San Francisco County
Biographies
THOMAS E.
SHUMATE, M. D.
Through a number of channels, Dr. Thomas E. Shumate has achieved prominence in San Francisco, California. As a physician and pharmacist; as proprietor of the twenty-eight chain prescription pharmacies in the city bearing his name; as proprietor of the Shumate Commercial Company, importers and exporters; of the Shumate Drug Company, a wholesale organization; and the Shumate Products Company, dealers in pharmaceuticals, he has become widely and favorably known in business affairs of the bay district.
Dr. Shumate was born in St. Louis, Missouri, April 1, 1871. When very young, he came to California and attended the public schools of San Francisco. He subsequently took up the study of medicine at the Cooper Medical College, and received therefrom his professional degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1894. He then entered practice, in which he met with pronounced success, and obtained as well much valuable experience in the service of municipal and private hospitals. He acted as emergency surgeon for a year in the receiving hospitals, and later assumed the duties of examining physician in the San Francisco police department, which position he held for a period of six years. Following this, he served as assistant surgeon in the French Hospital for seven years. In the meantime, he had become strongly interested in the pharmacy business. His medical experience plus his natural business ability well prepared him for a venture such as he undertook. He established throughout the city twenty-eight retail drug stores, all modeled along the most modern lines of the business and fully meeting the public demand for this type of store. Other subsidiary organizations with which Dr. Shumate is vitally concerned are mentioned in a preceding paragraph, and there is also the Shumate Real Estate & Improvement Company, with which he is associated.
Dr. Shumate was married to Miss Neda Ortman, who was born in San Francisco and is a daughter of Frederick and Jane (Merchant) Ortman. Mrs. Shumate is descended from old California stock, her maternal grandfather having come to California in 1849 and her parents in 1852. Her father was one of the foremost men of early San Francisco. He constructed the first large house in the western section of the community, and was one of the first men to rebuild his business properties after the fire of 1906. Mrs. Shumate was educated in the Sacred Heart Convent, and in the Dominican College, from which she graduated in 1898. To the union of Dr. and Mrs. Shumate there have been born three children, namely: Frederick Ortman, Charles Albert, and Virginia Clare.
In the year 1912, Dr. Shumate was appointed by Mayor Rolph as a member of the board of police commissioners in San Francisco, and he yet retains this incumbency. He has consistently held active interest in the civic affairs of his home city, and has never neglected a single public duty which he considered as his obligation to the community. He has met the public with eminent fairness in the conduct of his stores, and enjoys the confidence and respect of all with whom he has been associated.
Transcribed by: Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
Source: Byington, Lewis Francis, “History of
San Francisco 3 Vols”, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.,
Chicago, 1931. Vol. 3 Pages 456-458.
© 2008 Jeanne Sturgis Taylor.
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