Kaiser, John

Born in Alsace, France, in 1863, John Kaiser learned the machinist trade before emigrating to Rochester, New York, in 1880. In 1887, he embarked on a cross-country horseback journey with two brothers, arriving in Fresno in early 1888. After pre-empting a 120-acre claim near Raymond in Madera County, he acquired ten acres in the Kearney tract and entered the employ of M. Theodore Kearney, serving from 1888 to 1893 as foreman of the Kearney Fruitvale Ranch, where he directed the planting of 70,000 trees along Kearney Avenue and superintended the initial developments at Kearney Park.

Following a brief commercial venture in Fresno, farm management, and a season of gold mining in Nome, Alaska, Kaiser returned to Fresno County and acquired a 40-acre ranch eight miles west of Fresno. He developed the property into a choice orchard and vineyard planted to peaches and Thompson Seedless grapes. Married in Rochester, New York, to Anna Doaring, with whom he had three surviving children—Lucile, Fred E., and George E.—Kaiser earned wide recognition across the county as an expert horticulturist, viticulturist, and respected pioneer developer.