by Susan Couso
Gladys Matilda Spencer is another one of those who prove that important people do come from Lassen County. Gladys was born in Susanville on March 27, 1872. Her father, Ephraim Van Buren ‘Eff’ Spencer, was Lassen County’s first District Attorney, and a very successful and well-known lawyer, women’s rights advocate and who served in the California State Assembly for seventeen years.
Her mother was Lucy Philenda Montgomery Spencer, a woman who was noted in her own right.
Philenda was California’s first female Notary Public, a well-known suffragist, and the creator of Susanville’s Monticola Club.
Gladys’ sister, Iva was an artist who married John Edward Raker, an attorney and judge from Alturas who became a U. S. Congressman. Unfortunately, Gladys’ little brother, Ephraim Montgomery ‘Effie’ Spencer, died at age fourteen from Diphtheria.
So, Gladys grew up surrounded by energetic, educated, progressive people. And they were all interested in the law.
Gladys attended Chico State Normal School, which first opened its doors in 1889, and has today become Chico State University. She was valedictorian of the college’s first graduating class of 1891. The young, educated woman then moved back to Susanville, taught school, and was principal of the Susanville Grammar School. Gladys also became a Notary Public, like her mother.
On Thursday, April 27, 1893, Gladys married Harry Deforest Burroughs. At ten in the evening at the Spencer home they exchanged vows, and then left the following morning for their new life together in Chico.
Harry opened a jewelry store which was advertised as having the “finest stock of jewelry, watches, diamonds and optical goods in Northern California.”
Gladys showed her mettle early in their marriage when, in 1894, she and Harry went on a camping trip with another married couple to Eagle Lake.
As they followed the steep road up Antelope Grade, the horses began to tire. They stopped at a watering trough, and the men got out to care for the team. Suddenly, one of the horses became frightened and took off running. Harry Burroughs tried to stop the team, but was run over, breaking his leg in the effort.
Gladys, who was in the back, climbed over the seat and managed to grab the reins and keep the wagon from going over the steep embankment. She slowed the team enough that the occupants could jump out.
Her 6-year-old daughter, Forest, at first refused to leave the wagon, but after about a quarter of a mile of terror, she was convinced. With no way to stop the team, Gladys followed her daughter, just as the wagon turned over.
The wagon was smashed to bits, but Harry sustained the only injury. Gladys did what she needed to do in a tough situation.
But she wasn’t content with being just a wife. Gladys yearned to be a part of the Spencer family law firm. She discussed her dreams with Harry, and they both decided to study law. While operating the store and raising their son, Spencer Ephraim, they studied. They graduated together, and in 1898, they were both accepted to the bar.
They had returned to Susanville in 1897, and their last two children, Mary Deforest ‘Forest’ and Jean Kathryn, were born there.
With their law degrees secured, a new life began for the Burroughs family. They both worked in the Spencer, Raker, Burroughs & Burroughs law firm.
This is when Gladys really began to make waves in the mostly male world. Her law practice was only hampered by the fact that her husband was elected as Lassen County Superior Court Judge in 1908, and she was forced to suspend most of her law practice to avoid any potential legal conflicts.
This limited her a bit, but she still continued to work for her husband’s practice while he was on the bench. All the while, she was a devoted mother to their three children.
Gladys was the first woman to be elected to the school board in Susanville. She was elected to the Susanville Town Trustees (City Council) in 1922, and in 1924, was appointed Mayor of Susanville. This appointment made her the first female mayor in the state of California, and she served as a member of the Town Trustees until 1926.
In 1930 Gladys and her sister, Iva Raker, sold the former Spencer property on Inspiration Point to the City of Susanville for a nominal fee of $1,000, in hopes that it would remain a natural area, void of development. To this day, their wishes have mostly been recognized.
Harry Burroughs died suddenly in 1936, while still in office as Superior Court Judge. He had served as Lassen County Superior Court Judge for 27 years. It was an unexpected death, and the family, as well as the community, was shocked.
Local attorneys vied to fill the vacant position left by Burrough’s death, but community activists pressed to have Gladys succeed her husband. Gladys eventually agreed to fill her husband’s vacant position and not run again at the end of the term. All other candidates then withdrew from seeking the appointment.
On January 24, 1936, Gladys Burroughs became the second female Superior Court Judge in California when she was appointed by Gov. Frank F. Merriam (Georgia Bullock had become the first female Superior Court Judge in California on Aug. 14,1931 in Los Angeles).
Gladys was appointed Deputy Attorney General of California by then-Attorney General, Earl Warren in 1942, and served in that position for five years.
She was very active in the local chapter of the Red Cross which was formed in May of 1917, and served as Chairman throughout WWI.
Gladys was also a dedicated member of the Susanville Methodist Church, which her father, E. V. Spencer, had a great part in establishing. She was an honorary member of Soroptomist Club of Susanville and was a member of Iota Tau Tau Sorority.
Gladys and her sister also donated the stone (from the Spencer quarry on Quarry St.) to rebuild the City Hall/Fire House and the Masonic Lodge buildings on North Lassen Street. The buildings had been destroyed in a fire in 1921.
Gladys and Iva also donated the land for the Monticola Club House on South Lassen Street.
Gladys Burroughs, a woman who saw potential everywhere, died on March 19, 1957. On March 21, 1957, her funeral was held at the United Methodist Church in Susanville.
Gladys Matilda Spencer Burroughs is buried with her family in the Susanville Cemetery.
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