born in 1915, Édith Piaf was the embodiment of the tragic and the beautiful, a symbol of hope amidst the chaos.

  • David Rucker: Buffalo Soldier

    David Rucker with grandson, Eugene Lee Kelley. c.1922; Austin, TX

    David Rucker was born 15 December 1846 in Tennessee. He was my maternal grandfather’s, maternal grandfather. He is also the grandfather of one of our favorite cousins, Mrs. Johnnie B. Van Dyke of Austin, Texas.

    David Rucker was brought to Texas by the Texas-Indian Wars, in which he served as a Soldier for the United States military. In 1867 he enlisted in Company G of the 38th Infantry (G 38 Rl. S. Infantry) of the Regular Army. As a result of the 1 November 1869 consolidation of the 38th and 41st Infantry Regiments, David Rucker next served in the 24th Infantry Regiment. All three regiments listed above were entirely African-American under the then-existing requirement to segregate soldiers by race. Men in these all-Black regiments are known as “Buffalo Soldiers.” All Buffalo Soldiers, including David Rucker, were Black men who were either recently enslaved and voluntarily enlisted or were veterans of the U.S. Colored Troops of the Union Army.

    Record of Widow Pension Application filed by widow of David Rucker, Ida Perry Rucker, in 1924. U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. National Archives and Records Administration.

    In 1869, the 24th Regiment was garrisoned at Fort McKavett in Menard County Texas under Col. Ranald Slidell (Bad Hand) Mackenzie, brother in law of accomplished naval officer Matthew Calbraith Perry. David Rucker most likely garrisoned at this location until the end of his service in 1870.

    David Rucker died on 11 March 1924 and is buried in the Perry Cemetery in Austin, Texas.

    Sources:

    1-24 Infantry Battalion History https://www.army.mil/article/166701/1_24_infantry_battalion_history

    Robert Wooster, “Twenty-Fourth United States Infantry,” Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/twenty-fourth-united-states-infantry.

    Ernest Wallace, “Mackenzie, Ranald Slidell,”Handbook of Texas Online, accessed May 09, 2026, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mackenzie-ranald-slidell.

  • Dee Gabriel & Donnie Collins

    Donnie & Dee Gabriel Collins. Courtesy of L. Collins.

    My grandfather‘s paternal grandmother, Donnie Sauls, was born in Webberville, Texas on June 19, 1869 to Clem Sauls Alexander. Her husband Dee Gabriel Collins was also born in Central Texas on August 22, 1863 to Newton & Sarah Collins.

    Marriage License of D. and Donnie Collins signed September 27, 1882. Travis County Clerk’s Office; Austin, Texas; Travis County Marriage Records; The Book Series: 5, 6

    Donnie Sauls and D. Gabriel Collins were married on September 27, 1882, in Travis, Texas. They had 17 children between 1883 and 1915. The children were:

    1. Silas Collins 1883-1883

    2. Maude Esther Eason
    1 October 1885-13 July 1967

    3. Lizzie Mae Robinson 17 Apr 1887 – 8 Jul 1961

    4. Bertha Velma Rucker 27 July 1889 – 15 Jul 1957

    5. Talferd Dee Collins 6 Oct 1891 – 23 Oct 1906

    6. Walter Gabriel Collins 20 Aug 1893 – 8 Dec 1975

    7. Ada Pumphrey Rucker 3 Sep 1895 – 2 Mar 1978

    8. John Beal Collins 2 Aug 1897 – 21 Nov 1978

    9. Alge Morris Collins 12 Jun 1899 – 28 Jul 1962

    10. Charles Emery Collins 24 Sep 1901 – 19 Jul 1981

    11. Theodore Roosevelt Collins 15 Dec 1902 – 23 Apr 1979

    12. Lura Thelma Isaacs 15 Dec 1904 – 2 Dec 1978

    13. Donnie Gladys Hutson 23 Oct 1906 – 26 Apr 1986

    14. Gertrude Hortense Winn 29 Nov 1908 – 11 Jun 1998

    15. James Kuykendall Collins 20 Oct 1910 – 8 Sep 1977

    16. Virgie Clemmie Johnson 10 Sep 1912 – 21 Feb 1988

    17. Myrtle Viola Brooks 7 Jan 1915 – 25 Feb 1984

    Donnie Collins and children at the funeral of Dee Gabriel Collins in 1926.

    Dee Gabriel died 24 Dec 1926 and Donnie died on 7 December 1933. Both are buried in the Collins Cemetery. Dee Gabriel Collins Road in Austin, Texas was named in his honor.

  • Collins Cemetery

    Photographed by Bob Ward, circa February 2021

    In 2004, the Texas Historical Commission erected Marker Number 18940, designating the Collins Cemetery as an historic place in the state of Texas. Situated at the foot of Pilot Knob, Austin’s extinct volcano, the cemetery is the final resting place for Collins family members. Our Collins forefather, Newton Isaac Collins, Sr. (1826-1903), purchased this land in the late 1800s.

    Burials

    Mollie Bremond (16 Jan 1894 – 18 Jan 1894)

    Benjamin Franklin “Ben” Bremond (26 Feb 1855 – 27 Sep 1894)

    Infant Collins ( ? – Jan 1902)

    Newton Isaac Collins Sr. (11 Feb 1826 – 7 Sep 1903)

    Vinie Collins Bremond (27 Mar 1856 – 14 Oct 1912)

    Agnes Sanders Parker (18 Jun 1889 – 6 Nov 1922)

    Dee Gabriel Collins (2 Aug 1863 – 24 Dec 1926)

    Donnie Louise Sauls Collins (19 Jun 1869 – 7 Dec 1933)

    Infant Son of Jim and Aldonia Collins (8 Feb 1939 – 9 Feb 1939)

    The cemetery is near Cottonmouth School Road in Austin, Texas.

  • pilot knob: the Collins Family Farm

    South of Onion Creek in Austin, Texas stands the city’s highest point – Pilot Knob. It is the core of an extinct volcano that formed underwater 80 million years ago.


    Map of Travis County, Texas 1880

    East of McKinney Falls and near the Edward’s Aquifer – this is where my family is from.

    Pictured above in the 1980s is my maternal grandfather, Talferd Gabriel Collins, on his farm in Pilot Knob. This land, still in our family today, has been in continuous agricultural operation for over 100 years.