Wagner, Fred

Fred Wagner, born in Hussenbach, Saratof, Russia, on February 16, 1879, was a capable rancher in Fresno County, California. The son of Jacob Wagner and Mary Schwab, he was raised on his family farm and served nearly six years in the Russian Army, earning three medals of honor during the Russo-Japanese War. Prior to his military service, he married Maggie Bauer on February 14, 1900, in his native country. In 1907, the couple immigrated to the United States and settled in Fresno, where Fred initially worked on local ranches, at the Grand Central Hotel, and in various lumber and planing mills.

In 1915, Fred traded his Fresno residence to make the first payment on a twenty-acre ranch on Shields Avenue in Empire. He built a home on the property and successfully developed seventeen acres into productive Thompson seedless grape vines. Alongside his agricultural work, he became an active member of the California Associated Raisin Company and supported local community growth. He and his wife raised five children born in Fresno County, named Emelia, Jack, Alex, Edward, and Theodore, and maintained their faith within the Lutheran Church.