Samuel W. Collins

Samuel Watkinson Collins (1802–1870) was an American businessman and founder of the Collins Axe Company in Canton, Connecticut.

The Collins and Company Works factory buildings in Collinsville, Connecticut on the Farmington River, viewed from Connecticut Route 179

He was born September 8, 1802, in Middletown, Connecticut, one of seven children. His father was a successful lawyer in Middletown, and his mother came from Suffolk, England, and was apparently well educated. He died in 1871.

Collins began his company in 1826, producing axes. In 1832, he hired a 24-year-old Elisha K. Root, who made industrial improvements that improved the quality of Collins' axes and revolutionized the efficiency of their manufacture.[1] The company expanded into other edge tools, becoming well known throughout Central and South America as a maker of machetes.[2]

Sam Collins Day is an annual celebration in Canton, Connecticut named in his honor. The part of Canton where his factory and worker housing were located is still named Collinsville. His machetes are praised in the short stories of the Uruguayan writer Horacio Quiroga, who spent many years in the jungles of the Misiones region.

References
  1. Diana Muir, Reflections in Bullough's Pond: Economy and Ecosystem in New England, University Press of New England, 2000, p. 131.
  2. Margaret Tierney, "Big Wheels Keep On Turning Up", New York Times, November 30, 2003


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