Edward Collins was born 5 June 1885 in Missouri, to William Collins & Mary.
Inmate: #10518 Leavenworth Federal Prison
Rec: 24 Dec 1915
Crime: White Slavery
Term: 1 yr
Age: 35
He was married to Rose C Overmeyer (1885-1974) they were married 25 Sep 1906 in Lucas, OH. They had a daughter named Gertrude Rose Collins (1911-2002).
He claimed to be a minister
Here are some newspaper clipping on his Mann Act conviction:
The crazy thing is I could not find any newspaper articles on any of his crazy plots.
Here's more court documents:
He was collecting money as a charity Minister and I found this photo of him as General Collins.
Newspaper clippings on his Charity Fraud
Below is a Google Book called The Lutheran Witness, Volume 33
mentions his Samaritan Army
His 1915 arrest gives 5 Jun 1880 (35 years old). Death Certificate information from him is age 91 in 1961. He Was about 5’3 and later had abscessed teeth. 1945 the Chicago police gave a different date.
Dave Creely was tried for robbing Miami Savings Bank of Miami, MO. On 12 Dec 1918 the Fidelity and Casualty Insurance Company wrote Leavenworth for info on his stay there.
When he died he probably was alone. The “E Collins” indicates he gave the information. Lack of other information indicates he was not known. Even a grandchild would give him more info. As a minister he may have avoided the draft
He and Rosa divorce March 1940 Stockton, MO
1956 he is still scamming
Someone made a historical fiction novel based on his life. She claims her husband was the grandson of Edward Collins.
He was born about 1877/8 in NY or MO. At some point he was with the Salvation Army which is a devoutly religious Christian group.
He copied the Salvation method of charity fundraising. They have ranks based on the religious belief that they are God’s Army or something like that. All their money goes to salaries and bills then charity. They give a lot to charitable causes including housing, feeding, and clothing the poor.
Even today people dump money in cups without knowing who gets the money.
In 1907 he started Samaritan Army. 1910 incorporated or whatever in KY then 1911 incorporated in IL. His rank went up and down. Over the years they spread to most states. People believed them to be godly people and like the Salvation Army. Over time there would be scandals, a rival charity taking possession of the nursery, lies, innuendos, crooked politics, and constant newspaper and legal cases about corruption and fraud. It was common for books to be cooked and income not reported as well as 0% to 5% of donations going to charitable causes.
There was great animosity between the various “charities”. This book on page 44 starts to talk about the heated feud between Zeal Hayes and General Edward Collins.
Edward returned to Chicago for a short while then went to Ohio where is wife was from but he dies 11 Feb 1967 in Chicago, IL.
I would like to thank and give credit to Laurie Smith who found the newspaper articles and helped so much....Thank you Laurie
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