State board of agriculture, mining, and manufac- ture, and prepared the annual reports of the board during these years. In 1878 he was appointed one of the scientific commissioners to the world's ex- position, held in Vienna, and contributed a report on "Commercial Fertilizei's" to the government series. From 1877 till 1888 he was chemist to the department of agriculture in Washington. During his administration the efficiency of "the work was greatly improved, and its scientific value received universal commendation. Numerous investiga- tions were undertaken at his suggestion and con- tinued under his supervision. The most impor- tant of these was concerning sorghum sugar. By a long series of carefully planned experiments. Prof. Collier succeeded in showing the possibility of producing sorghum-sugar economically in the United States. The practical establishment of the industry, though successful at several localities, has never been fostered by the government, and the depreciation in value of the cane-sugar, owing to the large production of beet-sugar in Germany and Austria, still prevents capitalists from making it an American product. The United States im- ports sugar at an expense of $200,000,000 per an- num, and this sum could be retained within our country, provided the demonstrations of Prof. Collier were accepted. In 1888 he invented and patented an apparatus for recovering sugar from begasse, or refuse, of the sugar-cane and sorghum. He has published many reports and articles on fertilizers and on sorghum, and has lectured before scientific associations on these topics. Prof. Col- lier has edited the " Reports of the Department of Agricvilture "' (Washington, 1877-'83), and pub- lished "Sorghum : its Culture and Manufacture Economically Considered, and as a Source of Sugar, Syrup, and Fodder" (Cincinnati, 1883).
COLLIER, Robert Laird, clergyman, b. in
Salisbury, Md.. 7 Aug., 1887; d. there. 28 July,
1890. Originally a Methodist preacher, he united
with the Unitarian church, and was pastor of large
churches in Chicago and Boston, and at the same
time became a popular lecturer and writer of
magazine articles. His principal published works
are " Every-Day Subjectsiu Sunday Sei'inons " (Bos-
ton, 18()!)) : " Meditations on the Essence of Chris-
tianity " (187G) ; and " English Home Life " (1885).
COLLIER, William, clergyman, b. in Seituate,
Mass., 11 Oct., 1771 ; d. in Boston, Mass., 29 March,
1848. He learned the carpenter's trade, but decided
to become a minister, entered Brown university,
and was graduated in 1797. He studied theology
with Dr. Maxcy, president of the college, was li-
censed in 1798, ordained in Boston, 11 July, 1799,
preached one year in Newport, R. I., was pastor
in New York city in 1800-'4, then in Charlestown,
Mass., till 1820, when his health failed and he re-
moved to Boston and became a minister-at -large.
He was active in the city mission and kindred en-
terprises, and was a pioneer in the temperance
movement, beginning in 1826 the publication of
a weekly temperance paper, called the " National
Philanthropist," which was continued for two years.
He also edited " The Baptist Preacher," a monthly
publication containing sermons by living ministers,
begun in 1827, prepared editions of Sauriu and
Andrew Fuller, and compiled a hymn-book.
COLLINS, Charles, educator," b. in North Yar-
mouth, Me., 17 April, 1818 ; d. in Memphis, Tenn.,
10 July, 1875. He was graduated at Wesleyan uni-
versity, Middletown. Conn., in 1837, taught the
high-school in Augusta, Me., for a year, was presi-
dent of Emory and Henry college, in Emory, Va.,
from its establishment in 1888 till 1852, when he
became president of Dickinson college. Pa. From
1800 till his death he was proprietor and president
of the State female college near Memphis, Tenn.
He contributed many articles to Methodist maga-
zines, aiul publislied a discourse on "Methodism
and Calvinism Compared" (Philadelphia, 1849).
COLLINS, Edward K., ship-owner, b. in Truro,
Cape Cod, Mass., 5 Aug., 1802 ; d. in New York
city, 22 Jan., 1878. He began life as a clerk in the
office of McCrea & Slidell, shipping-merchants in
New York'city, became superintendent of a line of
packets running between New York and Vera Cruz,
then of a line running to New Orleans, and estab-
lished the Dramatic line of sailing-packets to Liver-
pool in 1836. The first steamer of the Collins line
between New York and Liverpool sailed from New
York on 27 April, 1849. The company had a fleet
of five steamers. One of them, the " Arctic," sank
with many passengers on board off Cape Race, New-
foundland, in 1854, and another, the " Pacific,"
sailed from Liverpool in May, 1856, and was never
again heard from. Afterward the government
abruptly terminated a mail contract, involving a
subsidy of |858,000 a year, on which the line de-
pended largely for its support. In consequence
of these misfortunes the company ceased opei-ations
in January, 1858. Mr. Collins afterward engaged
in mining enterprises, and was nt one time largely
interested in Ohio coal and iron mines.
COLLINS, Elizabeth Ballinger, minister of
the Society of Friends, b. in Upper Evesham, N. J.,
in 1755 ; d. in 1831. Her father, Joseph Ballinger,
died when she was a child, and in 1778 she married
John Mason, who died about 1777, and in 1778 she
married Job Collins. When in her twenty-fourth
year, she felt strongly impressed with the duty of
becoming a minister of the gospel, and later she
was a noted preacher in her denomination, " labor-
ing zealously to stir up the lukewarm, and speak-
ing a word in season to those that were weary;
while the purity of her life, and the Christian
meekness that marked her character, adorned the
doctrines she delivei'cd to others." Her autobi-
ography was published in Philadelphia in 1859.
COLLINS, George C., merchant, b. in South
Hadley, Mass.. in 1810; d. in New York city, 10
Feb., i875. He removed when a boy to Hartford,
Conn., and at the age of twenty went to Mobile,
Ala., as confidential secretary to Burrett Ames, the
largest cotton-dealer in the south. After three years
he returned to the north and went into business on
his own account as a grocer in Hartford, removed
to New York city in 1841 as partner in the house
of McCoon, Sherman & Co., and established in 1860
the house of Collins & Rayner, which afterward be-
came George C. Collins & Co. After the draft-riots
of 1863 he was a member of a committee to prosecute the claims of the families of the murdered negroes against the city, and was one of the largest
contributors to the fund raised for the relief of the
families. He was an active promoter of various
charitable and religious objects.
COLLINS, Isaac, publisher, b. in Delaware. 10 Feb., 1740; d. in Burlington, N. J., 21 March, 1817. He was the son of an immigrant from Bristol, England, learned the printer's trade, went to Philadelphia at the age of twenty-one, where he worked as a journeyman, in 1770 was appointed
public printer in New Jersey, and removed to Burlington. In 1771 he began the publication of an almanac, which he issued annually for more than twenty years. In 1778 he removed to Trenton, and there printed 5,000 copies of a family Bible that was remarkably free from typographical errors. To secure accuracy, the proofs were read eleven
