The American shipowner Edward Knight Collins (1802-1878) operated transatlantic and coastwise packet ships and was the leading figure in America's most ambitious challenge to Great Britain's merchant marine supremacy in the 19th century.

Edward Collins was born on Aug. 5, 1802, in Truro, Mass. He was a member of an old New England family which had emigrated to Massachusetts from England in the 1630s. His father, Israel Gross Collins, was a sailing ship captain, and Edward followed his father's example in choosing a maritime career.

In 1817 Collins moved to New York City, where he was to live for the rest of his life. He worked in a mercantile house for a time and then made several voyages to the West Indies. He later went into business with his father, conducting a general shipping and commission firm. The association with his father brought some profits, which Collins used to begin his...