Shoemaker (Schumacher), Purget (Purgett, Purgit, Purgitt)
Mollie Shoemaker, wife of Frederick Purget(t)
Shoemaker/Schumacher Proposed Lineage
Compiled by Judy Griffin - email address & Diane Kleinke, 2007.
Peter Schumacher 1638 – aft 1717 + Anna Barbara Heckh 1646 -
...... 2 Georg Schumacher -
1732/33 + Maria Barbara
........... 3 Niclaus Schumacher
........... 3 Joseph Schumacher 1699 - 1762 + Maria
Catherina Kohl 1705 - 1762
........... 3 Jacob Schumacher
1703/04 - 1769
.............. 4 Daniel Shoemaker
+ Maria Elizabetha Hoffman
................. 5 Peter
Shoemaker 1757 - 1838 + Anna
Maria Margaret Wilhelm
..................... 6 Henry Shoemaker
..................... 6 John Shoemaker
..................... 6 Daniel Shoemaker
..................... 6 Mollie
Shoemaker + Frederick
Purget – 1860 (See Purget history)
..................... 6 George Shoemaker 1788 - +
Elizabeth A. Purget
................. 5 Barbara Shoemaker + Jacob Cooper
................. 5 Abigail Shoemaker
................. 5 Abraham Shoemaker + Maria
Elizabeth
................. 5 Priscilla Shoemaker - 1788 +
William Wenner 1760 - 1821
................. 5 George Shoemaker 1759 - 1805 + Mary
Magdelene Frantz 1769 - 1847
................. 5 Daniel Shoemaker 1772 - 1831 +
Elizabeth Shoemaker 1784 - 1878
................. 5 Henry Shoemaker 1772 - 1845 +
Elizabeth Miller - 1837
.............. 4 Salome Schumacher + Alexander Kuntz
.............. 4 Dorothea Schumacher + Michael Cuntz
.............. 4 Michael Shoemaker 1743 -
...... 2 Diebold Schumacher + Magdalena Thalmann
...... 2 Elisabeth Schumacher + Simon Haenel
...... 2 Peter Schumacher + Catharina Krafft
...... 2 Maria Magdalena Schumacher + Johannes Haas
...... 2 Rudolph Schumacher 1693 - 1767
........... 3 Juliana “Ule” Shoemaker +
Philip Baker - 1786
........... 3 Peter Shoemaker 1712 - 1791 + Eva
Catherine - 1791
........... 3 Bartholomew Shoemaker 1729 - 1793 + Anna
Barbara Balssel 1727 -
........... 3 George Shoemaker 1730 - 1808 + Anna Maria
Barbara - 1820
........... 3 Simon Shoemaker 1730 - 1820 + (1)
Elizabeth, (2) Elizabeth Medsker
.............. 4 Martin Shoemaker 1762 - 1830 + Rachel
Shoemaker 1760 -
.............. 4 Polly Shoemaker 1764 - + John Rich
.............. 4 Samuel Shoemaker 1766 - 1837 + Julia
Ann Weaver 1773 - 1858
................. 5 John Weaver Shoemaker 1794 - 1860 +
Mary Magdaline Stultz 1796 -
................. 5 Simon Shoemaker 1796 - 1870 +
Magdaline Miller
................. 5 Jacob Shoemaker 1800 - 1869 + Nancy
Countryman 1802 -
................. 5 Elizabeth Shoemaker 1804 - 1872 +
Robert Davidson
................. 5 Martin
Shoemaker 1805 - 1853 + Hanna
Purget 1811 – 1890
..................... 6 Frederick Shoemaker 1834 - 1916
+ (1) Elizabeth Dudley 1839 - 1886, (2) Louisa Smith
..................... 6 Child Shoemaker
..................... 6 Henry H Shoemaker 1838 - 1896 +
Mary Ann Miller 1824 -
..................... 6 Lydia Ann Shoemaker 1840 - +
Eli Runyon 1838 -
..................... 6 Sampson Shoemaker 1843 - 1925 +
(1) Esther Smith 1845 – 1892, (2) Vessia Seaman
..................... 6 Priscilla Ann Shoemaker 1845 –
1913 + Noble Satterfield
..................... 6 Mary Amanda Shoemaker 1847 -
1895 + (1) David Beekman, (2) James Robey
..................... 6 William Martin Shoemaker 1849 -
1912 + Zora Amanda Williams 1854 - 1929
..................... 6 Allen Shoemaker 1851 - 1925 +
Mary Satterfield 1852 - 1929
................. 5 Susannah Shoemaker 1808 - + Elijah
M Countryman 1806 -
................. 5 Isaac Shoemaker 1811 - 1834
................. 5 Margaret Shoemaker 1814 - + Stephen
Dearduff
................. 5 Daniel Shoemaker 1814 - 1887 +
Priscilla _?_
................. 5 Sarah Shoemaker 1815 - + Obidiah
Countryman
.............. 4 Peter Shoemaker 1768 - 1809
.............. 4 Catherine Shoemaker 1769 - 1846 +
William G Richey 1760 - 1863
........... 3 Philip Shumaker 1730/31 - 1776
........... 3 Jacob Shoemaker 1731 - 1805 + Catherine -
1773
Information on this line contains information from Genealogy of Three Loudoun County Shoemaker Lines by Lillian Lankerd, information in Shoemaker Pioneers by Benjamin Shoemaker III, and Peter Schumacher genealogy compiled by Richard Schumacher. (1)
Peter Schumacher was born in 1638 in Cleebourg, Alsace France and died after December 4, 1717 in Cleebourg. He married Anna Barbara Heckh, born in 1646 in Cleebourg, Alsace France. Peter’s ‘inheritance record’ dated February 9, 1712/13 gave the children the farm to take care of in their place. Peter’s will was updated on December 4, 1717 when he extended his son Rudolph’s rights for four more years. Peter and Anna’s children were Georg, Diebold, Elisabeth, Peter, Maria and Rudolph.
Georg Schumacher was born in Cleeburg, Alsace France and died February 18, 1732/33 in Cleeburg. Georg married Maria Barbara: “On February 18, 1732/33, passed by Hans Georg Schuhmacher and his wife Maria Barbara, both burghers of Cleebourg, who were too old to continue to cultivate their land and decided to leave the farming to their three sons, Niclaus, Joseph and Jacob.”
Niclaus Schumacher resided in Steinseltz, Alsace France in 1752. His son was Michel.
Joseph Schumacher was born on November 5, 1699, Cleebourg Alsace France and died on April 21, 1762, Cleebourg. He married Maria Catherina Kohl, born on December 20, 1705 and died on April 23, 1762, Cleebourg. Maria’s surname established from the inheritance document.
Magdalena Schumacher married Simon Haas on February 9, 1762 in Cleebourg, Alsace, France. Simon was born on December 5, 1728 in Cleebourg, and died May 5, 1777 in Cleebourg. Their children were Catherine Margareta, Magdalena, Johann Frederick, and Maria Dorothea – all born in Cleebourg.
Daniel Schumacher.
Maria Catherina Schumacher was born circa 1742 and confirmed in 1756 at the Reform Church, Cleebourg, age circa 14, a twin.
Anna Margaretha Schumacher was born circa 1742 and confirmed in 1756 at the Reform Church, Cleebourg, age circa 14, a twin.
Jacob Schumacher was born on March 14, 1703/04, Cleeburg, Alsace France and died on January 02, 1769, Cleeburg. [Will?] January 17, 1769, mentioned seven children one of which was under twenty-five.
Daniel Shoemaker married Maria Elizabetha Hoffman on February 1, 1757 in Frederick County, Maryland, married by John Conrad Steiner. Daniel left Cleeburg and arrived in America, probably at Philadelphia in 1749. See below.
Salome Schumacher married Alexander Kuntz. They lived in Rott, Alsace, France in January 1771.
Dorothea Schumacher married Michael Cuntz. They lived in Rott, Alsace, France in January 1758.
Michael Shoemaker was born circa 1743.
Diebold Schumacher married Magdalena Thalmann. On November 16, 1748, Diebold Schuhmacher and his wife Magdalena Thalmann gave to their farm to their son Jacob.
Elisabeth Schumacher married Simon Haenel.
Peter Schumacher married Catharina Krafft. Their daughter was Anna Elizabeth Schumacher, who married (1) Georg Becker, (2) Peter Pflug.
Maria Magdalena Schumacher married Johannes Haas.
Rudolph Schumacher was born in 1693 in Cleeburg, Alsace, Germany and died circa 1767 in Frederick County, Maryland. See below.
According to Pennsylvania Folklore Society, (2) the following left Cleeburg, Germany to come to America in 1749: Jacob Shoemaker, Damiel Shoemaker, Barthel (Bartholomew) Shoemaker, Anna Barbara Shoemaker, Michael Rummel, John Jacob Rummel, and Hofner Bannes. Also Jacob Clor left the nearby town of Bremmelbach. Shoemaker Pioneers also states that the ship Christian arrived in Philadelphia on September 13, 1749 with passengers: Michael Rummel, Jacob Rummel, Joh. Jacob Banutz, and Jacob, George and Michael Shoemaker. Rudolph Shoemaker came from Cleeburg in 1752.
According to Shoemaker Pioneers, there were probably seven or more brothers or cousins that settled in Loudon County, Virginia. They came from Cleeburg or nearby villages in that part of the German Palatinate that is now in the Province of Alsace in France. Six of these relatives are known to have occupied adjoining properties in Loudon County, Virginia. These were: Peter, Bartholomew, Jacob, George, Daniel and Simon. There was a seventh relative, Rudolph, and at least one female, Juliana, who married Phillip Baker. Almost all of these immigrants appear to be children of Rudolph Schumacher. However, the Damiel is likely to be our Daniel, son of the Jacob who was Rudolph’s nephew.
Daniel Shoemaker (Jacob3, Georg2, Peter1) is thought to be one of the immigrant Shoemakers. He married Maria Elizabetha Hoffman on February 1, 1757 in Frederick County, Maryland, (3) married by John Conrad Steiner. Daniel left Cleeburg and arrived in America, probably Philadelphia, in 1749. In 1756 he served in the Fairfax County militia, rank of Trooper. He is said to have lived in Loudoun County, Virginia, near the Potomac River in 1761, delivering tobacco and produce to landings on the Potomac River. Daniel Shoemaker, his wife Elizabeth and son Peter were mentioned in Loudoun County leases, September 12, 1765. Daniel was on the Loudoun County tax lists from 1782 to 1787. Loudoun County was created out of parts of Fairfax County in 1757.
The children of Daniel and Maria Elizabetha are thought to have been:
Peter Shoemaker was born on April 1, 1757 and died on December 24, 1838 in Hampshire County, Virginia. He married Anna Maria Margaret Wilhelm. See below.
Barbara Shoemaker married Jacob Cooper on September 25, 1796 in Loudoun County, Virginia. Jacob was christened on December 8, 1772, Frederick County, Maryland.
Abigail Shoemaker.
Abraham Shoemaker married Maria Elizabeth. They had a son, William, born on January 25, 1804 in Loudoun County, William Wenner sponsor at his birth.
Priscilla Shoemaker died circa 1788. She married William Wenner on June 20, 1784 in Loudoun County, Virginia. William was born circa May 29, 1760 and died on May 13, 1821.
