California Biographies, San Joaquin Valley

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

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

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


ALFRED BAIRD. At an early period in the colonization of America the Baird family crossed the ocean 
from England and identified themselves with the forces struggling to develop the new world. To their 
English determination of will they added the traits of thrift and economy inherited from remote 
Scotch ancestry, and thus they were fitted admirably to cope with the undeveloped conditions of the 
American soil. Josiah Baird, a native of New York state, proved himself a worthy representative of the 
race. Possessing characteristics which qualified him for the arduous existence of the pioneer, early in 
life he blazed a way through the forests of Ohio and settled in the midst of a tract of great old oak 
trees. When these were cleared he began to till the soil, meanwhile building for his family a log cabin 
of rude appearance, but possessing the comfort of the hospitable frontier home. After many years in 
Ohio he sold his farm and moved to Winneshiek county, Iowa, where he successfully conducted farm 
pursuits during the remainder of his active years. Notwithstanding a life rilled with the most arduous 
pioneer work, he was spared in health and activity to the age of ninety-three years. During the 
existence of the Whig party he supported its principles and later became one of the original 
supporters of the Republican party. In religion he affiliated with the United Brethren Church. His wife, 
who bore the maiden name of Sarah Ryland, was born in Wayne county, Ohio, and died in Iowa. Of 
their seven children the second, Alfred, alone survives. One of the sons, Warren, enlisted in the 
Union army at the opening of the Civil war and went to the front as a member of the Twenty-seventh 
Iowa Infantry, remaining in service until his death at Little 'Rock, Ark., before the close of the war. 

The pioneer home of Josiah Baird in Richland (now Ashland) county, Ohio, forms the earliest 
recollections of Alfred Baird, who was born there November 16, 1829, and as a boy aided in clearing 
the land from its heavy forest growth. When not needed at home he was permitted to attend a 
school held in a log building near by. The furniture of the schoolhouse was as crude as the building 
itself. Slab benches afforded the children little comfort, while the slab desk was for use and not for 
ornament. Text-books were inferior to those of the present day and teachers often illy educated, yet 
children who wanted to learn had no difficulty in acquiring a knowledge of the three Rs. At the age of 
sixteen Alfred Baird became an apprentice to the carpenter's trade in Ashland. At the expiration of a 
service of two years he took up the work of a journeyman. In the spring of 1850 he left Ohio and 
traveled by the great takes to Wisconsin, where he crossed to Portage and thence to McGregor, 
Iowa. Under the employ of Mr. McGregor he aided in the erection of some of the first houses in 
different towns in that part of Iowa, and for eight years he followed the building business. Each day 
he earned enough to buy an acre of land, and he invested in property until he had acquired eight 
hundred acres. Meanwhile a brother-in-law came to Iowa and left $1200 with him to buy school land 
as it came into the market, and this Mr. Baird did in addition to purchasing his own holdings. 

Though prosperous to an unusual degree, Mr. Baird found the climate of Iowa too cold to be 
congenial, and he determined to seek a home where conditions would be more favorable from the 
standpoint of personal comfort. Selling out in 1859, he brought his wife and two children across the 
plains. They left Iowa in April with four yoke of oxen, crossed the Missouri river at Council Bluffs, and 
landed at Kings river, Fresno county, on the 8th of October. Settling in the Upper Kings River valley, 
Mr. Baird immediately set to work to erect a log cabin fourteen feet square, his wife persuading him 
to make a puncheon floor. For a time he followed the carpenter's trade in this locality. Taking up a 
homestead claim, he built a comfortable house, and the next summer, 1860, brought a seven-mile 
ditch from the mountains. The terrible flood of 1861 destroyed his orchard and the house which he 
had recently erected. The barn was carried up stream by a strong current, but the house, being tied 
down, remained in its place. Mr. Baird afterward took a band of sheep on shares. The outbreak of the 
Civil war depreciated the value of wool to such an extent that shipments were impracticable, and the 
wool was utilized for upholstering purposes in San Francisco. When the railroad was completed the 
demand for wool increased to such an extent that he was enabled to sell it 'for forty-five cents per 
pound, delivered at White's Bridge. At first he kept the sheep near Sand creek, but after a year he 
took them to the St. Johns river, near Visalia, where he bought a half section of land. Owing to 
another disastrous flood he was driven out of that section. 

