Lazarus Denison Shoemaker

Lazarus Denison Shoemaker (November 5, 1819 – September 11, 1893), also known as L.D. Shoemaker, was an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district from 1871 to 1875. His congressional service spanned two terms during the Reconstruction era, a significant period in American history, during which he participated in the legislative process and represented the interests of his constituents in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Shoemaker was born on November 5, 1819, in Kingston, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. He was raised in the Wyoming Valley, a region with a strong tradition of civic engagement and public service that would shape his later career. Details of his early family life are sparse in the historical record, but his subsequent educational and professional pursuits reflect the opportunities available to a young man of ambition in early nineteenth-century Pennsylvania.

Shoemaker pursued a formal education and studied law, preparing for a professional career at a time when the legal profession was a common pathway into public life. After completing his legal studies, he was admitted to the bar and commenced the practice of law in Luzerne County. Establishing himself as an attorney in the Kingston and Wilkes-Barre area, he became part of the region’s legal and civic leadership, gaining the experience and local prominence that would support his entry into politics.

By the late 1860s, Shoemaker had aligned himself with the Republican Party, which had emerged as the dominant political force in Pennsylvania in the aftermath of the Civil War. Drawing on his legal background and local reputation, he sought federal office and was elected as a Republican to the U.S. House of Representatives. He represented Pennsylvania’s 12th congressional district in the Forty-second Congress, beginning his service on March 4, 1871, at a time when Congress was grappling with issues of Reconstruction, civil rights, and the reintegration of the former Confederate states into the Union.

Shoemaker was reelected and served in the Forty-third Congress, continuing in office until March 3, 1875. Over the course of his two terms, he contributed to the legislative work of the House as a member of the Republican majority, participating in debates and votes that shaped national policy during a critical phase of Reconstruction. As a representative of a district centered in Luzerne County, he was responsible for advancing the concerns of his constituents, including matters related to the region’s developing industries, transportation, and postwar economic adjustment, while supporting the broader Republican program in Congress.

After leaving Congress in 1875, Shoemaker returned to Pennsylvania and resumed the practice of law. He remained a respected figure in his community, his congressional service adding to a long record of professional activity in the legal field. Although he did not again hold national office, his experience in Washington and his continued engagement in local affairs sustained his influence in the political and civic life of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Lazarus Denison Shoemaker died on September 11, 1893, in Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. He was interred in Forty Fort Cemetery in nearby Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, a burial place for many of the region’s prominent citizens. His career as a lawyer and two-term Republican member of Congress reflected the trajectory of a nineteenth-century Pennsylvania professional who rose from local practice to national office during one of the most consequential periods in American political history.