Fresno County, California Biographies

Source: History of Fresno County, California, with biographical sketches of 
the leading men and women of the county who have been identified with 
its growth and development from the early days to the present (1919)

History By Paul E. Vandor 
Illustrated, Complete In Two Volumes 
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, California, 1919
 
Notes: Missing+page1185-1186

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

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


W. L. OLINGER. � A hardy Missouri boy who has become an influen- 
tial and most successful Californian rancher in his own name and right, 
on one of the small "show-places" in the county, is W. L. Olinger, who 
lives with his good wife and family on his forty-acre ranch one mile west and 
half a mile north of Del Rey. Not long ago he built a stucco residence, 
and those who have seen it declare it to be ideal for its purpose. Mr. Olinger 
came to Del Rey, at that time called Clifton, in the fall of 1890; and since 
then he has witnessed the working of more than one miracle in the marvelous 
development of Central California. 

W. L. Olinger was born the day before Christmas, in 1864, in Cooper 
County, Mo., the very day when the nation was being electrified by the suc- 
cessful bombarding of Fort Fisher by the Federal fleet. Soon after, his 
parents, Jesse and Mary (Armstrong) Olinger, removed to a town called 
Pleasant Hope, about twenty miles north of Springfield. His father was a 
school teacher and a musician, making a specialty of the violin and vocal 
music, and taught in public schools for forty years. When he died, he had 
reached the age of seventy-six, and then lived at Hazelton, Kans., where he 
was notary public and mayor. He had moved to that city in 1902. Mrs. 
Olinger, the mother of our subject, died when he was only five years of age. 
She left two other sons and two daughters ; and through his father's second 
marriage Mr. Olinger came to have a half-sister. One of his sisters is now 
Mrs. Laura Jane Fullerton, and lives in Los Angeles. An older brother, 
Tames B., who was once the owner of the Olinger place, died on March 10, 
1903, and W. L. Olinger bought the property. This brother James came here 
in 1880 as one of the first settlers in the neighborhood, and had much to 
do with Mr. Olinger's decision to follow him hither. 

W. L. Olinger worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-one, and 
then worked out on farms and rented land for himself until 1890, when he 
decided to come West. Having arrived safely, he entered the service of 
Capt. S. D. Hopper. The latter had a fine ranch, where there was a good 
opportunity to learn local methods of agriculture. He stayed with the cap- 
tain for five years, and then worked for his brother a year. 

Until 1896 Mr. Olinger continued to work out by the month, and then he 
went back to Missouri, where he was to marry Miss Susie A. Davenport. 
She was born near Pleasant Hope, in that state, the daughter of W. A. 
Davenport, the pioneer. On account of the new domestic ties Mr. Olinger 
did not immediately return to the West, but bought fifty-two acres of Mis- 
souri land, where he built a house and established his home. After the 
death of his brother, in 1903, he came back to the Golden State and bought 
his ranch, closing out his Missouri farm interests, and bringing along his 
wife and two children, with all their personal belongings. Now he has a 
fine ranch with thirty acres planted to Thompson's seedless grapes, five 
acres to muscats, and two acres to alfalfa ; while three acres are given up to 
buildings, yard and environment. Mr. Olinger is a stockholder in the Cali- 
fornia Associated Raisin Company. 

Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Olinger: James Rosseau, 
William Bernal, and Shannon Davenport. Mr. Olinger has always been 
fond of music, and his youngest child, Shannon, has inherited his penchant 
for the art. Although only eight years old, he plays both popular and 
classic music with ease, and is a member of the Sunday school orchestra. 
Mr. and Mrs. Olinger belong to the Baptist Church in Del Rev, to which 
they give their hearty support, gladly participating in all worthy religious 
or moral endeavor to improve and brighten human lives.