Union Sgt. William Linnell. William died February 23, 1926, at 93 years old. He lived in the Farmersville area for over 40 years and was in the livestock business and a prominent farmer. At the time of his passing, he was one of the area’s oldest members of the Grand Army of the Republic many of whom attended his funeral.
Sgt. Linnell enlisted with the 61st Illinois Infantry in 1862. He served two years and was honorably discharged. He re-enlisted in 1864 and was captured, imprisoned for six months at Andersonville. Andersonville Prison was officially known as Camp Sumter. The prison held 45,000 Union soldiers and almost 13,000 died from disease, poor sanitation, exposure, and malnutrition. At times, 400 prisoners arrived daily. Andersonville closed in May, 1865.
After the war, William moved his family to Farmersville. He had many children who farmed and settled in the area. The Linnell’s had land across the street from the post office which was opened on April 1, 1942. The day after it opened, the postmaster said it was named the Linnell Post Office after a pioneer family in the district.
The Visalia Migratory Camp was located two miles south of the Linnell’s land. That land was originally the Miles Ranch. The camp opened in 1938. In 1941, the camp was known as the Tulare Farm Workers Community. In 1944, it was officially called the Tulare Farm Labor Supply Center. But, in 1943, locals had begun referring to the camp as the Linnell camp. In April 1947, the newspaper declared the camp was named after one of the Linnell boys cementing its name as Linnell Camp.