Walter Winner COLLIS

Walter Winner COLLIS

Male 1868 - 1930  (61 years)

Personal Information    |    Notes    |    All    |    PDF

  • Name Walter Winner COLLIS 
    Born 14 Sep 1868  San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Census 1870, 1880, 1910, 1920 
    Occupation Blacksmith, farmer, house builder 
    Reference Number
    _UID 142FDE5B63C1224EB7529AE60363D684593A 
    Died 22 Jan 1930  San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Cause: Cancer of the bladder 
    Buried Union Cemetery, Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I205  SteveParker
    Last Modified 26 Apr 2017 

    Father William COLLIS,   b. 20 May 1826, Chipping Hill, Witham, Essex, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 3 Feb 1900, Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 73 years) 
    Mother Anne Esther RANDALL,   b. 13 Mar 1828, 77 London Rd, Southwark, Surrey, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 3 Jan 1918, Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 89 years) 
    Married 18 Nov 1852  Saint Pauls Church, Hammersmith, Middlesex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    _UID 9ADEF9BE53C19945A6ACBACCAFAEE396CFDA 
    Notes 
    • England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973
      Name: William Collis
      Gender: Male
      Marital Status: Single
      Age: 26
      Birth Date: 1826
      Marriage Date: 18 Nov 1852
      Marriage Place: St. Paul, Hammersmith, Middlesex, England
      Father: Christopher Aus...Ett Collis
      Spouse: Ann Esther Randall
      FHL Film Number: 1966291
      Reference ID: it 1, pg 190, rn 379
    Family ID F125  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Laura Susan GRIGSBY,   b. 2 Jul 1866, , Napa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 7 Aug 1940, Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 74 years) 
    Married 4 Oct 1893  Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location 
    _UID 571A46B640B14949B1001F4951D2FB9FC60C 
    Notes 
    • Contra Costa County records vol 4 pg 358
    Children 
     1. Hazel Crystal COLLIS,   b. 19 Dec 1894, Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 30 Oct 1977, Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 82 years)
     2. Ernest Russell COLLIS,   b. 31 Dec 1896, Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 26 Jun 1976, Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 79 years)
     3. Gladyce Ethyl COLLIS,   b. 1 Nov 1898, Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 13 Dec 1975, Sacramento, Sacramento, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 77 years)
     4. Winner Winwood COLLIS,   b. 8 Oct 1900, Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 10 Dec 1985, Saint Helens, Columbia, Oregon, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 85 years)
     5. Arthur COLLIS,   b. 6 Aug 1902, Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 7 Sep 1907, Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 5 years)
     6. Edgar Dawain COLLIS,   b. 19 Sep 1907, Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, United States Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 16 Mar 1987, Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah, United States Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 79 years)
    Last Modified 29 Mar 2021 
    Family ID F11  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • Things to do:
      1. Look in Brentwood CA newspapers 1880-1910, for articles and wedding, birth, death of Arthur, etc.
      2. Look in Colfax WA newspapers 1910-1918 for articles.
      3. Look in Winner's letters for info
      4. Do I have a will and death cert? for both Laura and Walter?

      Timeline:
      1868 Walter born Berry Street, San Francisco, CA
      1870 Census, Walter age 2, living with parents San Francisco, CA
      1880 Census, Walter age 11, living with parents Contra Costa County, CA
      1892 Oct listed in California voter registration, age 24, farmer in Briones Valley residence, Brentwood
      post office, 5 foot 10 in tall, fair complexion, hazel eyes, dark hair, left leg shorter,
      1893 Marriage Certificate -Walter and Laura in Brentwood, Contra Costa, CA
      1894 daughter, Hazel, born, Brentwood, CA
      1896 June California voter registration, farmer in Brentwood
      1896 son, Ernest Russell, born Brentwood, CA
      1898 daughter, Gladyce, born, Brentwood, CA
      1900 Census, Walter age 33 Contra Costa County, CA; living with wife, Laura, and three children,
      Hazel, Russell, & Gladyce,.
      1900 Oct; son, Winner, born, Brentwood, CA
      1901 & 1902, he is listed as a blacksmith living at 4164 17th Street, San Francisco. He shoed horses for
      the San Francisco Streetcars.
      1902 Aug; son, Arthur, born, Brentwood, CA
      1907 Sep, 5; son, Arthur, died in Brentwood while Walter was on business selling farm equip. in
      Washington.
      1907 Sep 19; son, Edgar, born Brentwood, CA
      1910 Census, Walter, age 42, Diamond, Whitman, Washington; living with wife, Laura, and five
      children, Hazel, Russell, Gladyce, Winner, & Edgar
      1912 daughter, Hazel married in Whitman County, Washington
      1917 daughter, Gladyce married in Dayton, Washington.
      1918 Walter, Laura, and son Edgar moved back to Brentwood, CA to farm left him by his mother
      1920 Census, Walter, age 51, House Construction; Oak St., Brentwood, Contra Costa County, CA; living
      with wife, Laura, and Edgar and 2 boarders in construction.
      1923 Walter fell off ladder while picking apples in Wenatchee, WA.
      1930 Jan 22, Walter died of bladder cancer in San Francisco.
      1930 Census, Laura living in Oakland, Alameda, CA with daughter, Gladyce and husband Pete Ping
      1940 Census, Laura living in Sacramento, CA with daughter, Gladyce and husband Pete Ping
      1940 Aug 7, Laura died of old age. She had been with her son, Winner in Oregon and Gladyce had gone
      to Oregon to bring her home to live with her and her husband Pete Ping. Laura was in a rest home
      at the time of her death at age 74.

