Credit: National Park Service, NPS SAFR P00.2178x
William Shorey and his wife, Julia Ann Shelton Shorey, and daughters, Zenobia Pearl and Victoria, c. 1890s
While most whalers endured one or two journeys at sea and then moved on to other pursuits, a few ascended the ranks of the whaling industry and emerged quite wealthy. One of these men, William Shorey, amassed considerable wealth captaining whaling ships from the Gulf of Alaska to the islands of the South Pacific. By the end of his life, he and his wife, Julia Ann Shelton Shorey, and their two children, were among San Francisco’s leading families.