Sacramento County
Biographies
BERNARD J. McSHANE
BERNARD J. McSHANE--Prominent among the capable superintendents of the
well-organized system of California police may well be placed Bernard J. McShane,
the efficient and popular chief of the Sacramento police department. A native of Ireland, he was born on November 22, 1885. His father was Edward McShane,
who is now deceased, having rounded out a useful and honored life; his mother
was Annie Murphy, before her marriage, and she is still living, in comfortable
retirement, in the Irish Free State.
Bernard McShane
attended the schools of his native district up to the time of his migration, at
the age of fifteen, to the United States; and once here, he tarried for four years in New York City, where he both worked and studied. In 1905, however, he
moved on to the Pacific Coast, reaching San Francisco, where he entered the service of the Southern Pacific
Railroad as a handler of freight. He next became a clerk, and then he was
employed to do special work in the department of railway police. He was
assigned to the San
Francisco, Los Angeles and Portland divisions for three years, and when he first came to Sacramento, in 1916, he was given charge of this division. Abreast of
the times, and determined to give the people of Sacramento the best there is,
in the way of police protection, he is lined up with the International
Association of Chiefs of Police. He was one of fifteen delegates from the state
of California to attend the recent meeting of the association, which
took place at Buffalo, N. Y., June 11 to 15, 1923. He was present at every session, and brought back with
him to Sacramento such valuable information as appealed to his inquiring and
acquiring mind.
On July 1, 1920, Mr. McShane was appointed chief
of the Sacramento police. He is a Republican in the matter of his party
platform preferences, but is really the choice of the entire people; and ever
since he has had the reins of the department in hand, he has done his best by
the community as a whole, without fear or favor. He has been ably supported by
one of the best police forces in the state, so that staff and chief share the
honors of an effective police administration that has made Sacramento one of the safest, most enjoyable and most desirable
places for residence in all the state.
In Sacramento, California, July 29, 1916 Mr. McShane was
married to Miss Jessie T. Fourmy, an attractive and
gifted lady of Louisiana, and they have one child, a daughter named Violet Teresa.
Mr. McShane belongs to the Elks of Sacramento, and he
is also a member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Lions Club of the same
city. He is fond of hunting and other outdoor sports, and is interested both in
the historic past of Sacramento County and in the promising future of this favored region of the
state.
Transcribed by Sally Kaleta.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento
County, California With
Biographical Sketches, Pages 289-290.
Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2006 Sally Kaleta.