George Shoemaker was born in 1759 and died in 1805. He married Mary Magdelene Frantz on June 7, 1789 in Loudoun County, Virginia. Mary was born in 1769 and died in July 1847, daughter of Nicholas Frantz. George served in the Virginia militia during the Revolutionary War and his widow was awarded a pension in 1836. (4) The pension papers stated that George died in the fall of 1805. Their children are said to have been: Simon(?); Susan Frances; Catherina, born April 15, 1791; George, born November 7, 1800, Loudon County. The Lovettsville Church records stated that George was a son of Daniel.
Daniel Shoemaker may have been a son of Daniel. Daniel Jr. was born on February 20, 1772 in Loudoun County, Virginia and died on June 14, 1831 in Preble County, Ohio. Note that his brother Henry’s birth date is identical, they may have been twins, or Daniel’s is in error. Daniel married Elizabeth Shoemaker on July 29, 1807 in Frederick County, Maryland. Elizabeth was born on July 22, 1784 in Loudoun County, Virginia and died on February 23, 1878 in Clinton County, Indiana. She was buried in Veneman Cemetery, Forest Township, Clinton County. The parents of Elizabeth are not known, but she may have been a cousin of Daniel. The children of Daniel and Elizabeth were: Delilah, born 1816; George, born 1817 in Ohio; Eleazor, born May 30, 1822 in Highland County, Ohio; Solomon, born July 10, 1829 in Highland County. By 1860 Elizabeth was living with her son Solomon in Clinton County. The biography of Elizabeth’s grandson, Jacob: (5)
“If one wants to get an idea of how twentieth century farming is now successfully carried on in Forest township, Clinton county, one could do no better than to visit the well kept and well tilled farm of Jacob Shoemaker, for he is a methodical, studious, persistent worker, believing in making the soil produce as much as it will without leaving the same depleted or robbing it of its natural elements, yet he makes everything count that he turns his attention to, and it is no wonder that he has succeeded admirably at his chosen vocation.
“Mr. Shoemaker was born in the above named township and county on February 15, 1852, and he has been contented to spend his life right here in his native locality. He is a son of Eleazor and Christina (Snider) Shoemaker. The father was born in Highland county, Ohio, May 26th in the year 1821, where he spent his earlier years and where he received a meager education in the sommon (sic) schools of the vicinity. When a young man he removed to Putnam county, Indiana, where he soon got a good start and where he was married September 14, 1842, to Christina Snider, soon after-wards removing to Clinton county, where he continued to reside until his death, January 30, 1876. He was a hard-working man, very strong and rugged. He cleared the land on which he settled in Forest township and here developed an excellent farm through sheer hard labor. He was not only a shoemaker in name but also a shoemaker by trade as well, and spent such spare time as he could command in this work, although not professing to be a skilled workman. Politically, he was a Republican. The mother of our subject was born in the year 1826, June 10th, in the city of Knoxville, Tennessee, and there remained until she was about ten years old, when she removed with the rest of the family to Putnam county, Indiana. She had no chance to attend school and could not read or write but was a woman of rare common sense. Her death occurred September 4, 1904.
“The family of Eleazor Shoemaker and wife was a large one, thirteen children having been born to them, named as follows: Elizabeth and Christiana (both deceased); Solomon, Rebecca (deceased); Jacob, of this review; Mandy, Calvin, Allen, and Martin (all deceased); Louis, Enoch (deceased), Elija, and Rachel (deceased).
“Jacob Shoemaker grew to manhood on the home farm and there did his full share of the work when a boy, he receiving a common school education. In an interesting sketch of his early home life he writes: ‘My father settled on the land on which the north half of the township of Forest now stands, on the first day of January, 1852, in a little log cabin on a half acre of cleared ground in the midst of a dense forest. The roof of this cabin of clapboards, fastened down with weight poles. Not a nail or piece of iron was in the whole building. The doors were on wooden hinges and the floor was made of split slabs. Our huge fireplace had a stick and clay chimney, and clay back jams and hearth furnished warmth and cooking place for the family. At this old fireplace, oft have I seen my dear old sainted mother cooking hoe cakes and Johnny cakes. In early fall the meal from which our meal was made was grated on a piece of tin through which holes had been made with a nail, the corn being gathered before it would shell and ofttimes our mush was stirred with a large cornstalk.
“ ‘Our clothing consisted of home fabrics, made into our simple garments by our mother. Our drinking water was provided by a hole eight or ten feet deep dug in one corner of our dooryard and into which a large hollow sycamore log had been placed on end for watering purposes. The water being drawn with the old well sweep. Our tillable fields were only the high knoll surrounded by swamps. We planted our corn on a ridge thrown up with a barshare plow, two furrows together to keep it out of the water. We neither had drains nor roads excepting as we would ‘blaze’ them out through the woods, often having to change them on account of mud. All our crops had to be divided with the coons, squirrels, deer, foxes, wild turkeys and other animals and fowls that infested the then dense forests and ofttimes our father would send myself and a brother at night to our little fields to protect the crops and we would sometimes drive four or five coons to a single tree. Our forage for our little herd consisted of slough grass. Many times do I remember when sent to drive the cows in, that there would be more deer than cows in the herd, attracted seemingly by the cow bell.’
“On December 13, 1880, Mr. Shoemaker married Martha E. Fletcher, who was in this county and state January 3,1850, and she grew to womanhood here and received her education in the public schools. She is a daughter of William and Elizabeth Ann Fletcher. Three children have been born to our subject and wife: Anna Myrtle, born in 1883, married to Monroe Huffer, near her father’s farm; Christina Merle, born July 7, 1883, died March 1, 1902; Bert Monroe, the son and youngest child, born October 3, 1886, absent from his home after March 25, 1902, and his whereabouts are unknown to his parents.
“Jacob Shoemaker has followed farming all his life with uninterrupted success. He is an owner of a valuable and well kept place of one hundred and fifteen acres, all tillable but about eight acres. It is fairly well tiled and otherwise properly improved. He built his own home and is comfortably situated in every respect. He is now living retired, renting his farm. He formerly made a specialty of raising Jersey cows and Poland China and Duroc hogs. He still raises the latter, and a good general breed of horses.
“Politically, Mr. Shoemaker is a Prohibitionist, being bitter against the vile stuff which he has seen ruin so many of his acquaintances. He is a member of and a trustee and earnest worker in the Holiness Christian church.”
Henry Shoemaker was born on February 20, 1772 (6) and died on July 11, 1845 in Bath Township, Summit County, Ohio. He married Elizabeth Miller who died circa 1837 in Stark County, Ohio. He may have been married three times. Note that his brother Daniel’s birth date is identical, they may have been twins, or Daniel’s is in error.
Peter Shoemaker (Daniel4, Jacob3, Georg2, Peter1) was born on April 1, 1757 and married Anna Maria Margaret Wilhelm at the First Reformed Church, York, Pennsylvania on February 5, 1780. Peter’s birth date may not be correct if his father’s February 1, 1757 marriage date is correct. In 1778, Peter Shoemaker of York Township, York County, Pennsylvania served in the Sixth Company of the Third Battalion of the York County Militia during the Revolutionary War. Peter bought 124 acres at Grand Cacapon, Hampshire County, Virginia in 1795. (7) Peter may have moved to Hampshire County circa 1780, he was the assignee of a Christopher Ohaver in a January 1781 land grant for 144 acres on Elk Hill in Hampshire County. (8) He was listed as in the area of Hugh’s Run, with land adjacent to James Alexander in two 1795 land grants.
Peter was listed in the 1782 tax list for Hampshire County with four in his household, and in 1784 with five in his household and four buildings. A Peter Shoemaker was listed on the Hampshire Personal Property Tax Lists for the Upper (Western) District from 1804 to 1814, though some of these may have been his son Peter Jr. (9) In the 1810 Hampshire County census, Peter Shoemaker was enumerated just before Henry and Frederick Purgett. Peter and Anna were over age 45. They had one son, age 10-16; two sons, age 16-26; one daughter under age 10; one daughter age 10-16; and a daughter age 26-45. In the 1820 Twin Township, Ross County census Peter was enumerated near Frederick Purget and just before Henry Shoemaker. Peter’s household had one male 45 and over; one male 18-26; one female 16-26; and two females 45 and over.
According to Shoemaker Pioneers, Peter and Margaret lived in Hampshire County until the War of 1812. By 1815, they resided in Twin Township, Ross County, Ohio. Peter died in Ross County in 1822, and his administration papers mention his widow Margaret, his eldest son Peter, his son-in-law Frederick Purget, and sons Henry, John and Daniel. This mention of Frederick Purget is the only source for our Mollie as a daughter of Peter. She was not named in the papers. It appears that all of Peter’s children went to Ohio except George. From Peter’s estate papers, the children of Peter and Anna were:
Peter Shoemaker Jr. was born in September 1783 in Virginia and died on July 11, 1867 in Pike County, Ohio. He was listed as Peter Sr.’s oldest son. He married Nancy Catherine Brown, who was born in May 1787 and died on November 15, 1870 in Pike County, Ohio. Peter was age 66 in the 1850 Union Township, Pike County, Ohio census. He served in the War of 1812, entering service in Ross County, Ohio on April 28, 1813, a private under Captain Stockton. The 1850 census listed his wife Catherine, age 57, born Virginia; a son (possibly Rhodes), age 25; and David, age 19, born Ohio. Living nearby was Peter Shoemaker the third, age 28; his wife Elizabeth A., age 22; and a daughter Nancy, age 1. The children of Peter Jr. and Nancy are said to have been: Cynthia Ann, Amanda, Peter, Abraham, and David.
Henry Shoemaker. The Henry Shoemaker living next door to Peter in the 1820 Ross County, Ohio census may be his son. He would have been born between 1794 and 1802. There were no children listed, so this Henry had probably recently married.
John Shoemaker.
Daniel Shoemaker.
Mollie Shoemaker, born circa 1788 (census) married Frederick Purget (see Purget family history). Mollie died between 1850 and 1860, probably in Ross County, Ohio. Their daughter, Anna/Hannah Purget, was born August 27, 1811 in Ross County, Ohio in Hampshire County, Virginia or Ross County, Ohio and died October 1, 1890 in Sinking Springs, Highland County, Ohio. She married Martin Shoemaker on February 3, 1834 or December 10, 1833 in Ross county, Ohio. (10) Martin, son of Samuel and Julia Ann Shoemaker, great grandson of Rudolph Schumacher, was born September 19, 1805 in Virginia and died on September 14, 1853 in Highland, Ohio. (11) They were in Bush Creek Township, Highland County, Ohio in the 1850 census. They were buried in Old Dutch Cemetery, Sinking Springs. According to their son Sampson’s biography, Martin was a farmer and a “partner in the mill business with Daniel Shoemaker” Note: in Shoemaker Pioneers: Martin, son of Samuel Shoemaker, was the Martin Shoemaker who married Hannah Purget in Ross County, Ohio. The History of Ross County, Ohio lists eight children: Frederick, Amy, Lydia Ann, Sampson, William, Pricilla Ann, Allen and Amanda.
Children of Anna Purget and Martin Shoemaker were:
Frederick Shoemaker was born November 29, 1834 in Bush Creek, Highland County, Ohio and died on March 9, 1916 in Highland County. He married (1) Elizabeth Jane Dudley on December 22, 1859 in Highland County. Elizabeth was born June 3, 1839 and died on January 11, 1886 in New Market, Highland County, Ohio. Frederick married (2) Louisa Ellen Smith on March 10, 1887. Louisa was born December 14, 1842 and died on February 8, 1912 at New Market, Highland County, Ohio. Frederick was buried at Presbyterian Cemetery, Marshall, Ohio.
