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THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY 
MEMOIR  OF  ROBERT  SHOEMAKER. 
Robert  Shoemaker  deceased  on  the  17th  day  of  December,  1896, 
at  his  residence,  1736  Green  Street,  in  this  city,  at  the  age  of  80  years. 
Notwithstanding  the  bodily  infirmities  which  attend  advanced 
age,  he  continued  his  attention  to  business  until  November,  when 
serious  illness  obliged  him  to  retire.  He  was  the  oldest  druggist  in 
Philadelphia  who  continued  actively  in  business  up  to  the  time  of 
his  decease. 
The  ancestors  of  Robert  Shoemaker  came  from  Kriegsheim,a  vil- 
lage on  the  right  bank  of  the  Rhine,  about  eight  miles  from  the 
town  of  Worms.  The  family  name  was  Schumacher,  anglicized  to 
Shoemaker  after  their  arrival  in  America. 
In  1677  William  Penn  visited  Kriegsheim,  attracted  by  the  relig- 
ous  persecution  of  Dissenters,  whose  religious  views  were  somewhat 
in  accord  with  those  of  the  Friends,  or  Quakers  as  they  were  then 
called. 
Penn  tendered  to  them  an  invitation  to  join  his  colony  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  1683  a  part  of  the  family  emigrated,  and  were  followed 
by  others  in  the  next  three  years.  They  settled  near  Philadelphia, 
in  the  locality  known  as  Germantown,  and  their  names  are  associated 
with  the  early  history  of  Germantown  and  the  adjacent  districts. 
Robert  Shoemaker  was  the  son  of  Richard  M.  and  Sarah  Shoe- 
maker. His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Sarah  Clever.  He  was 
born  in  Shoemakertown,  Montgomery  County,  Pa.,  February  2, 
1 8 17  ;  his  father  conducted  a  country  store  at  that  place.  His  early 
education  was  acquired  at  Abington  school,  and  at  the  school  of 
Solomon  Jones,  in  Cheltenham  township. 
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