MR. AND MRS. GEORGE SHORTRIDGE 
by K. McAleese and W. Wenzel
George Short ridge came to Canada from the United States. He met and married his wife Molly in Edmonton. They took a homestead two miles west of Elk Point "NW2-57-7-W4". George spent some time helping with freight and mail delivery from Vermilion.
In later years he became Justice of the Peace and trials and court hearings were held in their home.
They had a big home with the first fireplace and glass French doors that we children had never seen. Mrs. Shortridge was also the first person whom had ever been seen wearing a wig, and I'm ashamed to say, we used to stare in fascination at it bouncing when she ran, and hope gleefully that it may fall off! It never did!
The court room was a smaller room off the living room, and was used for company dinners, or a court room when court was in session. We children knew that when the heavy, dark, tassled, curtains between the living-room and the dining-room were drawn, we had better tip-toe and never yell, or we'd get a good hard smack.
Our parents used to go on sunny Sunday afternoons, for a tennis game with the Shortridges. While the adults were playing we children used to investigate the large flock of turkeys and the herd of shorthorn cattle that the Shortridges kept.
George Shortridge was a skilled carpenter whose specialty was hanging doors. One example of his good work can still be seen in Edmonton -- he hung all the big doors in the Parliament Buildings.
His work horses were five large pure white beasts. They were a striking outfit as they started out to the field, all carefully groomed, in the morning. They must have been the worst looking team in the country as they returned, all sweat and grime.
After Mr. Shortridge died, Mrs. Shortridge moved to Vancouver, and spent her remaining years in an apartment in the home of the Albert Whitworths