Infant Shoemaker was born circa 1837 in Highland County, Ohio and died circa 1837. This may be a Daniel Shoemaker, born May 5, 1832, died October 5, 1838, Highland County, Ohio. (12) Another source has a Daniel Shoemaker who was born May 5, 1837 and died on October 5, 1838 in Highland County, Ohio.
Henry H. Shoemaker was born on August 12, 1838 and died on November 4, 1896 in Highland County, Ohio. He married Mary Ann Miller on April 2, 1854 in Highland County, Ohio. Mary Ann was born in 1824. Henry was listed as age 52 in the 1880 census for Brush Creek Township, Highland County. Henry H. was buried in the Old Dutch Cemetery in Sinking Springs, Ohio or the Locust Grove Cemetery in Franklin, Adams County, Ohio (probably the latter). Their children were Rachel E., David, and Frederick.
Lydia Ann Shoemaker was born November 20, 1840 in Ohio. She married Eli Runyon on May 22, 1860 in Highland County, Ohio. Eli was born on September 2, 1838 in Highland County, Ohio and died in Iowa. They resided in Iowa. Their children were John, Laura Lucille, Edward, Lucy, Rose, Anna, Clarabelle, Charles, Ross, Daniel, William Clayton, Millie, and Joseph. The last three children and Edward were born in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Clarabelle, Charles, Ross and Daniel were born in Highland County.
Sampson Shoemaker was born February 28, 1843 and died on October 2, 1925. He married (1) Esther Angeline “Angie” Smith on March 16 or April 11, 1868 in Highland County, Ohio. Esther was born December 5, 1845 in Marshall Township, Highland County and died in 1892. She was the daughter of Eliza Templin Smith (Decendants of Richard Templin) Sampson married (2) Vessia Bell Seaman on October
23, 1912. Vessia was born on August 27, 1884 and died on April 5, 1957. The children of Sampson and Esther were Stella, Flossie, Etha Leora, Louise Elam, Daniel Aquilla, Alvin Henry, Harry Allen (or Harvey), Frederick Martin, Lena Alta, Frank Leroy, Ocie Metta, Clarence M., and Gracie. Additional child could be Mervyn, or Clarence’s middle name may have been Mervyn. Meta was buried Twin Township Cemetery, Ross County, Ohio.
Sampson’s biography: (13)
“Sampson Shoemaker is a native of Highland county, Ohio, born February 28, 1813. His father, Martin Shoemaker, was born in Virginia about 1810 and came to Ohio with his parents, who settled in Highland county and followed farming. After obtaining a common school education, Martin married Anna Purgett, a native of Ross county and member of one of its oldest families. They immediately commenced housekeeping on the old home place in Highland county, and in the course of years had a family of nine children. Of these, Henry and an unnamed infant are dead. The living are Frederick, of Highland county Lydia, wife of Eli Runyan, of Iowa ; Sampson, the subject of this sketch ; Priscilla, wife of Nobis Setterfied; William, of Highland county; Manda, wife of James Roby, and Allen. Besides being a general farmer, Martin was a partner in the mill business with Daniel Shoemaker. He died on the old home place about the year 1853, his wife surviving him until 1888. Their son Sampson was educated in the district schools, and when the civil war broke out be enlisted in Company D, Eleventh Ohio cavalry, later being transferred to Company
L of the same regiment. He served in the quartermaster’s department for fourteen months, was also corporal for six months, his total service being for three years, and was discharged on June 10, 1866. Mr. Shoemaker returned home to Highland county, where he remained a few months, then rented other property and engaged in farming. He was twice married, first to Esther A. Smith, on April 11,
1868, after which he lived near Berrysville in Highland county for two years. At the end of that time he bought the 100 acres in Twin township where he now resides and has since added 75 acres, besides making extensive improvements. By the first marriage there were thirteen children, of whom Stella and Flossie died in infancy. The other children are thus enumerated in order of birth : Etha, wife of Leo Fels; Louisa, now Mrs. Fred Fels; Aquilla, in Kansas; Alvin, in the Philippines; Harvey, at Bourneville; Frederick, in Iowa; Lena, Frank, Metta, Clarence M. and Gracie, at home. The mother of these children died in 1892 and on January 6, 1896, Mr. Shoemaker married Martha Kearns, by whom he had one child that died in infancy. Mr.
Shoemaker is a general farmer by occupation but also operates a small mill on his place. He has served as constable and is a member of the G. A. R. post, No. 534, at Bourneville. He also belongs to the Paint Valley lodge, I. O. O. F., at the same place, and has been connected with the Christian Union since 1867.
Priscilla Ann Shoemaker was born circa 1845 in Highland County, Ohio. She married Nobis Setterfied [Satterfield?]. Undocumented: (14) Priscilla Shoemaker, born May 1, 1845 in Ohio, died November 5, 1913 in Highland County, Ohio. Priscilla married Noble Satterfield on December 15, 1869 in Highland County. Noble was born on December 27, 1837 in Sunfish, Pike County, Ohio, died on January 10, 1931 in Highland County.
Mary Amanda “Manda” Shoemaker was born March 11, 1847 in Brush Creek Township, Highland County, Ohio and died on February 22, 1895. She married (1) David Beekman on April 23, 1863 in Highland County. David died on April 23, 1863, during the Civil War. She married (2) James Robey/Roby on April 23, 1863. Child of Mary and David was James. Children of Mary and James were Anna, Rose, Edward, John G., Jane, Clayton, Blanche.
William Martin Shoemaker was born on February 24, 1849 in Marshall Township, Highland County, Ohio and died on April 22, 1912 in Marshall Township. He married Zora Amanda Williams on September 4, 1873 in Highland County. Zora was born on June 10, 1854 and died on April 18, 1929 in Marshall Township. William was listed as age 15 in the 1880 census. They were buried in Pleasant Cemetery, Highland County. Their children were Bertha L., Harley B., Marion Henry, Frank Orville, and Anna.
Allen Shoemaker was born on July 2, 1851 and died on March 29, 1925. He married Mary Satterfield on November 5, 1874 in Highland County, Ohio. Mary was born on September 28, 1852 and died on October 23, 1928. Allen was listed in Brush Creek Township, Highland County in the 1880 census. Their children were Charles Henry, Daniel Walter, and Cecil Roy.
George Shoemaker may be a son of Peter. George was born circa 1788 and married (2) Elizabeth A. Purget in 1819 (or 1835). Elizabeth was born circa 1790, the daughter of Henry Purget, the father of our Frederick Purget who married Mollie. An Elizabeth Shoemaker was listed in Henry Purget’s will. George served in the War of 1812 from Hampshire County, West Virginia and was still living there at age 72.
A George Shoemaker was on the Hampshire Personal Property Tax Lists for the Upper (Western) District from 1812 to 1814. He was not listed before 1812, so perhaps he established his own home around this time. A George Shoemaker appeared in Hampshire County in the 1820 census. Listed were George and wife, ages 26-45, two males ages 10-16, six females under 10. If this is the George who married Elizabeth Purget, and/or if he were previously married, he would have had 8 children by the time he was about 32. Listed in the 1830 Hampshire County census were George, age 40-50; his wife, age 30-40; a male, age 20-30; three males under age 5; a female, age 15-20; three females, age 10-15; two females, age 5-10. Listed in the 1840 Hampshire County census were George, age 50-60; his wife, age 40-50; one male, age 15-20; two males, age 10-15; one male under 5; one female, age 15-20; and one female, age 5-10. The 1850 census of Hampshire County listed George Shoemaker, farmer, age 62; his wife Elizabeth, age 59. Living with them were Granville Shoemaker, laborer, age 25; Milly, age 30; Elijah, laborer, age 22; Sarah, age 19; Curtis, age 11, Granville Elliot, age 8; Alex, age 5; John, age 15; Barbara Fuller, age 13; and Conrad Peacemaker, age 29. All were born in Virginia. On adjoining property lived William Shoemaker and Archibald Shoemaker, possible sons. By the 1860 census George was age 72, Elizabeth age 70. Living in the household were David Arnold, age 21; Grenville Elliot, age 18; and Elizabeth Arnold, age 13. George’s farm was valued at $6,000, personal property at $2,850, post office was Purgitsville. Living nearby were Granville Shoemaker, William H. Shoemaker, John Shoemaker, James B. Shoemaker, and Archibald Shoemaker. The Granville Elliot with the family in 1850 and 1860 was probably not a son of George. Shoemaker Pioneers stated that George and Elizabeth lived in the southwestern corner of Hampshire County, near Purgitsville.
Shoemaker Pioneers stated that George may have first married an Elizabeth Stover in 1807 (this is questionable, probably a different George). Elizabeth Stover was born in 1791, possibly married on April 8, 1807 in Shenandoah. (15) Their child is said to have been Archibald Shoemaker, born circa 1808 in Hampshire County and died in Hampshire County. Archibald married Lydia Bobo in 1830 in Hampshire County, Virginia. She was born circa 1811 in Virginia and died on December 27, 1882 in Hampshire County, Virginia. By 1840 Archibald had established his own household in Hampshire County. In the 1850 census: Archibald, laborer, age 42; wife Lydia, age 39; George W., age 18; Luke, age 16; Susan, age 14; Thorton, age 12; Harrison, age 10; John, age 8; Jasper, age 5; and Sarah, age 1 – all born in Virginia. In the 1860 census: Archibald, age 52; Lydia, age 50; Thornton, age 22; Henry H., age 19; John, age 17; Jasper, age 15; Sarah, age 11; and Margaret, age 9. Two census items indicate that Archibald was a son of George. Archibald was not listed with any real estate in the 1850 and 1860 censuses, but in the 1870 census he had real estate valued at $600, as was the case with other sons of George. He was living in Mill Creek Township, as were George’s sons John, Granville and William H. Archibald’s son, Jasper is probably the Jasper Shoemaker, born 1844, died 19__, buried at the Old Pine Cemetery at Purgitsville. Jasper married Mary Susan Arnold on September 14, 1866 in Hampshire County, West Virginia. (16)
Children of George Shoemaker and Elizabeth A. Purget
Milly Shoemaker was born circa 1820. She was still living with her parents at age 30.
Granville Shoemaker was born in May 1824 and died on August 23, 1901 in Hardy County, West Virginia. He married Sarah Trenton, who was born in August 1828 and died on April 11, 1904 in Purgittsville, Hampshire County, West Virginia. Their children were Joseph W., Hannah C., John T., Florence C. or E., Anna M., and Martha E. or V. Shoemaker Pioneers states that Granville also lived in the southwestern corner of Hampshire County, near Purgitsville, and died at age 77. The Barbara Fuller, listed in Granville’s father’s household in 1850, was living in Granville’s household from 1860 to 1880, usually described as a servant. In the 1860 census, Granville was not listed with any real estate, but in 1870 his real estate was valued at $5,000. Perhaps his father George had died and Granville inherited his land.
William H. Shoemaker was born in February 1827 in Hampshire County, Virginia. He married Sarah A. Kelly, born circa 1830. Their children were Elizabeth Catherine, James B., Edward H., Lucy, Mary Alice, Eliza E., William L., David P., Martin C., Larkin C., Thomas N., and Annie R. In the 1850 Hampshire County census: William, laborer, age 23; wife Sarah, age 20; Elizabeth and James, twins age 1; Eliza Kelly, age 17 – all born Virginia. William was listed next door to his father George. In 1860: William H., age 33, farmer; Sarah A., age 30; James B., and Catherine, age 11 twins; Edward, age 9; Lucy, age 7, Alise, age 5; and Eliza E., age 1 – all born Virginia. William’s dwelling number was the same as his brother John’s, perhaps he was living with John. As with his brother Granville, William H. was not listed with any real estate in 1860, but with real estate valued at $1,500 in 1870, also indicating he may have inherited land from his father.
