Long was born in San Francisco but spent most of
his formative years in Vallejo.
He learned the plastering trade from his
contractor father and engaged in this business for a number of years
before being appointed to the Richmond Board of Education. After being
elected in his own right, Long remained on the board for four years.
While Long served the residents of Richmond on
its school board, he also took on the responsibilities of becoming the
city's mayor from 1920-21. It was in this office that he first achieved
some fame. An ordinance existed which restricted the speed of railroad
trains through the city. After repeated warnings on infractions of the
law, which the railroad Santa Fe ignored, Mayor Long personally swung
aboard one of the engines that had been exceeding the speed limit and
arrested the engineer.
After serving as Richmond's postmaster, a state
assemblyman and a Contra Costa County supervisor, Long was successful in
his attempt to become the county's sheriff. In fact, the man was never
defeated in an election.
Long was a member of many fraternal and
professional law enforcement organizations and was active in virtually
all of them at one time or another. He was one of the first members and
masters of Alpha Lodge of Masons and one of the first members of the
Richmond Lodge of Elks.