During 1868 Mr. Baird removed to Letcher, Fresno county, and homesteaded a portion of his present 
ranch, where he embarked in the sheep business. Naturally he encountered considerable 
antagonism from cattlemen, but he held his own against their formidable opposition, and gradually 
increased his herd until he at one time had as many as five thousand head. In 1887 he sold his flocks 
of sheep and began to raise cattle and also to devote considerable attention to grain. In early days no 
one supposed the grazing lands were adapted for grain. Accidentally some barley hauled to the cattle 
was tramped into the ground and the rains caused it to sprout, producing as fine a crop of barley as 
cultivated land made possible. People quickly acted after this and soon grain was being raised on the 
former grazing lands. In other places it was found that the land that was almost too barren for sheep 
pasturage could be profitably utilized for vineyards and orchards, hence these occupations began to 
attract new settlers to the locality. 

By gradual purchase Mr. Baird has acquired six thousand acres in a body fourteen miles east of Clovis, 
three thousand five hundred acres of this being fine grain land. On section 19 he erected a 
comfortable residence and the other buildings necessary to a model ranch, in addition to which he 
has five other sets of improvements scattered over the large acreage. Besides his vast tracts here he 
owns six hundred and forty acres (the old Hughes place) about seven' miles southwest of his home, 
and also owns one thousand acres near Visalia, all of which property is rented to tenants. The first 
oranges in this part of the state were raised on his ranch. The work accomplished by him in stock-
raising, farming and horticulture has been along pioneer lines and will prove most helpful to the 
future development of the region. To an unusual degree Mr. and Mrs. Baird possess the pioneer trait 
of hospitality. The guest to their home is welcomed with unfeigned cordiality. A visit there is an event 
never to be forgotten, and chief among the memories which the guest carries away is the thought of 
the unfailing courtesy extended. 

At Washington Prairie, Winneshiek county, Iowa, February 17, 1853, occurred the marriage of Alfred 
Baird and Lydia K. Beard, a native of Yellow Springs, Greene county, Ohio, born December 2, 1829. 
Her father, Benjamin Beard, was born on the Susquehanna river in Pennsylvania, and removed to 
Greene county, Ohio, thence to Laporte county, Ind., and afterward to Winneshiek 'county, Iowa, 
where he became a prominent farmer. For a half century he officiated as an elder in the Presbyterian 
Church and at the time of his death he had reached the age of ninety-three, dying in California at the 
home of his daughter, Mrs. Baird. During early manhood he had married Mary Ann Knott, who was 
born in New Jersey, and was a daughter of Peter Knott, also born in that state. At an early period the 
Knott family settled in Greene county, Ohio, where Peter Knott passed his last days. Mrs. Mary Ann 
Beard came to California and died in the home of her daughter, Mrs. Baird, when seventy-one years 
of age. Of her eleven children five are living. One of her sons, James, served in an Iowa regiment 
during the Civil war, and later came to California, where he now makes his home at Laytonville, 
Mendocino county. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Baird there were six children, namely : Benjamin 
Morgan, now a farmer in Fresno county ; Addison, who died in Visalia at the age of twelve years ; 
Lewis Edwin, also deceased; Mrs. Sarah A. Rutherford, who resides with her parents ; Matie Ellen, 
who died in Santa Clara at the age of seven years ; and Florence G., Mrs. Rollo Keeler, of Tulare 
county. 

During the memorable political campaign of 1860 Mr. Baird was an ardent admirer of Abraham Lincoln 
and cast a ballot for him in the election at Scottsburg, but the returns showed no Republican votes 
cast. It was his privilege to be present at the first Republican meeting held in Fresno county, and on 
that occasion he was nominated for the state assembly, but of course in those days the ticket had no 
chance for victory. Always he has been stanch in his adherence to Republican principles, no less in the 
days when those principles were new and unpopular than now, when a Republican presidential 
candidate at the last election received an overwhelming majority. Though not personally connected 
with any denomination, he is a believer in religious work and contributes to the Presbyterian Church, 
of which his wife long has been a member.