Elijah Shoemaker was born circa 1828 and died on July 23, 1901 in Hampshire County, West Virginia. He married Ann _?_. The 1880 census for Elijah in Moorefield Township, Hardy County, West Virginia does not list a wife. The 1900 census for Mill Creek Township, Hampshire County listed an Anna Shoemaker, born January 1835, divorced. This could Elijah’s wife Anna. Children of Elijah and Anna were Hezekiah Randolph, Elenora, Jane, George E., Charles W., and Cora Jane. Buried in the Old Pine Cemetery (near Hardy county) is Elijah Shoemaker (d. 23 July 1901, age 73 years, 7 months).
Sarah Shoemaker was born circa 1831.
John Shoemaker was born circa 1834 and married Eliza Kelly, born circa 1834. Their children were George E., Sarah F., Ann R., James D., John W., and Mary E. John and his family were listed in the 1860 census for Hampshire County, post office Purgitsville and at Mill Creek Township in 1870. John also was not listed with any real estate in 1860, but with real estate valued at $700 in 1870
Curtis Shoemaker was born circa 1839. No further information on Curtis has been found.
Alex Shoemaker was born circa 1845. No further information on Alex has been found.
A Maria Magdalena Shoemaker was born February 10, 1790 in Loudoun County, Virginia. She was baptized on April 11, 1790 at New Jerusalem Lutheran Church, Loudoun County, Virginia. This church appears to be in Lovettsville, Loudoun County. Either this was not a child of Peter, or the county information is incorrect. She was not named in Peter’s estate papers, she may belong to the Rudolph line.
Rudolph Schumacher
Rudolph Schumacher (Peter1) was born in 1693 in Cleeburg, Alsace, Germany and died circa 1767 in Frederick County, Maryland. In 1752 Rudolph Schumacher of Cleeburg (Kleeburg), Weissenburg District, Alsace left for America. (17) Rudolph was excused from paying taxes in Frederick County, in 1754 because “he was upwards of 60 years of age and so infirm that he was unable to labor for a maintenance.” (18) On August 2, 1767 he took communion at George Schumacher’s.
Juliana “Ule” Shoemaker married Philip Baker. Philip died circa 1786, Lovettsville, Loudoun County Virginia. Philip’s will was probated on April 16, 1786.
Peter Shoemaker was born in 1712, Cleebourg, Alsace France and died in 1791. He married Eva Catherine in August 1745. Eva died in 1791 in Adams, Ohio. On November 10, 1787, Peter was at Muddy Creek Settlement, Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia).
Mary Shoemaker married Samuel Starrett in 1785 in Adams County, Ohio. They resided in Adams County in 1810.
Appolonia Shoemaker was born on June 24, 1747 in Frederick County, Maryland and married Joannes Kuester on March 27, 1769 in Frederick County, Maryland. Appolonia was baptized on August 11, 1751 at the Evangelical Reform Church, Frederick County, Maryland.
Peter John Shoemaker was born on December 12, 1749 in Frederick County, Maryland and died on June 26, 1804 in Adams County, Ohio. Peter was baptized at the Evangelical Reform Church, Frederick County. He married Elizabeth See on January 4, 1776 in Greenbrier, Virginia. Elizabeth was born on February 26, 1754 in Hardy County, Virginia and died in 1830 in Adams County. Peter was living at Shoemaker’s crossing on Brush Creek, north of Manchester, Ohio. On June 19, 1799 he bought land on the east side of Brush Creek, Adams County. Their children were: Catherine, Elizabeth, Solomon Johnson, Seth, Ruth. See Muddy Creek Settlement below.
Eva Elizabeth Shoemaker was born on August 11, 1751 in Frederick County, Maryland and died in Peebles, Adams County, Ohio. She was baptized on August 11, 1751 and buried on St. Furnace Cemetery, Adams County. Eva married Henry I. Herdman in 1787 in Loudoun County, Virginia. Henry was born in 1759 in Hesse, Germany and died in Peebles, Franklin Township, Adams County. Henry was a Hessian soldier during the American Revolution. Their children were Philip, Eva, Seth, Michael, Henry Jr., John, Solomon. Undocumented: (19) Henry Herdman (and supposedly a brother who returned to Germany) were captured (at Trenton?) and “farmed out” to Henry’s future father-in-law, Peter Shoemaker, Sr. in Loudoun County, Virginia. “After the brothers’ release, Henry’s brother returned to Germany, and Henry stayed” and became the second husband of the Shoemaker daughter, with whom he had five children. Supposedly, Henry Herdman helped survey in the 1790s in Ohio, and in 1801, migrated to live in what is now Franklin Township, Adams County, Ohio. It was here that three of Henry’s sons married three of William Downing’s daughters.
John Shoemaker was born in 1755 and married Elizabeth Sarah Yoakum on August 13, 1782 in Greenbrier County, Virginia. (20) Elizabeth was born in 1753. Their children were Soloman, Peter, William, Samuel, Eli, Joseph, John, Abigail, Sarah. The family must have been in Adams County, Ohio since two of the children married there.
Simon Shoemaker was born on October 24, 1757 and died on August 29, 1830 in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana. He married Barbara Ballou on November 30, 1787 in Greenbrier County, Virginia. She was born on April 15, 1770 and died on July 30, 1819 in Adams County, Ohio. Simon had 165 acres at Muddy Creek Settlement, Greenbrier, Virginia on October 17, 1787. Their children were Simon Jr., John, Catherine, Solomon, William, Mary, Eli, Samuel, Joseph, David, Leonard.
Bartholomew Shoemaker was born in 1729, Cleebourg, Alsace France and died on September 2, 1793, Washington County Pennsylvania. He married Anna Barbara Balssel. Anna was born September 29, 1727, Klingen Germany. Bartholomew (German variation Barthel), served in the Seventh Maryland Regiment during the Revolution. He was naturalized on September 29, 1764 in Frederick County, Maryland. Rudolph Schumacher was listed as his father on a school pupil list. In 1765 Bartholomew purchased a 125 acre tract in New Germania, Frederick County, Maryland.
Michael Shoemaker was born in 1756 in Frederick County, Maryland and died circa June 1801 in Fayette Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He married Eva Christina Wolf (Wolfin) on Mary 5, 1782 in Frederick County, Maryland. Eva was born in 1765 and died in 1835. Michael was confirmed on March 23, 1780. Their children were: Peter, Maria Catharina, Elizabeth Ann, John, Adam, Henry, Michael, Esther.
Elias Shoemaker was born in 1757 and died in 1822 in Hardy County, Virginia. He married Sophia Sowder. Elias was a pack horseman for Capt. Johnson in Anthony Wayne’s expedition of 1793. He was a blacksmith. He was confirmed at Rocky Hill on December 18, 1785 (he was married), in Hardy County in 1794 and lived in Warren County, Ohio in 1862, age 91. Their children were George, Jacob, Anna Maria, Frederick.
Dorothea Shoemaker was born in 1758 in Frederick County, Maryland and died on February 7, 1831 in Center Township, Columbiana County, Ohio. She married Jacob Hephner in Frederick County, Maryland. Frederick was born August 6, 1755 in Eschwege, Hessen Kassel, Germany and died on February 7, 1831 in Lisbon, Columbia County, Ohio. Dorothea was confirmed on March 23, 1780. Jacob may have been a Hessian soldier. Their children were Henry, Maria Barbara, Elizabeth, Dorothy, Johann Jacob Anna Catherine, Jacob, John C., Sarah, Margaret, Samuel, Peter. Some of the children were born in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The last child was born in Columbiana County, Ohio. John C., Samuel and Peter died in Outagamie County, Wisconsin.
John Peter Shoemaker was born June 22, 1760 in Frederick County, Maryland and died on August 16, 1780. He served in the Revolutionary War, enlisting on May 8, 1778. He was baptized on June 22, 1760 at the Evangelical Reform Church, Frederick County.
Anna Maria Barbara Shoemaker was born February 5, 1764 in Middletown, Frederick County, Maryland and died January 5, 1828 in Center Township, Columbiana County, Ohio. She married William Ice. Correction: Anna Maria Barbara Shoemaker, daughter of Bartholomew is my GGGGG-grandmother, she married William Lee. William immigrated from England prior to the Revolution, and subsequently spent seven years in the military during the War. Afterward he moved to bounty land in Columbiana County, OH where he married Anna. I descend from their daughter, Hannah Lee, who married John Skelton. - Kent Pusser
George Shoemaker was born circa 1730, Cleebourg, Alsace, France and died in 1808, Loudoun County, Virginia. He married Anna Maria Barbara, who died in 1820, Loudoun County. George was a Sergeant in the Fairfax County, Virginia militia in 1758. He was naturalized on April 9, 1763 in Frederick County, Maryland. Rudolph Schumacher was listed as his father on the school pupil list. Their children were Sarah, John, Joseph, Judith, Solomon, George, Elizabeth, Daniel, Christiana.
The Reformed Church was established in Loudoun County as was the Lutheran but they had to rely on regular visits from the Reformed pastor in Frederick to conduct services, baptisms, confirmations and communion. In the Frederick church book the pastor wrote, “On 2 Aug 1767, the following were present at the Holy Communion Across the Potomac at Georg Schumacher’s, the Ref. Deac.” … and Conrad Heckmann’s name is listed along with several others, including Frantz Ritchie, his long-time friend and neighbor. Pastor Lange also wrote in his diary of this visit that his host was “a pious deacon, George Shumaker, who resided near the Potomac in Loudoun County, Va.” (21)
Biography of George’s great grandson: (22) “William Shoemaker, farmer; P. O. Chatham Center; was born July 22, 1832, in Wayne Co., Ohio, the ninth child of a family of fourteen children born to Rev. John and Catharine (Ringer) Shoemaker. This gentleman was born April 3, about the year 1788, in Armstrong Co., Penn., son of Joseph Shoemaker, of German ancestry. To him were born seven children. Catharine Ringer was a daughter of Michael, to whom were born five sons and five daughters, who were John, George, Michael, William and Henry; the daughters were Catharine, Mary, Betsey and Catharine. John Shoemaker, the father of William, emigrated West about the year 1826, locating in what was then Perry Township, Wayne Co., where he purchased 160 acres of land. John Shoemaker, after thirty years’ ministerial labor in the German Baptist Church, departed this life June 10, 1855. He was a just and upright man, a kind father and a consistent Christian. William left home at 22 years of age. Nov. 22, 1854, was married to Leah Berkey, who was born in Northampton Co., Penn., Sept. 4, 1831, daughter of Christian and Barbara (Shaum) Berkey. Christian was born and raised in Northampton Co., his wife in Plainfield Township. The mother of Barbara Shaum was a Miller prior to her marriage. Mrs. Shoemaker’s parents came West about the year 1842. Christian Berkey, the father of Mrs. Shoemaker, died in 1873, his wife. 1856. They were members of the Mennonite Church. After Mr. Shoemaker was married, he lived one year and a half on his father’s farm, then removed to Ashland Co., where he lived eight years. In 1863, located where he now resides. First purchased 85 acres of Robinson, for which he paid $34; has since added to it until he has 172 acres. Has three children – Melinda. now Mrs. McVicker, on farm adjoining; Eliza and Lorin, at home. Mr. Shoemaker has a fine location, and his new residence, built the past year, is one of the finest. He and wife are members of the German Baptist Church; also, his eldest daughter. In connection with his farming, he runs a dairy of twenty cows, and is a successful farmer.”
