Mr. Christensen is the owner of eighty acres near Selma, planted to Thompson seedless and muscat grapes, and peaches, all in full bearing. In 1913 he built his residence in Selma, which is located on Logan Street. Mr. and Mrs. Christensen are active members of the First Baptist Church of Selma. Mr. Christensen takes an active interest in the financial interests of the church, as well as in the Sunday School, of which he is superintendent.
Taking a pardonable pride in the prosperity and financial standing of his community, he rendered valuable service in the various drives connected with the activities of the war just ended. It is needless to say that in its Red Cross, Y. M. C. A., and other charities, as well as in the Liberty Loans and the recent Victory Loan, Selma went promptly "over the top," with a considerable percentage of surplus to her great credit.
J. B. CROCKER.
Of New England birth and endowed with the characteristics that are supposed to belong especially to people of that section of the United States, i. e., frugality, thrift, and unceasing activity, J. B. Crocker is well known as a leading horticulturist of the Selma district, his intelligence and kindly disposition making him a general favorite in the community in which he lives. He was born at Newburyport, Mass., thirty-five miles northeast of Boston, February 5, 1857.
He is the son of John Crocker, a ship carpenter and a native of Nova Scotia, and Sarah (Holmes) Crocker. His father died at Newburyport, Mass., in 1869, at the age of seventy-four, when J. B. was a lad of twelve. His mother had seven children by her first husband, the father of J. B. She married a second time and had a son by her second marriage. She attained the unusual age of eighty-eight before her demise in Massachusetts, in 1916.
A half orphan at twelve, Mr. Crocker at that time began to depend upon his own exertions for a livelihood, removing from the place of his birth to Maine, where he worked on a farm for four years. He then went to work in a cotton factory at Great Falls, N. H., remaining there six or eight months, until the panic of 1874 caused the cotton factories to close down. Afterwards he returned to farm work, which he continued until 1882, then went to work at the marble works at Rutland, Vt. From thence he went to Iowa, where he worked as a farm hand in O'Brien County. In 1886 he came to California, where he worked on a farm near Fresno. In 1889 he went to Kingsburg and made his first purchase in the Kingsburg Colony, three miles east and one mile south of his present place.
In 1882 he was married to Miss Mary H. Wildermuth. Of the four children born of their union, the three sons were United States volunteers in the recent world conflict. Clark W., a graduate of the Selma high school and Stanford University, was in the aviation corps at Berkeley; Percy S., also a Selma high school graduate, was a senior in the Leland Stanford University, pursuing the geological and mining engineer's course, when he enlisted for service in the World War; Ernest H., a senior in the Selma high school at the time of his enlistment; and Celia F., a graduate in the Class of 1918, is now pursuing a post-graduate course.
In 1907, Mr. Crocker sold his Kingsburg Colony ranch and purchased his present home place of twenty acres, three miles east of Selma on the Canal School Reservation. He has always been particularly interested in education and in 1915 was elected a member of the board of trustees of the Selma high school, a school that ranks among the very best high schools in the State of California.
A true American and an ardent patriot. Mr. Crocker is held in the highest esteem. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen. Fie is a fine example of the California rancher who denies himself much in order to properly rear and educate his children. They are all high school and some are university graduates, while his three sons bear the distinction of having rendered excellent service to their country during the recent war. Percy S. served thirteen months in France, while Ernest H. was in the Coast Artillery in France. They have their honorable discharges, and came home safe and sound.
THE SELMA IRRIGATOR.
An important factor in the development and growth of the enterprising community of Selma, Cal., is the semi-weekly, eight-page newspaper, known as The Selma Irrigator, owned and edited by J. J. Vanderburgh.
The first edition of the Irrigator appeared in 1886, when the paper was founded by W. T. Lyon, who later became associated with W. L. Chappell, and under the firm name of Chappell & Lyon the Irrigator continued to be published for several years, in both daily and weekly editions.
In 1892, J. J. Vanderburgh, who at that time was a public school teacher, purchased the interest of W. L. Chappell, and subsequently engaged in the publishing of the Irrigator under the firm name of Lyon & Vanderburgh from 1892 to 1897, when Mr. Vanderburgh became the sole owner of the business. The business soon began to expand under the efficient management of Mr. Vanderburgh, and in course of time he sold the little old frame building, which had been the home of the Irrigator for a number of years, and purchased a block consisting of twelve lots, across the street, and on a portion of this property he built, in 1906, the present new and commodious Irrigator Building, a two-story-and-basement brick block, 30 x 60 feet in size. The first floor contains a large office and editorial room, a large room for the accommodation of the job-printing department, which contains three electrically operated up-to-date presses, and one large newspaper press and Omaha folder. The linotype machine used by the Irrigator was shipped through the Panama Canal, and is one of the first two machines of its kind to pass through the canal. It is very complete, having three magazines and nine faces of type, and is regarded as one of the best linotyping machines on the Pacific Coast. The stereotyping room is situated away from the building to lessen the fire hazard. The basement of the Irrigator Building is used as a dining hall and banquet room, having accommodations for one hundred twenty persons, and this room has often been the scene of many enjoyable banquets. A public hall is located in the second story of the building and is used as lodge rooms for various fraternal organizations, also as the church home of the Christian Science Society, of Selma. The Irrigator Building is a great credit to the up-to-date city of Selma, "The Home of the Peach," and will be a standing monument to the enterprise and business sagacity of its builder and owner, J. J. Vanderburgh.
The Selma Irrigator has been a potent factor in the development of this prosperous community and has justly earned for itself an important place in the front rank of journals of its size in Central California. It pursues a constructive policy in regard to all that makes for the good of the community, educationally, religiously, commercially, and agriculturally; while it is always the uncompromising foe of evil, whether it presents itself boldly, or in some veiled and alluring form. Mr. Vanderburgh is ably assisted in the editorial department by his talented wife.
ELMER THOMAS WALL.
Among the leading raisin-growers in the Selma section, Mr. Elmer Thomas Wall stands prominently forth for his skill and success as a viticulturist. He is an example of a hard-working man endowed with firmness of character and determination of purpose, qualities that bespeak the ability and energy which have caused him to attain his well merited success.
A native of Missouri, he was born in Johnson County, May 2, 1872, and is the son of Lieut. James M. and Nancy B. (Gray) Wall. His father was the owner of an 800-acre stock farm in Missouri and was a large raiser of mules, horses and beef cattle. A native of North Carolina, he served with distinction as lieutenant during the Civil War, on the Confederate side, was body-guard of General Price, and was twice wounded during his time of service. In 1888 he disposed of his business interests in Missouri and came to California on account of his wife's health, where, four years later, in 1892, he died. His wife, who survived him, is living in Fresno. Of the five children of the parental home, three are living. Benjamin F., who settled near Selma, died twelve years ago, leaving two children, Lois and Ethel by name. A daughter, Ona B., single, died in California. The living children are: Sydney Jackson, a fruit-buyer residing in Fresno; Elmer Thomas; and Erna Ethel, wife of A. M. Haldeman, who is employed on the Fresno Republican and owns a twenty-acre