      Walter Winner Collis and Laura Susan Grigsby were married 4 Oct 1893 in Brentwood, Contra Costa County, California. They met in Brentwood where their parents had adjoining farms. Her wedding veil was adorned with live orange blossoms. They were the parents of 6 children; Hazel, Ernest (known as Russell), Gladyce, Winner, Arthur, and Edgar. Five of the children lived to adulthood. Arthur died as a young child. They lived in Brentwood behind Walter's blacksmith shop later moving to Colfax, Washington, then back again to Brentwood.

      Laura was born 2 Jul 1866 in Napa County where her parents had met and married. She was the oldest of 4 children, all of which attended school in Brentwood, California. Her father was a successful farmer there. Her mother was often ill, and many times Laura stayed home from school to care for her mother. She was an accomplished piano and organ player. When her husband died, Laura moved to Oregon to be with her son, Winner, but was soon retrieved by her daughter, Gladyce, who brought her to live her last days in Sacramento. Laura died in 1940 at the age of 74 from heart disease.

      Walter Winner Collis was born 14 Sept 1868 at 130 Berry Street, San Francisco, California, Walter was the 8th of 10 children born to William and Ann (Randall) Collis of England. William Collis, is listed in the 1868-1874 San Francisco directory as having a saloon and residence at that address. It is reputed to have been nice real estate at that time. In the 1888 San Francisco directory, Walter was listed as a lamplighter and trimmer for The Cal Electric Light Co. in San Francisco, living at 1517 Vallejo Street. (is this our Walter Collis?) Before the turn of the century he was a grain farmer in Brentwood, Contra Costa County, California. My father, Russell Collis, said that farming was never his best occupation. In 1902, he is listed as a blacksmith living at 4164 17th Street in San Francisco. He shod horses for the San Francisco Streetcars. In 1906, during the earthquake, he and his family were living behind the blacksmith shop in Brentwood, California. He later worked for the Holt Harvestor Company as a traveling salesman, demonstrating and selling equipment. His family was living in Berkeley during that time. He was sent to Washington State and was there in 1907, when his son, Arthur, choked to death. Aunt Gladyce remembers the body lying in the living room for about one week while they waited for Dad to return for the funeral. Two weeks after Arthur's death, Laura gave birth to her sixth child, Edgar. The family moved to Diamond, Washington and in the 1910 census he is listed again as a blacksmith in his own shop.

      The following information was told to me by Russell Collis in January of 1976.
      "In 1910 the family (Walter Winner's family) moved to Diamond, Washington. Walter worked in a blacksmith shop there. In 1918, Walter inherited $700 from his mother. He took Laura, Edgar, a cow and the furniture on a freight train back to Brentwood to 40 acres of property left to Laura by her father, Erasmus Grigsby. Walter nearly died of the flu. Gladyce and Hazel had both married in Washington. Russell and Winner both stayed to work."
      "In 1923 Walter, Laura and Edgar returned to Washington for Bertha and Russell's wedding and then went on to Wenatchee, Washington, to pick apples. Walter fell off the ladder onto his back. He later developed kidney and bladder problems attributed to the fall. They called it cancer. It was hardening of the bladder. The bladder was like granite inside and they would chip it off in chips. Walter was never really well after that. Doctor Regen and Doctor Reynolds at the University hospital in San Francisco wanted to operate. The cost of $150, Walter felt was too high and the county owed him something after all these years. He went to the County Hospital in Martinez. It didn't help and when he went back to University Hospital, it was too late. He died there in 1930 at age 61.

