Essentials
Born: 6 December 1787
Daughter of: John WILCOX and Sarah WALTON
Married: 1. John Christopher KARTCHNER; 6 October 1809; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 2. Francis Collins; 1834; Harper’s Ferry, Virginia
Died: 23 November 1872; Colfax, Jasper County, Pennsylvania

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Short history

SOURCES UNKNOWN
     Prudence Wilcox was born December 6, 1787. Little is known of her childhood, but one of her ancestors was George William Walton, and he located in Philadelphia and became a prominent lawyer. His son, William Walton, was a physician that comforted the sick and wounded in the American army during the Revolutionary War. He resided in Philadelphia. His daughter, Sarah Walton, met and married a man by the name of John Wilcox, who was from England.
     This was the mother and father of Prudence Wilcox. Prudence got acquainted with John Christopher Kartchner, and they were married October 6, 1809. When her husband became ill, she worked at the paper mill to help with the expenses of the family. They had seven children. The sixth child, William Decatur Kartchner, married Margaret Jane Casteel on March 17, 1814, in Nauvoo, Illinois. He later married Elizabeth Gale, his second wife.
     After Prudence’s husband, John, died April 2, 1826, she got acquainted with Francis Collins, and they were married in 1834. She always liked flowers, and one of her neighbors, Sadie D. Hurst, wrote this about Prudence’s flower garden: "There was no particular design or reason in the planting of her flower beds, herbs, and vines, other than she wanted fragrance and color. It was a large garden enclosed with a high picket fence and painted white. The little gate swung in and out on its rusted old hinges, and a grassy path led to the center where stood an old apple tree, strong and sturdy, the back of its trunk recording a lifetime of usefulness. And yet in June time its pink blossoms added fragrance, mingling with the scent of roses. The old-fashioned flowers, pinks, marigolds, forget-me-nots, poppies and touch-me-nots with their seed pods that would curl up in your fingers when touched, were planted in small beds. Walks through the garden were bordered with mignonette and lush in the background were hollyhocks of bright colors mingled with the golden sunflowers as they nodded and turned their faces to the sun. The garden was an enchanting place of beauty and fragrance and here is where you would find her sitting, under the apple tree in a low rocking chair, welcoming friends who came to see her garden. She wore a dress of black with a bit of lace at her throat and a cap with a little rosette of ribbon on her white curls. Time had robbed away the curves and coloring of youth, yet her eyes were sparkling and her cheeks still the same tint of apple blossoms. Years had not taken from her face the beauty of her inner soul."
     Prudence Wilcox Kartchner Collins came to Iowa in a canvas covered wagon when the lands were a waving plain of high grass, the Indians were roaming the wide prairies, and only a few log houses had been built or farms made ready for planting. She had endured hardships of pioneer life, her kindness and help in sickness in many homes always will be remembered, when no other help could be had in this raw country. What changes have taken place since the days of great grandmother Collins! She died November 23, 1872 at Colfax, Jasper County, Pennsylvania.

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