Sutter County
Biographies
E. F. BILLINGS
A prominent fruit-grower of the Loma Rica district, Mr. Billings was born on July 18, 1855, at East Troy, Walworth County, Wis. His parents, D. G. and Evelina O. (Bangs) Billings, were born in New York and Maine, respectively, and moved, in 1864, to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where they were farmers. In 1869 the young lad became a printer’s devil at the office and shop of the Daily Observer of that city, receiving $44 for his wages that first year. He followed the printer’s trade as journeyman for six years, and in 1880 went to Jefferson, Iowa, purchased the Bee, and built up that paper, conducting it for three years, when he sold out and moved to Sioux City and entered a joint ownership of a job print shop under the name of Gray & Billings, from 1883 to 1888. From 1888 to 1890 “Josh” Billings, as he is familiarly called by his friends, made an extended visit to the Pacific Coast, after which he returned; in 1895 he came West a second time, and after spending four years at Los Angeles again returned to Iowa. In 1905 he came to Denver, Colo.; and finally he located at Sunnyvale, Cal., in Santa Clara County, where he improved ten acres of prune orchard. This he sold five years later, and then, in 1912, settled on his present ranch in the Loma Rica district, Yuba County. Here he purchased his twenty-acre ranch and in a comparatively short time transformed it from a wilderness of heavy wood and undergrowth into the model ranch now found on the property. Some idea of the time and interest he has put into the development of his property may be gained from the fact that in September, 1920, the first prize for orchard products at the Yuba County Fair held at Browns Valley went to the Loma Rica Farm Center Display, all of the products exhibited being grown by Mr. Billings. Of his exhibit the Marysville Appeal of that date says, “This was one of the most creditable displays to be seen on the grounds, and demonstrates the possibilities of the Loma Rica district as one of the chief horticultural regions in this portion of the State. Among the products which Billings has grown with great success, and specimens of which were on display, were: Calimyrna figs, summer Champion apples, Bartlett pears, Winesap apples, French prunes, red nectarines, Alberta peaches, dried fruits, etc. The judges made their awards on the basis of the quality of the fruit and the appearance of the display. Loma Rica was the recipient of several prizes for excellency of displays made.”
Josh Billings has always been a strong advocate and supporter of cooperative marketing of products; he knows well the hazards of the fruit industry, as he was formerly a prune-grower in the Santa Clara Valley before the days of the C.P. & A. Growers’ Association, for which he is now a booster, and has been since its inception. The fact that he traveled and tried out different parts of the State before finally settling in Yuba County goes far toward showing his belief in the possibilities of this section; and the results of his work have shown that belief justified.
The marriage of Mr. Billings, which occurred at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on June 12, 1894, united him with Miss Minnie H. Hooper, daughter of E. T. and Martha S. (Ayers) Hopper, the father being a prominent business man of that city. Mr. and Mrs. Billings’ home at Loma Rica is the center for a large circle of friends, for they have become a part of all community affairs, and workers toward the further development of their district.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 550-551
MRS. EVELYN J. BRILL
Exceptionally gifted with all those qualifications which conduce to the public good and the welfare of others, and possessing a kindly heart and winsome personality, Mrs. Evelyn J. Brill occupies an enviable position in the social and educational circles at Live Oak, where she wields a potent influence. She was born at the old White home in Marysville, Yuba County, on I Street, the only daughter of the late John Henry White, a native of Madison County, Ind., where he was born on Christmas Day, 1830. He was reared and educated in Ohio and in Cass County, Mich., and learned the fancy leather trade, which he followed for five years in Michigan. He migrated to California in 1859, arriving in Sacramento in August, and soon thereafter engaged in teaming; and later he conducted a transportation business, carrying freight to Marysville and into the mountains, to Virginia City and the mines, driving twelve mules to a wagon. In 1864, he returned to Michigan and married Miss Sarah Eliza Hain; and the same year he returned to California with his bride, coming by way of Panama, locating in Marysville. During the winter season, he worked at his trade in Marysville, making harness and fancy saddles, and in the spring he set out to team to the mines with supplies. He worked hard, dealt fairly, was thrifty as well as industrious, and he came to own half a block of real estate at Twelfth and I Streets, and built a home in that locality. In 1867, he bought land west of Yuba City, the ranch now owned by the Jake Onstott family, Jake Onstott having bought it from John H. White in 1873. Mr. White was a careful investor; on finding a favorable opportunity, he purchased 465 acres half a mile to the west of Live Oak, in 1873, then a sparsely settled region, with much wooded land. He cleared forty acres of it, and thereafter engaged in cereal farming, building his home, and living there happily with his family. In 1878, Mr. and Mrs. White and their family returned to their old home in Cass County, Mich. They remained there only a year, and then came back to California and Sutter County; and at Four Corners, Evelyn White went to the Columbia School, and had her first school-day experiences. In 1883, the Whites removed to San Jose, and Mr. White purchased sixteen acres of highly developed orchard, on Stevens Creek road, which he held and operated for twenty years, but eventually sold; and then, in 1893, the family returned to Live Oak. The old White home was destroyed by fire some years ago, and was later replaced by a modern structure, located about one mile from the original site, on the Pennington road, one mile east of Live Oak.
Miss Evelyn White was graduated with honors, in 1888, from the University of the Pacific, when she received the B.S. degree. By her marriage she had one child, Evelyn B., who is now the wife of C. C. Schell and the mother of two daughters, Roberta E. and Marjorie B. Schell. Besides her regular college work, Mrs. Brill took up extra studies, including art; and several canvases of artistic merit, her handiwork, grace her home. In 1893, she accompanied her parents back to Live Oak, and there made their declining years as happy as possible. She gave her tenderest care to her father, who passed away on January 23, 1917, aged eighty-six years and one month. Nearly three years later, on November 20, her mother also breathed her last, after ten long years of constant care by her daughter, such as only a daughter can bestow. Mrs. White will long be remembered for her heroic efforts, together with those of Miss Everett, in starting here the pioneer movement against intemperance, which was the foundation of all Woman’s Christian Temperance Union work in Sutter County. Both parents were stanch, consistent Christians; and they were prominent in the grange work of a generation ago.
For seventeen years, the White ranch was leased to near-by farmers; but about six years ago, Mrs. Brill resumed management, and further developed the estate. Her son-in-law, Mr. Schell, also has attained to some excellent results in the growing of fruit, having given his attention especially to 100 acres taken from the estate in 1912, for special cultivation. It thus happens that the splendid ranch deeded to the White heirs – Mrs. Brill and A. H. White of Marysville – stands out as among the choicest in Sutter County. Mrs. Brill still owns about 200 acres of this family estate, much of which yet awaits development into orchard and vineyard.
Mrs. Brill has made an enviable record as a trustee of the grammar school at Live Oak, and has also had a hand in organizing the Live Oak High School, for which a fine building was recently erected, gathering the materials to be placed in the corner-stone, and otherwise preparing for the dedication; and she has always been a patron of art and education. She is an ex-president of the Live Oak Woman’s Club, and at the present time is the secretary of the Sutter-Yuba Federation of Women’s Clubs.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 566-569