YUBA COUNTY Biographies
JACOB F. SPERBECK
Identified with the agricultural and stock-raising interests of California since his boyhood years, Jacob F. Sperbeck has gained a thorough knowledge of these occupations and has been a contributor to the development of that portion of the State which has long been his home. With firm faith in the future of the country, he has made frequent investments in land, and is now the owner of 1020 acres of land about two miles northwest of Browns Valley, which is general farming and grazing land. He was born at Galena House, Yuba County, February 7, 1873, the eldest son of Jacob Sperbeck, now deceased, who came from New York State via Panama to California in 1852 and here married Maggie Johnson. The father was an honored pioneer of Yuba County, and was for many years trustee of the Peoria school district.
Jacob F. Sperbeck began his education in the Peoria school. From early boyhood he was interested in ranch work. For the past twenty-eight years he has been extensively engaged in stock-raising, in which he has been very successful. Mr. Sperbeck first rented land four miles above Browns Valley; then, in 1898, he purchased 500 acres in this vicinity, to which he has since added by subsequent purchases until he owns 1020 acres, in the Browns Valley irrigation district.
On January 6, 1898, Mr. Sperbeck was married to Miss Nellie Gorman, born near Browns Valley, a daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Regan) Gorman. Thomas Gorman, a native of Ireland, came to California in early days and engaged in mining and ranching; he owned the Sweet Vengeance Ranch, named for the gold mine of the same name, now the property of G. F. Gorman, a brother of Mrs. Sperbeck. Mr. and Mrs. Sperbeck are the parents of five children: Francis Lloyd, who assists his father on the home place; Thomas Marshall, a student tin Marysville High School; John William, also a student of Marysville High School; Joseph Harold; and Anna Roberta. Mr. Sperbeck rents the Gorman ranch and other adjacent lands, and his summer range for his stock is in the Federal Reserve in the Sierras; he is a member of the Bangor Cattlemen’s Association and the California Cattlemen’s Association.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 1277
ELMER E. GURNEY
Born near You Bet, Nevada County, August 27, 1862, Mr. Gurney is the son of Benjamin B. and Euretta (Androus) Gurney. His maternal grandfather, Henry Androus, settled in the Yuba foot-hills in 1860, and preempted 160 acres of land seventeen miles northeast of Marysville; and Benjamin Gurney bought an adjoining ranch of 160 acres. Benjamin B. Gurney was born in Marion, Mass., of English parents, and came to California in 1853 via Panama. He mined for a time, after which, from 1859 to 1860, he clerked in Wagner’s book-store at Marysville, and then engaged in mining at You Bet, Nevada County, in 1865 returning to Marysville as clerk in Wagner’s book-store. In 1867 he began teaching in the Marysville schools, becoming principal of the primary department at the school on B Street. In 1879 he moved to his ranch in Olive Hill District, but continued to follow teaching till his death in November, 1899. His widow survived him till January 10, 1916, passing away at the age of sixty-nine years. They had two sons, Elmer E. and L. B. Gurney. The vacation periods of the family were usually spent on sojourns in the high Sierras, as the father was a frail man and had been advised by medical men to seek the mountain climate as a means of keeping in health. The old Fritz ranch was purchased in 1879; and that remained the family home for many years, until the death of the mother.
Elmer E. Gurney accompanied his parents to Marysville in the spring of 1865, and after finishing his schooling he became the rancher for the family, managing the home acreage until 1901, when he purchased his present ranch of ninety acres. He is now planning to set out much of his fine ranch to fruit. The land has been devoted hitherto to dairying and stock-raising; but it is especially adapted to trees and vines, and the contemplated development will add much to the beauty and productiveness of the holdings. Mr. Gurney well recalls his younger days as a resident of this section, then almost all open range with scarcely a fence in sight. Always an advocate of all possible advancement for the district, he spent four years in office as a director of the Browns Valley Irrigation District and has been a sponsor for good roads in this part of Yuba County.
The marriage of Mr. Gurney, which occurred on May 10, 1894, at Marysville, united him with Miss Sarah Buckner, a daughter of J. C. H. and Martha (Rees) Buckner, born in Virginia and Wales respectively. The father came across the plains to California in 1852 and, after mining for a time, became a farmer at Eagleville, Modoc County. Sarah Buckner was born at Eagleville and was educated in the public schools and at San Jose State Normal School. She was a teacher by profession. Six children have blessed their union: Mrs. Lorene Young, of Long Beach; Earl; Mrs. Ruth Null, of Pomona; and Chester, Gwendolyn, and Robert.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 1277-1278
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