52. James⁵ Shoecraft (Matthew Sammon⁶, Jacob⁷, Johan Peter⁸ Zugraft) was born in N. Boyleston, Oswego, NY 14 AUG 1835. James died 25 JAN 1904 in Ellisburg, Jefferson, NY, at 68 years of age.

He married Ellen A. Ouderkirk in N. Boyleston, Oswego, NY, 1862.

James Shoecraft and Ellen A. Ouderkirk had the following children:

53 i. George Byron⁴ Shoecraft was born in Ellisburg, Jefferson, NY 1863. George died 12 DEC 1937 in Sloansville, Schoharie, NY, at 74 years of age. He married Emma J.

54 ii. Hattie Shoecraft was born in Ellisburg, Jefferson, NY 1864. Hattie died before 1870 in Ellisburg, Jefferson, NY.

55 iii. Amelia Lettie Shoecraft was born in Ellisburg, Jefferson, NY 1868. She married William Douglas.

+ 19 iv. Willis Albert Shoecraft was born 1870.

56 v. Frederick Irvine Shoecraft was born in Ellisburg, Jefferson, NY 31 JAN 1877. Frederick died 8 MAY 1926 in Prescott, Grenville, Ontario, CAN, at 49 years of age. He married twice. He married Mary Louisa Knight in Bowmanville, Ontario, CAN, 18 OCT 1905. Mary was born in Newcastle, Durham, Ontario, CAN 3 NOV 1889. Mary was the daughter of William Knight and Angeline Trimm. He married Esther Perrin in Prescott, Grenville, Ontario, CAN, 1922. From Pat Smith:         Here is what was reported on Fred's Attestation Paper, exactly as written: Name -Fred Shoecraft; Present address & place of birth -Coldwater, Ontario; next-of-kin -Joe Orton of Coldwater, a friend; D.O.B. -31 January 1877; Trade -Teamster; religion -Methodist; Not married;  said he was a member of the Active Militia. Regimental # 644030; enlisted 31 January 1916 -service dating from December 4, 1915 in the 157th Battalion. This was a local militia regiment, now called the Grey & Simcoe Foresters, which did not fight as a unit in the First War.         Text of hand-written will: "Pvt. Fred Shoecraft, 20th Battalion, C.E.F. in the event of my death I give the Whole of my Property and effects to my niece, Mrs. R. A. Stuart (Stewart), Coldwater, Ontario, Canada. August 29, 1916". Interestingly enough, this lady is buried in the cemetery at Coldwater. Have no idea who she is, or how she is connected!         Description: 5 feet 8 inches tall; 168 pounds; ruddy complexion; grey eyes; dark brown hair; chest  40 inches, 3 inch expansion; part of right index finger missing, also deformity of left thumb from axe cut. My suspicion is that Fred likely worked for the Georgian Bay Lumber Company, which was based in Coldwater.         Fred sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia to England on April 23, 1916 aboard the "Empress of Britain". At this time, he was transferred to the 76th Batt'n. This ship was a famous ocean liner owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway, which had been converted to a troop ship. Curiously, there are no details at all in his file that mention any training. However, most soldiers went either to Niagara, Ontario or else to Valcartier, Quebec for basic training. As you can gather from the two dates, his military training must have been pretty "quick & dirty"!         Fred appeared to have had dental problems soon after landing in England. There are several instances in his file. He was then transferred to the 20th Batt'n on June 29, 1916 and sent to France. At this point, Mike, I have to leave Fred's file in order to consult my Canadian Army sources.         20th Batt'n was part of the 2nd Division, 4th Brigade, 1st Canadian Corps. Earlier, you had mentioned the Princess Pats Regiment. Actually, they were part of the 3rd Division, 7th Brigade. Their first engagement was at the Battle of Courcelette on 15 Sep't 1916. This action was part of the infamous Battle of the Somme which began July 1, 1916, and was a blood bath! Courcelette is not a well-known action (like many other Canadian achievements), but it was the first time in history that troops had attacked enemy trenches with tank support, and behind a "creeping" artillery barrage. It was a good start, and the lads did very well in their first action. Fred's Brigade later participated in three more attacks on Regina Trench on November 11, 1916, then stayed in the line for another 6 weeks. Fred was down with scabies during the last week of October, but not much else mentioned.         In early December 1916, Fred caught pneumonia from living outdoors on the Somme battle field. He was evacuated to a field hospital near Boulogne, France with a temperature of 104.5. Stayed there for 3 weeks, then sent to a hospital at Epsom in England. He was then a patient at several English hospitals, before being sent back to Canada from Liverpool sailing on Sep't 12, 1917. Upon arrival back in Canada, he was sent to a military hospital in Whitby, Ontario -October 2, 1917. He was discharged from the Army to a convalescent hospital in Toronto, December 31, 1917. Most of his pay was sent to  "Box 583, Omadaga Co., East Syracuse, N.Y., U.S.A."         Fred then went before a pension board, and apparently received a 20% pension for chronic bronchitis and emphysema. It was also stated that he had an enlarged heart. A short note in his file mentions that his medals were later sent to Mrs. Esther Shoecraft in Prescott, Ontario whom he had married after his discharge from the Army. I believe one of my daughter's uncles now has Fred's medals. There are two medals -the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. Fred's name and number are engraved around the edge of each medal. I've seen them many times in the past.         And that's about the whole story in a nutshell! British & Canadian military records are frustrating to try and analyze, and believe me, I've looked at many records over the years. Lots and lots of medical and disciplinary information, and almost nothing stated about battles, campaigns or personal actions.        

Send email to preparer: mikeshoe@netzero.net

Return to Table of Contents or Index

Go to Next Page

Go to Previous Page