Josiah Collins V (1864-1949) was an American attorney, civil servant and politician who was Seattle Fire Commissioner and a

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

. He was Seattle's

Fire Chief A fire chief or fire commissioner is a top executive rank or commanding officer in a fire department. Nomenclature Various official English-language titles for a fire chief include ''fire chief'', ''chief fire officer'' and ''fire commissioner ...

at the time of the

Great Seattle Fire The Great Seattle Fire was a fire that destroyed the entire central business district of Seattle, Washington, on June 6, 1889. The conflagration lasted for less than a day, burning through the afternoon and into the night, during the same summer ...

on June 6, 1889. On that date, he was in San Francisco, attending a regional conference of Fire Chiefs.

Biography

Josiah Collins was born in

Hillsborough, North Carolina The town of Hillsborough is the county seat of Orange County, North Carolina, United States, and is located along the Eno River. The population was 6,087 in 2010, but it grew rapidly to 9,660 by 2020. Its name was unofficially shortened to "Hi ...

on June 17, 1864. He moved to Washington in 1883, where he became a lawyer. He was chief of the volunteer fire department at the time of the

in 1889. He was one of the cofounders of the first golf clubs in Seattle at Laurelhurst in 1895. The Sunday September 18th, 1897 issue of the Victoria, "British Columbia Colonist" mentions him among the first to join the Klondike Gold Rush. https://www.explorenorth.com/klondike/klondike-18970718.html/ref> Initially a Democrat, he joined the Republican Party in 1896. He served as a member of the

Washington State Senate The Washington State Senate is the upper house of the Washington State Legislature. The body consists of 49 members, each representing a district with a population of nearly 160,000. The State Senate meets at the Washington State Capitol, Legis ...

from 1911 to 1915. He married Caroline Wetherill in June 1907, and they had two sons. He died in Seattle on July 1, 1949.

References

Geni: Josiah Collins VHistoryLink: Seattle Fire DepartmentSeattle PI: Museum displays Seattle Fire BellHistoryLink: Daughter in Law Patsy Bullitt Collins
1864 births 1949 deaths American fire chiefs Burials at Lake View Cemetery (Seattle) Lawyers from Seattle Washington (state) lawyers Republican Party Washington (state) state senators People from Washington Territory 20th-century members of the Washington State Legislature {{Washington-WASenate-stub