Baird, Morgan

Benjamin Morgan Baird, born in Frankville, Wineshick County, Iowa, on December 27, 1853, was a progressive rancher and stockman who moved to Visalia, California, at six years of age. He completed his education at the San Jose State Normal School and a San Jose business college before entering the sheep business with his father, Alfred Baird. As an independent grower in Tulare County, he sowed the first alfalfa in the vicinity, planted a fifty-five acre vineyard, and organized a local ditch company for irrigation. He later partnered with John A. Patterson in a massive 4,000 acre grain operation that introduced the horse-drawn Shippey combined harvester to the region.

Following these ventures, he returned to Fresno County to raise grain and cattle on his father homestead. On January 24, 1898, he married Mary Davis Givens in Reno, Nevada, and they raised five children named Addison, Morgan Jr., Carroll, Gordon, and Alfreda. Although he was appointed administrator of his father large estate in 1914, his management was cut short when he passed away on February 16, 1916. A prominent Scottish Rite Mason, his industrious life directly supported the foundational agricultural and economic development of the San Joaquin Valley.