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I personally don't think that a wife named Elizabeth Cacique ever existed. She certainly was not the mother of John Collins' children - any of them. My last question was simply trying to figure out how it could have happened that John's widow Elizabeth was thought to be an Indian princess, the dau of King Jeremy, and then given the last name Cacique too. I suspect this was family lore, perhaps from the Woodbery family. I'm guessing that the Woodbery land called Indian Field gave rise to the story about John Collins marrying the daughter of King Jeremy and the land coming to the Collins family from him. Jonah Collins' will and the grant for that 1000a disprove that. Since John Collins' will named wife Elizabeth, I think the Indian Princess got the name Elizabeth from the will. And then Cacique may have been added because of the term Cassique meaning chief. But this is just my guess. Therefore question marks.
According to the SC Indian research on the webpage I mentioned, King Jeremy was thought to have been chief of the Sewee Indians. The Sewee Indians are not well known except in this area. The Cherokee are well known nationwide. So I think Cherokee might have been an assumption.
I have seen 3 wives of John Collins listed too. One was given as Sarah Ruberry. Eliminate her. She was actually the wife of Jonah Collins Sr - the wife named in his will. She left her will 1768 as Sarah Collins naming son David Batchelor and dau Elizabeth Weathers (Withers). She was the widow of an earlier David Batchelor whose death is recorded in Christ Church Parish 1728. She does not seem to have been the mother of any of Jonah Collins Sr's children except Elizabeth. Jonah Sr probably had an earlier wife who hasn't yet been identified. Sarah Ruberry Batchelor Collins' son David Batchelor was a witness to Jonah Collins Sr's will.
The second wife I've seen listed for John Collins was Elizabeth, daughter of King Jeremy. I doubt she ever existed and was nothing more than a combination of family lore plus the name Elizabeth given in John's will.
The third wife I've seen listed is Elizabeth, the wife named in John's will. Because of the undefined Parris/Collins kinship, some people speculated that she was Elizabeth Parris, while others speculated that John Collins had a daughter Mary Collins who married Alexander Parris. No daughter Mary is mentioned in his will, but the will was witnessed by Mary Parris. She was the wife of Alexander Parris.
I believe there was only one wife - Elizabeth named in John's will. We do have the records now to prove that John Collins' wife Elizabeth was previously married to a Mr Parrot and had a son William/Willm. Ed. Parrot by that marriage. She married again to a Mr Hall and had sons Arthur Hall and Christopher Hall by that marriage. We know that Alexander Parris Sr referred to Jonah Collins and Jean Collins Russell as "cousins" (actually commonly used for nieces and nephews in all the colonies at that time). So John Collins' wife Elizabeth - who was surely Elizabeth Parris, sister of Alexander Parris - was the mother of all the Collins children. Otherwise Jonah Collins, the eldest, could not have been Alexander Parris's "cousin".
George Parris's research agrees so perfectly that I feel sure there are records - probably in Barbados - that will prove Elizabeth's marriage to John Parrot (who must have been the father of Elizabeth's son William Parrot) and that Elizabeth and Alexander Parris were siblings.
We need to search the Barbados records. I understand there are many Collins records there too. We might even find Mr Hall in the process. There is a record in SC that refers to Elizabeth's son Arthur Hall as Arthur Hall Jr. That's not proof that his father was Arthur Hall Sr, but it's a good clue. At least we know that there was an earlier Arthur Hall somewhere.
So, no, I don't think that Elizabeth Cacique was ever a wife of John Collins. I think she's just a legend that some Collins descendants may have a hard time letting go of. After all, it was such a romantic story. But at least now we might be able to continue the family research in Barbados - both Collins and Parris. And that might lead us back to England or wherever.
I would very much like to know if you or anyone can find additional records that relate. I will be glad to post whatever I can find. I hope this is a great Christmas gift to all Collins although some might like to scalp me for destroying the Indian Princess legend. I posted a reference to this on the Collins and Parris forums so that hopefully it will be found and used by many.
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