B. 1798 D. 1875
Married: Elizabeth Schneider
Jacob S. Shoemaker was born in Pennsylvania in 1798. He left school early to work in his father, John Shoemakers woolen mills. When Jacob saw many of his neighbours and friends moving to Canada after 1805, he decided that he would do the same, hoping that there would be more opportunities in this new settlement. In 1820 he came to the settlement of Waterloo and found, because of his experience back home, a job in Abraham Erb’s grist mill. In 1822 he was married to Elizabeth Schneider, daughter of Joseph Schneider known as founder of Berlin (Kitchener). The couple returned to Pennsylvania where probably Jacob was putting together plans for his new project. They returned to Waterloo in 1826 where Jacob continued to work for Abraham Erb. But in 1829 Jacob S. bought Lot 59 G.C.T.on Beaver Creek (Laurel) where it flows into the Grand River. Here he first dammed the creek and built a small grist mill. Later there was a sawmill and woolen mill. The Shoemaker family first lived in Waterloo but by 1830 had moved out to the area that was soon to be called Glasgow (Bridgeport in ____). In 1840, he constructed a red brick Georgian style home on the heights about the mills. But fate dealt him a cruel blow. In 1851 a depression in Canada forced him into bankruptcy. The mills were sold to Barnabas Devitt. The Shoemakers moved to Preston and then on to Blenheim Township where he successfully operated a large sawmill.
Sources:
1. Waterloo County Hall of Fame
2. Ezra E. Eby, A Biographical History
3. Marg Rowell et al. Welcome to Waterloo
Jacob S. Shoemaker Biography
Description
- Creator
- Little, Ellis, Author
- Media Type
- Text
- Item Type
- Articles
- Description
- This is a handwritten biography of Jacob S. Shoemaker from the Ellis Little Papers. This biography has been transcribed exactly as written. Ellis Little was a local historian, who was the principal of Elizabeth Ziegler Public School.On his retirement, he invested much of his time in researching and writing about Waterloo's history. The Ellis Little Papers consist of extensive notes, papers and historical works.
- Notes
- Please scroll to the bottom of the page to see the transcribed text. To see the original document, please visit the Ellis Little Local History Room at the Main Branch of the Waterloo Public Library.
- Date Of Event
- 1798-1875
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Shoemaker, Jacob ; Schneider, Elizabeth ; Shoemaker, Elizabeth ; Shoemaker, John ; Erb, Abraham ; Schneider, Joseph ; Devitt, Barnabas
- Local identifier
- ELP 51.195 and 196
- Collection
- Ellis Little Papers: Men and Women of Our Past
- Language of Item
- English
- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Location of Original
- Ellis Little Papers
- Contact
- Waterloo Public LibraryEmail:askus@wpl.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:35 Albert Street, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 5E2
- Full Text
