Multnomah County OR Archives Biographies.....Collis, E. H. October 4, 1865 - 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ila L. Wakley iwakley@msn.com June 4, 2007, 5:28 pm

Author: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company

     E. H. COLLIS.  In the Oregon Journal Fred Lockley tells the following 
story of a well known Portland citizen whose activities are varied and useful 
and who has extracted from life the real essence of living, making each day 
count for the utmost:
     “Every once in a while I drop into Baker’s auction house to take a look 
at old books that are sent to be sold, or to pass the time of day with Walter, 
Harry or Ben. I often see there another bookworm, E. H. Collis, who, like 
myself, drops in to look over old books. A day or so ago we fell into talk 
about what life meant to each of us and what we were putting into life as well 
as what we were getting out of it.
     “Said Mr. Collis, ‘If a man exchanged all his time, his opportunities, 
for helping others, for improving himself and for doing something for his 
community, and sacrifices his home life for money, he is paying too dearly for 
his money. A good many men esteem it a virtue and are proud of the fact and 
even brag about working ten or more hours a day at their business. They really 
should be ashamed of being such poor managers as to have to work so long and 
so hard to get enough to eat and to wear. Most of us can get more money, but 
none of us can get more time. Our days are numbered, and yet we go on wasting 
what life is made of—merely existing instead of living. Many people are slaves 
of the treadmill. We keep our eyes on the ground and our thoughts on things of 
minor importance, ignoring the really worth-while things and allowing the 
things that make life worth living to pass by unused and unenjoyed. Come up to 
my office and I will show you what I mean.’
     “We went to Mr. Collis’ office on the upper floor of the Concord 
building. The den in which he does his work is twenty-four by forty feet. The 
walls are covered with oil paintings of Oregon scenery. Wherever you look you 
see books—not trashy books, but the written records of the great dead.
     “Continuing the conversation, Mr. Collis said: ‘I am assistant secretary 
of the Pacific Marine Iron Works, treasurer of the Scio Logging & Lumber 
Company and treasurer of the Columbia Cement Company, but I manage my work so 
that I not only have time to pursue my hobbies of collecting, but I also spend 
every week end at my place near Collis station, on the Willamette Valley 
Southern Road, and also attend to the detail work of the various societies to 
which I belong. I have no children except by proxy, so in my tramping trips—
for I prefer seeing the country afoot on my vacations—I hunt up the children 
with books and toys, and I see that they get them. I know the children enjoy 
receiving the books I give them, but I know I enjoy picking the books out and 
giving them to the children much more than they can enjoy owning or reading 
them. Lots of people do not really know that it is more blessed to give than 
to receive. I know that it is. I have come to the conclusion that it is not 
the thing that costs the most money that brings the most pleasure, but it is 
doing the thing that leaves a glow in your heart through giving someone else 
unexpected pleasure.
     “‘I was born in Cincinnati, October 4, 1865, and my father, Robert Owen 
Collis, was born near that city in 1841. He was a son of William Collis, who 
was a native of England and early in the nineteenth century sailed for the 
United States, making the voyage in company with his father and brother. They 
settled in the vicinity of Marietta, Ohio, and the sons married the two 
daughters of Benajah Howe. He was a native of Vermont and one of the members 
of his family was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary war, serving under Ethan 
Allen at the capture of Fort Ticonderoga. My grandfather’s hobby was 
discovering latent talent in supposedly idle or worthless boys. If a boy did 
not want to study or go to school, he studied that boy to see why he didn’t 
want to attend school. He also had a hobby of picking out bright children who 
did not have a chance to get an education and seeing that they secured their 
chance. One of the barefoot lads he enabled to continue his schooling was 
Dicky Yates, who after ward became the war governor of Illinois and still 
later was United States senator from that state. His son, ‘Young Dick,” as 
Richard Yates, Jr., was called, also served as governor of Illinois. My father 
was engaged in business in Cincinnati as a manufacturer of leather sporting 
goods. He became well known as a scientist and is listed in the Naturalists 
Directory as the author of papers on the subjects of archaeology, zoology, 
geology and palaeontology. Father aided in organizing the Madisonville 
Literary & Scientific Society, which did considerable excavating in Ohio, 
discovering ancient Indian mounds, which attracted the attention of the 
Smithsonian Institute, Professor Virchow of Berlin, Professor Putnam of the 
