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| You are here: Cambria > Obituaries > SHGEMAKER/SHOEMAKER, Edward, Esq. |
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| Obituary Index SHGEMAKER/SHOEMAKER, Edward, Esq. |
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| SOURCE NOTATION: |
| Cambria Freeman, 25 Apr 1867, Page p3; c5; c2, Contributed by Lynne Canterbury |
| "SHGEMAKER" is the way the name was spelled in the paper in this article. In this place, on Monday, 22d inst., after a brief illness, Edward Shgemaker, Esq., in the 70th year of his age. Obituary notice in another column. Same paper; same page; c2: EDWARD SHOEMAKER, Esq. -- A notice of the death of our fellow citizen will be found under our ordinary obituary, but the position he occupied in society requires a more extended notice. Mr. Shoemaker was born, we understand, in Philadelphia, and was a descendant of one of the old Quaker families of that city. Reverses of fortune left him poor in early life, and about 1830 he sought a home in Clearfield county, near the Cambria line -- then a comparative wilderness. After remaining here a few years he removed into Cambria county -- that portion then embraced in Clearfield township, (now White,) some two miles from the northern boundary of the county. Here he purchased a piece of wood land, and settled down with his family, for the purpose of opening up a farm. On this spot he lived for many years, struggling with the monarchs of the forest in the summer, and teaching the children of the neighborhood in the winter. Thus he toiled, notwithstanding a partial disability, until the wilderness began to "blossom as the rose," and his Roseland, (that was the name he gave it) assumed the air and appearance of a charming country villa. Here, while that untiring industry which seemed part of his nature never flagged, he found time to indulge in teaching and improving his mind, from converse with the few authors whose works graced his little library. Here was the abode of that open-handed hospitality which made Roseland a favorite point for the way-worn traveller; here too was a fountain of charity to the neighboring poor, who never left his portals empty handed. At length his probity, and that business talent which he possessed in an eminent degree, began to be appreciated. The heirs of James C. Fisher (the elder) owned an immense body of land in the counties of Cambria, Clearfield and Indiana, and the agency was confided to Mr. Shoemaker. Afterwards the charge of the Drinker lands, the Hollingsworth lands, and the far-famed Bayard & Barclay lands, were placed under his stewardship. Though the character of land agent, or land jobber, to use the more approbious epithet of the "settlers," is generally obnoxious, Mr. Shoemaker so managed his trust that while he gave satisfaction to his principals, he had rarely any difficulty with the purchasers; and under his auspices a very large portion of the lands in Northern Cambria have been opened to the benefits of cultivation. Mr. Shoemaker removed to Ebensburg in the autumn of 1839, and continued to reside here until his demise. His history here is his former history repeated. That never tiring industry which had secured him a competence continued until with a few days of his death. That probity which had raised him to universal respect, remained his characteristic through life; and that charity, which won from Heaven a blessing in his earlier efforts, only expanded as his means grew more abundant and the opportunities for indulging it became more extended. And his charity well accorded with the Divine injunction, "Let not they left hand know what thy right hand doeth." No ostentation accompanied his charities -- he shrank from the publication of his generosity. Numbers up numbers of his acts of charity -- of his assistance to the poor and friendless -- are only known to the recipients and to Him who made charity the chiefest of virtues. He lived beyond the usual period allotted to man, and then, having "finished his course," and surrounded by his afflicted family -- the centre and object of their tenderest affection -- he calmly passed away. "Oh! grave where is they victory? Oh! death where is they sting?" His remains were yesterday morning interred in the cemetery of St. Patricks Church, where they were followed by his numerous relatives, and an immense concourse of citizens, who knew the man and admired his many virtues. |
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