COLLINS, Patrick A., born in Fermoy, Ireland, in 1844. He came to the United States in 1848, and settled in Chelsea, Massachusetts. He worked at the upholsterer's trade for eight years, gave his leisure hours to study, entered Harvard law-school in 1868, and was admitted to the bar in 1872. In 1868-'9 he was a member of the Massachusetts house of representatives, and in 1870-'1 a state senator. In 1875 he was judge-advocate-general of the state. He was appointed delegate-at-large from Massachusetts to the democratic national conventions in 1876 and 1880, and was nominated for attorney general. In 1882 he was elected to congress, and he has been twice re-elected. Mr. Collins was one of the secretaries to the Fenian congress held in Philadelphia in 1865, and has been an active member of the land and national leagues since their establishment. He was chosen president of the Irish land league at the convention that was held in Buffalo, New York, in 1884.