Alameda County Biographies

Leland Spencer

Transcribed by Kathy Sedler

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

 

	Leland Spencer, a prosperous and respected citizen of Oakland, is actively engaged in 
the real-estate business as a member of the firm of George McComb & Company, in which he owns 
a half interest. His birth occurred in Raleigh, West Virginia, on the 23d of March, 1868, his 
parents being James H. and Polly Spencer. In the acquirement of an education he studied in the 
public schools of Fayette county, West Virginia, until sixteen years of age and subsequently 
attended a high school and business college in Cincinnati, Ohio, graduating when eighteen years 
of age. He afterward embarked in the real-estate brokerage business and when nineteen years of 
age went to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he was also engaged in the real-estate business and 
acted as right-of-way agent for a large transcontinental railroad during the next six years.
	At the age of twenty-five Mr. Spencer went to Seattle, Washington, and associated 
himself with one of the leading real-estate firms of the city, though still retaining his 
business in Minneapolis. In 1898 he disposed of his interests and thereafter lived retired in 
California, except for the mining interests he retained in Alaska, until August, 1913, when he 
formed the real-estate firm of George McComb & Company, in which he owns a half interest. They 
handle city and country properties and also subdivisions and are accorded a gratifying clientage. 
Mr. Spencer lost heavily in the San Francisco fire of 1906 and for that reason again embarked in 
the business which had formerly brought him a fortune. He is determined to recoup his losses, and 
in his present undertakings is meeting with a measure of success which promises the speedy 
fulfillment of his hopes.
	In July, 1907, in San Francisco, Mr. Spencer was united in marriage to Miss Osburne, a 
daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Osburne, of Los Angeles. They have one child, Leland, who is five years 
of age.

Past & Present of Alameda County, California � Vol II, S. J. Clarke Publ. Co., 1914, p. 170