John and Sarah Collings were the parents of three [known] sons. The eldest, John, was born June 15, 1709. William was born September 8, 1711. Thomas, the youngest, was born October 8, 1713. All were born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
There is not much currently known about John and Sarah Collings, the parents of Thomas. The biggest struggle is identifying which John Collings or Sarah Collings is the one we are looking for. There are several. Mothers gave birth to sons named after their fathers, who in turn married wives named the same as their mothers. It is important to note that some of the family members dropped the ‘g’ from the name, shortening it to ‘Collins’, as did the engraver of Thomas’ stone.
I do not find any local New Hampshire newspaper articles in the archives for Collings or Collins between the years of 1700 and 1730. Papers held by the Portsmouth Athenaeum show the existence of John Collings during the years of 1715-1739. More research needs to be done to determine if this is the parent of Thomas, the brother, both, or no relation at all.
Thomas died shortly after his 16th birthday on February 1, 1729 of a [currently] unknown cause . He is buried in the Point of Graves in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The inscription on his stone reads:
Here lyes ye body
of Thomas Colllins
son to Mr John &
Mrs Sarah Collings
aged 16 years
3 months & 7 Ds
decd February ye 1st 1729
