African American Shoe Makers and Repairers - Danville, KY

In Danville, Boyle County, Kentucky, there were at least nine African American shoemakers when the census was taken in 1880. Though nine was a small number, the African American shoemakers were the majority of the 14 or so shoemakers in the city. There may have also been African American shoe shiners, but they are not noted as such in the census records; shoe shinning was often a secondary job that did not get listed in the census records. The making of shoes as a business by African Americans in Danville, KY, was documented a little earlier than in many other Kentucky towns due to shoemaker Reuben Cowan being a free man in 1860. His wife and children are listed as free persons in the 1850 U.S. Census, and they were among the 13 or more free African Americans in Danville with the last name Cowan. There were also 48 slaves in Danville owned by Elisabeth Cowan, Mary Cowan, and Henry Cowan. It is not known at this time if Reuben Cowan was among the 48 slaves own by the Cowans; his name does not appear in the census until 1860. In the next census, 1870, when African Americans in Danville were free, three of them were shoemakers with the last name Cowan; there was Reuben and his two sons, Edward and Stephen Cowan, and Timothy Masterson, Sr. When the next census was taken in 1880, the Cowan shoemakers were not among those counted in Danville; Reuben and Stephen Cowan had moved to Louisville, KY, along with shoemaker Allen Cowan who may have been a relative or he may have only carried the same last name. Allen Cowan was not in the business very long in Louisville, he died of consumption in the fall of 1880. Sometime after the year 1880, Timothy Masterson, Sr. would also take his shoemaking business to Louisville. By 1910, there were few African American shoemakers left in Danville, KY, and among them were Addison C. Jenkins and his father Joshua Jenkins, and Simeon Thomas. Of note is Joshua Jenkins who made a living making and repairing shoes in Danville, KY longer than any other African American. Just prior to Joshua Jenkins death in 1931, African American Charles Scott was also a shoemaker in Danville. By 1945, Silas T. Vivion was the sole African American shoe repairer noted in the business section of the Danville city directory. Below are the names of African American shoemakers and shoe repairers in Danville, KY, from 1860-1945.