      He left the farm in debt and it was taken over by the bank shortly after his death. Farming was not his best interest." "Walter played the coronet well and he played any kind of brass instrument. He played in the band in Diamond for a while. He also played the mouth organ well. He had a short leg and walked with a limp, but he was a very strong, husky man. He could pick up a one hundred-fifty pound anvil by the horn and hold it straight out at arm's length. He also was an expert swimmer and at one time made a wager he could swim the river from Brentwood to San Francisco Bay. No one took him up on it so he didn't swim it."

      MEMORIES OF Walter Winner Collis by Grandson, WALTER LEROY COLLIS
      (as told to Marilyn Parker, June 4, 1988)

      I remember little of the ranch in Brentwood; just going through the orchard between Grandma Collis' and our little shack, Grandpa sitting in the rocking chair on the porch with tears rolling down his cheeks because he hurt so bad. Yet Grandpa always had time to play with me. Whenever I'd come, he'd hold me on his lap.

      I can remember Grandma chasing him around, telling him, "Walter! do this." Boy! He'd move. She was just a little tiny squirt. We used to gather around the piano and sing the old traditional stuff on Christmas Eve. Money was tight so we would go out and cut down a tree whether it was pine or whatever, and decorate it with homemade decorations. I remember stringing popcorn, making chains and paper decorations.

      Grandpa Collis was a big man, religious, a blacksmith, 6 feet 1 inch on one foot and 6 feet 2 inches on the other; A big man with big arms. He wouldn't hurt a fly. He fell across a ladder picking fruit and developed cancer of the bladder.


      !BIRTH: Berry Street, 10 pm (William Collis family bible in possession of Marilyn Parker)
      !MARRIAGE: Marriage Cert. in possession of Laura Mae Just. (I have a copy)

      1870 United States Federal Census
      Name: Walter W Collis
      Age in 1870: 2
      Birth Year: abt 1868
      Birthplace: California
      Home in 1870: San Francisco Ward 9, San Francisco, California
      Race: White
      Gender: Male
      Post Office: San Francisco
      Value of real estate:
      Household Members: Name Age
      Wm Collis 43 (male citizen of US)
      Annie E Collis 41
      Ada A Collis 16
      Wm A Collis 15
      Austin W Collis 6
      Rachel Collis 4
      Walter W Collis 2

      *1880 United States Federal Census
      Name: Walter W. Collis
      Home in 1880: Township 5, Contra Costa, California
      Age: 11
      Estimated birth year: abt 1869
      Birthplace: California
      Relation to head-of-household: Son
      Father's name: William
      Father's birthplace: Eng
      Mother's name: Esther A.
      Mother's birthplace: Eng
      Occupation: Going To School
      Marital Status: Single
      Race: White
      Gender: Male
      Household Members: Name Age
      William Collis 54
      Esther A. Collis 51
      William A. Collis 24
      Austin W. Collis 15
      Rachael Collis 12
      Walter W. Collis 11
      Florence E. Collis 10
      Lillian E. Collis 8

      1900 United States Federal Census
      Name: Walter Collis
      Age: 33
      Birth Date: Sep 1866
      Birthplace: California
      Home in 1900: Supervisors District 5, Contra Costa, California
      Race: White
      Gender: Male
      elation to Head of House:
      pouse's Name: Laura Collis
      Marriage Year: 1893
      Years Married: 7
      Father's Birthplace: England
      Mother's Birthplace: England
      Occupation: Farmer rented farm
      Household Members: Name Age
      Walter Collis 33 farmer
      Laura Collis 33
      Hazel Collis 5
      Russel Collis 3
      Gladys Collis 2

      *1910 United States Federal Census
      Name: Walter L Collis
      Age in 1910: 42
      Estimated Birth Year: abt 1868
      BirthPlace: California
      Relation to Head of House: Head
      Father's Birth Place: England
      Mother's Birth Place: England
      Spouses's Name: Lora
      Home in 1910: Diamond, Whitman, Washington
      Marital Status: Married
      Occupation: Blacksmith, own shop (own it free, house)
      Race: White
      Gender: Male
      Household Members: Name Age
      Walter L 42
      Lora Collis 44
      Hazel Collis 15
      Russel Collis 13
      Gladys Collis 11
      Wynner Collis 9
      Edgar Collis 2

      1920 United States Federal Census
      Name: Walter W Callis
      Home in 1920: Brentwood, Contra Costa, California, Oak Street
      Age: 51 years
      Estimated Birth Year: abt 1869
      Birthplace: California
      Relation to Head of House: Head
      Occupation: Construction, House builder, for wages
      Spouse's Name: Laura E
      Father's Birth Place: England
      Mother's Birth Place: England
      Marital Status: Married
      Race: White
      Sex: Male
      Home owned: Own farm
      Able to read: Yes
      Able to Write: Yes
      Image: 492
      Household Members: Name Age
      Walter W Callis 51
      Laura E Callis 53
      Edgar D Callis 12
      Samuel S Logan 37 boarder, builder, house builder
      Roy C Motter 21 boarder, painter, house builder