Peabody Museum and other scientists in various parts of the world.
     “‘My mother’s maiden name was Clara Smith. Her father and brothers were 
commercial artists and manufacturers of ornamental lacquer ware, conducting a 
large business near Birmingham, England. My name is Edwin Howe Collis, so you 
see I perpetuate my father’s family name. I guess I inherited my love of art 
from my mother’s people and my love of humanity. There were five of us 
children, all of whom are living. I am the oldest son and my sister Lillian, 
who lives at my home, is the oldest daughter of my family. Clara married Lyman 
Lovejoy and lives in San Francisco. Robert L. Collis is a letter carrier here 
in Portland. My sister Jennie married Thomas A. Sutherland, who was an old 
Alaska “sourdough” and who has built and sold more than one hundred and fifty 
houses in Portland.
     “‘I went to work for Corbett & Failing in Portland and was with that firm 
as bookkeeper for twelve years. They had a big jar of tobacco in the office, 
which was the gathering-place of the old-time Portlanders, Judge M. P. Deady, 
W. S. Ladd, Okanogan Smith and scores of other early pioneers, who used to 
spend their spare time there, talking over Portland’s early days. Father 
Duncan of Metlakatla and Joaquin Miller, the “poet of the Sierras,” used to be 
occasional visitors. Hearing their talk gave me a love for and an interest in 
pioneer days.
     “‘In 1898 I spent six or seven months walking over historic England, 
Scotland and Ireland. I spent a few weeks in France and Belgium while on this 
trip, storing my mind with pleasant memories. In 1900 I went from Portland 
aboard the George W. Elder, bound for Nome, Alaska. I worked for a while on 
Dexter, Buster and Cripple creeks and went by canoe to Teller, Alaska. I made 
the trip alone and was among the first white men who settled there. It was at 
that place that Captain Amundsen landed his airship after crossing the north 
pole. My canoe was twelve feet in length and made of canvas. It was 
collapsible and I was able to carry it on my back. When I started my store at 
Teller it was an Eskimo trading village and was called Nook. I bought white 
foxskins from the natives for two dollars and a half in trade. I went outside 
that winter to get goods and returned early the next spring.
     “‘In 1902 I took part in the stampede to Thunder mountain and traveled on 
horseback and afoot on the prospecting tour of over fifteen hundred miles, 
incidentally having to leave the Nespelim country between two days, as an 
Indian named White Thunder was on my trail to kill me. I took a snapshot 
picture of his grandfathers funeral, not realizing that it was a deadly 
affront to all their traditions. When I heard that he was looking for me I 
faded away from the scene, going to the Chelan country.
     “‘Upon my return to Portland I went in with W. R. MacKenzie, the expert 
accountant, and was with him five years. He was auditor and I was assistant of 
the Lewis and Clark Exposition. I am a charter member of the Oregon State 
Society of Certified Public Accountants. I am associated with F. A. Ballin, 
the ship builder, managing his properties in Portland. I have real estate in 
various parts of Oregon and my holdings include a ranch of one hundred and 
fifteen acres in the Abernathy valley, where I am engaged in the raising of 
fruit.
     “‘In 1906 I married Miss Laura Amend. My wife’s sister married Gus 
Fisher, the ball player, whose father was a Baptist minister in Texas. Gus is 
one of the cleanest, finest, most modest men I ever met, besides being a 
crackerjack ball player.
     “‘I have taken walking trips all over Oregon. When I was at Crater Lake I 
met W. S. Parrott, the well known artist, and now own several of his 
paintings. He has one of his paintings in the Louvre at Paris. I am told that 
an offer of forty thousand dollars was refused for it. I have a good library 
here in my office, also one at home and one at my country place, where I have 
a little cabin on thirty acres of wooded land, situated near Oregon City. I 
leave it absolutely in a state of nature. Its only crop is a crop of beauty.
     “‘I have been secretary of the Alaska Society of Portland since its 
inception six years ago. I have never missed a meeting. We now have one 
hundred and thirty-five members, and while I don’t dance, play cards, eat ice 
cream or make speeches, I fit in in good shape, as I am willing to do the 
detail work necessary to keep the society going. I believe a man owes certain 
obligations to society and that he should study how he can best give service 
to his community as well as how to get something from his fellow citizens.’” 
Forgetful of self, Mr. Collis has found contentment and happiness in aiding 
others. He has sown wisely and well and his life has been a succession of 
harvests. His has been an adventurous career, replete with interesting 
experiences, and his merit compels esteem. 


Additional Comments:
History of the Columbia River Valley From The Dalles to the Sea, Vol. II, 
Pages 355-357

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