The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-10-31
CONFEDERATE SHOE FACTORY.
TIE WORKMEN WERE KEPT Busy
BETWEEN MAKING SHOES AND
NIGIrLNG An rIIE EnnNn

TIE WoRKMEN WERE KEPT Busy
BETWEEN MAKING SHOES AND
FIGHTING AT TIE FRONT.
Augusta Chronicle.
One of the sights for the Confederate
veterans TO view when they come to
Augusta next month is the Lowrey
wagon works building. This old build
ing has a much greater history than
the thousands of people, who pass it
daily would ever suppose. The build
ing is well known from its present use,
but i'll the great crowds that will come !
to the reunion there may be a few
who will take more than a passing in
tcrcst III this building. Some of them
may recall the comforts gwen by n
new pair Of well made shoes during
the latter days of the C%onfcderacy and
would look with a sympathetic feeling
even on the building where these
sources of pedal comfort were manu-
fdctulcd. The Lewrey shops were to-.
wards the end of the wal a boot, shoe
and harness factory of the Confederate
| government and remained so until the
fortunes of battle had decided that
there was no longer a Confederate gov
eminent.
by a strange coincidence not only Is
this building here to be viewed by the
veterans, but in its very SHADOW IS one
OF the forcmcn of the institution, Mr..
John Rae, still an able and skillful
mechanic, plying his business of shoe
making every day of his life and max
ing the youngest members of the trade
hustle to keep even with the work that
is turned out by his nimblc fingers.
Yesterday q reporter for The Chroni-
Gle called on Mt. Rae at his shop on
Campbell street and asked him for
some information concerning the old
wartime shoe factory. The old gen
tlcman rose from his bench and q
smile, indicative of pleasant memories,
came over his face as he began to tell
the tale
eyes," said he, "the Lowrey build
ing right across the street there was
the last boot, shoe and harness factory
of the Confederacy and a good one it
was, l tell you. We had all sorts Of
machinery for manufacturing shoes,
the best obtainable at that time, and |
would put Il product against any
turned out L., the factories Of the day.
Our cheapest shoes were all leather
and mono of the shoddy stuff of today
that meets with a wcltlng. Every
man IN the building, except the super
intendent, was a good cobblcr and
strange to say the superintendent was
a Cumberland Presbyterian minister,
DR.. A. G.. Beard, who ranked as a
major. DIR. Beard knew nothing about
a shoe when he started in on his posi-,
ton, but Il more successful one V
managed a shop. He was one of those
fine fellows, who want to learn and do
well and he did.
"But to go back TO the establish
ment of the shoe factory. The ma
chinery was originally in Atlanta,
where the factory was located. 1t was
established there by General Johnston
and a Major Cunningham was in
charge. During 1868, when Atlanta
was beginning to be a pretty warm
centre, the factory was moved to
Augusta, into the same building now
occupied by Mr.. Lowrcy.
There were never less than $50
men occupied in the building and fire.
qucntly as high as 300. All of them
were enlisted soldiers and detached to
this duty on account of having been at
some time or other connected with
leather working business. Many of
them were splendid shoe makers.
There were two shoe departments. one
Tor boots for the officers and the other
for the ordinary shoes for the men i'm
the ranks. | was directly in charge Of
the boot department: and it would be a
treat for you to sec the grand patent
leather boots we made. Only the best
workmen were in the boot department,
because the officers would put up with
nothing but the best. There were
about thirty skilled workmen making
boots and they turned out from Il to
IA pairs Il day. In the line of ordinary
shoes the output ranged from 600 to
500 pairs a day. They were not fancy
shoes, but were all leather and more
durable than the footgcar furnished to
soldiers nowadays.
&" We did not work steadily toward
the end of the war, as there was too
much fighting to be done. We would
be working hard at our trade when an
order would come that this or that
general needed rcinforcements. Down
would go the factory, avis would be
substituted with guns and away we
would go to the front. We took part
in fights about Charleston, at Lovcioys
neal Macon, Savannah and Pocataligo.
After each of these brushes we would
be sent back to the factory and make
a few shoes in the meantime. Be-
tween fighting and shoe making we
had a pretty busy time of it during the