From a History of the Inhabitants of Lawrence County

The Shoemaker Family

	Percy Washington Shoemaker was a native of Moulton, born 8/3/1859 to John Yancy and 
Rebecca Burrows Shoemaker.  With the exception of a few years, he lived in the area all his 
life.  He died while living in the original family home with his wife "Fannie" Hart Shoemaker 
and their small son Hart Shoemaker.

	He met Frances Ada Hart of Iuka, Mississippi while they both were teaching school.  
They married 12/22/1887 in Comanche, Texas where her family was living and returned to Moulton 
to make their home.  Later they lived briefly in Texas and in Arkansas but returned to Moulton 
because of his poor health where he died 3/9/1897 and was buried in the Shoemaker Cemetery.

	Seeking a better education for their family, John Yancy and Rebecca Burrows Shoemaker 
had moved from the Rogersville area of Lauderdale County to Moulton around 1858.  John Yancy 
was born 7/21/1813 in Maury County, Tennessee.  His father's name is unknown, but his mother 
was Catherine Shoemaker, who as a widow married Benjamin French in 1828.  Rebecca Burrows, 
daughter of Joel and Elizabeth Rebecca Burrows was born 8/3/1819 in Lauderdale County.  Rebecca 
and John Yancy were married 2/16/1836.

	The Shoemaker home in Moulton was near the present Moulton Memory Gardens, established 
adjacent to the Shoemaker Cemetery, a part of the original family land where many other family 
members, including John Yancy and Rebecca are buried.  Much of the home was torn down by 1953, 
and little may remain today.  Of John Yancy and Rebecca, Prof. C. G. Lynch writes,

"This old couple were known far and wide for their inductry and devotion to duty.  Mr. Shoemaker 
was always busy.  He was ready and willing to do his part in everything that helped humanity.  
I never look at those beautiful oak trees where the Baptist Church is in Moulton, but I think 
of him and others who planted them.  These two grand old persons died loved, honored, and 
respected by all who knew them."  The Moulton Advertiser 11/22/1911.

	The couple had ten children.  First, Martha born 10/10/1837 married Alva Cramer 
12/11/1853 near Rogersville, and they had eight children.  Following Alva's death in 1871, 
Martha married Emit Smith of Hillsboro, their two children dying in infancy.  Second, 
James William born 8/27/1840 died in 1841.  Third, Mary Jain born 9/13/1843 married Harvey J. 
Townsend, there following three children.  Fourth, John Melvin born 6/29/1846 married Esper A. 
Blalock of Lawrence County, the couple having eight children.  The fifth and sixth Shoemaker 
children were Alonzo Bowland 9/21/1849 - 8/31/1850 and Elizabeth Pickens, born 5/9/1851.  
She had nine children with James Ripley (Rip) Vaughan, whom she married on 12/20/1868.  
Both are buried in the Shoemaker Cemetery, Moulton.  Seventh child was William Allison 
"Allie" born 10/17/1853, followed by Matilda Alabama "Mittie" born 10/17/1855, who married
Robert Tipton Wear in Lawrence County on 12/21/1886 and was buried in 1945 in Old Town Creek
Cemetery, Lawrence County.  Percy Washington was the ninth Shoemaker child.  Last came Nellie 
May born 10/13/1861, who married Henry Burt Orr.  They had three children.

	Some descendants of the Shoemaker family still reside in and around Lawrence County, 
Alabama, and some remain in Arkansas and Texas.  My father, Hart Shoemaker, son of Percy, died 
in Abilene, Texas, in 1973.  Bayne J. Vaughan, grandson of Elizabeth Pickens Shoemaker Vaughan, 
resides in Decatur, Alabama and has provided me much Shoemaker family information.  
Submitted by:  Freelin Shoemaker McGlothing, 206 Flamingo Circle, Marble Falls, TX 78654.




Contributed by: Judy Townsend Livings