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


MRS. LOUIS WAHL. � It is always a matter of particular satisfaction 
to learn that the good work begun by one who has passed on to his eternal 
reward and left a worthy record and influence behind him, is still being car- 
ried on by his widow. No more loyal and enthusiastic citizen may be found 
in Fresno County than Mrs. Wahl, who was born at Mesbach, Baden, Ger- 
many, the daughter of Anton Baudendistel, a baker there, and his wife, Marie 
(Glauser) Baudendistel. Both parents died in the locality in which they 
lived. There were six girls and three boys in the family; five daughters and 
one son are still living. 

Mrs. Wahl, the second eldest in the family, was educated in the public 
schools of Baden, and soon after completing her education she left Germany 
for the New World. She had a sister living in San Francisco, and in 1871 
joined her in the western metropolis. In 1875 she was married to Louis Wahl, 
a native of Wurttemberg, who had come to California in 1867. He had already 
enlisted in the regular army, thereby demonstrating his allegiance to the re- 
public, had served in Alaska, and had been honorably discharged. Following 
his army experience he had remained in San Francisco, and there he met his 
future life-companion. 

Five years after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Wahl purchased the twenty 
acres situated about four miles east of Fresno, where Mrs. Wahl now lives ; 
and to their ranch they moved in 1885. When they first went there, the land 
was unimproved. They leveled it and set out vines, and by hard work made 
of it a productive vineyard, erecting a fine residence and constructing the 
necessary out buildings. This vineyard was called the Park Vineyard, from the 
fact that it had a beautiful park of trees which attracted the attention of all 
who passed. In front of the ranch was one of the largest cottonwood trees in 
the county. 

After a very busy and fruitful life, Mr. Wahl died in 1896, in the fifty- 
sixth year of his age, respected, beloved, and mourned by a wide circle of 
friends. He was a member of the Herman Sons. A plain, cordial, honest citi- 
zen, his influence was always found to be on the side of everything making 
for the good of society and the improvement of the community in which he 
had such an intense interest. Since Mr. Wahl's death, his widow has con- 
tinued the operation of the ranch. She is a member of the California Asso- 
ciated Raisin Company. 

As one of the oldest settlers in this part of the state, and probably the 
oldest in this immediate vicinity, Mrs. Wahl has seen much of the develop- 
ment of the county. From the beginning she had faith in Fresno County; 
and that faith she has never ceased to foster.