Simon Shoemaker was born in 1730, Cleeborg, Alsace, Germany and died on February 5, 1820, Brush Creek Township, Highland County, Ohio. He married (1) Elizabeth in 1759, (2) Elizabeth Medsker on June 22, 1807, Highland County, Ohio. They were divorced on October 14, 1809, Highland County, Ohio. Rudoph Schumacher was listed as his father on the school pupil list of Cleebourg, Alsace France. Simon arrived in Philadelphia aboard the ship Richard & Mary on September 26, 1752. He served in the Fairfax County militia in March 1756, rank of Trooper. On January 14, 1791 he purchased land in Brock Gap, Rockingham County, Virginia. His 20 acres at Brocks Gap was described as beginning on the island of Dry River corner of his land on July 16, 1796. Children of Simon and Elizabeth were Martin, Polly, Samuel, Peter, Catherine. Some of their children were born in Loudoun County, Virginia.
Samuel Shoemaker was born on July 20, 1766 in Loudoun County, Virginia and died on March 30, 1837 in Highland County, Ohio. He married Julia Ann Weaver on January 23, 1791 in Rockingham County, Virginia. Julia was born on January 24, 1773 in Loudoun County, Virginia and died on December 5, 1858 in Highland County, Ohio. Samuel had 124 acres in Rockingham County on Star Lick Run adjoining his own survey in Westo [?] Gap on April 25, 1801. Samuel may be buried in the Old Dutch Cemetery, Highland County. Their children were: Simon, John Weaver, Jacob, Elizabeth, Martin, Susanna, Isaac, Margaret, Daniel, and Sarah. Children of Samuel Shoemaker:
John Weaver Shoemaker. Undocumented: (23) John Weaver was born in 1794 in Virginia, died circa 1860, married Mary “Polly” Stultz on May 30, 1824, Highland County, Ohio. Children: David; Elizabeth, born October 29, 1820; Michael, born March 14, 1823; Jacob, born 1824; Martin, born 1829; Sarah A., born 1831; Isaac, born circa 1835.
Simon “Yellow” Shoemaker. Undocumented: (24) Simon was born on August 27, 1796, Loudon County, Virginia, died January 3, 1870 in Marion County, Iowa, married Magdaline Miller on August 30, 1819 in Highland County, Ohio. Children: Barbara; Elizabeth, born 1821; Samuel, born 1821; Henry, born August 25, 1822; Anna, born 1823; Mariah, born April 8, 1825; Phillip, born December 25, 1826; Daniel, born March 14, 1829; Hannah, born October 26, 1831; Salome, born 1833; Noah, born 1836; Enos, born 1838; Sidney, born February 5, 1839; Thomas, born 1842. Note: another source lists Simon “Yellow” Shoemaker as a son of Simon Shoemaker, Samuel’s father.
Jacob Shoemaker. Undocumented: (25) Jacob was born on January 9, 1800, Virginia, died June 16, 1869, Perry Township, Pike County, Ohio, married Nancy Countryman on August 16, 1825, Highland County. Children: Florence; Mary Elizabeth, born after 1830; Newton; Samuel, born 1828; Isaac, born 1829; Catherine, born February 6, 1832; Senetta, born 1834; Elijah, born 1836; Malena, born March 2, 1833.
Elizabeth Shoemaker. Undocumented: (26) Elizabeth was born in 1804 in Virginia, died in 1872, married Robert Davidson, February 1, 1823. Children: St. Clair, born 1833; Lavina, born 1835; Sylvester, born 1838; Jemima, born 1842; Carey, born 1844; Hepsey, born 1847; Robert David, died 1823; David, born January 24, 1840; Eliza Jane, born 1829.
Martin Shoemaker was born on September 19, 1805 in Ohio and died on September 14, 1853 in Highland County, Ohio. He married Hanna Purget on February 3, 1834 in Ross County, Ohio. See Mollie Shoemaker and Frederick Purget above.
Susannah Shoemaker. Undocumented: (27) Susannah was born in 1808 in Ohio, married Elijah M. Countryman on December 1, 1833, Highland County, Ohio. Children: Mary, born 1836, married Seth Shoemaker; Nancy, born 1839; David, born 1840; Martin, born 1842; William, born 1848.
Isaac Shoemaker. Undocumented: (28) Isaac was born on September 28, 1811, died October 1834, buried Brush Creek Cemetery.
Daniel B. Shoemaker. Undocumented: (29) Daniel was born on December 2, 1814, died May 24, 1887, Highland County, Ohio, married Priscilla _?_.
Margaret Shoemaker, born 1814, married Stephen Dearduff.
Sarah Shoemaker, born 1815, married Obidiah Countryman.
Philip Shumaker was born on February 22, 1730/31 and died on August 28, 1776, Frederick County Maryland. He died of what was described as an “inner growth.” Philip’s son John Shumaker was born in 1759 in Loudoun County, Virginia and died on August 11, 1815 in Washington Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He married Mary Ann Baker in 1782 in Loudoun County, Virginia. Mary was born in 1757, the daughter of Philip Baker and Juliana Shoemaker. Juliana was the daughter of Rudolph Schumacher. John Shumaker was buried in Hine Cemetery, Avonmore, Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. Their children were: Susanna, Philip, Catherine, Christina, Elizabeth, and John.
Jacob Shoemaker was born in September 1731, Cleeburg, Alsace, France and died in 1805, Virginia. He married (1) Catherine (died circa 1773), (2) Barbara, (3) Elizabeth Cloniger on April 2, 1788. Jacob arrived in Phildelphia on September 13, 1749 on the ship Christian. Jacob acquired land in Loudoun County, Virginia and farmed. He was an Elder of the Loudoun Reform Church on September 17, 1789. Elizabeth, baptized in 1792, St James UCC, (30) Loudoun County.
Simon Shoemaker died June 8, 1841 in Washington Township, Warren County, Ohio. He married Charlotte _?_, who died October 19, 1841 in Washington Township, Warren County. Simon was in Loudoun County, Virginia on August 17, 1806. They had a son, Jacob.
Adam Shoemaker.
Catherine Shoemaker married Frederich Beltz. Their children were Elizabeth and John.
Margaret Shoemaker married _?_ Holtsman.
Susannah Shoemaker married _?_ Smith.
Henry Shoemaker was born in 1753 and died in 1773 in Loudoun County, Virginia. He was recorded in the Loudoun County tithables when he turned 16 in 1769.
Daniel Shoemaker was born in 1755 and died in 1823 in Quemahoning Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. He married Catherine Exline, who was born circa 1764. Daniel served in the Fairfax County, Virginia militia in 1756. He owned 128 acres at Friend’s Cove, Bedford County, Pennsylvania in 1794. He was living in Colerain Township, Bedford County in 1800 and in Quemahoning Township, Somerset County in 1810. In 1835 he was in Richland Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania. Their children were: Mary, Jane, Catherine, Hannah, Rachael, Simon, Adam, Jacob, Christina, Daniel.
Jacob Shoemaker was born on February 16, 1758 in Loudoun County, Virginia and died on September 17, 1833 in Colerain Township, Bedford County, Pennsylvania. He married Elizabeth Exline in 1780. Elizabeth was born February 9, 1760 in Pikeland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania and died on February 9, 1836 in Bedford County. Jacob served in the Revolutionary War, a private in Capt. Rush’s Company, 4th Battalion, Lancaster County militia and a Capt. in 1st Virginia Artillery Company. On December 31, 1796 he purchased 150 acres from a John Fiend(?) at Friend’s Cove, Bedford County. He was a constable in Colerain Township in Bedford County in 1807 and was a farmer his entire life. Jacob and Elizabeth were buried at Twin Brick Cemetery, Colerain Township, Bedford County. Their children were: Adam, John, Christina, Bernard, Molly Ann, Elizabeth, George S., Solomon, Henry Paul, and Philip Jacob.
Elizabeth Shoemaker was born on December 19, 1762 in Loudoun County, Virginia and died on February 4, 1833 in Harrison County, Ohio. She married George Shultz, who was born March 16, 1751/52 in Germany and died on October 6, 1827 in Harrison County. Elizabeth was buried in Zion Cemetery, Germano, German Township, Harrison County. Their children were Priscilla, Elizabeth, Polly, John, Margaret, Rachel, Jacob (who married Molly Ann Shoemaker, daughter of Elizabeth’s brother Jacob above), George, Michael, Mary Elizabeth, Catherina Elizabeth, Susanna, H. Solomon, and Christina Elizabeth.
George Shoemaker was born on October 26, 1763 in Loudoun County, Virginia and died on December 30, 1834 in Loudoun County. He married Mary Magdlena Schaefer, who died in 1843. George served in the Fairfax County militia in 1785. He was buried in the Presbyterian Cemetery, Lovettville, Virginia. Their children were: George, Elizabeth, Simon, Catherine, Jacob, John, Ana Margaret, Solomon.
Muddy Creek Settlement, Augusta County (Greenbrier), Virginia
The story of Indian Chief Cornstalk’s raid on the Greenbrier settlement relates to some of the Shoemaker families who settled in this area (some of our Crouch family also settled on the Greenbrier). In particular, this story involves the See and Yoakum wives of Rudolph Shoemaker’s grandsons, Peter John and John.
Cornstalk’s Raid (31)
The story of Cornstalk’s Raid on the Greenbrier settlements in 1763 has been told by Stuart, Parkman, Withers, Doddridge, Waddell, Price, Lewis, Chalkley, Morton, and others. Captain John Stuart, who founded a new settlement at the Big Levels about 1770, seems to have been the first scribe to give the story to the world, and, apparently, he did not put the story in writing until more than fifty years after the event. He claimed to have received his information from relatives of Mrs. Clendenin, and it is entirely possible that he may have interviewed Mrs. Clendenin personally, as she remarried about 1767 and later moved back to the Levels from the Jackson River country. Moreover, he may have heard the story from Mrs. Clendenin’s brother, William Ewing, who served in Captain Stuart’s company at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774.
All the other accounts, except the Holcomb story, appear to be recasts of the Stuart version. The Holcomb story purports to have been dictated by a grandson of John Ewing, who had heard the story related by John Ewing, himself. John Ewing, a brother of Mrs. Clendenin, also a fellow captive and eyewitness to some of the atrocities, was well qualified to tell the story correctly.
The several stories agree on major points, but diverge somewhat on certain minor details. This sketch is drawn from all the authorities on the subject, with all doubts and discrepancies resolved in favor of the Stuart and Holcomb versions.
We may sing about our Georgia, Colorado, Michigan and other moons, but the Pontiac moon of May, 1763, had blood on it. The Algonquin chieftains, in secret council near Detroit, summoned by king Pontiac April 27, 1763, agreed to attack all the English posts recently surrendered by the French. A certain phase of the moon in May was to be the signal for a concerted attack. This was the beginning of Pontiac’s War. The plan was so successfully executed that nine or ten English posts from western New York and Pennsylvania to northern Michigan fell to the Algonquins practically without a struggle. Fort Pitt and Detroit alone held out. That fact changed the history of the American colonies. Had those strongholds fallen, Pontiac’s warriors could easily have swept the country clean of palefaces from the Mississippi to the Allegheny front. As it turned out, Pontiac’s army was engaged in besieging Fort Pitt and Detroit. Meantime, as a part of the original plan, the interior tribes fell savagely upon the trans-Allegheny settlers nearest to them.
