Andrew William Collvins was born William Newton Collins, February, 15, 1839, to William M. Collins and Margaret Ellison Pounds . William was the third of eight children who survived to adulthood. He married Matilda Sheldon Vineyard January 28, 1864, in Atlanta, Fulton County, Georgia, in the midst of the Civil War.

Andrew, as he will be hereafter referred to, and Matilda were the parents of thirteen children, Margaret Ann, John William, James Thomas, Robert E Lee, Rhoda Ardella, Hansel Cero, Ida Elizabeth, Benjamin S, Walter Lycurgus, Edward Jackson, Mary Georgia, Jasper L Hood, and Leoma.

Andrew was mustered into the 1st Regiment Texas Infantry, Company G, C S A, April 11, 1862 in Palestine, Texas as a private. In 1864 he was transferred to Atlanta due to numerous health problems and this is where he met and married Matilda Sheldon Vineyard. After the war Andrew and Matilda moved to Ringold, Catoosa County, Georgia, next door to the Vineyard farm that had been the location for a major portion of the Battle of Chickamauga. Matilda's mother, Anna Haddox Vineyard and siblings were living two farms down the road. In 1872 both families removed to Red River County, Texas, near the town of Avery. Andrew and Matilda remained here on their farm, raising their family, until their death. Andrew died April 17, 1900, and was buried in the Collvins Family Cemetery, Avery, Texas.

There are many legends that attempt to account for the reason why William Newton Collins changed his name to Andrew William Collvins. He had two sisters, Elizabeth Ann Collins Allred and Georgiana Elizabeth Collins Megason that were also residents of Red River County, Texas and the neighboring county of Bowie. My grandfather, John William spoke of these sisters as his aunts. He told a story that Andrew and his sisters were adopted by a family named Collins and they add a V to Andrew's name, but left the girls Collins. Some of the other children of Andrew passed on a story that he had been a spy in the war and had to change his name for safety. A look at his military record makes this legend very unlikely. Another legend said that he ran away from home at the age of 14, went to Texas and somehow acquired a ranch in West Texas. He had a brother Shadrack Jasper and his parents William M and Margaret E Collins living next door in Bowie County, Texas, in 1880, however no mention was ever made by my grandfather about these family members. My conclusion is that Andrew and his father had a falling out around the time of the Civil War and it was so major that Andrew felt the need to add distance between them by changing his name. He was William Newton Collins on the 1860 census, living in the home of his father William. By April of 1862 he was enlisting in the Confederate Army as Andrew William Collvins. What happened in those two years to bring this about? Unfortunately, we will never know, because anyone who knew the true story has long since passed on, taking the truth of the matter with them. How sad.