Ela Collins

Ela Collins (born February 14, 1786, Meriden, Connecticut – died November 23, 1848, Lowville, New York) was an American lawyer and politician from New York.

Life

Collins was the son of Gen. Oliver Collins (1762–1838) and Lois (née Cole) Collins. He attended Clinton Academy. Then he studied law, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in Lowville in 1807. On July 11, 1811, he married Maria Clinton (1791–1871); they had eleven children, among them Congressman William Collins and Harriet Anne (née Collins) Herron (1833–1901).

He was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1814-15. He was District Attorney of the Eighth District (comprising Lewis, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties from 1815 to 1818, and of Lewis County from 1818–40. He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention of 1821. Collins was elected as a Crawford Democratic-Republican to the 18th United States Congress, holding office from March 4, 1823, to March 3, 1825. He was buried at the Jackson Street Cemetery in Lowville. ^{[citation needed]}

His daughter Harriet married John Williamson Herron (1827–1912), and they had eleven children, among them future First Lady Helen Taft. ^{[citation needed]}

References

• Ela Collins at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pp. 57, 71, 79, 189, 266, 368 and 375; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
• Colins genealogy at RootsWeb