These settlers, be it remembered, had no business in those parts at that time. Virginia lands west of the “front” were not then open to settlement and could not be purchased at any price. The Indians, particularly the Algonquin tribes of Ohio, had never ceased to claim them. The vast region constituted their prize “game preserve.” They even regarded Virginia hunters as trespassers, and permanent settlers as outlaws to be shot down at sight. Moreover, all this was well known to Virginians.
By 1760, however, the French and Indian War was practically over. Frontiersmen east of the “front,” anticipating that the Indian border would be pushed back to the Ohio, lost no time in heading their wagon trains for new pastures on the Greenbrier and by 1763 were raising fields of wheat and corn, wholly ignorant of Pontiac’s diabolical designs. Two or three years of quiet and safety had led them to regard Indian troubles as things of the past. The Indians well knew of these growing settlements, having visited them as hunters, while the palefaces had come to regard the redskins as harmless nuisances.
The business of scalping the Greenbrier settlements fell to Cornstalk, the Shawnee chieftain, who, with his warriors, resided on the Scioto, in Ohio, some sixty miles from the Virginia border. The two white settlements which gained historical fame were the Muddy Creek settlement lying north of the Greenbrier and west of Muddy Creek Mountain, and the Clendenin settlement on the Big Levels near Lewisburg. They were about twenty miles apart, and the people comprising them have been variously estimated at from one to two hundred. Both settlements probably took root in 1760 and 1761.
Cornstalk did not strike the Greenbrier settlements when blood was on the May moon. Apparently he waited for the June or July moon. Historians have not been specific as to the date of the Cornstalk Raid. Holcomb’s version of the Clendenin massacre as published in the West Virginia Historical Magazine in July, 1904, unequivocally states the date as June 27, 1763. Since that version purports to have been inspired by John Ewing, one of the captives, that date ought to be regarded as correct. However, Judge Chalkley, in his Abstracts of Augusta County Records, has uncovered two sworn depositions which seem to challenge the correctness of the Holcomb date. These depositions were used in a lawsuit about 1804. One of them was made by John Ewing himself subsequent to 1803, in Gallia County, Ohio, forty years after the occasion. In it he states that he and his niece, Jane Clendenin, were made captives and carried away by the Indians July 15, 1763.
The other was made by James Burnside of Monroe County, in 1803. In it he states that Archibald Clendenin was killed July 15, 1763. This, then, appears to be the correct date of the Clendenin massacre, and the Muddy Creek massacre was probably July 14, 1763.
On this premise, and allowing the Indians two weeks or more for covering the two hundred miles distance, they must have started on their tomahawking expedition on or before July 1, 1763. At that time Pontiac’s main armies were besieging Detroit and Fort Pitt, from which fact it may be concluded that Cornstalk and his Shawnees were left to attend to western Virginia.
Authorities agree that Cornstalk’s scalping band consisted of about sixty warriors. Crossing the Ohio in canoes, which they sank at the mouth of the Kanawha, they proceeded overland a distance of about 160 miles, to Muddy Creek, where several scattered families were living in imagined peace and security, Here they broke up into small parties and, under the guise of friendship, secured entrance into the various homes, where, according to Withers, “every civility and act of kindness which the new settlers could proffer were extended to them.” Then, “in a moment of the most perfect confidence in the innocence of their intentions, the Indians rose on them and tomahawked and scalped all save a few women and children of whom they made prisoners.” Thus, in one short day, the Muddy Creek settlement was literally annihilated. No one but the captives was left to tell the story and they had no one but themselves to whom to tell it.
It was a glorious day for the Shawnees. It is reasonable to assume that they encamped for the night at Muddy Creek and feasted on domestic fowl and beefsteak. Leaving a few Indians to guard the hapless captives, the band proceeded up the Greenbrier about twenty miles to the Big Levels.
Here the Shawnees had the time of their lives. The leading citizen of this settlement was Archibald Clendenin, who had but recently been appointed constable of the Greenbrier district. He had come over from the Cow Pasture about 1760. He had married Ann Ewing about 1756, and they brought with them their first child, Jane, born early in 1758. Two other children were born to them at the new settlement. John was about two years old at the time of the raid, the other a young baby. Clendenin was likely about twenty-eight, and was famed as a hunter. There may have been a dozen or more families comprising what was known as the Clendenin settlement, and it is reasonable to suppose they were scattered over considerable territory.
For one reason or another, it appears that all the settlers were assembled at Clendenin’s on that fateful July 15,1763. Several historians have it that Clendenin had bagged three fat elk and had invited his neighbors in for a feast. Another one states that the neighbors flocked to Clendenin’s through curiosity to see the Indians. Strangely enough, the John Ewing story as handed down by Holcomb makes no mention of any feast or of any other prearranged meeting of the neighbors. Yet, the neighbors, were there – all of them – as it has repeatedly been written that Con Yoakum was the only man of the settlement to escape slaughter. He hastened to the Jackson River settlements east of the divide and gave the alarm that frustrated the Indian attack upon the settlement at Carr’s Creek. Otherwise, the “cleanup” of the Big Levels was as complete as the one the day before at Muddy Creek. Certain it is that the Big Levels people had not heard of the Muddy Creek disaster. It also seems improbable that the entire neighborhood could have congregated after the Indians arrived, moved by curiosity, for how did they know the Indians were there? There is plenty of room for speculation pro and con, and the student of the event is free to draw his own conclusions.
Let Captain John Stuart speak: “From Muddy Creek the Indians passed over into the Levels where some families were collected at Clendenin’s, numbering between fifty and one hundred persons, men, women, and children. There they were entertained as at Muddy Creek, in the most hospitable manner. Clendenin had just arrived from a hunt with three fat elk, and they were plentifully feasted.” This massing of neighbors – whatever the reason – made it easy for the Shawnees. Instead of breaking up into small parties and visiting each household separately, as at Muddy Creek, they found their quarry rounded up for them. Great luck for the Shawnees!
Hear Captain Stuart again: “In the meantime an old woman with a sore leg was showing her distress to an Indian and inquiring if he could administer to her relief; he said he thought he could, and drawing his tomahawk instantly killed her and all the men almost that were in the house.” Withers adds: “This seemed to be a signal of a general massacre, and promptly was it obeyed. Nearly every man of the settlement was killed and the women and children taken captive.”
Hear Holcomb: “Her (Ann Clendenin’s) story of the surprise was as follows: On the day of the capture, while she was getting dinner, a seemingly friendly Indian entered, and soon after him another, followed at intervals by still others, until the house was filled with nineteen Shawnee warriors. Then Clendenin saw their imminent danger, and determined to make his escape. Watching his chance, he darted through the open door and ran. But he was too late. Almost the same instant two Indians fired, both balls hitting him in the back, and he fell forward on his face dead.”
Bear in mind this is the story claimed to have been handed down by John Ewing himself, and it is noticeable that no mention is made of any general slaughter. Nor did John Ewing witness the slaughter. As the story goes, he was out of sight of the house hoeing corn with two negro boys. About noon they heard a rifle shot (probably the two fired simultaneously at Clendenin) in the direction of the house. While surprised, they were not frightened, as they thought Clendenin might be shooting wild turkeys or other game. Hear Holcomb: “However, they determined to go to the house. On arriving at the top of the hill they saw several Indians near the house. Even this did not alarm them, as it was common for friendly Indians to visit the settlements. John and one negro (Tom) proceeded to the house, fearing no danger. On their approach, two of the Indians met them in the most friendly manner, greeting them in broken English with ‘how de do?’ and offering to shake hands. The boys found themselves in the clutches of a foe. Then they realized the horror of their situation.
“Mrs. Clendenin was bound to a shaving horse in the yard, her little boy and girl clinging to her in terror, while one of the Indians was swinging her helpless infant in the air. When she saw her brother, she exclaimed: ‘Oh, John, they have killed Archie. Why have you come, too?’ Just at that moment one of the warriors came up with the reeking scalp of her husband and slapped it against the side of the burning dwelling.” As stated by Captain Stuart: “Mrs. Clendenin did not fail to abuse the Indians, calling them cowards, etc., although the tomahawk was drawn over her head with threats of instant death, and the scalp of her husband lashed about her jaws.”
Without doubt, the “Clendenin Massacre” was a midday affair. The men were killed, the women and children made captives, the homes plundered and burned, and the horses stolen. It was a day of fiendish terror, especially to the survivors. Stuart says: “The prisoners were all taken over to Muddy Creek and a party of Indians detained them there till the return of the others (warriors) from Carr’s Creek, when the whole were taken off together.”
No writer has told us how long the Carr’s Creek raiders were gone, but, as the distance covered by them going and returning was a hundred miles or more, the captives must have remained at Muddy Creek two or three days at least. But the “slaughter of the innocents” was not yet finished. On the first day of the retreat, Ann Clendenin escaped. This so angered the Indians that they promptly killed her little baby. Her little two-year old John was carried through to the Ohio County, where his captor turned him over to two squaws who quarreled over him. To settle the dispute, the warrior tomahawked him.
This, in brief, is the story of the Cornstalk Raid on the Greenbrier settlements during the Pontiac War in 1763. Scarcely a white man survived, and not a drop of Indian blood was shed. The only person known to have offered even the slightest resistance was Ann Clendenin, the young wife and mother. The Greenbrier Valley was completely desolated and so remained for six or seven years.
Henceforth the frontiersmen of Virginia nursed an undying grudge against the Shawnees. Many of the soldiers who assisted in the defeat of Cornstalk at Point Pleasant in 1774, were but paying off an old score. And – from one way of looking at it – when Cornstalk and his son were murdered at Fort Randolph in 1777, the child-stealing, baby-killing old chieftain was but being paid an old standing debt in his own coin.
The Families of Elizabeth See and Elizabeth Yoakum, Cornstalk’s Raid (32)
In 1744 the Colony of Virginia purchased all the land east of the Ohio River from the Indians and opened it to settlers. Favorable reports of this land reached the Sees in Bucks County. So, Frederick [See] went to this frontier wilderness to inspect it, walking the entire five hundred miles there and back. This fact was related by his wife Catherine in later years, . . .
Frederick See established his home on this land in Greenbrier in the Big Levels section on Muddy Creek. Here he brought his family and a settlement grew up around him. Other kin followed, two other Yoakum boys, Conrod and Valentine, and Abraham Vanderpool were here in 1753.
In 1755 war broke out between France and England. The Indians were incited by the French to make war on the back-country inhabitants of Virginia (the original territory of Old Greenbrier). All who were then settled on the Greenbrier were obligated to retreat to the older settlements for safety. Beginning in 1762, the settlement of Greenbrier was renewed. Among the settlers were Frederick See, Archibald Clendenning, Joseph Carroll, Felty Yoakum and others with their families; to the number of more than a hundred.
Two small blockade forts had been erected as strongholds into which the settlers were to flee at the approach of danger. One fort stood below the present town of Alderson, West Virginia, and the other at the juncture of Mill Creek with Muddy Creek. Another house-fort was that of Archibald Clendenning’s, about three and one half miles southwest of Lewisburg in what is now Fort Spring district.
