William Helm

William Helm

William Helm (March 9, 1837 – April 10, 1919) was the largest individual sheep farmer in Fresno County.[1] He was instrumental in the growth and prosperity of the San Joaquin Valley.[2] Helm was vice-president of the Fresno Bank of Central California and the president of the Fresno Canal and Irrigation Company.[3]

Helm was born in the province of Ontario, Canada on March 9, 1837, about forty miles above Montreal, on the St. Lawrence River. He is the son of George Helm and Mary Oliver.[4] In 1865 he married Francis Sawyer Newman and they had seven children together.[5]

Helm died on April 10, 1919, at the age of 82, following a lingering illness. He died at the home of his daughter, Jessie Marie Helm.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Guinn, J. M. (1905). History of the State of California with Biographical Record. Chicago: The Chapman Publishing Co. pp. 669–670.
  2. ↑ Vandor, Paul E. (1919). History of Fresno County California with Biographical Sketches. Los Angeles, California: Historic Record Company. pp. 220–221.
  3. ↑ "William Helm, 82, A Fresno Pioneer, Summoned". The Fresno Morning Republican. 11 April 1919. p. 18. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  4. ↑ Memorial and Biographical History of the counties of Fresno, Tulare, and Kern, California. Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company. 1892. p. 96.
  5. ↑ Rehart, Catherine Morison (1999). The Valley's Legends & Legacies III. Word Dancer Press. ISBN 9781884995187. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
  6. ↑ "Hold Funeral of Valley Pioneer: William Helm, Prominent in Fresno History, Laid to Rest". The Fresno Morning Republican. 13 April 1919. p. 7. Retrieved 31 August 2020.