Career
Primary crops include Pima cotton, alfalfa hay, tomatoes, onions, and wheat, all cultivated on some 135,000 acres (550 km2) mostly in Kings County, California. Boswell, who came to Pasadena, California as a regional cotton broker from Greene county, Georgia, established his company in Corcoran, California in 1921. From 1952 to 1984, the company was headed by William Boswell"s son, James G. Boswell II (1923–2009), who is credited with the company"s massive growth during the last half of the twentieth century.
Currently, the J. G. Boswell Company is led by the son of J. G. Boswell II, James West. Boswell.
J. G. Boswell joined the Army in 1903 and left in 1920 due to back problems. Upon leaving, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
Boswell was also a major supporter of the California Institute of Technology, serving on the board of trustees in 1946, and of Claremont McKenna College, donating $85,000 for a new dormitory - Boswell Hall. Boswell"s farm is located on what used to be the largest body of fresh water in California, Tulare Lake, which he worked on keeping dry with dykes, ditches, canals, and dams in order to farm its fertile bed.Despite this, Tulare Lake is still home to some of the world"s biggest cotton farmers, with water subsidized by the state.
