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 HON. R. LINDER. The advancement of the San Joaquin valley and the upbuilding of the city of Tulare have had a progressive promoter in ex-Senator Linder. whose name is synonymous with many of the influences and movements tending to the development of local industries. Viewing the growth of Tulare he might truthfully say : "All of which I saw and part of which I was." The credit for the beautifying of the city belongs largely to him. In the heart of the town he laid out and since has kept up two small parks. In one of these he built a thatched pavilion where during the summer entertainments and Sunday religious services are held and band concerts are given. The other park is stocked with deer and elk and contains an aviary with an interesting collection of fine birds. All of this work he has accomplished in- dividually without financial aid from others. Nor does this represent the limit of his work toward the permanent prosperity of Tulare. The business block which he erected in 1902 on the corner of K and Kern streets is commodious, well-appointed and conveniently arranged, and adds much to the appearance of the business section of the place, besides providing adequate facilities for the stock carried by the Linder Hardware Company, of which he is president. Of German birth and ancestry, Mr. Linder is the only representative of his father's family in the United States. He was born at Solingen, near Dusseldorf, Rhenish Prussia, April 25. 1854, and is a son of August Linder, a hardware merchant. After completing his gymnas- ium studies, at seventeen years of age he came to the United States and settled in San Fran- cisco, where he secured employment with Treadwell & Co., wholesale hardware merchants, on Market and Fremont streets. After thirteen years with this house he became connected with D. M. Osborne & Co., dealers in agricultural implements, with whom he remained for four years. Meanwhile, in 1886, he purchased an interest in an agricultural implement business at Tulare, whither he moved in 1888, at the same time starting the firm of Linder & Grace. In 1900 the Linder Hardware Company was incorporated with himself as president, and soon after the incorporation a general stock of hardware was added. The Linder block, 75x150 feet, and two stories high, was erected in 1902, and afforded the company facilities for a grocery de- partment, which is now one of the principal features of the business. Besides groceries the firm carries in stock stoves, cutlery, glassware, tin and agate ware, paints, oils, varnishes, iron, steel and pipe, sporting goods, wagons, carriages, buggies and agricultural implements. Notwithstanding the pressure of business responsibilities Mr. Linder has contributed largely to the movements for the benefit of his town and county and has been especially prominent in irrigation matters. Individually he built for the Tulare irrigation district one hundred and twenty-five miles of canals and ditches from the Kaweah and St. Johns rivers, thus bringing un- der irrigation more than twenty-five thousand acres in the immediate vicinity of Tulare. Whl!e living in San Francisco he married Miss Addie L. Palmer, who was born in that city, her father. Samuel Palmer, having been an early settler there. They are the parents of three children, George, Gracie and Edyth, all at home, the son being engaged as secretary of the Linder Hardware Company. As a member of the Tulare Board of Trade and the executive committee thereof, Mr. Lin- der has been identified with an organization whose aim is the advancement of the commercial prosperity of the town and surrounding country. Fraternally he is associated with the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks at Fresno. Ever since becoming a voter he has supported Republican principles. In recognition of his able and faithfull services for the party, in r894 the Repub- lican senatorial convention placed his name in nomination for the office of state senator. His popularity is proved by the fact that he was elected, in a Democratic district, by a majority of about two hundred. While serving in the sessions of 1895 and 1897 he acted as chairman of the irrigation committee and the committee on county and county boundaries, in both of which responsible positions he gained the esteem of co-workers and a reputation for ability and fine character. In the contest for the United States senatorship he gave his support to Sen- ator Perkins, both for the short term and the long term. On his retirement from office he re- sumed business affairs. Both in official positions and commercial pursuits his reputation is that cf a man of brilliant attainments, shrewd foresight, keen discrimination, a man who sel- dom makes mistakes, yet, having made them, is quick to make amends. It is to such citizens as he that Tulare county and the San Joaquin valley owe their increasing importance and grow- ing prestige as profitable places for investment. Whatever of prosperity they may attain in the future and whatever of prominence is their good fortune to enjoy, due credit should be given to the philanthropic work and public-spirited efforts of ex-Senator Linder.