Plumas
County
Biographies
NORBERT C. VALBERDE
Norbert
C. Valberde, of the Portola Lumber Company, of
Portola, is a business man of ability and has been a strong factor in the
success of this enterprise. The Valberde family is a very old one, of Spanish origin, and
is descended on both sides from the nobility of Spain. The earliest representatives of the family on
this continent went to Peru, South America, where they intermarried with the
Incas, and there the family resided for many generations. There are now many members of the family
there, who are wealthy, having large interests in silver and nitrate mines and
guano beds. Grandfather Valberde was born in Peru and came to the United States
during the early gold rush to California.
He mined for gold on Sullivan’s Creek, in Tuolumne county,
and, being fairly successful, later bought and operated a ranch of one hundred
and sixty acres near Sonora, Tuolumne county, which is still known as the
Peruvian ranch, and is now owned and operated by Norbert Valberde’s
cousin, Vincent Valberde. The Valberde estate
in Peru, South America, is an old, extensive and valuable one.
Norbert
C. Valberde was born in Hornitos, Mariposa County,
California on the 6th of June, 1893, and is a son of Lorenzo and
Frances (Valencia) Valberde. The father was born on the Peruvian ranch in
Tuolumne County, and died at Hornitos, in 1914, at the age of fifty-eight
years, while the mother, who was born at Delano, Kern County, this state, June
4, 1870, is still residing at Hornitos.
Her father, Joseph Valencia, who was born in Spain, a Castilian, came to
California in an early day and was among the earliest gold miners of this
state. To Mr. and Mrs. Valberde were born nine children, including: Lorenzo J., who is a locomotive engineer on
the Southern Pacific Railroad and lives at Sparks, Nevada; Emelia
J., the wife of William Barnhardt, formerly a
contractor and builder at Portola, but now a partner in the Portola Lumber
Company; Norbert C., of this review; Philip T., a contractor in New York City;
Alonzo, who is connected with the sales department of the Bass-Heuter Paint Company, of San Francisco; and Andrew, who was
born at Hornitos, California, June 10, 1899.
He was reared and educated there and is now a partner in the Portola
Lumber Company. He is a thoroughly
experienced lumber sales manager, having held managerial positions with the
Feather River Lumber Company, also for five years with the Yosemite Lumber
Company as sales manager, and has a wide acquaintance among sawmill and lumber
men and jobbers. He is able, popular and
successful.
Norbert
C. Valberde received his educational training in the
public schools of his home county and went to work at an early age among the
mines and logging camps. He finally
became a regular logger, operating a caterpillar tractor, donkey engines and
spar poles. His first logging experience
was gained at the early age of twelve years and thereafter he was connected
with lumber companies in Mariposa County, finally becoming head logger, with a
large force of men under his supervision.
He ran donkey engines in logging for the Yosemite Lumber Company at
Incline, Mariposa county, as well as for the Pickering
Lumber Company, in Tuolumne county, after which he came to Portola and ran
caterpillars in logging for the Feather River Lumber Company. At Delleker he
became foreman of the caterpillar logging camp and handled large crews of men
in logging operations. He understands
every detail of that work, uses the very latest devices and methods, and is
very efficient in attaining results. The
Portola Lumber Company was organized April 13, 1928, by Mr. Valberde
in association with his brother Andrew and his brother-in-law, William Barnhardt, and is a partnership affair. The company handles all kinds of lumber for
building purposes, “from a board to a carload,” wholesale or retail. They also carry a large stock of builders’
hardware, paints, oils, sash, doors, and everything necessary in the
construction of a building. The company
does an extensive and steadily increasing business in these items, as well as
in dimension stuff and finishing lumber from the leading mills of Oregon,
Washington, Utah and California.
Mr.
Valberde is a veteran of the World War, having
enlisted in the infantry branch of the United States Army at Richmond,
California in 1917. He was sent to Camp
Lewis, Washington, where he trained for a time, and was then assigned to the
Fortieth Division and transferred to Camp Kearney, at San Diego, where he was
in training for nine months. From there
he was sent to Camp Mills, Long Island, New York, where he embarked on the
transport “Mentor,” under convoy. He
landed at Birkenhead, England, from which point he went to France, where he saw
active service in the Argonne and the signing of the Armistice found him at
Saint Mihiel.
After the close of the war he embarked at Bordeaux, landed at New York
City and was honorably discharged at Camp Kearney, April 15, 1919. He at once resumed his logging and lumbering
operations. All five Valberde
brothers served in the World War, two of them, Norbert and Philip, serving in
France, the former in the Fortieth Division and the latter in the Forty-first
Division.
Mr. Valberde
is a member of Portola Lodge, I. O. O. F., of which he is the present noble
grand, and is also a commander of Edward Reynolds Post, No. 329, American
Legion, at Portola. He was a delegate
from his post to the state convention of the Legion held at Sacramento in
August, 1930. He is a man of sterling
character and straightforward manner, makes a favorable impression on those
with whom he comes in contact, and among his associates and friends is
exceedingly popular.
Transcribed by
Gerald Iaquinta.
Source:
Wooldridge, J.W.Major History of Sacramento Valley
California, Vol. 3 Pages 179-181. Pioneer Historical
Publishing Co. Chicago 1931.
© 2010
Gerald Iaquinta.