      1930 United States Federal Census
      Name: Laura S Collis
      Birth Year: abt 1867
      Gender: Female
      Race: White
      Birthplace: California
      Marital Status: Widowed
      Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
      Home in 1930: Oakland, Alameda, California
      Map of Home: View Map
      Street address: 76th Ave
      Block: 3099
      House Number in Cities or Towns: 1446
      Dwelling Number: 255
      Family Number: 262
      Age at First Marriage: 27
      Attended School: No
      Able to Read and Write: Yes
      Father's Birthplace: Missouri
      Mother's Birthplace: Missouri
      Able to Speak English: Yes
      Household Members:
      Name Age
      Elmer F Ping 32
      Gladys E Ping 30
      Frank E Ping 57
      Mary E Ping 52
      Laura S Collis 63

      1940 United States Federal Census
      Name: Laura Collis
      Age: 73
      Estimated birth year: abt 1867
      Gender: Female
      Race: White
      Birthplace: California
      Marital Status: Widowed
      Relation to Head of House: Mother-in-law
      Home in 1940: Sacramento, Sacramento, California
      Map of Home in 1940: View Map
      Street: 13 Avenue
      House Number: 4964
      Inferred Residence in 1935: Sacramento, Sacramento, California
      Residence in 1935: Same Place
      Sheet Number: 10A
      Attended School or College: No
      Highest Grade Completed: Elementary school, 5th grade
      Weeks Worked in 1939: 0
      Income: 0
      Income Other Sources: No
      Neighbors: View others on page
      Household Members:
      Name Age
      Elmer Ping 44
      Gladyce Ping 41
      Laura Collis 73
      Edgar Collis 32

      !DEATH: died age 62, State file #5389 vol. 10 page 1322, buried:Brentwood Union Cemetary

      findagrave.com
      Walter W. Collis..
      Birth: 1864
      Death: 1930
      Burial:
      Union Cemetery
      Brentwood
      Contra Costa County
      California, USA

      From the dawn of the Iron Age through the 19th century, the blacksmith trade grew in demand and became increasingly specialized in the process. America would not even exist were it not for the smithy. Indeed, civilization itself is indebted to the blacksmith for virtually all material innovation up to the advent of the factory floor. The importance of the blacksmith cannot be overstated. But then, something happened: machines.
      The smithy trade began to decline in the mid-19th century, as machines began to produce items that were formerly made by the blacksmith. At first it was the simple things: nails, hooks, fence rods. In time, more complex products were machine-crafted, such as hinges and barbed wire. The smithy simply couldn't compete with the economics of machine-crafted implements, a phenomenon that soon gave rise to a virtuous cycle of machine-dominance in the production of most material goods. What the machines didn't take from the smithy was soon eaten by other competitive innovations and historical events:
      Ransom E. Olds' <http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story002.htm> re-introduction of the assembly line <http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/story002.htm> (circa 1901) to meet demand for the new "horseless carriage" meant the smithy's skill in shaping iron rims for wheelwrights was rendered superfluous to transportation needs.
      Soon thereafter, the extensive adoption of large open-geared tractors negatively impacted demand for simply farm tools, horse shoes, and other finely crafted items previously considered agricultural necessities.
      The Great Depression killed a last bastion of the blacksmith market niche when architectural ironwork <http://www.appaltree.net/aba/education/historical/1910%20to%201970.htm> became a symbol of a luxury-laden bygone age. In a matter of less than 100 years after Longfellow's poem was published, the vital trade of smithy was all but dead.

      . research Holt Harvester Co during 1910-1930:
      History Of Holt Harvester Co
      1883 The Stockton Wheel Company was established by Benjamin and Charles Holt.
      1886 The first Holt "link belt" combined harvester was sold, replacing unreliable mechanical
      geared harvesters.
      1890 Benjamin Holt unveiled his version of the steam traction engine with new, patented steering
      clutches.
      1892 The Stockton Wheel Company was incorporated as The Holt Manufacturing Company.
      1904 Benjamin Holt tested a steam powered machine that moved on self-laying tracks instead of
      wheels. He named this invention the "Caterpillar".
      1931 Marysville Tractor & Equipment Co. was formed by Daniel W. Beatie to cover Marysville,CA
      1935 Roseville facility in Placer County was opened.
      1939 Holt Bros. was formed by Parker M. Holt and Harry D. Holt to cover Santa Maria, California.