LaRue, Samuel Robert

Samuel Robert La Rue, better known as Bob, was born in Lewis County, Missouri, on July 25, 1857, to Jabez H. La Rue. He was raised on his father farm, educated in the local county schools, and engaged in independent farming operations upon reaching his majority. On January 5, 1885, he departed Missouri for California and settled in the Malaga District of Fresno County alongside his brother, H. W. La Rue.

In Fresno County, Bob and his brother purchased 160 acres of raw land on Central Avenue, where they successfully cultivated alfalfa and raisin grapes. He eventually expanded his agricultural holdings by acquiring forty acres of grain land in the Newhall Tract on Chestnut Avenue to set to vines, becoming a recognized authority on viticulture and a member of the California Associated Raisin Company. Married in Lewis County on January 13, 1880, to Belle Bradshaw of Missouri, he raised four children named Thomas M. Sims, Lola Porter, Rainey H., and Robert J. before moving to Fresno and joining the Woodmen of the World.