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's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

. He was Seattle's Fire Chief at the time of the Great Seattle Fire 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 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 Great Seattle Fire in 1889. He was one of the cofounders of the first golf clubs in Seattle at Laurelhurst in 1895. Initially a Democrat, he joined the

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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 Legislative Building in Olymp ...

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 History of Seattle Lawyers from Seattle Washington (state) lawyers Republican Party Washington (state) state senators People of the Washington Territory {{US-law-bio-stub