Allen Charles Gosnell: Shoemaker and Public Servant in Lawrenceville

Allen Charles Gosnell was born in 1822 in Ohio. Three of his daughters married Ruddy brothers in Vincennes.  When the 1870 census was taken Allen was a shoemaker in Lawrenceville, Lawrence County Illinois. In the 1878 Rural Republican, A C Gosnell advertised that he was a shoe and boot maker and repaired harness.

In the late nineteenth century, a boot and shoemaker held a practical and highly visible place in a small town. Before ready-made shoes were widely available to everyone, townspeople depended on local shoemakers not only for new boots and shoes, but also for repairs to soles, heels, stitching, and sometimes other leather goods such as harness. Because nearly every family needed this service, Allen’s shop would have brought him into contact with much of Lawrenceville. Customers came in repeatedly, stayed long enough to talk, and shared news about families, business, crops, politics, and local concerns. In that way, a shoemaker’s shop could become an informal gathering place as well as a business. This daily contact would have made Allen widely known and helped him build trust with residents.

In 1878, he ran for coroner, and in 1880 he was a constable of Lawrenceville. His work as a boot and shoemaker likely gave him an important advantage in those public roles, because many voters would have known him personally through his trade rather than only by reputation.