--- title: "ICYMI: \"If the shoe fits\"" description: David Allen Lambert’s April post on livelihoods inspired me to consider my own “family’s business.” image: https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Sarney-Shoe-Factory-300x233-3.jpg --- # [Vita Brevis A resource for family history from AmericanAncestors.org](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # ICYMI: "If the shoe fits" [July 15, 2016](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/icymi-if-the-shoe-fits) [Critical Analysis](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/critical-analysis), [ICYMI](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/icymi), [International genealogical research](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/international-genealogical-research), [American History](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/american-history), [Technology](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/technology), [Object Lessons](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/object-lessons), [Family stories](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/tag/family-stories) [Ginevra Morse](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/gmorse) [**Editor's note**: *This blog post originally appeared in* Vita Brevis *on 13 May 2015*.] [![Sarney Shoe Factory](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Sarney-Shoe-Factory-300x233-3.jpg?width=300&height=233&name=Sarney-Shoe-Factory-300x233-3.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Sarney-Shoe-Factory-3.jpg) The Sarney Shoe Repairing Factory in Newport, Rhode Island. David Allen Lambert’s April [post on livelihoods](http://vita-brevis.org/2015/04/in-search-of-livelihoods/) inspired me to consider my own “family’s business.” In looking at my ancestry, one occupation pops up again and again and again: shoemaker. From Great Migration immigrants to Italian *calzolai* to French-Canadian shoe factory workers, my ancestors knew shoes. The earliest shoemakers or *cordwainers* to New England arrived in 1629.[[1]](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/icymi-if-the-shoe-fits#_ftn1) My ancestor (on my father’s side) Anthony Morse (abt. 1607–1686) arrived in Newbury aboard the *James* in 1635 with his brother William. Both appear on a passenger list as shoemakers.[[2]](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/icymi-if-the-shoe-fits#_ftn2) A few generations later, the family business was alive and well. By 1820, Samuel Morse (1772–1857) had moved his family up to the fledgling community of Industry, Maine. “Among the queer people of Industry in its early days was an itinerant shoemaker named Morse. This nomadic cordwainer used to travel through the town and work up the settler’s supply of leather into boots and shoes for the family.”[[3]](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/icymi-if-the-shoe-fits#_ftn3) He returned to Massachusetts by 1845. While his “go at it” in Maine was short lived, he continued shoemaking until his death in 1857, passing on his skills to his son Thomas and his grandsons Colonius and James. Samuel’s work bench will be on display at the Georgetown (Massachusetts) Historical Society in the coming months. The Civil War and the need for mass-produced footwear drastically changed the shoe industry – something my ancestors took in stride. Toussaint Legault (1843–1924) and Napoleon Sayers/Seguin (1867–1947), both French-Canadian immigrants, settled in Haverhill, Massachusetts, in the nineteenth century to work in the shoe factories. By 1913, nearly 10% of all shoes made in America came from Haverhill.[[4]](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/icymi-if-the-shoe-fits#_ftn4) [![The Apprentices](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/The-Apprentices-300x214-Apr-21-2023-04-47-41-6266-PM.jpg?width=300&height=214&name=The-Apprentices-300x214-Apr-21-2023-04-47-41-6266-PM.jpg)](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/The-Apprentices-Apr-21-2023-04-47-42-0287-PM.jpg) Giuseppe Sarni and some of his apprentices. On my mother’s side, the livelihood is the same, but the context a little different. Giuseppe Sarni was born in San Mango sul Calore (Avellino), Italy, in 1876 to a long line of *calzolai* (shoemakers), and would have started learning the trade while still a child. He emigrated to the U.S. sometime before 1906 and in 1911 is listed as a shoemaker in Boston. His older brother, Francescantonio, had emigrated in the 1890s and set up the Sarney Shoe Repairing Factory in Newport, Rhode Island. It is interesting to think that my family’s past profession – representing hundreds of years and several locations and traditions – is now just that, a thing of the past. While I may not follow in my ancestors’ professional footsteps, I will say my love for shoes is undeniable. Hey, if the shoe fits! ### Notes To learn more, visit the Honourable Cordwainers’ Company website: [http://www.thehcc.org/](http://www.thehcc.org/) For more on shoemakers in eighteenth-century America, listen to Colonial Williamsburg’s “Past & Present” podcast series: [http://podcast.history.org/2012/03/26/meet-the-shoemaker/](http://podcast.history.org/2012/03/26/meet-the-shoemaker/) [[1]](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/icymi-if-the-shoe-fits#_ftnref1) Honourable Cordwainers’ Company’s website, [http://www.thehcc.org/](http://www.thehcc.org/), accessed 6 May 2015. [[2]](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/icymi-if-the-shoe-fits#_ftnref2) Robert Charles Anderson, *The Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Volume V, M-P* (Boston: NEHGS, 2007), 159. [[3]](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/icymi-if-the-shoe-fits#_ftnref3) William Collins Hatch, *A History of the Town of Industry* (Farmington, Me.: Knowlton, McLeary & Co., 1893), 271. [[4]](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/icymi-if-the-shoe-fits#_ftnref4) [http://www.haverhilltourism.com/history.html](http://www.haverhilltourism.com/history.html), accessed 7 May 2015. ### Share this: - [mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/icymi-if-the-shoe-fits](mailto:?body=https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/icymi-if-the-shoe-fits) - - - More - - ![Ginevra Morse](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/hubfs/Ginevra_Morse_Jan25.jpg) ## About Ginevra Morse Ginevra Morse joined the American Ancestors staff in 2010 as Publications Coordinator, transitioning to the Education team as Online Education Coordinator in 2013. In that role, Ginevra developed the American Ancestors Online Learning Center: an online portal to resources including webinars, online courses, subject guides, and more. In 2014 Ginevra became the Director of Education and Online Programs. Today as Chief Learning & Interpretation Officer she oversees all education programs, including research tours and programs, seminars, workshops, online programs, conferences, group visits, offsite lectures, youth education, and community events. Ginevra previously worked in marketing for an academic, foreign language publisher, where she created webinars and other online learning initiatives for teachers. Ginevra holds a B.A. in anthropology from McGill University in Montréal.[View all posts by Ginevra Morse →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/author/gmorse) [← Road trips](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/road-trips) [Massachusetts towns →](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2016/07/massachusetts-towns) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. ### Recent Posts [Sailor Bill and His Forgotten Wife](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/sailor-bill-and-his-forgotten-wife) [Professor X](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/professor-x) [Part I: Malaga Island, Maine](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/part-i-malaga-island-maine) [The Norwegian folge](https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/the-norwegian-folge) [Research…in a Miniskirt? 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