But, this is genealogy and I am talking about cordwainers....shoemakers
Other than farming and the railroad, shoemaking was another common trade for many of the Vincent men of my line. I haven't discovered who the first shoemaker was but I am leaning towards that Uncle John Vincent who went to Ireland with a couple of brothers, but it's just a guess.
Of my line, Benjamin Treen Vincent was a man on a mission and succeeded where others didn't.
He left Nova Scotia and first landed in Massachusetts where he learned about crimping. Crimping is the process of creating the curve on the boot; bending the leather to where the foot meets the leg and ridding it of all the wrinkles. The leather is soaked in water to make it pliable and then molded around a wooden foot form - nowadays it's all done by machines.
Benjamin married Samantha Darling in 1861 in Massachusetts and they went on to have five children before she died young in 1887. He then married Laura Worcester/Wooster and all the family have a large plot at the Masonic Memorial Park Cemetery in Tumwater, WA.
Rev Harvey K Hines in "An illustrated history of the state of Washington, containing biographical mention of its pioneers and prominent citizens", 1893 wrote about Benjamin:
"Benjamin Vincent, manufacturer of and dealer in boots and shoes at Olympia, was born in Wallace, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, in 1834.
His parents, Joshua, and Hannah (Treen) Vincent, were also relatives of Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, and were descendants of the refugees who were there prior to the Revolutionary War. Joshua Vincent was by trade and occupation a millwright and was also interested in agricultural pursuits. He superintended the construction of saw and flour mills all over the province.
Benjamin Vincent was the first born in a family of twelve children; was reared on the farm and educated in the schools near his home. When he was twenty years old he started out in life for himself. Going to Boston, Massachusetts, he found employment as driver of a milk wagon, and was thus engaged for three years. Then he went to Medway, Massachusetts, and in a large boot and shoe factory learned the trade of crimping boots.
In 1866 Mr. Vincent made a prospecting tour of the Pacific coast, coming by steamer and the Nicaragua route to San Francisco, thence to Portland and from there across the mountains on foot to Seattle to join his cousin, L. A. Treen, who came to the coast in 1865, via the Strait of Magellan, with the Asa Mercer colony that made settlement in the vicinity of of Seattle. Mr. Treen was manufacturing boots and shoes at Seattle, but in the spring of 1867 moved his factory to Olympia. Mr. Vincent was in his employ until 1869, when he returned East. The following year he brought his family to Olympia, and he again entered the factory, this time as a partner with Mr. Treen. At the end of one year the partnership was dissolved. Mr. Vincent then formed a co-partnership with George B. Capen, opened a manufactory of boots and shoes, and after three years purchased the entire interest, having since conducted the establishment alone. He also carries a large manufactured stock in all grades and finish.
Mr. Vincent was married in Medway, Massachusetts, in 1864, to Miss Samantha Darling, a native of New York, born on Grindstone Island in the St. Lawrence river. She died in 1886, leaving four children, George, Benjamin, Jr., Philip and Mabel. In 1888 he was married in Olympia to Mrs. Laura A. (Wooster) Hood, a native of Maine.
Socially, Mr. Vincent is a member of the F. & A. M. and the A. O. U. W. He owns valuable residence property in Olympia, and is today the only boot and shoe manufacturer in this city. He devotes his whole time and energy to his business affairs, and to his natural ability, his integrity and his perseverance is due the success he has attained."
Find A Grave Memorial
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