Yuba 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
FRED LIEBIG
A pioneer fruit-raiser of the Loma Rica district, Fred Liebig first saw the light of day in far-away Germany, in the city of Hanover, on March 6, 1851. He is the son of George and Katherine Liebig, and was reared in Hanover, where his father was a government employee. Fred Liebig served in the German Army from 1871 to 1874, and received his honorable discharge in the latter year, as corporal, after which he learned the carpenter’s trade in his native land and worked as a journeyman until 1880, when he started for America on the steamship Prusser, taking eighteen days to reach New York.
On reaching the land of his desire, the young man went direct to Chicago, and on the day of his arrival there secured work in the Pullman shops as a car-builder, at $2.50 a day, which was considered high wages in those days. In 1881, Mr. Liebig came further west and located at Pueblo, Colo., and later in Grand Junction, in bridge- and car-building for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad. In Denver, he was married, in September, 1883, to Miss Elizabeth Riebin, whom he had met on the trip to this country three years before. They left for California in 1884, and for a time located at San Jose, where Mr. Liebig worked at his trade as carpenter on the Murphy ranch near that city, and in the meantime was in charge of house-construction for the late Colonel Hensley in San Jose.
In 1885 Mr. Liebig came to Marysville, accompanied by his wife and son; and since that year he has been a resident of Yuba County. That same year he bought seventeen acres in the Loma Rica district, and by a subsequent purchase he added six acres to his ranch, where he set out vineyards and developed orchards. In the meantime he has followed his trade, building many of the stamp-mills in the foot-hills of Yuba and Butte Counties. In 1886 he constructed one of the earliest irrigation flumes in California, for the late Vincente Gianelli.
Two children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Liebig: Fred, Jr., who died at the age of eighteen; and Sophie, a teacher in the Lindsey schools. The wife and mother passed away on December 28, 1918. Mr. Liebig received his citizenship papers at Marysville, in 1902, witnessed by Col. E. A. Forbes; and he has been a loyal citizen always, a Republican in his vote, and interested in the further development of his home district as well as that of the country at large. He is broad in his views, and a man of sterling character.
History of Yuba and Sutter Counties, Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, 1924
p. 556