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William Shewmaker
Name: William Shewmaker Born: June 11, 1827, Indiana Died: August 18, 1903, Alvord, Wise County, Texas Burial: Alvord Cemetery, Alvord, Wise County, Texas
Father: Jesse Shewmaker (1769 - 1860) See notes below - parents or grand-parents? Mother: Francis Davis (1769 -1842)
Married: Mary Isabella Cummings (1832-1917), married on January 30, 1851, Helt, Vermillon County, Indiana Children: D Z Shewmaker (1851 - 1944) Latetia Shewmaker (1856 - 1933) Elizabeth Carrie Shewmaker (1859 - 1930) David Shewmaker (1861 - 1915) Claire Belle Shewmaker (1866 - 1939) William T. Shewmaker (1869 - ) Mary F. Shewmaker (1873-1949)
The first definitive record of William Shewmaker is the 1850 Census where William, who is 23, is living with the family of Jesse (27 or 21) and Nancy (19) Shewmaker in the Helt Township of Vermillon County, Indiana. On the same page listing the Shewmaker family is the William and Mary Cummins family, which includes a 17-year old daughter, Mary I. Cummins. There is an Indiana marriage record index that shows that William Shewmaker and Mary Isabell Cummins married within a year on January 30, 1851, in Vermillon County.
In 1860 both Jesse and William Shewmaker have moved their families to DeWitt County, Illinois. Jesse lives in the Blue Ridge township and William lives in the Santa Ana township. Children listed in the home are Dzonra (8), Laticia (4), and Elizabeth C. (1).
During the Civil War, William Shewmaker served with the 107th Regiment, Illinois Infantry. His went in as a corporal and came out as a corporal. His granddaughter recalled that he served about three year.
1880 Census - William and Mary Shewmaker are living in Wise County, Texas. Children David (18), Claire B. (14), William T. (10), and Mary F. (7).
1900 Census - William and Mary Shewmaker are living in Wise County. Living in their household are their daughter Mary Shewmaker Evans and grandsons William (Henry) and Albert Evans. Mary had been abandoned by her husband and would marry John Terry a few months after this census was taken.
Shewmaker Family - Alvord, Texas
1903 - William Shewmaker dies on August 18th. Parents are not listed on the death certificate. Family history from William's granddaughter only states that the Shewmakers came from England.
Who is William Shewmaker's Father?
The first clue to William Father is his relationship with Jesse Shewmaker with whom he was living in 1850 and migrated to Illinois in 1860. There are several Jesse Shewmakers from Indiana born in the 1820's. There is Jesse Shumaker (1827-1917) son of Thomas Shewmaker son of Jesse Shewmaker, born 1827, died 1916. There is the Jesse Shewmaker listed above born about 1821 in Indiana and is the apparent brother of William Shewmaker. There is a Jesse Shewmaker, born 1821, who lived in Iowa, Ohio, and Nebraska. Several postings on the internet link William Shewmaker to Jesse Shewmaker (1769-1860) and Francis Davis. William Shewmaker is also linked to Thomas Jeffereson Shewmaker, son of Jesse Shewmaker. The birth of Jesse Shewmaker and William Shewmaker, March 1827 and June 1827, preclude them being from the Thomas Jefferson family, if those birth dates are correct. If William is living with his brother in the 1850 census (as opposed to a cousin or other relation) then Jesse and William, son of Jesse Shewmaker (1769 - 1860) seems most consistent with the census record.
The birthplace for William's parents in the 1880 and 1900 census is listed as Kentucky. This is more consistent with children of Jesse Shewmaker (1769 - 1860). An alternative is that Jesse and William Shewmaker are grandchildren of Jesse Shewmaker (1769 - 1860) through another child, for example, Tandy Shewmaker and Mary Elizabeth Dobson.
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