Henry Shoeman

My paternal 2nd great grandfather, Henry Shoeman, was born on March 14, 1827, in the woods north of Curryville, Pennsylvania to John and Sarah Tressler/Dressler Shoeman, both Pennsylvania natives.  The Shoeman family were early arrivals in America, how early I do not know yet due to a "brick wall", but most likely sometime during the 1700's.   Henry is first found by name on the 1850 U.S. Census.  He and his sister Catherine were living in the home of Daniel and Nancy Bowers in Blair County Pennsylvania and 24 year-old Henry was listed as a laborer.  By the next census of 1860, he had been married for eight years to my 2nd great grandmother, Louisa Smaltz, who was German born.  He and my grandmother purchased a home on Henrietta Road east of Curryville just prior to the civil war.  The home sat on the rise of a hill, known as "Shoeman Hill."   Henry and Louisa toiled to clear the land and raise a family of eleven children.  The Shoeman family home still stands today, looking much like it did back in the day when it was bustling with their large family.   Grandfather Henry earned a living as a shoemaker until factory made shoes made it difficult to earn a living.  He then turned to weaving with his son, Frank.

My 2nd great grandparents, Henry Shoeman and Louisa Smaltz, are photographed in an unknown year. This could have been their wedding photo from 1852 but they look older to me.  Henry would have been nearly 25 and Louisa 19 at the time of their marriage.

The items above are shoemaker tools used by my 2nd great grandfather, including the H Shoeman sign on the left.  The old rug was woven by Henry and is in the possession of one of my Pennsylvania cousins.  This photo is one of many shared with me by my Pennsylvania cousin, Karen.  Without her generous sharing of family history documents and photos I would not have these precious family treasures.

I located the obituary below during a trip to Pennsylvania in 2004.  It tells so much
about Grandfather Henry's life.  I sat at a microfilm machine at the Blair County Genealogical Society and scrolled through old newspapers from the turn of the century until I found both of my 2nd great grandparents' obituaries.


                                                 OLD RESIDENT OF COVE DEAD 

Henry Shuman, Old-time Shoemaker and Weaver, 

Dies One Week Before His 82nd Birthday 

The following obituary is from The Altoona, Pennsylvania Mirror

March 8, 1909

Henry Shuman (Shoeman), one of the oldest and most widely known residents of Morrison's Cove, died at his home near Curryville, yesterday morning, after an illness covering several months of ailment brought on by advanced age. Had he lived until next Sunday he would have been 82 years of age, having been born March 14, 1827, within a short distance of the place that has been his home for almost sixty years. **His parents were among the first settlers of the Cove, coming to this part of the state from a German settlement in Adams county. For almost half a century he conducted a shoemaker shop and weaving establishment near Curryville, and his shop during that time was the headquarters for all political and other current discussions of that section of the Cove for years. Previous to the years when the farmers purchased their footwear and carpets at the stores, he and his son, who later associated with him in the industry, realized a profitable trade.

On January 18, 1852, Mr. Shuman was united in marriage to Miss Louisa Smaltz, who survives. The fifty-seventh wedding anniversary was celebrated by the aged couple on January 18, last, with the presence of a number of the children and grandchildren, which event was noted in the Altoona Mirror at the time. Eleven children were born to the union. Nine survive, as follows: Mrs. Mary Kauffman, of Martinsburg, and Mrs. Sarah Buterbaugh, of Iowa, twin sisters; John Shuman and Mrs. Katharine Diehl, both of Iowa; Mrs. Elizabeth Ake, of Martinsburg, Mrs. Lydia Latshaw, of Woodbury, Bedford county; Albert, of Everett, and Ephriam and Frank, near Curryville. Some twenty grandchildren and a number of great grandchildren also survive. 

He was an attendant of the German Brethren church and was a follower of the principles of the Republican party ever since it was organized. No one in the community was held in higher esteem, or whose worth, as a neighbor and a citizen, was more fully appreciated. The funeral will be held tomorrow morning from his late home at 10 o'clock, with interment in the Cross Road's cemetery nearby. 

**There is conflicting information as to whether the Shoeman/Shuman family moved to Blair County from Adams County or Lancaster County in Pennsylvania.