According to the 1900 U.S. Census, John Stark emigrated from Ireland in 1855. John and his older brother, Joseph, both settled in Farmington, PA. Both married into the Dean family and spent the rest of their lives in Farmington. When John died in 1903, his obituary mentioned that John was one “of the finest shoemakers in the country and people went many miles to patronize him.” (PA GenWeb).
Shoemaking was a trade, and the Starks had been shoemakers for generations. Shoes were crafted shoes by hand until the late 1800’s when industrialization and factories began to mass produce clothing and shoes (Wikipedia). But John Stark definitely didn’t have a factory on his farm. He did, though, have a shoe store. An 1872 land ownership map of the Farmington area shows John’s land and an adjacent “shoe sto.” (Land Ownership Maps).
If John was “old school,” he made his shoes by hand and fit them individually for each customer. He would have used various tools and leather, and shoe molds called “lasts” to make the shoes the right size and shape. He might also have adapted to use a sewing machine, since those were widely available once the Singer was invented in 1851 (Time). In the 1880 U.S. Census, John described his occupation as shoemaker. By 1900, John was in his 70’s and listed himself in the U.S. Census as a farmer. Either his shoe making days were behind him, or he did not consider it his primary occupation.
The only potential artifact I have of John’s shoe business is a bench that Marion Skewis Merrick saved that she said was John Stark’s shoe bench. The edges of the bench are worn to show much use, and it does have compartments that could have held nails, and the other tools used to make shoes, but who knows? It’s a nice story and a treasured piece that holds a collection of shoe tools and “lasts,” and always a good conversation starter!
Sources:
Larson, Jennifer; The Invention That Spawned A Social Revolution; TIme Magazine; retrieved 22 Apr 2020
Shoemaking: Wikipedia; retrieved 22 Apr 2020;
Stark, John; Obituary; PA Gen Web.; retrieved 22 Apr 2020;
U.S. Indexed County Land Ownership Maps, 1860-1918. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. 2010; Original data: Various publishers of County Land Ownership Atlases, Microfilmed by the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.