Yuba County Biographies

An enterprising leader in the Northern California industrial world is John S. Collins, the proprietor of the busy Empire Foundry & Machine Works, at 426 F Street, Marysville. He was born at Clunes, Victoria, Australia, on June 6, 1863, the son of Henry Collins, who was a native of Cornwall, England, and emigrated to Australia, where he was a pioneer miner at Clunes and Ballarat, in the Province of Victoria. He was married in Australia to Jane Ewans, a native of London, England, who had come to Australia with her parents. Grandfather Robert Evans was an Englishman and served as a commissioned officer in the Queen’s Own Regiment until he resigned to move to Australia, where he spent the rest of his life. In 1868 Henry Collins brought his family to California, and followed mining in Grass Valley, later removing to Virginia City, Nev. There he was a miner on the Comstock lode, continuing there until he passed to his reward, in 1888. His widow survives him and makes her home with our subject in Marysville, where she is surrounded by her children. Now in her eighty-third year, she is still hale and hearty, and a devoted member of the Episcopal Church.

The oldest of a family of eleven children, seven of whom are now living, John S. Collins came to California when a lad of five years. His youth was spent at Grass Valley and at Virginia City, Nev., where he received his education in the public schools. So it came about that in Virginia City, with all its interesting traditions, John Collins learned the trade of foundryman, at which he worked until he came to San Francisco, where he was employed in the Union Iron Works and also in the Risdon Iron Works. He came to Marysville in 1900, and was foreman for the Empire Foundry for ten years. In 1910 he bought the plant, its business and good-will, and has been both proprietor and manager ever since. This foundry is one of the oldest in the State, having been established in 1858 by Mr. Hosking, who was the inventor of the Hydraulic Giant made in his foundry and used in pioneer days, and named after the inventor, the Hosking Giant. The foundry passed from one owner to another before it came into the possession and management of Mr. Collins, who has made great improvements, building a new shop fronting on F Street, and installing a modern and up-to-date machine shop, after which he changed the name to the Empire Foundry & Machine Works. The Empire Foundry is one of the oldest industries in the city, and is known from one end of the world to the other. He still manufactures the Hydraulic Giants, and the foundry’s products have been shipped to South Africa, Mexico, South America, Australia, Alaska, Siberia and Siam. The Empire Foundry and the old Marysville Woolen Mills are known wherever man has mined for gold and have done more to place Marysville on the world map than any other of the city’s industries.

Owing to the industrial importance of his enterprise, Mr. Collins has filled an important place in Sacramento Valley’s commercial and financial activities; and both town and county have found in him one of the most enthusiastic “boosters” for the locality in which he lives and prospers. He is interested in the historic past, and is committed to a faith in the promising future of this part of the Golden State; and it is safe to say that both he and his ever-interesting establishment will continue to play a more and more prominent role in the development of California.

Fraternally, Mr. Collins is a member of the Elks, belonging to Marysville Lodge, No. 783; and he is also affiliated with the Woodmen of the World.

History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924

p 1035

JESSE L. HOLMAN

Strength of purpose, unabating energy and the ambition to progress are elements in the make-up of Jesse L. Holman, whose name, in business circles of Marysville, is synonymous with enterprise and integrity. California numbers him among her native sons, his birth having occurred near Wallace, in Calaveras County, on February 6, 1886. His parents, W. E. and Elizabeth (Miller) Holman, are also natives of the Golden State. The paternal grandfather was a Forty-niner and sought his fortune in the mines of California, later turning his attention to agricultural pursuits. The father also engaged in farming. With his wife he is now residing in Stockton.

Jesse L. Holman was reared on the home ranch, situated on the line between Calaveras and San Joaquin Counties, and his education was acquired in the schools of that vicinity. He remained at home until he reached the age of fourteen, and his first job was that of office boy. Later he worked on a dredge, and subsequently learned the machinist’s trade, obtaining his training in Folsom, Sacramento and Stockton. For a time he worked as a journeyman and afterward became a “trouble-shooter” for the Mokelumne Mining Company. In 1916 he open the Marysville Machine Shop, of which he has been the owner; and in the interval since then the business has grown rapidly, owing to his wise direction. He does all kinds of machine work and is a recognized expert in his line. He also sells oil, being distributor for Tiolene. He employs three men to assist him in the operation of his business, which has assumed large and profitable proportions.

Mr. Holman was united in marriage to Miss Mida E. Jones, born in Tennessee; and when not occupied with business matters he is usually to be found at home, being a man of domestic habits. In politics he follows the dictates of his own judgment, refusing to be bound by the narrow ties of partisanship and standing at all times for progress, reform and improvement in public affairs. He is a baseball fan, and is also a devotee of the rod and gun. He is deeply interested in the development of Yuba and Sutter Counties, and is actuated in all that he does by the spirit that has made the West, zealously employing every available opportunity, and exercising firm faith in the promise of the future.