E.S. Collins used his surveying skills to lay out roads and rail lines in both Pennsylavania and Washington.

The Second Generation

Everell Stanton (E.S.) Collins
While E.S. Collins spent his early days in the woods of Pennsylvania, it was in the West where he grew into being his own forester and his own man. The growing part wasn’t easy. His daddy, Teddy Collins, may have been small in size, but he threw a plenty big shadow. Teddy expected much of E.S., demanded more, and was never able to truly appreciate his son’s talents and innovations. To E.S.’s credit, none of that stopped him from becoming a highly successful timberman in his own right.

As a boy and a young man, E.S. worked in his father’s mills and forests in the Tionesta Valley of Pennsylvania. At thirteen, he’d already spent winters in sub-zero temperatures hauling timbers out of frozen creeks. At fifteen, he was working in the mill jacking logs and edging. By eighteen, he was running the mill. In between, he’d taught himself the skills of an engineer and patented a pocketful of sawmill inventions.

His formal education included the school in Beaver Valley, Pennsylvania, then onto Carrier Seminary in Clarion, Pennsylvania, and finally, one year at Allegheny College. That one year came to an abrupt end when he had to withdraw because of chronic coughs and colds referred to then as consumption. When he wasn’t working in the mill, the forest, or going to school, he was avidly attending services in the Methodist Church and taking in revival meetings that came through the area. There was, of course, always time to be a boy — hunting squirrels, ducks, grouse, woodchucks, and rattlesnakes; fishing for trout; cutting beehives from trees; hiking, swimming, and berry picking.

Simply said, E.S.’s young years boiled down to school, church, fun, and work, then more work, and more work. Then there was God: he trusted in God.

Go West Young Man
In 1887, railroads were crisscrossing the country, the gold rush was in full swing, and all eyes looking for the holy grail of wealth turned westward. But it wasn’t wealth E.S. was hankering for. He wanted to make his own way in the world, so when two of Teddy Collins’ partners, William Dickey and E.H. Darrah, said they were heading to California and Mexico to look for gold, E.S. figured he’d go, too. That, of course, stirred Teddy’s interest, and before long, E.S. and Teddy were catching up with Dickey and Darrah in San Diego. Not to be left behind if riches were at stake was Teddy’s brother, J.V. Collins, who joined them all in San Diego. In fact, he not only joined them, but very soon after, moved his family from Oil City, Pennsylvania to San Diego.

The Tia Juana Valley in Mexico is the gold property Dickey and Darrah expect to get, and father is to have 1/3 interest in it.

—E.S. Collins Diary

Long days hiking through the Tia Juana Valley looking for placer mines turned up little but a few nuggets. In place of gold, Teddy and E.S. bought several lots in Coronado Beach and returned to Pennsylvania. J.V. and his family stayed in San Diego.

Philosophy

The Natural Step

Journey to Sustainability

The Collins Companies

Media
• An Experiment in   Sustainable Forestry   —Forest History Today
• Mission’s Living Legacy
  —New World Outlook

The Collins Companies
1618 SW First Avenue, Suite 500
Portland, OR 97201
800.329.1219
503.227.1219
503.227.5349 Fax

Terry Collins