Collins Clan
Through her daily logs, the reader has been introduced to several key people in Gladys’ life. Her immediate family consists of:
- Walter Edward Collins, her father. Gladys affectionately refers to him as ‘Daddy’ most often and typically describes what her father is doing for the day. While not written down by Gladys, a search utilizing Ancestry.com gives some basic information about Walter. He was born 11/02/1878 in Indianapolis, IN. How he came to be living in Kansas is not known at this time, though I am always researching and trying to fit puzzle pieces together. What I do know is that Walter enlisted in the military on 09/01/1899 and served as a Private in the Volunteer Infantry with Company C of the 44th Regiment. He was honorably discharged from service on 06/30/1901. After his military service was complete, he went on to purchase land for farming and began a family. Walter died 03/14/1961 and is buried in Lakin Cemetery in Lakin, Kansas.
- Eva Collins, her mother. Gladys refers to her as ‘Mamma’ in her writings. Very little is known about Eva other than her final resting place is alongside her husband in Lakin Cemetery.
- Clarence Burton Collins, her brother. Gladys writes often about her older brother Clarence and his comings and goings. Much like other young men his age, Clarence likely left school so he could help his father run the farm. Though it is clear from Gladys’ writing that education and schooling were of importance to the family, the reality of life on a farm during the Depression was that education would simply have to take a backseat to keeping the farm afloat. At this time, I have not found much information on Clarence to attest to what happened in his life, if he had a family, what career path he chose etc. My genealogy research on Ancestry.com confirms that Clarence was born 11/26/1911 in McPherson, Kansas. He did serve in the military, in the U.S. Army, where he was inducted into service on May 15, 1942. (https://www.kshs.org/kmi/kmi_wwiiselectives/view/63841) Like his parents, Clarence found his eternal rest in Lakin Cemetery.
- Lennie Collins, her sister. Gladys mentions Lennie sporadically throughout her writings. Being 3 years older, I suspect Gladys didn’t deem much of Lennie’s daily goings on as being worthy of writing about. There is almost no documentation of Lennie Collins that I have been able to locate at this point. Her basic information is located on Ancestry.com and lists her birthdate as 11/12/1917 and her date of death as 05/27/1948. As with the rest of her family, Lennie Collins was buried in Lakin Cemetery.
Throughout her journals, Gladys makes reference to several extended family members, though few details are given which could paint a more detailed picture of each person. What is clear is that the family had loving and stable relationships amongst each other and lived within travel distance of each other. It is likely that the rural landscape and obligations of farm work prevented more daily interactions.
Gladys Collins’ diaries reveal an ideal daughter: obedient, kind, well-mannered, soft-spoken, hardworking, compassionate, honest, loyal, and devoted. The accounting of Gladys’ life and the lives of her family shows a idyllic traditional family unit working hard to be successful during an infamously devastating time. The youthful lens through which we read Gladys’ writing invokes a sense of experiencing a uniquely Americana storytelling.
