San Francisco County
Biographies
SAMUEL
M. SHORTRIDGE
Past Grand Commander, S. K.
The life
of Samuel M. Shortridge in a marked degree
illustrates the possibilities in this age for a self-made young man to assume
great responsibilities and become a leader among men before he has reached 30
years in the span of life. Schooled in the rough, rugged elements surrounding life
in his western home, he has by hard labor and tact taken a position as an
educator, lawyer and orator that ranks among our leading men.
His career in fraternal societies
has been brief and brilliant. In 1885 he was made a Workman in Spartan Lodge,
No. 36; elected Guide on the next evening, served as Overseer, and is now Past
Master Workman of this Lodge. He was a charter member of Norman Legion, Select
Knights, which was instituted in March, 1886, and elected Representative on the
same evening to the Grand Legion, S. K., that met in San Francisco April
5,1886.
He was unanimously elected Grand
Commander, S. K., for the Pacific Coast, and reelected in 1887. In 1887 he was
elected a representative to Supreme Legion.
Politics early claimed his
attention, and in the campaign of 1884 he made a brilliant record as an orator
and thinker. His masterly speeches on the tariff earned for him the soubriquets
of “Boy Orator” and the “Henry Clay of the Pacific Coast.” He has been invited
to deliver the 4th of July oration in San Francisco for 1888.
He has a kindly nature, sympathizing
disposition and a great benevolent heart that is quickened at the call of
suffering humanity. His own experience and struggles in the battle of life have
intensified and crystallized his benevolent nature, so that in these fraternal
societies he has found a field where labor is recreation and suffering humanity
has enlisted a leader whose arduous toil sweetens life. Comrade Shortridge belongs to a family of high intellectuality and
talent. His brother, Chas. M. Shortridge, P. M. W., is editor and publisher of the San Jose Daily Mercury.
Transcribed By: Cecelia M. Setty.
Source: “Illustrated
Fraternal Directory Including Educational Institutions on the Pacific Coast”,
Page 71, Publ. Bancroft Co., San Francisco. Cal. 1890.
© 2013 Cecelia M. Setty.
San Francisco County Biographies