William Wallace Shortridge, born 30 March 1836 in Muscatine County, Iowa. In 1852, at sixteen years of age, he went across the Oregon Trail with his father, Samuel Boone Shortridge. His mother, Emily Ann Heath, appears to have died in Iowa. He enlisted in the Rouge River Indian Wars on 13 February 1856 in Company A under the command of Captain Ladshaw. He participated in the battles of Cow Creek, Big Meadows, and many other minor engagements. He was discharged after a service of four months and nineteen days. He married Ellen Jane Keyes 4 August 1861. Ellen Jane Keyes was born 12 March 1846 in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, a daughter of a devout Mormon family. They located six miles south of Cottage Grove, Oregon, for three years, then afterwards moved to Pass Creek near Divide, Oregon, for two years. William Wallace Shortridge and Ellen Jane Keyes then bought one hundred sixty acres of land eleven miles south of Cottage Grove. In 1883, he built a sawmill on this land. William Wallace died at his home in Cottage Grove on 29 April 1922. Ellen Jane Keyes was killed in a train-auto accident on 9 April 1926. William Wallace Shortridge and Ellen Jane Keyes had eleven children.


Obituary:
W. W. SHORTRIDGE, PIONEER OF '52, IS GONE
Was One of the First Couples Married by Squire Vaughn and Family of Eleven.
William Wallace Shortridge, member of one of the earliest of the pioneer families, himself a pioneer of 1852 and for nearly three-quarters of a century a resident of this section, died Saturday at the age of more than 86 years, being the first to die in the family of which he was the head. The funeral was held Monday from the family home, S.B. Kern officiating, and interment was in the pioneer Taylor-Lane cemetery.
Mr. Shortridge was a member of one of the first two or three families to settle on the Coast fork and was for 14 years postmaster at Wallace (now London). He and Miss Ellen Jane Keyes, also a daughter of a pioneer family, were the first couple to be married by Squire Vaughn, who later performed several hundred of such ceremonies. The wedding was held August 4, 1861, on the pioneer Hawley place and was one of the earliest weddings of this section. They celebrated their sixtieth anniversary last year. Mr. Shortridge was a relative of Daniel Boone and also of United States Senator Sam Shortridge of California. He was born March 31, 1836 at Muscatine, In, his parents being Mr. and Mrs Samuel Boone S. Shortridge.
Mr. And Mrs Wallace Shortridge first located six miles south of Cottage Grove, moving a few years later to Pass Creek, about the same distance south of here, later returning and purchasing a place 11 miles south of here (at Wallace), where they lived until moving into the city a number of years ago. Mr. Shortridge was a farmer and blacksmith and took and active part in the affairs of the community. He was a member of Co. A in the Rouge River Indian war and participated in the battle of Cow Creek and Big Meadow under Captain Ladshaw (sic). In 1883 one of the pioneer sawmills was erected on his place but was long ago dismantled.
Of 11 children born to the union, all are living, all in Cottage Grove or only a short distance away. They are Alonso, Lester, Samuel, Clarence, and Sherman Shortridge, all of Cottage Grove, and Lane Shortridge of Roseburg; Mrs. Wm. Brown, Mrs. Lyman Adams, Mrs . Bud Thorn, and Mrs. George Sutherland, all of Cottage Grove. All were present at the funeral.
Grandchildren are as follows: Mrs. Delbert Wills, Weed, Calif.; Herbert Shortridge and Norman Adams of Los Angeles, Calif.; Clifford Shortridge of Honolulu; Mrs. Fred McCoy, Bayfield Colorado; Mrs. Ellen Hunter of Washington and Ellena, Donald, Harold, Clifton and Claude Shortridge, and Ada, Claire, Rex, Glen, Wallace, Melvin and Clifton Adams of Cottage Grove.