Modine, Alfred

Alfred Modine was born on February 19, 1862, in Langaryd Socken, Smaaland, Sweden, to parents Andrew and Sarah Modine. Immigrating to the United States in 1883, he worked six years as a farm hand in Assaria, Kansas, before returning to Sweden in 1892 to marry Emma Charlotte Nyquist. The couple returned to Kansas to rent and eventually purchase a 240-acre farm in Lindsborg, which Modine operated successfully until selling the property and relocating to Fresno County, California, in 1915.

Settling one mile north of Kingsburg on Grant Avenue, Modine acquired a forty-acre ranch devoted to peaches and raisin grapes that featured a brick residence, good barns, a tank house, and a pumping plant. He and his wife raised four children named John A., Selma, Hjalmar, and Carl, establishing a comfortable life complete with extended travel to Sweden and the Middle West. Active members of the Swedish Mission Church in Kingsburg, the Modine family earned high esteem and a warm welcome as dedicated members of their California agricultural community.