George Collings
James Collings, a native of Annapolis, Maryland, was of Welsh extraction, as was his wife, Christiana Davis, of Cecil County, whom he married February 20, 1780. They began housekeeping in Maryland, where they lived many years, and were the parents of a large family, some of the children dying in childhood. They were members of the Episcopal Church. Christian Davis belonged to the family of Henry Winter Davis and David Davis, of Illinois, these being brothers' sons. Their grandfather was Naylor Davis. “Naylor" runs through the family as a baptismal name.
About the close of the century the Collingses, determining to emigrate in company with several other families, started for their proposed destination, Limestone (now Maysville, Ky.). When near Manchester, Ohio, a child of the party dying, they stopped to bury it, and James Collings and family choosing to stay north of the river, by accident, became Ohioans.
Mr. Collings bought of Nathaniel Massie 400 acres of land one mile south of West Union, his heirs adding 100 acres to the purchase. He died at the early age of forty-eight years. His widow is said to have been a person of remarkable energy and great force of character, managing her affairs with ability.
As the years passed, several of the sons and a daughter married and established homes of their own; Elijah living in Adams County, William removing to Pike County, where he was afterward elected to the Legislature; James emigrating to Vermilion County, Ind., and Nancy marrying Mr. James Cole and residing in Adams County. The family circle was thus narrowed to the widow, two unmarried daughters, one of whom is remembered as a woman of commanding intellect, and two sons, the elder, John, a promising young man, was taken off suddenly by a fever.
George Collings, the youngest son of James and Christian Collings, was born near West Union, Adams County, Ohio, February 29, 1800. He was a boy whose mind was early awakened to the delights of learning. His educational opportunities being only such as the county afforded, he was largely self-taught. He showed an unconquerable determination to make a place for himself, and his incessant study of books, as well as of men and events, then begun, lasted throughout life. He knew Latin, read and spoke German (among his books is the German New Testament, which he often read in his last long illness), he came a practical surveyor (his surveying instruments are still in his secretary), and applied himself closely to other branches of mathematics, including astronomy. With his mathematical and legal studies, he developed a talent for practical affairs. His business ventures were numerous. As a young man, he was part owner of a general store at West Union. Later, with Mr. Allaniah Cole, he was interested in a furnace in Eastern Kentucky; was a member of a queensware firm in Maysville, Ky.; a stockholder in an iron company in Cincinnati; a depositor for years in the LaFayette Bank, in the same city; was a shareholder in the Maysville and Zanesville Turnpike Company. Besides several small tracts of land in Adams County, Mr. Collings had a farm of 400 acres on the Ohio River, lots in the town of Manchester, a farm of 342 acres in Highland County, real estate in Hillsborough, Cincinnati, Covington, Ky., Maysville, Ky., a tract of 1,000 acres in Iroquois County, Illinois, and lots in Middleport, same county. He erected three substantial houses--one in West Union, one seven miles east of Manchester, and one in Manchester.
Mr. Collings studied law in West Union, probably with Daniel P. Wilkins. He was admitted to practice at that place May 25, 1824. He afterward was appointed prosecuting attorney, and was elected to the Legislature of his native county. In later years he was elected to the Legislature from Highland County. About 1835 he became a resident of the latter county, living at Hillsboro several years and practicing his profession.
At this time of his life, Mr. Collings was a marked social figure. In person he was five feet nine inches in height, very spare, with delicate feet and hands, very dark hair, gray eyes, and a pale complexion. These advantages, with a high-bred manner, exquisitely neat attire, and a large reserve of keen, quiet humor, made him the center of a company. He was extremely fond of music, singing by note, and when a young man, playing the flute. From native gifts and systematic cultivation, Mr. Collings possessed a style of writing, strong and clear, there being no superfluous words in his manuscripts. The mechanical part was beautifully done. In looking over scores of papers signed by him, one does not meet a blot, an erasure, an error in spelling or in grammar, a false capital, or anything to mar the production.
Mr. Collings was a charming letter writer. His keen insight, deli cate humor, and wide information, having here scope, made his letters. delightful.
The few chance letters remaining of his large correspondence are full of quaint and superior touches. When young, addressing a friend from New Orleans, he is shocked at the general wickedness of the city, by the slaves working on Sunday, etc., and opens by saying, "there are doubts resting on my mind concerning two points: First, could three righteous men save such a city? Second, could three righteous men be found in this city?" and proceeds to describe the February sunshine flooding the southern city, while it was bleak when he had left the north a short time before. Among his effects are autograph letters from those who were or subsequently became men of influence, as Philip B. Swing, Durbin Ward, W. H. Wordsworth, John A. Smith, Richard ! Collins, Nelson Barrere, Allen G. Thurman, J. H. Thompson, the Trimbles, and others.
In January, 1848, Mr. Collings was elected by the Legislature judge of the tenth judicial circuit, which included the counties of Highland, Adams, Brown, Clermont, and Fayette, and remained in office. until June 30, 1851, when his resignation was accepted. He resigned his office on account of domestic misfortunes. He was a member of the convention to revise the State Constitution in 1851. Some time before this, owing to the continued ill health of his family, he had taken a resolution to remove to his Ohio River farm, which he did in 1852. He united with the Methodist Episcopal Church about this time, and built a chapel within a mile of his home, which the church gave him the privilege of naming. He called it "Collins Chapel" for the Rev. John Collins, a celebrated pioneer preacher and circuit rider of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the father of his dear friend, Col. Richard Collins, and Mrs. Nathaniel Massie, the latter of whom lived many years in Adams County, and whom Judge Collings visited once a year as long as his health permitted. The people of the community where he lived, not distinguishing between the names of "Collings" and "Collins," thought that the judge had named the chapel for himself, which always amused him and caused him many a quiet smile. He was a lay delegate to the general conference of his church in 1856, sitting in Indianapolis. In 1857, at a quarterly conference, held at West Union. he was granted a license to preach, the little certificate setting forth that "George Collings is hereby authorized to exercise his gifts as a local preacher, in the Methodist Episcopal Church, as long as his faith. and practice accord with the doctrines and discipline of said church." It was renewed statedly as long as he was able to speak in public.
Judge Collings was helpful in his community, bearing the perplexities of the working people, and giving them aid and material advice during the week, and being, for the most part, their spiritual director on Sunday. He brought the same careful oversight to his farming operations that had characterized his every undertaking. His commonplace books are full of notes as to the planting of fields, fence building, wood chopping, harvesting, etc., with exact figures as to dates and the pay ment of the "hands." He was a great lover of trees, and wherever living, a tireless planter of them. He had caused to be planted a large orchard of mixed fruits at his Ohio River home. He became a scientific gardener-his manual on gardening being yet in his library--and his vegetables and small fruits had a neighborhood fame.
In this ideal retreat, Judge Collings was often appealed to to take charge of lawsuits in his own and neighboring counties. These offers he declined without exception, but to the last, gave private advice to friends and acquaintances, who visited him for the purpose. After several years of tranquil rural life, seeing himself surrounded with a family of small children, William, Mary, Harry, Davis, Jane (his son James had died in West Union), Judge Collings realized that he must either have private teachers for their instruction or make his home near public schools. In 1861 he began the erection of a dwelling at Manchester (still occupied by his youngest son and daughter), and during the few months of life remaining to him, planned for the comfort of his stricken family in a new situation. He died at his country place Jan uary 5, 1862. His remains rest in the family burial ground near where he was born. His career had been full of care, effort, and notable events.
From History of Adams County, Ohio from its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time - by Nelson W. Evans and Emmons B. Stivers - West Union, Ohio - Published by E. B. Stivers - 1900