Thomas Wharton Collins

Ancestor Number

A132726 »

Date of Birth

June 12, 1732

Place of Birth

Aberdeen Scotland

Date of Death

1790

Place of Death

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Spouse(s)

Mary Hinton

Children

Maria Theresa, John Wharton

American Revolution Service

Paid Supply Tax, 1780; Paid for Services or Supplies, 1782

State of Service

New Jersey and Pennsylvania

Donor

Wharton Chapter has 7 descendants in our chapter

Thomas (Campbell) Wharton Collins, the oldest child of Thomas Campbell and Sarah Collins, was born on June 12, 1732, in Aberdeen, Scotland.

By the time he was 14, he and his younger sister Sarah were orphaned and living with an aunt. At 17, Thomas joined the British cavalry, starting a life of military-related service that spanned nearly four decades, eight countries, and three continents. He spent eight years in India and then returned to Scotland to join the Royal Dragoons. He spent time in Hanover, Germany, during the Seven Years War and helped to capture Havana, Cuba, in 1761.

Returning to England, he discovered that his sister had been molested by a military officer and died.

To avenge his sister’s death, Thomas challenged this officer to a duel, which resulted in the offending officer’s death. Thomas, now 35, resigned his commission and relocated to the West Indies. Four years later, he landed in Philadelphia and began using the last name Collins, his mother’s maiden name.

In Philadelphia, Thomas met Mary Hinton, and the couple married in 1773. Thomas worked as a clerk in the Customs House until 1775 when General Thomas Mifflin appointed him Chief Clerk of the Continental Army. In 1777 he was accused of working with the British and jailed. He denied the charges and was released, thanks to his wife’s personal appeal to General George Washington. Thomas was returned to his job and maintained a friendship with General Washington for the remainder of his life.

Thomas moved his family of seven children to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1788 where two years later at the age of 58, Thomas Wharton Collins died. His widow moved the family to New York, where she died three years later.

In 1800, Thomas’s son, John Wharton Collins, followed his older sister to New Orleans and opened a mercantile store. He eventually relocated to the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, where in 1813 he founded the city of Covington, Louisiana.

The Wharton Chapter NSDAR in Covington, Louisiana, is proud to sponsor a tree in the DAR Pathway of the Patriots named for this patriot and his family.