A.M. Collins
Born in Virginia in 1805, Angelina Maria Lorraine Collins married James Collins in 1830. After moving to New Albany, Indiana, their home for the next thirty years, James served in the Indiana General Assembly, had a thriving law practice, and published the family owned newspaper. Angelina was a society hostess known as a very skilled cook. In 1851 she published Mrs. Collins' Table Receipts, which was later published in New York City as The Great Western Cook Book. Mrs. Collins was well-educated, possessing strong personal beliefs, and she was a dedicated abolitionist. She was also a temperance advocate, and her novel Mrs. Ben Darby: Or the Weal and Woe of a Social Life, is a melodramatic story about the sins of alcohol. She also wrote poetry and was highly regarded by her New Albany peers.
