California Biographies

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

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

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


FRANK H. SHORT, attorney-at-law, Fresno, Cal., occupies a position of distinction at the bar 
of California, and for several years past has been recognized as one of the leaders of the Republican 
party of this state. He was born September 12, 1862, in Shelby county, Mo., and is a son of 
Hamilton and Emily ( Wharton ) Short. His father, who was also born in Shelby county, was 
a son of John Short, who was born in Delaware, of English ancestry. In young manhood he im- 
migrated to Missouri, becoming one of the pioneers of Shelby county, where he cleared and 
improved a homestead. He was a man of profound religious convictions, and for many years 
was actively identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. Hamilton Short received a com- 
mon-school education, and afterward engaged in farming. Upon the outbreak of the Civil war 
he enlisted in the Missouri state troops ; and while serving in the army died from drinking poisoned 
water, being but twenty-nine years of age at the time. Like his father, he was a consistent mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal Church. His wife, who was born in Mount Pleasant, Ohio, 
now resides near Fresno, Cal. Her father, William Sayre Wharton, deceased, a descendant 
of one of the early families of Delaware, was born and reared in Ohio, where he learned the 
trade of saddler. He subsequently located in Shelby county. Mo., where he was engaged in 
farming for a number of years. Removing to the Pacific coast in later life, he spent his declin- 
ing days in California, dying in Fresno in 1900, at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. He 
was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in politics was a stanch Republican. 
Two of his sons, Frank and F. A., served in the Union army during the Civil war. Frank Whar- 
ton, who held a commission as lieutenant, removed to Fresno during the early days of its his- 
tory, and until his death in 1889 was one of its leading citizens, being a prominent attorney and 
at one time a representative in the state legislature. His brother, F. A. Wharton, also removed 
to Fresno county, where he is now a successful vineyardist. 

Of the children born of the union of Hamilton and Emily (Wharton) Short, two attained ma- 
turity, namely : John W., now postmaster of Fresno, and Frank H. The latter attended the 
common schools of Shelby county, Mo., until he had reached the age of nine years, when he went 
to Hastings, Neb., where his schooling was continued. At the age of nineteen years he was en- 
gaged to teach school for one term. Removing to Fresno in the spring of 1882, he continued 
teaching one year, in the meantime beginning the study of the law under the direction of his uncle, 
Frank Wharton. In 1887 he was admitted to the bar, and since that time has been successfully en- 
gaged in the practice of his profession. Well versed in the intricacies of the science, he has 
successfully conducted many important cases, and has ably filled the position of attorney for various 
corporations. He is now serving as attorney for the well-known firm of Miller & Lux ; for the 
Fresno Canal & Irrigation Company, in which he is also a director ; for the Fresno Electric Com- 
pany ; for the City Water Company ; and for the Fresno National Bank, in which he is a director 
and one of the original stockholders. Associated with Judge Chapman of Los Angeles, he was 
connected with the litigation over oil lands between Scrippers and the mineral locators, and 
was successful in obtaining decisions of the supreme court of the United States and from the 
Secretary of the Interior in favor of the mineral locators. He has likewise been actively identified 
with other cases of importance. He assisted in the prosecution of Heath for the murder of Mc- 
Whorter, and defended Professor Sanders, accused of forgery and suspected of the murder of 
William Wooton. In the latter case he succeeded in avoiding the charge of murder, as the 
death of Wooton was not actually proven, although Sanders was subsequently prosecuted 
for forgery and sentenced to prison. In a proceeding before the railway commissioners he suc- 
ceeded in procuring a reduction of ten per cent in the rates of transportation for oil, thus saving 
the oil shippers about $500,000 per year at the time and at the present amounting to about double 
that sum. The cases here cited are but a few of the more important ones with which Mr. Short 
has been associated, and the success which attended his conduct of them has given him a posi- 
tion among the leaders of the bar of California. Throughout his career his practice has been uni- 
formly successful, whether in civil or criminal causes. 

Outside of legal circles, Mr. Short is best known as one of the most aggressive and progres- 
sive leaders in the ranks of the Republican party in California. In 1885, two years prior to his 
admission to the bar, he was elected justice of the peace. At the end of his term he became the 
nominee of the 'Republican party for the office of district attorney, but was not elected, the county 
being strongly Democratic. He has been prominent in state and county conventions for several 
years. In 1896 he was chosen as a delegate to the Republican National convention at St. Louis, 
when McKinley was nominated for the presidency. In 1904 he was a leading member of the 
California delegation to the Republican National convention at Chicago, at which Roosevelt was 
nominated. He took a prominent and conspicuous part in the work of that body, and was one 
of the sub-committee chosen to frame the platform upon which the campaign was conducted. 
In 1898 Governor Gage appointed him a member of the State Board of Commissioners for the 
preservation of the Yosemite Valley, a post he still occupies. He was for a term also a member 
of the board of trustees of the State Normal School at San Jose. Fraternally he is a member 
of Fresno Lodge No. 247, F. & A. M.; of Trigo Chapter No. 69, R. A. M. ; of Fresno Com- 
mandery No. 29, K. T. ; and of Islam Temple, A. A. 0. N. M. S., of San Francisco. He is also 
a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. In his social relations he is identified with 
the Union League and the Bohemian clubs of San Francisco and with the Sequoia Club of 
Fresno. He is also a member of the State Bar Association, and ex-President of the Fresno 
Count}- Bar Association. In religion he is a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
In Fresno, in 1897, he was united in marriage with Nellie C. (Curtis) Rorick, who was born in 
Iowa, but was reared and educated in Los Angeles. She had one daughter, Mildred. By his 
first wife, Emma Packard, Mr. Short has one son, Frank H., Jr. 

Endowed by nature with a body and mind of exceptional vigor, with praiseworthy ambition 
and indefatigable powers, Mr. Short has become recognized as a master of bis profession at an 
age when most men are standing upon the threshholds of their careers. The marked success 
which has attended his efforts is doubtless due more to his untiring zeal and industry and his con- 
stant application to the work intrusted to his care than to any other attributes, although underlying 
all is a thorough groundwork of study under the supervision of one of the best-equipped lawyers 
who ever practiced before the courts of southern California. During the years of his residence in 
this state he has given frequent evidence of a hearty desire to accomplish all within his power 
for the advancement of community interests, and particularly for the promotion of those move- 
ments intended to elevate the social, moral, educational and industrial status of Fresno county. 
Though comparatively young in years, his strung personal attributes have lung since been gener- 
ally recognized, and these characteristics, taken in conjunction with his manifest public spirit, his 
breadth of mind in viewing all public affairs, and his generosity of heart, have given him a place in 
the esteem of thoughtful and discriminating men which few men attain at his time of life. His 
work is making a marked impress upon the trend of events in California, and the record of his life 
is entitled to a place of distinction in the annals of the state.