Jenny Shellhead
Benjamin Franklin Collins
George and Jenny's sons were the first people of color to graduate from the Oregon Agricultural College in Corvallis, now known as Oregon State University.
Benjamin Collins graduated from college in 1886 and James Collins graduated in 1888.
Benjamin died from measles in 1887 a year after graduation.
Poem by Benjamin Collins
Click image to read pg 1 & 2
James went on to be a well respected school superintendent in both Rainer, Oregon (1909) and Woodburn, Oregon (1917). James died in 1927 in Santa Barbara, California.
James Collins front row, 2nd from left, class of 1888
James Harrison Collins
William David Collins
James Collins top left, Phi Kappa Phi
William D. Collins was a carpenter, farmer and handy man. He lived in Seal Rock, Oregon aka Alsea and Siletz Reservation his whole life. He was the only Collins son to marry and have children. He married Annie Clark and had four children, only two of which lived to marry and have children of their own.
Photos courtesy of Collins family private collection.