John Collins (1835 – April 22, 1903) was an

Irish-American , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

businessman who served as the fourth elected

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

. Collins was born in County Cavan,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and emigrated to the

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at age 10, settling in New York, before moving first to

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

, and then to

Port Gamble, Washington Port Gamble is an unincorporated community on the northwestern shore of the Kitsap Peninsula in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is also a small, eponymous bay, along which the community lies, near the entrance to Hood Canal. The uninc ...

to work at the Puget Sound Mill Company. Arriving in Seattle in the 1865, he successfully invested in a number of industrial concerns, including the Talbot coal mine, and the Seattle Gas Light Company, and purchased and ran the city's Occidental Hotel. By the 1880s, his business acumen had left him one of the city's wealthiest citizens. From 1869 to 1883, he served on the city council, including one year service as mayor of Seattle, in 1873. He was notable for being a "rare Catholic

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among the city's Protestant

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ruling class". In the 1890s Collins purchase the ''Press Times'' (predecessor to the '' Seattle Times''), later selling it to new owners who, in turn, sold it to its long-time owners the Blethen family. The Collins Building, a property commissioned by John Collins and situated on land once occupied by his personal home, is located at Second Avenue and James Street in Seattle. He died on April 22, 1903, after a two-year stomach disease.

References

1835 births 1903 deaths Irish emigrants to the United States (before 1923) People from County Cavan Mayors of Seattle {{Washington-mayor-stub