My Genealogy Hound

SHOEMAKER, C. B., editor and publisher; born in Muncie, Pennsylvania, February 13, 1830. The history of Mr. Shoemaker is familiar to nearly all the people of the county. In 1859 he established the Herald, and conducted it until September, 1862, when he entered the service of his country as major of the Twenty-ninth Iowa infantry, remaining with his regiment until the 7th of January, 1865, when he resigned and returned home. After leaving the service he removed with his family to Brooklyn, New York, where he resided a few years, when he went to Connecticut. There he resided until the latter part of 1866, when he returned to Clarinda and purchased the Herald, remaining as editor and proprietor of the same until his decease, which took place October 23, 1877. The Democrat, at the time, gave the following particulars in regard to his demise: “On the 15th he and his wife, in company with the editorial association of this congressional district, went to St. Louis. The trip was a pleasant one, and up to Thursday morning Mr. Shoemaker enjoyed good health, and appreciated the trip and recreation very much. On Thursday morning it was announced that he was unwell, but nothing serious was anticipated. On Friday morning the party left St. Louis, and Mr. Shoemaker came as far as Burlington, where he had some friends living, and he, being feeble, stopped off; but he grew worse, and Tuesday morning he passed on to that better land where he will await the coming of a loving and interesting family, and a host of true and good friends. His remains were brought to Clarinda for interment, where they were gently laid to rest in the cemetery, mourned by all.” Although Mr. Shoemaker was not one of the first settlers of the county, he probably did as much as any other one man toward developing its early resources. His first years in the county were far from being years of ease, as the county was then thinly settled, and running a newspaper was of necessity attended with a great deal of trouble and inconvenience. But when he returned, in 1876, he found things materially changed. The newspaper business was not what it was when he first commenced the publication of the Herald, in 1859. It had kept pace with the times, and was not attended with the difficulties as in the past, and it must indeed have been a pleasure to him to be enabled once more to preside over the columns of a paper which he had spent so much of his early vigor in establishing. But he was not permitted long to enjoy the fruits of his former labor, and in the full vigor of manhood he was suddenly called into the presence of his Maker.