Josiah Collins

Josiah Collins III (March 1808 – June 17, 1863) was an American lawyer, politician and slaveholder from North Carolina. He served in the North Carolina Senate and was the owner of Somerset Place.

Early life Josiah Collins III was born in March 1808 in Edenton, North Carolina, to Ann Rebecca (née Daves) and Josiah Collins II. His grandfather Josiah Collins had a shipping empire and ropewalk. His father was a wealthy planter. He graduated from Yale College in 1826. He then studied at Litchfield Law School. He was one of the three largest slaveholders in North Carolina. He was opposed to abolitionism. He was a delegate to the North Carolina Constitutional Convention of 1835 and served on a committee to arrange senatorial districts. In 1850, he ran unsuccessfully as a Whig for the North Carolina House of Commons. His sister Annie Daves married William Biddle Shepard. His grandson Josiah Collins V was an attorney and Seattle civil servant who serving as fire commissioner.

Legacy Following his death, the Collins family attempted to restore Somerset Place. They were forced to sell the property to creditors in 1867. The state of North Carolina later made the plantation a state historic site.