First Generation

The first Wilson to farm the land in Clarksburg was George Harold Wilson, an intrepid man who excelled at everything he did. He was born in Illinois in 1892, and, from an early age, knew that he wanted to be a farmer like his maternal grandfather Benjamin Franklin Boggs. His own father, George Washington Wilson, and his uncles were successful and respected Methodist ministers, but young George was drawn to the land.

During his elementary school years, he lived in several states in the Midwest following his father's ministry wherever it took him. In 1906, the Reverend Wilson accepted the position of Chaplain at the Soldiers’ Home in Los Angeles and moved his family to Southern California. At the time, Los Angeles was still a small town and acres of grain and beans surrounded the Wilson's new home.

Hard Work and Love for the Land

George graduated valedictorian of his high school class at Santa Monica High School in 1910 and promptly announced his plans to attend agricultural college in the fall. Knowing he needed farming experience and tuition money, he spent his first summer after high school working on a farm in Santa Barbara County earning a dollar a day as a farm hand. His pay was increased to two dollars a day during harvest and by fall he had earned enough to see him through his first year-and-a-half at the University of California, Berkeley.

With hard work and enthusiasm, George graduated number one in agriculture at Cal Berkeley in 1915. His first job after college as an assistant farm advisor for the California Agricultural Extension Service sent him to Imperial Valley to help organize the Imperial County Farm Bureau. He worked for Meloland University of California Experimental Station for one year and then managed an 80-acre farm in Imperial.

In 1916, he met a lovely blonde girl named Isabelle Mack while he was giving a speech about farming at Imperial High School. She captured his eye, but he would wait several years before he asked her to become his bride.

World War Intervenes

George got his draft notice in 1917 soon after the United States entered World War I and he headed north to Camp Lewis in the State of Washington. Selected for officers' training, he spent the next year learning everything there was to learn about field artillery. By the end of April 1918, he was a 2nd Lieutenant on his way to war in France.

After “The Great War,” George returned to California and accepted dual positions as instructor at UC Davis in animal husbandry and manager of the Range Cattle Experiment Station in Shingle Springs. His salary was a whopping $183.33 per month! He began regular visits and correspondence with Isabelle Mack in Imperial and, in the fall of 1920, asked her to marry him. The next spring he made her his wife and moved her to Shingle Springs.

When the Shorthorn Breeders Association of California asked George to run its operation, he jumped at the chance—and the salary. He was ready to strike out on his own and buy land. In April 1922, he bought 53 acres in the middle of the Holland Land District, three miles west of Clarksburg between the Sacramento River and the Yolo Bypass. Then he and Isabelle packed all their belongings, hitched a team of horses to their wagon, trekked down the foothills through downtown Sacramento and over the river to their new home in Clarksburg.

Service to Community and Agriculture

For the next fifty years, George Wilson worked diligently "in the production of useful goods and services," as he often said. As a local community leader, he helped organize and build the first church in Clarksburg and volunteered his time and expertise to help others improve their farms. He always treated his employees more like family than hired hands.

His innovative ideas and strong leadership skills put him at the forefront of farming in the state, and, eventually, the nation. His influence grew while leading the local and state farm bureaus through the tumultuous years of the 1930s through the 1950s. Then he was elected president of the California Farm Bureau Federation and eventually became part of the International Federation of Agricultural Producers. He was an advocate for farmers and farming and he earned a highly respected reputation for his contributions to the education of people around the world in his favorite subject--agriculture. He and Isabelle visited Asia, India, and South America as agricultural trade mission ambassadors and they actually lived and farmed for a time in Mexico and Iran. George worked to improve the lives of others by teaching them how to grow their own crops and develop profitable agricultural businesses.

George served as a regent for the University of the Pacific in Stockton for 46 years and continually stressed the importance of proper international and governmental policies to promote agricultural prosperity that would elevate the human condition around the world. In recognition of his long and dedicated service to the University, the UOP Regents named its new School of International Studies building the George Wilson Hall in his honor on January 13, 1987.

After a long and productive life in service to others, George Wilson passed away in 1989 at the age of 97 years. His beloved Isabelle died at the age of 103 in 2004.

The second, third, and now fourth generation of Wilsons continue George’s legacy at Wilson Farms and Vineyards. They strive to live up to his commitment to the family, the community, and the land.