In winter 1906–07, the property for the University Farm in Davis was securely in the hands of the University of California. But prospects for turning the 778 acres of farmland into a center for research and education looked anything but certain.

Plans were in the works for buildings, but there was no state funding yet to build them. And the death of a raisin king had many Davis backers worried that the University Farm could still be moved to Fresno.

Theodore Kearney — a Fresno-area farmer described in news accounts at the time as the largest raisin grower in the nation and perhaps the world — died of heart failure aboard a steamship to England in May 1906, about seven weeks after a state commission had selected Davis for the University Farm. Kearney previously had offered 320 acres of free land for the site. His will left his 5,400-acre Fruit Vale estate to UC.

The Davis land, purchased with state funds, officially became the property of the university on Sept. 1, 1906, but that did not stop Fresno advocates from making their case. They made an unsuccessful appeal to the UC regents the following December, according to a report in the Davis Enterprise. Then, a Jan. 4, 1907, article in the Los Angeles Times reported that Fresno advocates were seeking state legislation to move the University Farm to the Kearney property. UC President Benjamin Wheeler said the Kearney bequest raised the possibility of establishing two UC farm schools, though he suggested that the state would be better served by beefing up agricultural instruction in high schools instead.

Ten days later, a bill was introduced in the Legislature to appropriate $132,000 to construct and equip the first buildings — including a dairy building, livestock pavilion, barns, greenhouses and a dormitory — buy livestock and farm machinery, and fund research and education at the University Farm in Davis.

The bill passed in March and construction began soon on the first four buildings. Meanwhile, the Kearney property got tied up in court; Denis Kearney — well known as a former San Francisco labor leader who made vitriolic sandlot speeches against Chinese immigrants in the 1870s — claimed he was Theodore Kearney's cousin and contested the will.

A judge decided in favor of UC in 1909. The university sold the Kearney property years later — proceeds from the sale were used to establish the Kearney Foundation of Soil Science. Now at UC Davis, the foundation helped buy land in the early 1960s for what is now the UC Kearney Research and Extension Center in Fresno County.

This article appeared in the winter 2007 issue of UC Davis Magazine. Kathleen Holder is the associate editor of the magazine.