Tulare County Biographies

BARNEY DE LA GRANGE

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 
The great grand-father of Barney De La Grange, of Orosi, Cal., came to America 
to fight for the independence of the colonies under command of General 
Lafayette, and hence Mr. De La Grange is a genuine Son of the American 
Revolution, without the necessity of joining the association of that name. Mr. 
De La Grange is one of the best known carpenters and orange growers in the 
district north of Orosi and a leading citizen of Tulare county, and was born in 
West Virginia April 16, 1858, a son of Omie and Elizabeth (McLain) De La Grange, 
respectively of French and Scotch ancestry. There were in his father's family 
nine children, five of whom were daughters. When Barney De La Grange was 
thirteen years old his parents moved to Ohio. He has in the course of his life 
been an extensive traveler in America, having covered the entire country from 
the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes and from ocean to ocean. He married in 
West Virginia, Ida M. Lewis, a native of Kentucky, but of English parentage, and 
she bore him a daughter, Lena Marie, who married George M. Daniels, of Creston, 
Iowa, and has sons, James B. and Lloyd. Mrs. De La Grange passed away in 1895, 
in West Virginia.
In his youth Mr. De La Grange learned the trade of carpenter and builder in 
which he was employed at different times and at different places. He has 
recently bought a ranch of twenty acres north of Orosi and will plant it to 
navel, Valencia and other varieties of oranges. He has lived in Tulare county 
since 1909, having come here from Fresno county, where he had located eight 
years before.
It has been seen that Mr. De La Grange is a descendant of a patriot hero "of the 
days that tried men's souls." He is the proud owner of a pair of shoe buckles 
once worn by his great-grandmother when she danced with George Washington at a 
famous ball in Philadelphia. Of German silver, of beautiful design and fine 
workmanship, they are exceedingly interesting relics. Omie De La Grange, father 
of Barney, was a veteran of the war of 1812 and served his country in the 
Mexican war. Mr. De La Grange's brother William enlisted in Company B, Eleventh 
Virginia Infantry, April 1, 1862, and served three years in the Civil war. He is 
now a citizen of Selma. Politically Mr. De La Grange is a Republican and his 
religious affiliations are with the Methodist church. Fraternally he is 
identified with the Woodmen.
 
History of Tulare and Kings Counties, California with Biographical Sketches - 
Los Angeles, Calif., Historic Record Company, 1913, Pp 847-848