Church, Lorenzo B.

Lorenzo B. Church, born in Lake County, Indiana, in 1845, was the son of M. J. Church and Sarah Whittington, who brought him across the plains to California by ox team in 1852. His father eventually founded the famous canal system in Fresno County, taking water from the Kings River to serve local communities. Lorenzo was reared in Napa, where he educated himself in public schools and learned the blacksmith trade from his father. After briefly visiting Fresno County in 1870, he engaged in sheep raising and acquired over 800 acres of land near Middletown on Putah Creek before permanently relocating to Fresno County in the spring of 1879.

Upon his return, Lorenzo spent five years working as a foreman under his father constructing canals and later served as a superintendent for Perrin and Cheek and their successors for twenty-two years. He also purchased 320 acres west of Fresno, where he established a grain ranch, planted a 100-acre vineyard and orchard, and operated the Church Dairy for twenty years. Furthermore, he developed local infrastructure by laying out Church Avenue and Fruit Avenue, building a store that launched a family mercantile business, and acquiring valuable city property. Politically active as a Republican, he raised a family with his wife Josephine Springston, whom he married on October 3, 1868, leaving a lasting legacy through his children Carrie, Rena, Lola, Leona, and Lorenzo before Josephine passed away on July 13, 1913.