Joseph Walker
In the development of the resources of Sonoma county especial attention has been given during recent years to the fruit industry and this in turn produces a form of intensified farming that decreases the acreage of homesteads but increases the profits derived therefrom. Near the village of Windsor lies the tract of eighty acres owned and operated by Joseph Walker and under his skilled management transformed into a profit-producing fruit farm. Observation and experience convinced him that a portion of the land is best adapted to meadow and pasture, but the larger part possesses al the qualifications necessary for successful horticulture. During the season of 1909 he received $600 from grapes sold out of his vineyard of twenty-five acres. In addition he has three acres of prunes and an orchard containing the best varieties of other fruits adapted to this soil and climate. Poultry-raising is conducted in conjunction with fruit-growing and during last season he sold $400 worth of chickens and eggs. The annual income from his small farm is sufficiently large to represent interest on a very high valuation of the land and this fact alone furnishes abundant evidence as to his ability and energy.
Switzerland is the native country of Mr. Walker, who was born in 1864 in the little canton of Uri lying below the picturesque lake of Luzerne and within the shadow of the Alps. The national schools enabled him to secure a fair education, while at home he was trained to habits of economy, thrift and industry characteristic of the nation. When seventeen years of age, in 1881, he crossed the ocean to the United States and proceeded direct to San Francisco, whence he removed to Sonoma county, and in 1901 he became the owner of his present property. During 1893 he was united in marriage at Santa Ana with Anna Hild, by whom he has three sons and one daughter, Fred, Lawrence, Walter and Josephine. Mrs. Walker is a daughter of August and Christina Hild and has three brothers in Germany, Carl, George and Rudolph, besides two sisters, Louisa and Christina. Louisa married William Kohlmann and has two sons and one daughter, Amiel, William and Lucile. Christina was twice married, her first husband having been Carl Miller, by whom she had one son, Charles Miller. After the death of Mr. Miller she became the wife of John Lavell.
The sturdy energy and perseverance possessed by Mr. Walker enabled him to secure a modest degree of success in the new world, whither he came without money or friends and lacking even knowledge of the English language. His devotion to the land of his adoption has been unwavering throughout all the years of his residence here. Although his tastes do now lie in the direction of public affairs he has kept posted concerning the national issues and has given steadfast support to the principles of the Republican party. While living in the old country he became a communicant of the Roman Catholic church and ever since boyhood years he has given unswerving allegiance to that faith, but is liberal in his views, allowing to others the freedom of religious belief he demands for himself and maintaining a warm interest in all churches, particularly in the Presbyterian denomination, with which his wife is identified. Projects for the permanent upbuilding of the county receive his support and to such extent as his means permit he contributes to the financial aid of movements for the educational, moral and spiritual advancement of the community.
History of Sonoma
County, California
History by Tom Gregory : Historic Record Company, 1891
Los Angeles, Ca. 1911
Transcribed by Roberta Hester Leatherwood
Jan. 3, 2012 Pages 906-906
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