Biography
Henry Wharton Shoemaker was a prominent American folklorist, historian, diplomat, writer, publisher, banker, broker, antiquarian, and conservationist.
“Imagine a life that includes safaris to Africa, climbs to the world’s highest peaks, time on the front lines of war, and audiences with European royalty. Envision huge fortunes gained and lost. Think about efforts going into bringing lions, wolves, elk and other wild game into a private forest reserve stretching for 4,000 acres. From there you help initiate and name a vast system of state forests, parks, camps, and trails. Amass barns full of museum-quality remnants of pioneer life – wagons, canoes, spinning wheels, guns, and much, much more. While you’re at it, write more than 200 books and pamphlets, address thousands of groups, prepare a daily column, and manage four newspapers……….. If you can imagine all that, you have an idea of the enormity of Henry Shoemaker’s life.”
- Bronner, Simon J. 1996. Popularizing Pennsylvania – Henry W. Shoemaker and the Progressive Uses of Folklore and History. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State Press.
Known to his family as "Unc", and to his wife Mabel, or Tia, as "Harry", most people simply referred to him as "Colonel" or "the Colonel".
Born in New York City, died in Williamsport, PA, and buried in Lock Haven, Clinton County, PA, near McElhattan and his beloved home, "Restless Oaks".
“Imagine a life that includes safaris to Africa, climbs to the world’s highest peaks, time on the front lines of war, and audiences with European royalty. Envision huge fortunes gained and lost. Think about efforts going into bringing lions, wolves, elk and other wild game into a private forest reserve stretching for 4,000 acres. From there you help initiate and name a vast system of state forests, parks, camps, and trails. Amass barns full of museum-quality remnants of pioneer life – wagons, canoes, spinning wheels, guns, and much, much more. While you’re at it, write more than 200 books and pamphlets, address thousands of groups, prepare a daily column, and manage four newspapers……….. If you can imagine all that, you have an idea of the enormity of Henry Shoemaker’s life.”
- Bronner, Simon J. 1996. Popularizing Pennsylvania – Henry W. Shoemaker and the Progressive Uses of Folklore and History. University Park, Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State Press.
Known to his family as "Unc", and to his wife Mabel, or Tia, as "Harry", most people simply referred to him as "Colonel" or "the Colonel".
Born in New York City, died in Williamsport, PA, and buried in Lock Haven, Clinton County, PA, near McElhattan and his beloved home, "Restless Oaks".
Books by Henry W. Shoemaker
Last of the War Governors; a B
Last of the War Governors; a Biographical Appreciation of Colonel William Sprague
Penn's Cave
Penn's Cave
Tales of the Bald Eagle Mountainsin Central Pennsylvania
More Pennsylvania Mountain Stories
Pennsylvania Bison Hunt; Being
Pennsylvania Bison Hunt; Being the Results of an Investigation into the Causes and Period of the Destruction of These Noble Beasts in the Keystone State, Obtained from Descendants of the Original Hunters. Including a Sketch of the Career of Daniel Ott
Philosophy of Jake Haiden Sel
Philosophy of Jake Haiden Selected from the Columns of the Reading Times, Reading, Pennsylvania
Allegheny Episodes; Folk Lore and Legends Collected in Northern and Western Pennsylvania
Black Moose in Pennsylvania
Black Moose in Pennsylvania
Eldorado Found, the Central Pe
Eldorado Found, the Central Pennsylvania Highlands; a Tourist's Survey
Penn's Grandest Cavern
Pennsylvania Wild Cats
South Mountain Sketches; Folk Tales and Legends Collected in the Mountains of Southern Pennsylvania
Stories of Great Pennsylvania Hunters
The Black Moose in Pennsylvania
The Last of the War Governors
The Last of the war Governors; a Biographical Appreciation of Colonel William Sprague
Wild Life in Western Pennsylvania
Wolf Days in Pennsylvania
Wolf Days in Pennsylvania
Black forest souvenirs
Eldorado Found
Juniata memories
North Pennsylvania Minstrelsy
Black Forest Souvenirs Collect
Black Forest Souvenirs Collected in Pennsylvania
A Catalogue of Early Pennsylvania and Other Firearms and Edged Weapons at ''Restless Oaks''
The panther of the North Woods
The panther of the North Woods
The Panther of the Northwoods
The Panther of the Northwoods
The Pennsylvania deer and thei
The Pennsylvania deer and their horns
Black Forest souvenirs collected in northern Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Indian folk-songs
Pennsylvania Indian folk-songs
Western Pennsylvania Indian fo
Western Pennsylvania Indian folk lore
The music and musical instrume
The music and musical instruments of the Pennsylvania Mountaineers
Mountain minstrelsy of Pennsyl
Mountain minstrelsy of Pennsylvania
Some stories of old deserted h
Some stories of old deserted houses in the central Pennsylvania mountains
Thirteen hundred old time word
Thirteen hundred old time words of British, continental or aboriginal origins, still or recently in use among the Pennsylvania mountain people ...
Two Pennsylvania mountain lege
Two Pennsylvania mountain legends
A catalogue of early Pennsylva
A catalogue of early Pennsylvania and other firearms and edged weapons
Indian folk-songs of Pennsylvania
In Penn's woods
In Penn's woods
Pennsylvania German and Huguen
Pennsylvania German and Huguenot antiques
The tree language of the Penns
The tree language of the Pennsylvania German Gypsies
Gipsies and gipsy lore in the
Gipsies and gipsy lore in the Pennsylvania mountains
More Allegheny episodes
North Pennsylvania minstrelsy
North Pennsylvania minstrelsy as sung in the backwood settlements, hunting cabins and lumber camps in northern Pennsylvania, 1840-1923
North Pennsylvania minstrelsy
North Pennsylvania minstrelsy as sung in the backwoods settlements, hunting cabins and lumber camps in the "Black Forest" of Pennsylvania, 1840-1923
The Cumberland Valley and the
The Cumberland Valley and the Highland regiments
The West Branch and the Consti
The West Branch and the Constitution
Allegheny Episodes
F øe øl øi øs ø c øa øt øu øs ø in Pennsylvania?
Some forgotten Pennsylvania heroines
The importance of marking historic spots
The man Pinchot
The Black bear of Pennsylvania
A tour in Huguenot countries
A tour in Huguenot countries
North Mountain mementos
Proceedings of dedication ceremonies, placing names of Wayne township soldiers of world war, 1917-1918, on monument at McElhattan, Clinton County, Pa., July 5, 1920. Ed. by Henry W. Shoemaker
South Mountain sketches
The Pennsylvania forest problem
Eldorado found, the central Pennsylvania highlands
Extinct Pennsylvania animals
Early potters of Clinton Count
Early potters of Clinton County
A Pennsylvania bison hunt
Captain Logan, Blair County's Indian chief
Pennsylvania deer and their horns
A Week in the Blue Mountains
Pennsylvania Lion or Panther a
Pennsylvania Lion or Panther and Felis Catus in Pennsylvania?
In The Seven Mountains
Susquehanna legends
Susquehanna legends; collected in Central Pennsylvania
Elizabethan days
The Indian steps
Pennsylvania mountain stories
Wildlife in Western Pennsylvania
A forgotten people--The Pennsy
A forgotten people--The Pennsylvania mountaineers
Immaterial verses
Immaterial verses