Wartime Home Industry
Longview, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
At this site, 1861-65, settler Joseph M. sparkman manufactured shoes for the Confederate Army. A victim of arthritis, he lay on his cot and ran the shop, while "Uncle Ben," a skilled slave shoemaker who had come with him from Georgia, supervised and taught young boys and old men who made the shoes. Both Joseph M. Sparkman and "Uncle Ben" are buried in the family plot on the estate, near here. Their work during the Civil War typifies the gallant spirit of volunteers who mined salt, made cloth and clothing, hunted the woods for medicinal herbs.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On this site from 1861 to 1865, settler Joseph M. Sparkman ran a shop making shoes for the Confederate Army, directing the work from his cot because arthritis had left him unable to stand. The actual shoemaking was supervised and taught by "Uncle Ben," an enslaved craftsman who had come with him from Georgia and who trained the boys and old men left behind by the war. Both men are buried in the family plot nearby.
Why it matters
It captures the Confederate home-front economy that depended heavily on enslaved skilled labor, and quietly names an enslaved craftsman whose expertise, not his enslaver's, made the work possible.
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Related people
- · Joseph M. Sparkman
- · "Uncle Ben"
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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