Newton Isaac Collins Sr. (February 11, 1826 – September 7, 1903) was an African-American

freedman A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

from

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

who moved to

Travis County, Texas Travis County is located in Central Texas. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the List of counties in Texas, fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat and most populous city is Austi ...

, in the 1840s, where he was re-enslaved. After the

Emancipation Proclamation The Emancipation Proclamation, officially Proclamation 95, was a presidential proclamation and executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Proclamation had the eff ...

, Collins again received his freedom and became a businessman, land owner, and community leader in southeastern Travis County.

Biography

His mother was an enslaved African-American; his father, Silas Collins, was their enslaver, but

manumitted Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and ...

the young Collins at an early age and saw to it that he was educated and apprenticed in

carpentry Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. C ...

. After his father died in the 1840s, Collins moved to the area that is now

Manor, Texas Manor ( ) is a city in Travis County, Texas, United States. Manor is located 12 miles northeast of Austin and is part of the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan area. The population was 13,652 at the 2020 census. Manor is one of the faster-growing s ...

, where he was kidnapped and re-enslaved by a family named Parsons. In 1854, he married Sarah Elizabeth Harrington, a similarly-literate enslaved woman on the Parson estate, with whom he eventually had eight children. With the promulgation of the

in Texas on June 19, 1865, Collins again received his freedom. He then developed a carpentry business constructing houses and churches around

. Over the succeeding decades his business success enabled him to buy land in eastern Travis County, including some of farmland in Pilot Knob, Texas, near what is now

McKinney Falls State Park McKinney Falls State Park is a state park in Austin, Texas, United States at the confluence of Onion Creek and Williamson Creek. It is administered by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The park opened on April 15, 1976 and is named after ...

. As Collins and his adult children's families settled in the area, he built and furnished a

one-room school One-room schoolhouses, or One-room schools, have been commonplace throughout rural portions of various countries, including Prussia, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, and Spa ...

and a

Methodist church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

to serve the community, and he hired a teacher and preacher to operate them. Collins died in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

on September 7, 1903, and was buried in the Collins Cemetery on his family land in Pilot Knob. Newton Collins Elementary School in Easton Park, Austin, is named after Collins. It is thought to be the first modern school in

Central Texas Central Texas is a region in the U.S. state of Texas roughly bordered on the west by San Saba, to the southeast by Bryan- College Station, the south by San Marcos and to the north by Hillsboro. Central Texas overlaps with and includes part ...

named for a formerly enslaved person.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Newton 19th-century American businesspeople 19th-century American slaves 1826 births 1903 deaths American carpenters American freedmen Free Negroes Literate American slaves People from Alabama 20th-century African-American people 19th-century African-American businesspeople 19th-century American landowners People enslaved in Alabama