Lockie, William A.

Born in Woodstock, Canada, in 1846, William A. Lockie married Margaret Leithead in 1865 and immigrated to California in 1870. He initially farmed rented land in Solano County before moving to Lake County, Oregon, where he spent seven years raising sheep and livestock, followed by a period of cotton culture near Weatherford, Texas. In 1887, Lockie returned to California and settled in Fresno County, briefly renting the Brown ranch before acquiring the first twenty acres of his home property near Fowler.

Over his twenty-six years in the Fowler community, Lockie expanded his agricultural holdings ninefold, developing a model 180-acre farm improved with extensive outbuildings and a $6,000 residence built in 1907. Following the death of his wife in March 2012, Lockie remained on the ranch until his own passing on March 8, 1918. He was survived by sixteen grandchildren and his ten children: Thomas S., Robert M., John K., Lillie I. (Mrs. J. W. Pugh), William S., Frank J., Jessie M. (Mrs. W. A. Wilkins), Margaret B., Laura I. (Mrs. G. A. Rigby), and Mattie A. (Mrs. John Wilkins).