On June 16, 1763, Cornstalk, chief of the Shawnees, and sixty warriors suddenly appeared at the settlement at Muddy Creek. They came professing friendship and bringing with them much game which they had procured enroute. The inhabitants feeling secure in the belief that the hostilities (1755-1762) were over remained outside the fort (as did their neighbors the next day at Clendenning’s). Preparation for a huge feast was soon underway and Frederick See killed one of his few precious cattle to supplement the venison and wild game supplied by the Indians.
At a given signal the next day the Shawnees fell upon the settlers, killing and scalping all the men except one, plundering and burning their homes, and taking the women and children prisoners. Leaving a few warriors behind to guard the terrified, dazed and anguished group, Chief Cornstalk and his band went some twenty miles to the Clendenin settlement, again wearing the mask of friendship to disguise their horrible purpose.
Clendenin was a brave man and a hunter of renown and believed himself to be on good terms with all the Indians, who came to hunt deer and elk in these savannahs. On the day of the massacre, he had just returned from an excursion near the spring of Lewisburg and had three fine elk. The advent of the Indian’s friendly visit and the return of the hunters soon attracted all the people, between fifty or a hundred to his home near the stockade being twenty paces apart. The Indians were entertained and feasted on the fruits of Clendenin’s hunt and every other item of provision which could be mustered.
An old woman, who was one of the settlement, having a very sore leg and having understood that the Indians could perform the cure of an ulcer, showed it to one near her and asked if he could heal it. His answer was to bury his tomahawk in her brain and raise a fearful war cry. This seemed to be the signal for a general massacre. Too late, Clendenin with one child in his arms, started for the brush but was felled in his tracks. Again, every man was killed (except Conrad Yolkum) and the women and children made captive.
Conrad Yolkum, suspicious of the Indian’s professed friendship when they arrived at Clendenin’s, took his horse out under the pretext of hobbling it at some distance from the house. Soon afterward, he heard the report of guns and outcries from the house and alarmed, mounted his horse and rode as far as Lewisburg.
Deciding that he must have been mistaken, he rode back to ascertain the truth, but as he neared Clendenin’s a number of Indians fired at him. Fortunately all missed, and he fled, going to the fort on Jackson River, spreading the alarm as he went. But the people refused to believe this warning and were massacred at will by the few pursuing Indians, who continued their raid to Carr’s Creek in Rockbridge County.
The Indians completely destroyed the settlement and then herded their prisoners, including Mrs. Clendenin and her baby and two small children, westward to Muddy Creek where they joined the captives there and all were kept for several days, awaiting the return of the small Indian band that had gone into Rockbridge county.
Driven to despair by the cruel and unprovoked murder of her husband and friends, Mrs. Clendenin boldly charged the Indians with perfidy and treachery and although the bloody scalp of her husband was flaunted in her face and the tomahawk threateningly raised over her head, she never ceased to revile them.
When the Shawnees were all re-assembled at Muddy Creek, the Indians set out for Ohio. In going over Kenney’s Knob, the prisoners were in the center and Indians front and rear, Mrs. Clendenin slipped into a thicket unnoticed. Her escape was revealed when the baby she had handed to one of the women began to cry. Mrs. Clendenin though pursued, managed to elude her foes and returned that night, a distance of ten miles, to the tragic scene of the massacre.
She covered her husband’s body with trash and rails and hid in an adjacent cornfield where she spent the night agitated with fear and despondency. Later, as she regained her composure and strength, she resumed her flight and reached the Jackson River fort in safety. Eventually, the two children of Archibald Clendenin’s were restored to their mother. Ann Clendenin’s grave in the Old Welch graveyard was marked at a ceremony during the 160th Anniversary of Greenbrier County, June 1938.
Catherine See and Children in Captivity
The destination of the Shawnees was Old Town near the present city of Chillicothe, Ohio on the banks of the Scioto River. The captives forced along at the tireless pace of the Indians, tried valiantly to keep up for well they knew it was a matter of life or death; any who weakened and fell behind, any crying babe was ruthlessly killed. The trek ahead was long and grueling, a distance of one hundred sixty five miles as the crow flies, over some of the most rugged terrain east of the Mississippi River. Two mountain ranges lay ahead, the Blue Ridge and the Allegheny, not to mention the streams and rivers to cross.
Catherine See, keenly aware that her younger children would soon he exhausted by the hardships of the journey, resolved with a courage born of desperation, to save them from an inevitable fate. One of the warriors rode along the trudging line made up of about one hundred fifty women, young boys and children, many burdened with the loot the Indians had collected. His mount was a horse the property of Frederick See. It was perhaps the third day on the trail that Catherine requested that he give up the horse that her children might ride. This the Indian angrily refused to do. Seizing a pine knot from the ground, Catherine knocked him off the horse. He sprang up brandishing his tomahawk and would have killed her then and there, but for the interference of the other Indians who admired her fearlessness and called her the “fighting squaw.” Catherine was permitted to keep the horse and use it for her family.
At length the weary prisoners and their captors reached Old Town across the Ohio River. One can well imagine the excitement that prevailed on the return of the victorious chieftain and his band; the shouting and rejoicing of the inhabitants as a great procession of both sexes and ages doubtless poured out of their dwellings on hearing the signal gun and peculiar whoop announcing the return of the raiders. Then followed the ceremonies usual for the occasion. There were the trophies to see, the utensils, tools, guns, clothing, horses, etc., all seized from the settlements; and the great number of white captives. One ceremony which provided the Indians with entertainment was an ordeal to which nearly every prisoner was subjected; it was to “run the gauntlet.” It was done in this manner; a large number of squaws and Indian boys armed with clubs and switches lined up in two rows facing each other, then the prisoners were compelled to run between the lines, while the Indians struck them with their sticks and threw dirt or rubbish in their faces.
Catherine See’s turn came. She was now about 48 years of age and had spent the past twenty-five years of her life on the frontier, where to remain alive was to become physically tough and mentally alert. Doubtlessly the story of her triumph in getting her horse had spread through the village and the Indians were eager to see the “fighting squaw” undergo this test. They were not to be disappointed, for to their astonishment, Catherine suddenly seized the club of the nearest Indian and swinging it lustily right and left, soon had the Indians overcome and scattered.
In accordance with Indian custom a general council decided the division of the spoils and the fate of prisoners taken by the tribe. The older daughter, Catherine, was given to the son of Chief Cornstalk for his wife. This girl could hardly have been more than fourteen. How the older boys were placed is unknown and Catherine and the younger girl were taken into some family; at least all were under shelter except little John, who had to stay outside with the Indian dogs. One can imagine that housing was strained by the sudden addition of one hundred fifty prisoners.
It so happened one day that most of the tribe left the village for some special purpose. Catherine was left behind in charge of an aged squaw, who was subject to seizures of some kind. On this day, the old woman had one of these attacks and fell into the fire.
Catherine calmly placed her foot on the old woman’s head and held it there until she died. When the Indians returned and heard Catherine’s report of the happening (what she chose to tell) she received no blame as the old squaw’s condition was generally known. There was one less in the wigwam and John then could sleep inside. Later he was adopted by an Indian family, as were also the Brown and Zane children.
Colonel Henri Bouquet’s Expedition Against the Ohio Indians
With the two settlements of Muddy Creek and Clendenin’s destroyed by the invasion of the Shawnees, the few remaining settlements were practically cut off from the East after 1763. The Indians continued the war and on some of their excursions went to within a few miles of Staunton, Virginia. Appeals for relief from the border country at length were heeded and the British government ordered Colonel Henri Bouquet to make an expedition against the Ohio Indians to put an end to these deprecations and force the return of their captives.
Colonel Bouquet’s headquarters were at Fort Pitt, one hundred and fifty miles from the Shawnee towns on the Scioto. Here he had assembled his regular troops, the Royal Americans, and two hundred Virginia Rangers; many were volunteers. For the meeting with the Shawnee chiefs, he marched down the Ohio River to the forks of the Muskingum where a stockade camp was prepared. In 1763 Bouquet had defeated the Indians at Bushy Run with a small force – five hundred regulars against a large Indian contingent. The Indians, over-awed by his former victory and by his boldness in penetrating so far into the wilderness, were ready to make peace and give up their white prisoners.
With his army drawn up in battle array, Bouquet met in conference with the Ohio chiefs where they tendered him an offer of peace. His reply was a master stroke.
In part he said . . . “and now I am come among you to force you to make atonement for the injuries you have done us. I have brought with me the relatives of those you have murdered. They are eager for vengeance, and nothing restrains them from taking it but my assurance that this army shall not leave your country until you have given them ample satisfaction. I give you twelve days from this date to deliver into my hands all prisoners in your possession, without exception; Englishmen, Frenchmen, and children; whether adopted into your tribe, married, or living among you under any denomination or pretense.” . . .
These [the list of captives returned 1764] most certainly are names of Virginia captives. There is Mrs. Gilmore and two children; Margaret Yokeham, the wife of either Felty or Valentine; Peggy Reyneck (Renick); the two See boys and Mary See, which could be Mary Catherine See, the mother or younger sister. The list reveals the physical condition of children; the fact that some either didn’t know their own names or the clerk was lax in recording it.
When the day came for the captivated’s departure, scenes of grief and anguish prevailed for many Indians refused to give up their beloved adopted children and many half-savage children clung frantically to their foster parents. Despite orders from Colonel Bouquet many of the Indians followed the returning army at a distance. Only a night or two after leaving the Muskingum, little John See stole away from the encampment and rejoined the Indians.
Tradition tells that his Uncle Michael See gave a trader one hundred dollars to get him back. John See returned to Hampshire to live with his uncle’s family. He told Nancy Greenlee See when he visited at Point Pleasant in Mason County, Virginia on his way from Kanawha Falls to Indiana about 1825 that when he was a lad returned from the Indians his Aunt Barbara used to tell some of the family to watch and follow him on his excursions into the forest for fear he would return to the Indians.
We can well imagine the rigors of this winter journey through the forest to the fort at the forks of the Ohio. Later the captives were taken by their military escort to Carlisle, Penn. where their relatives had been awaiting to be reunited with the long lost, the supposed dead. That scene defies description. There was joy, sorrow, tragedy, and disappointment; many were unclaimed and utterly homeless.
Catherine See had her burden of grief for her daughter, Elizabeth (Catherine) did not return with the captives; legend recites that she was the mother of an Indian babe and either remained with the Shawnees by choice or restraint. Her story is unknown. Only one fact is recorded. It is found in the diary of Van Meter, who with George Harness, whose wife was a See, and a Stump made a trip from Moorefield, Virginia to Chillicothe, Ohio and met a Mrs. Johnson who was related to them all. She was a daughter of Frederick See, who had been killed by Indians. (From Ohio Archaeological Records).
The Virginia captives were doubtlessly placed in the custody of Captain Morgan of the Virginia Rangers. One source says they were taken to Staunton where they were restored to their relatives.
The See family returned to Hampshire County to live with their kindred. Catherine See married John Hardy, pioneer of Hardy County. Later they all returned to the Greenbrier, where John Hardy’s name appears on the county tax list in 1783-1786. There is no record of the daughter, Lois, but tradition relates that she married ______ Van Bibber, as yet this fact is unconfirmed. There is little, too, regarding the youngest Catherine (Elizabeth). But a tattered copy of Reverend John Anderson’s marriage records from 1776 to about 1785 gives Peter Tho- or Sho- to Elizabeth Lee (See) in January 1776.
