California Biographies

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


GEORGE WALTER KIRKMAN. A wideawake, enterprising man, ever ready to take ad- 
vantage of any offered opportunity for improvement, George Walter Kirkman is one of Tulare 
county's most substantial business men, and an important factor in promoting its industrial in- 
terests. He owns and occupies a ranch, lying nine miles east of Visalia, and in its care and 
management spares neither time nor expense. He is likewise interested in other pursuits, hand- 
ling contracts, and being identified with two meat markets, one at Exeter, and one at Lind- 
say. A son of John Kirkman, he was born, December 4, 1853. in Wayne county, Ind., where his 
grandfather, George Kirkman, settled as a pioneer, removing there from North Carolina. 

A native of North Carolina, John Kirkman moved from there to Indiana with his parents 
when seven years old, and was brought up on a farm, which he helped to clear from the wilder- 
ness. Early in the '70s he migrated to Missouri, locating in St. Charles county, where he was em- 
ployed in tilling the soil for about ten years. In the fall of 1881 he came with his son George 
to California, and subsequently made his home with him. He is now seventy-seven years old 
and is a remarkable hunter. In the last five years he has killed eleven deer in eleven shots. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Thornburg, was born in Wayne county. Ind.. 
and died in Missouri. She bore him eight children, six boys and two girls, George Walter, the 
subject of this sketch, being the second child. 

At the age of seventeen years George Walter Kirkman went with his parents to Missouri, 
where he assisted his father in the pioneer labor of clearing a homestead. Coming to California 
in the fall of 1881, he bought land near Exeter and began the improvement of a ranch. In 1889. 
the railroad being extended to Exeter, Mr. Kirkman and his brother, foreseeing its mercantile 
possibilities, built the first store established in the town, and became the pioneer merchants of 
the place. As the town grew and developed, their trade increased, and for four years they car- 
ried on a substantial business in general merchandise. In 1893 Mr. Kirkman accepted a con- 
tract to furnish the provisions for the Sanger Lumber Company, and to haul the same to the 
mountains, in Millwood. This business he has continued since, going each summer into the 
mountains to fill the contracts. In 1900 Mr. Kirkman bought his present home ranch of three 
hundred and fifteen acres, which he devotes to general farming and stock-raising. He also has 
meat markets in Exeter and Lindsay, both of which he supplies with meat from his own farm. 
He is also interested in breeding and raising race horses, having a string of fine trotters and 
pacers, including Rockaway, one year old ; Frank B., two years old, with a record of 2 :30, and 
Myway, three years old. 

In Missouri Mr. Kirkman married Mary Delilah Yarnall, a native of that state, and they 
are the parents of four children, namely : John Montreville. Maud, Carrie Minerva and Bertie 
Erwin. Politically Mr. Kirkman is a steadfast Republican, and fraternally he is a member of 
Exeter Lodge, K. of P.