Shaw, A. Clifford

A. Clifford Shaw, born in Annawan, Henry County, Illinois, on July 10, 1880, was an agricultural foreman and rancher who contributed to the development of Fresno County, California. The son of Emery E. Shaw and Annie Davison, he moved west with his parents in February 1896 after completing his early schooling in Illinois. Upon settling in the region, he spent six and a half years working in the T. J. Hay vineyard, eventually earning a promotion to foreman before managing Mr. Hay stock ranch in Squaw Valley. Following the death of his employer, he returned to Fresno to begin his own independent agricultural pursuits. His early career demonstrates the steady rise of an industrious worker who mastered local farming operations through years of practical experience.

In August 1907, Mr. Shaw established his personal holdings by purchasing and improving forty acres in the Barstow Colony, where he built a residence and planted sixteen acres of Thompson seedless grapes. He joined the California Associated Raisin Company and actively supported the progress of California viticulture before selling his initial property at a significant advance in June 1918. He subsequently acquired forty acres one mile south of Barstow to raise alfalfa and expand his vineyards with modern ranch facilities. Married to Mrs. Dollie Hogan Butler in Visalia, he helped raise her children, David and Eva, alongside their own daughter, Anna May. As a member of the Woodmen of the World and an Independent Republican, he took an active part in civic initiatives and patriotic causes that benefited his broader community.