John William Collvins was born September 4, 1869 in Chambers, Catoosa County Georgia. He was the second of thirteen children born to Andrew William Collvins and Matilda Sheldon Vineyard. The family moved from Georgia to the town of Avery in Red River County, Texas in 1872. There he later met Mary Drucilla Stinson and they were married November 24, 1895 in Red River County, Texas. The couple were parents of 10 children, but only six survived to adulthood, five daughters and one son.

John was a farmer and lived his entire life, with the exception of his first three years, within a mile of where he spent his childhood. He passed from this world to his heavenly home on May 17, 1960, in the hospital at Texarkanna, Miller County, Arkansas, and was buried in the Collvins Cemetery, at Avery, beside his beloved wife Mary, their four little babies and his father and mother. In this family cemetery, located on land he gave for the church, known as Lone Pine Church and the cemetery, you can find six of his seven brothers, four of his five sisters, five of his six daughters, his four sons and numerous nieces, nephews and grandchildren.

There are three things that I remember most about my grandfather. Number one was when he returned thanks for the meal. It was a simple prayer, "Heavenly Father help us to feel thankful for these and all other blessings, Amen". Short, to the point and for me, it covered everything. Second was his mustache. He sported a very large mustache and was the only person I knew, when I was a child, that had one. It was a source of fascination. I couldn't figure out just how he ate or drank with all that hair on his lip. And third was his pipe. He was never without it and this wonderful aroma permeated his whole being. When I close my eyes and think of "Papa Collvins", I see him with a smile on his face and that pipe in his mouth, and almost smell that cherry-like aroma.