Collins, William Penn, 1865-1949

William Penn Collins was born in Mukwonago, Wisconsin, in 1865. After attending law school at the University of Wisconsin he moved to Boulder, Colorado, in 1898. He practiced law in Boulder until the 1920s, when he moved his office to Denver. Collins, who was an amateur beekeeper, was for many years active in the Colorado Socialist Party. Several of his relatives from Wisconsin lived in Cuba, and corresponded with him from there. Collins died on 19 August 1949 at age 84.

Collins was one of the Boulder County businessmen who formed the Mukwonago Oil and Gas Company, which leased 480 acres within four miles of the site where oil was first discovered in the county.