Steward, George Wallace

George Wallace Steward was born on May 13, 1867, in Hampshire, England, to Joseph and Marian Bundy Steward. Raised on his father leased farm, he left school at fourteen to serve as a baker apprentice before sailing from Liverpool and landing in New York on March 3, 1888. After working for three years on a stock ranch in Benton County, Indiana, he moved west to Fresno, California, in 1891.

In Fresno, George married Annie Madsen, the daughter of Oleander pioneers Peter Madsen and Catherine Elizabeth Marcussen, seven years after his arrival. The couple settled near Fowler, purchasing sixty acres of land on the Giffen road to build their home and raise four children named Evelyn Elizabeth, Irving Wallace, George Wallace Jr., and Lillian Dorothy. A naturalized citizen and Progressive Republican, George actively participated in local agriculture through memberships in the Farm Bureau of Fowler, the California Associated Raisin Company, and the Valley Fruit Growers Association.