Baley, John

John Baley, born in Visalia on June 29, 1864, was a dedicated farmer and dairyman whose family history was deeply connected to the early formation of California. His father, William Wright Baley, first crossed the plains in 1849 and later completed a perilous second overland journey with his family in 1859 despite a violent Indian attack along the Colorado River. The family eventually settled at Academy in Fresno County in the fall of 1864, where they successfully engaged in raising stock and grain. Reared in this developing region, John attended the local public school and served his practical apprenticeship at farming by assisting his mother on the family homestead. He later married Georgia native Filora Odom, the daughter of the Reverend Alex Odom, who was a prominent Confederate veteran and a dedicated minister of the Methodist Church South.

Following his marriage, John continued to operate the old family homestead at Academy, expanding his operations by leasing up to 600 acres of land to raise grain and manage thousands of sheep. In 1915, he relocated his agricultural focus to Barstow to raise alfalfa, establishing a highly cultivated eighty-acre farm equipped with an electric pumping plant and a dairy of twenty cows managed alongside his sons. He later sold this property in 1919 and purchased another eighty-acre alfalfa farm on Belmont Avenue with plans to plant Thompson seedless grapes. Throughout his successful career, he also served his community as a school trustee and a church trustee for the Methodist Church South, while supporting the Democratic party and the Woodmen of the World. He and his wife raised five children named Leona, William Odom, Thomas Marvin, Bessie Belle, and the late Elmer H.