This Peter Tho- or Sho- is probably Peter Shoemaker and Elizabeth, daughter of Frederick See. Whether Elizabeth or Catherine were older, or the names interchanged, one can only guess. Peter Shoemaker was in Greenbrier County 1783-1786. They are said to have moved to Kentucky to the Big Sandy. Catherine See, known in later life as “Aunt Kitty” Hardy died in 1806 or 1807. Truly her history is remarkable, a span of four score years and ten in time; in distance from the Rhine River to the Greenbrier. . . .
The most interesting of all data relating to George See is to be found in a Grant displayed in the Greenbrier County Museum, Lewisburg, West Virginia. It is a Land Office Treasury Warrant issued by Henry Lee, Esquire, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia for four hundred and sixty four acres of land in Greenbrier County on the west side of Muddy Creek, joining the lands of Peter Shoemaker and John Wilson and including a survey made for Frederick See in the year 1751. It was issued in Richmond, Virginia, September, seventeenth, 1792.
Two years later (1794), Peter Shoemaker, “attorney in fact” for George See and Patty, his wife, sold 365 acres of the land granted George See by patent, to Jacob Hockman for the “sum of Five Shillings current Money of Virginia.” This deed also is on exhibit. The description of the land expressed “by poles and degrees” also depends upon certain sycamores, sugar maples, white oak, and hickory trees. A deed to Peter Cline for the other hundred acres is recorded at Greenbrier Court House.
Another source states: “When the time arrived for the Indians to release their prisoners, all of the See family except the twin, nine-year-old Elizabeth, were freed. Cornstalk would not agree to let her go, but kept her for nine more years during which time his young son took her as his squaw and, according to family tradition, she had an Indian child by him. Later she escaped or was ransomed, because she eventually left the Indians, and married a white man named Peter Shoemaker.”
Not only was Peter’s future wife taken captive, but also his brother John’s future wife, Elizabeth See. Elizabeth was captured at Greenbrier in July 1763 and returned in January 1765 at age 12. (33)
Brothers Peter John Shoemaker and John Shoemaker
In 1804 Peter Shoemaker, then in Adams County, Ohio, gave a deposition stating that in February, 1773, he started from Muddy Creek in Greenbrier County for the Kenawha in company with James Campbell, James Pauley, and Walter Kelly, and went as far as Gauley River, where Walter Kelly turned back. (34) The others went on to what is now the mouth of Campbell’s Creek, where Campbell made a tomahawk improvement.
Peter Shoemaker was a member of Captain Bullit’s Survey Company, surveying near the site of Maysville, Kentucky in 1773 (Collins History of Kentucky). Peter was recorded in Greenbrier County, Virginia the same year. Peter Shoemaker’s will was written July 1, 1799, was presented to Adams County Court, exhibited, proved and ordered to be recorded on the 26th day of June 1804.
In the 1775 payroll list of Botetourt Militia men who fought at the Battle of Point Pleasant, Dunmore’s War were: (35) Peter Shoemaker, 51 days pay; George See, 16 and 83 days pay; George Yokem, 10 days and 83 days pay – all in Matthew Arbuckle’s Company. Peter Shoemaker also received 62 days pay, Capt. John VanBebber’s Company. Lastly Peter Shoemaker, Botetourt, 19 days pay as a Scout.
John Shoemaker was listed on the 1782 Greenbrier County personal property tax list, William Hamilton’s District. He was listed with 3 horses, no slaves. Also living in this district were Peter Shoemaker, Michael Sea, Conrod and George Yochim/Yoacham. On the 1782 list of people paid for furnishing rations during the Revolutionary War were Peter Shoemaker, 74 rations; John Shoemaker, 74 rations; George Sea, 74 rations; and Michael Sea, 74 rations. (36)
Peter, John and Simon Shoemaker appeared on the Greenbrier personal property tax lists in the 1780s. Peter and John appeared in 1782, 1783 and 1788. Peter and Simon also appeared in 1786 and 1792. A Thomas Shoemaker appeared in 1783. In 1787 Peter, John and Simon appeared, as well as John and George See, Conrad Yocum.
There appears to have been a land record for John Shoemaker, August 9, 1786, 50 acres on Muddy Creek. There is a March 3, 1785 land survey for Peter Shoemaker in Muddy Creek Settlement adjacent to George and Michael See. (37)
1 Peter Schumacher of Cleebourg, Alsace, France, January 7, 2004, Richard Shaefer, online at Rootsweb Family Tree.
2 Pennsylvania Folklore Society, Vol I, p. 108.
3 Reformed Church for Frederick County, Maryland at the Fackenthat Library, Lancaster, PA. These records state that Daniel Shoemaker married Elizabetha Hoffman on 1 Feb 1757.
4 Ledgers of Payments, 1818-1872, to U.S. Pensioners Under Acts of 1818 Through 1858 From Records of the Office of the Third Auditor of the Treasury, 1818-1872; (National Archives Microfilm Publication T718, 23 rolls); Records of the Accounting Officers of the Department of the Treasury, Record Group 217; National Archives, Washington, D.C. Virginia Pension Office, Mary M. Schumacher, widow of George, Rank private, commencement March 1836, died July 6(?), 1847.
5 Joseph Claybaugh, History of Clinton County, Indiana, Indianapolis, IN:. A. W. Bowen & Company, 1913, pp. 893-894.
6 The Evangelical Lutheran Ch. for Frederick Co., MD (available at the MD HX Soc. in Baltimore) state Henry, son of Daniel and Elizabeth Shoemaker, was born 20 Feb 1772.
7 Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1775-1800. Vol. III, Book X. X-5 Peter Shoemaker 124 A. (15 Oct 1790) in Hampshire Co. on Great Cacapeon adj. George Michaels. 7 Dec 1795.
8 Virginia Northern Neck Land Grants, 1775-1800, Book S. S-159 Christopher Ohaver of Hampshire Co. asne. of Peter Shoemaker 144 A. on Elk Hill in said Co. Surveyor Elias Poston. Adj. Martin Roller. 19 Jan 1781.
9 Horton, Vicki Bidinger. Hampshire County [West] Virginia Personal Property Tax Lists, 1800-1814. Baltimore, MD, USA: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2002.
10 Marriage Records 1798-1910, Ohio Probate Court, Ross county; FHL, Batch #8311207, film #1395522, patron submitted form.
11 1850 Census, Highland County, Brush Creek Township, Ohio; County of Ross, Ohio Biographical Sketches, Ross County Genealogical Society, pp. 684, 848.
12 OHADAMS Digest, Vol 2, Issue 81, Descendants of Samuel Shoemaker, email from [email protected], to [OHADAMS] mail list, 13 Jun 2007.
13 Henry Holcomb Bennett, editor, A History of Ross County, Ohio, Madison, WI: Selwyn A. Brant, 1902, pp. 684-685.
14 OHADAMS Digest, Vol 2, Issue 81, Descendants of Samuel Shoemaker, email from [email protected], to [OHADAMS] mail list, 13 Jun 2007.
15 Dodd, Jordan R, et. al. Early American Marriages: Virginia to 1850. Bountiful, UT: Precision Indexing Publishers, 19xx.
16 Hampshire County, West Virginia Marriages, 1863-1900. County court records located at Romney, West Virginia or Family History Library microfilm #0815361.
17 Pennsylvania Folklore Society,, Vol. XVI, p. 176.
18 Frederick County Judgement Dockets, Book H 2, p. 564; Frederick County, email from [email protected], to [MDGEN-L] email list, February 8, 2001.
19 Henry HERDMAN & Frederick FREE, email from Robert A. Fetters [email protected], to [email protected], January 26, 2001.
20 John Shewmaker and Elizabeth Youlkam. Aug 13 1782 married by John Alderson (Greenbrier Co Marriage Records, Book 1A:135 - from image of original).
21 freepages.family.rootsweb.com/~dhickman/fam/TheHickmans-4.html.
22 Henry Holcomb Bennett, editor, A History of Ross County, Ohio, Madison, WI: Selwyn A. Brant, 1902, p. 824.
23 OHADAMS Digest, Vol 2, Issue 81, Descendants of Samuel Shoemaker, email from [email protected], to [OHADAMS] mail list, 13 Jun 2007.
24 OHADAMS Digest, Vol 2, Issue 81, Descendants of Samuel Shoemaker, email from [email protected], to [OHADAMS] mail list, 13 Jun 2007.
25 OHADAMS Digest, Vol 2, Issue 81, Descendants of Samuel Shoemaker, email from [email protected], to [OHADAMS] mail list, 13 Jun 2007.
26 OHADAMS Digest, Vol 2, Issue 81, Descendants of Samuel Shoemaker, email from [email protected], to [OHADAMS] mail list, 13 Jun 2007.
27 OHADAMS Digest, Vol 2, Issue 81, Descendants of Samuel Shoemaker, email from [email protected], to [OHADAMS] mail list, 13 Jun 2007.
28 OHADAMS Digest, Vol 2, Issue 81, Descendants of Samuel Shoemaker, email from [email protected], to [OHADAMS] mail list, 13 Jun 2007.
29 OHADAMS Digest, Vol 2, Issue 81, Descendants of Samuel Shoemaker, email from [email protected], to [OHADAMS] mail list, 13 Jun 2007.
30 United Church of Christ, German Reformed (now St. James), Lovettsville, 1773 - , Records: Baptism only 1786-1859, early in German, originals at UCC archives, Lancaster, PA; copies at church; microfilm through LDS, translation at Handley library & Lib. VA.
31 A. E. Ewing, “Cornstalk’s Raid on the Greenbrier – 1763,” West Virginia Review, June 1936, pp. 266-268, www.wvculture.org/hiStory/cornstalkraid.html.
32 A Chronicle of the SEE family and their Kindred, written and compiled by Irene See Brasel (1892 - 1963), http://members.aol.com/hconor2/Brasel.htm.
33 Elizabeth “Yoakim” is mentioned on List F "List of Prisoner’s delivered up by the Shawanese Indians at Mackwayack and arrived at Fort Pitt 5th January 1765" as being 12 years old, taken July 1763 from Green Bryar, Augusta County (William S. Ewing “Indian Captives Released,” Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, V39 (1956):187-203.) Other Yoakums mentioned in the Captivity lists include George, Margaret, and Sally (age 5).
34 http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~donkelly/KELLY/Kelstates/virginia.htm, Chalkley, Augusta Co. VA records.
35 Circa July 1775; Botetourt County, VA; Payroll list of men who fought at the Battle of Point Pleasant, Lord Dunmore’s War; Botetourt Militia; Virginia State Archives; Misc Microfilm #78: The first line of the microfilm reads: “Public Service Claims, Pittsburgh, 1775.” http://incolor.inebraska.com/gwbrownx/smithbiblio1.htm.
36 Shuck: V1: 109-11.
37 Mar 3, 1785: Land Survey for Peter SHOEMAKER in Muddy Creek Settlement adjacent to George See’s property and to Michael See’s property. References a survey of 125 acres made in 1773. Greenbrier Co, WVA Deed Book #1, p. 194 (typed transcript) and Apr 6, 1791: Land survey for George See for 465 acres in Greenbrier Co on west side of Muddy Creek joining land of Peter “Shoomaker” and John Wilson. Including [land in] a survey made for Frederick See in 1751 - 2 state warrants, one for 1300 acres #10933 [?] of which 100 acres and the remaining 365 acres by warrant for 600 acres #151....- Greenbrier Co, WVA Deed Book #2, p. 143.