Artifact Name: Shoemaking Equipment
Creator/Manufacturer: Unknown (various?)
Location: Lindemann family farm, Humboldt, Iowa
Material(s): Wood, steel
Photographer: Denise Ann Lindemann
Provenance: Conrad Lindemann (1858-1882) → Michael Lindemann (1860-1951) → Carl Michael Lindemann (1898-1991) → Marvin Gene Lindemann (1934-2017) → Denise Ann Lindemann
Time Period: 1870-1882
DESCRIPTION: This shoemaking set was owned by Conrad Lindemann (1858-1882), son of Dietrich Lindemann Jr. and Anna Katharina née Körzell. Conrad was born in the village of Machtlos in Hesse. After the death of both his parents in the 1860s, Conrad and his siblings were taken in by their uncle and aunt, Friedrich and Alwine Körzell, in the city of Essen. He apprenticed as a shoemaker from a young age. Conrad and his brother, Michael Lindemann, along with some other relatives, were due to emigrate to America in 1883, but Conrad died in the Huyssens-Stiftung hospital in Essen in February of 1882 before he could emigrate. Michael took the equipment to America in honor of his brother’s memory. The equipment is contained in a wooden chest and includes various tools and apparatuses (saw, mallet, pliers, cast iron shoe stand and shoe molds, etc.). This set is currently kept at the Lindemann farm, just outside of Humboldt, Iowa.