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W. J. Archibald is a farmer raising grain on an extensive scale in the eastern half of Madera County. Mr. Archibald handles as many as six thousand acres at one time.

William James Archibald was born at Galt, Sacramento county, November 6, 1880, his parents being Putnam and Ellen (Willis) Archibald. His father, a native of Nova Scotia, came to San Francisco in 1859, by way of the Isthmus of Panama. He subsequently moved to Michigan Bluff, in Placer County, and mined there for eleven years and also operated a sawmill. Mr. Archibald’s mother was the first white child born in Michigan Bluff; her parents came around the Horn in 1852. Mr. Archibald’s father in the early days rode on horseback from Stockton to Visalia down the Millerton road. He settled later near Los Banos in Merced County; returned to Sacramento, then again to Merced; then to Tulare and lived for a time at Orange Cove. The last fourteen years of his life was spent in Fresno County, and he died at Madera in 1901.

W.J. Archibald in1901 moved to the Talbot District of Madera County, northeasterly from the county seat, to engage in grain farming. He has been secretary and general manager of the Talbot Warehouse Company for several years, and is a director of the Madera Irrigation district.

On February 28, 1909, he was married to Mabel Blackley, in Fresno. They have two children: Ellen Olive and Alice Esther, both students in the Oakland Technical High School.

In civic affairs, Mr. Archibald has been active in the Madera County Chamber of Commerce, and the Madera County Fish and Game Protective association. He has been a trustee in both the high school and grammar school districts.

In fraternal matters, Mr. Archibald belongs to all branches of the Odd Fellows, in which he has held important offices. He is a member of the Presbyterian Church.

From the History of Fresno and Madera Counties, 1933, Joseph Barcroft, editor for Madera County.