[Archive of Manuscript Letters and Documents Pertaining to the Family and Business Activities of John O. Collins, a Virginia Lawyer with Dealings in Texas]

[Various locations in Virginia and Texas, 1910. Very good.. Ninety-five letters plus numerous business receipts and other documents. A few fold separations, varying levels of toning and wear, but most documents in good or better condition. An informative collection of correspondence and business material documenting the family life and commercial activities of John O. Collins, a Virginia-based lawyer. The collection is comprised of over forty manuscript letters from Collins to his children, a few to other family members, his business card reading, "John O. Collins, Scottsville, Va.," and over fifty business letters and documents, mostly from Texas. All but one of Collin's forty-two letters to his children are written on one side of a postcard, and date between 1890 and 1910. Collins sent these letters to his "Dear Children" in Fork Union, Fluvanna County, Virginia from various locations around Virginia, namely Prospect, Farmville, and Sheppards. He writes in pinched handwriting, about twenty-five lines per postcard, and reports on his health, family news, the agricultural products of Virginia, and more.

The archive also includes numerous letters sent to Collins and his wife from friends or business associates in Texas. These letters are dated between 1854 and 1885. Most of these letters were written to Collins from A.P. Bagby, an attorney and land agent in Bonham; Collins' uncle John Laurie, living in Robertson County, Texas; and J.G. Kearby, an attorney in Wells Point, Van Zandt County, Texas. In one letter, Bagby speaks of missing Collins living in Texas. In another letter, Bagby spends a few pages detailing his recent trip to Galveston to serve as a delegate to the state's Democratic Convention. In another, Bagby describes a recent "barbecue" with "a great abundance of the finest roast meat" and other foods and drinks. In yet another, Bagby writes about assuming the editorship of a newspaper called The North Texas Enterprise, brags about the local vegetable crop, and states that he believes Collins will some day return to the Lone Star State. Bagby also writes letters to "Mrs. C.E. Collins," either John's wife or sister. In these letters, as well, Bagby writes much about his family and life in Texas, which he refers to in one letter as "the best country on the green earth." There are also a few letters to Collins written by his uncle John Laurie of Robertson County, Texas, dated between 1854 and 1860. Laurie writes about the "good health" of the crops in 1854 and the abundance of crops "for our own consumption and for the emigrants" to Texas. In another letter from 1857, Laurie mentions that he has "passed twenty years on the frontier amongst the wild beasts and savages" and reports that "there is much excitement amongst the people in relation to the comet which some says is to destroy the earth. I fear not that the end of time has yet come." The three letters written to Collins from J.G. Kearby in Wells Point almost exclusively relate to taxes owed by Collins for lands in Texas.

The collection also includes a handful of earlier letters written by or to John Collins' forebears Thomas, William, and Zachariah Collins, dated as early as 1837, as well as numerous later receipts and other business documents relating to John O. Collins and his family. Overall, the archive offers a peak into the life and business of a 19th-century businessman from Virginia with additional dealings in Texas, with notable content on Texas in the mid-19th century.