Norman, J. L.

J. L. Norman was born near Fallköping, Sweden, on July 26, 1860, to parents Andrew and Johanna Norman, with whom he immigrated to Saunders County, Nebraska, in 1869. After enduring the hardships of pioneer farming on the Nebraska plains, he took charge of his family business following his father death in 1885. In 1888, he married Elna Nelson, a native of Skaane, Sweden, with whom he had three surviving children named Horace E., Mamie, and Ethel.

In 1896, J. L. Norman relocated his family and mother to Kingsburg, California, where he acquired and developed two forty-acre ranches devoted to peach trees and muscat grapes. His agricultural success led to his election as a trustee of the California Associated Raisin Company, and he helped organize both the Scandinavian Mutual Protective Fire Insurance Association and the Kingsburg Bank, serving as vice president of the latter. Deeply involved in local civic life, he served on the Union High School Board, acted as a trustee for the Swedish Mission Church, and built a fine two-story stucco residence in Kingsburg Oak Knoll in 1916.