Dear Subscribers to the Greenup County, Kentucky Mailing List, What were the opportunities for a shoemaker in the 1830's in Greenup County, Kentucky and in Scioto County, Ohio? My guess would be that no shoemaking establishments existed in the Ohio River Valley in that time period, such as the extensive shoemaking concerns in New England. We must keep the Ohio Canal in mind, which linked the Great Lakes with the Ohio River, running from Cleveland Village to Portsmouth, Ohio. The completion of the canal sparked a huge increase in business and manufacturing. Assuming that no factories for shoemaking were in operation until the Liberty, Kentucky plant and later in Portsmouth, Ohio, how would a journeyman shoemaker conduct his trade? I believe a "country shoemaker" would set up in a town and make footwear for the surrounding rural area. If he walked from farm to farm, the shoemaker would repair what shoes the family had, which is the definition of a "cobbler". Rural shoemakers were just one of the assortment of artisans that made up the skills-pool of an agrarian community, along with blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers, teamsters and doctor-pharmacists. The shoemaker John BOYLE, who entered Greenup County, Kentucky from Pennsylvania in the 1830's, most likely fit the category of an independant craftsman, carrying on his trade as well as he could with the local settlers. Randal W. Cooper <rwcooper@kellnet.com> Lorain, Ohio