Serrano, Florencio

Florencio Serrano, born in Navarra, Spain, on September 22, 1877, was an enterprising sheepman and land owner in Fresno County, California. He was the eldest of five children born to Miguel and Vicenta Serrano, who lived and died on their farm in Spain. After immigrating to the United States, he arrived in Fresno County on February 9, 1898, and worked for a local sheepgrower on the West Side for two years. He then moved to Nevada to work for other sheepmen in Elko and Wellington, accumulating enough capital to purchase his own flock. In 1907, he sold his sheep in Nevada and returned to Fresno County to enter into an agricultural partnership with his uncle, Miguel Villanueva.

Together, Florencio Serrano and his uncle successfully expanded their agricultural operations across the region. They acquired a 160-acre property in Cantua, where Mr. Serrano resided, as well as a sixty-acre alfalfa ranch in Tranquillity, which served as the home for Mr. Villanueva and his family. On July 27, 1908, Mr. Serrano married Braulia Yturri, an immigrant from Navarra, Spain, who had arrived in Fresno the previous year. Beyond his ranching pursuits, he became a stockholder in the Growers National Bank of Fresno. His industrious nature and civic involvement established him as a liberal, respected figure in the local business community.