami River, which flows across the county from northeast to southwest. Robeson was promoted and his replacement as company commander, John Taylor, died in 1811. Collins must have been a prominent citizen as he was named Taylor's successor.

Collins and his rifle company avoided the disaster that would befall William Hull's Army of the Northwest. As Butler County had two existing rifle companies, when the call went out for a single rifle company from the county to participate in the Detroit Campaign, it was determined that the company who made it to Hamilton with the largest amount of men would serve with Hull's army. As Hamilton (at the time) was positioned on the east side of the Great Miami River, and the river was in flood stage, many of Collins' men were prevented from crossing the river and missed the rendezvous. As a result they were not part of Hull's force that would capture and then later surrender Detroit. However, before the surrender another call for troops went out, and Collins led his ninety-two men to Lebanon to become part of a battalion formed from men across southwestern Ohio. The company was described by a paymaster as follows: 

They are as fine, cheerful a set of fellows as can be well placed in exercise. Whatever is offered to them, they are ready and willing to march when and where they are wanted. 

Collins' company performed a variety of tasks, including reopening the trace created by Anthony Wayne's men from Fort Loramie to the St. Mary's River. Upon completing the road work, the company was still encamped along the St. Mary's when they received a report that another company, positioned three miles away on the newly cleared road, was under threat of Indian attack. Half the company made the march, but no attack was made on the reinforced position. Collins and his men would continue to operate in the northwest portion of Ohio until mustering out.

In 1813 Collins would receive a captain's commission in the United States Army, and he proceeded to Cincinnati to recruit men for a company that would become a part of the Twenty-Sixth United States Infantry Regiment. Collins and his company would be ordered to Franklinton (now known as Columbus), then Sandusky and then to Detroit, before moving to take command and create a post at Sandwich, Upper Canada (Ontario). He returned to Detroit, and served in the army until discharged in 1815. Collins returned to his farm and his wife Elizabeth in Oxford Township. Elizabeth died on August 1, 1855. On November 15, 1860, at the age of eighty-eight Collins followed Elizabeth in death, and is buried next to her in Oxford Cemetery.