Charlotte Amanda (Hawbaker) Shoeman

My great grandmother, Charlotte Amanda Hawbaker, was born August 30, 1860, the daughter of Daniel Hawbaker and Charlotte Niswander, in Mercersburg, Franklin County Pennsylvania.  She was the mother of my paternal grandfather, Robert Martin Shoeman.  Amanda, as she was known, was the fourth born in a family of twelve children.   Little is known about her earliest years in Pennsylvania.  The first we know about her is from the spring of 1879 when she accompanied her family of fourteen from their home in Franklin County, Pennsylvania by covered wagon across the lone prairie all the way to Dallas County, Iowa.   One can only imagine the hardships the family endured along the way for nearly 1,000 miles between Pennsylvania and Iowa.

Amanda married my great grandfather John Smaltz Shoeman, on October 7, 1880 at the Nisley farm in rural Dallas Center, Iowa.  They were the parents of six children, Henry I., Walter H., Mary, Robert M., Eva, and John D. She was preceded in death by her husband, John, on May 14, 1931. Amanda moved to Atlantic, Iowa, live with her youngest son and family, John D. Shoeman, following the death of her husband. She died on May 21, 1943 in Atlantic and is at rest beside her husband at the Waukee Cemetery in Waukee, Iowa.

This photo of Amanda may be from around the turn of the century based on her age in comparison to the wedding photo.

Six of the seven Hawbaker sisters are shown in this photo from an unknown year.  This was a photo my cousin, Miriam Kuehl Arneson shared with me.  Back Row: Lydia Catherine (Kate), Carrie Ida, Minnie V., Lillie M.; Front Row: "A Friend," Charlotte Amanda, Ann M. Mary Elizabeth died in 1889.

Remembrances of Amanda from my cousin, Miriam Kuehl Arneson, include:  She fell on the ice sometime in the 1920's and broke both her hip and wrist.  She was put to bed at home to rest, never having the broken hip diagnosed correctly.  She apparantly never walked again without an aid and can be seen in numerous family photos from the late 1920's through the 1930's using crutches.   When I was growing up my grandparents, Robert and Greta Shoeman, lived in the Waukee "in-town" home where John and Amanda had resided.  There was a downstairs bedroom just off the kitchen and dining room on the northeast corner of the house.  It included a tiny bathroom with only a toilet.  The bedroom may or may not have been there initially but it was always my assumption that great grandpa most likely had it turned it into a bedroom and bath for Amanda due to her mobility issues.    Another remembrance is that Amanda would make herself a homemade hair tonic of bay rum and sage tea.  It was related to me that her hair never turned gray and cousin Miriam always wondered if it was the special concoction that her grandmother used.

This family photo of the John and Amanda Shoeman family was taken in 1928 during a special occasion when they were all gathered together.   My father, Gordon, is in the back row to the left and is wearing a bow tie.  I acquired this photo from my Pennsylvania Shoeman cousin some years ago and it is a wonderful photo from the past.  Cousin Miriam helped me identify everyone and I have a numbered copy with an ID chart.  Everyone pictured here is now deceased.