Baird, Robert

Robert Baird, born in Scotland on November 20, 1851, immigrated to the United States and briefly engaged in mining and prospecting in Virginia City, Nevada. He eventually moved further west to become a pioneer of Fresno County, California, where he established the Baird Dairy in the Washington Colony around 1882 alongside his brothers Andrew, Dugal, and John. Operating under the firm name Baird Bros., the brothers built an enviable reputation for honesty and enterprise while retailing milk in Fresno. In 1901, Robert sold his interest in the dairy partnership and relocated to the Kutner school district, where he purchased a forty acre tract of stubble field. Through hard labor, he transformed this unimproved land into a choice vineyard and orchard before his passing in his fifty eighth year on January 5, 1909.

In 1887, Mr. Baird was married in Fresno to Charlotte Rogers, a native of Birmingham, England, who had traveled to New Zealand and San Francisco before arriving in Central California in 1884. The couple shared a fortunate union in the Washington Colony, where they became the parents of six children named Elsie, Evelyn, Robert, Florence, Edward, and Winifred. Following her husband death, Charlotte continued to manage the home ranch with the dedicated assistance of her children, including her son Edward, who entered the United States Navy Hospital Corps in May 1918. Beyond his successful agricultural and dairying pursuits, Mr. Baird was a widely honored citizen and a highly esteemed affiliate of the Masons through the Fresno Lodge. His industrious life and deep commitment to his family left a lasting legacy within the history of early Fresno County.