Early Years and Family
Rollins was born in Richmond, in Madison County, Kentucky. His father, Anthony Wayne Rollins, a physician, was born in Pennsylvania of Scotch-Irish immigrant parents, and named for the Revolutionary War hero Anthony Wayne. His mother, Sarah Harris Rodes Rollins, was born in Virginia and was of English descent.
Rollins studied at Richmond Academy, attended Washington College (now Washington and Jefferson College) in Pennsylvania, and graduated from Indiana University in 1830. The Rollins family moved from Kentucky to Boone County, Missouri that same year. Rollins read law in the Columbia office of Abiel Leonard for two years, while helping to manage his father’s farm. In 1832, Rollins enlisted in the Black Hawk War, and was given the rank of Major. After the war, Rollins entered law school at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. When he graduated in 1834, he was admitted to the bar, and began practicing in Columbia that same year.
In 1837, Rollins married Mary Elizabeth Hickman (1820–1907). She was the daughter of James Hickman, and was from Franklin, in nearby Howard County, Missouri. They had 11 children, seven of whom survived to adulthood.
Read more about this topic: James S. Rollins
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