Occupation: Shipwright, Pioneer Boat builder, Founder of Shousetown
(Son of Heinrich Shouse, who was born about 1754 in Easton, Northampton, Pennsylvania). Grandson of Friedrich Christoph Schauss, born 13 April 1727 in Immesheim or Albisheim, Pfalz, came to America with his family in 1736.
Children: Eliza (1811); Matilda (1813); Margaret (1819); Francis (1826); Martha (1831); and James (1837).
"Shousetown, on the Ohio River at the mouth of Flougherty's Run, was laid out by Peter Shouse by 1837. Born at Easton, Northampton County, Pa., 06 November 1791, baptized in St. John Lutheran Church, 30 January 1792 of German parentage, he removed to the neighborhood of Pittsburgh when a young man. Here he obtained employment at a boat yard and was engaged in the construction of the New Orleans, the first steamboat that ever floated on the Ohio River or traversed the Mississippi from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. He married on 10 January 1810, Miss Ellen C Vandervort, and enlisted for service in the war of 1812. His skill as a mechanic was soon discovered, and he assisted in building the fleet that Commodore Perry led to victory on Lake Erie. On his return he settled at Elizabeth, and continued at his previous occupation in that rapidly growing town. April 2, 1832, he removed to the locality that bears his name, then a farm with a small log house and barn, and inaugurated his career as a boat-builder. The business was continued with uninterrupted success for Mr. Shouse until 1857, when he was succeeded by his brother, Samuel Shouse, and his son-in-law, Ezra Porter, and Nathan Porter, by whom it was continued for some years.
The following are excerpts from an account of Peter and Samuel Shouse written by Ezra P. Young (date of this sketch is not known):
"In Creigh's History of Washington County, page 293, I find reference to a Capt. Shouse of Williamsport (now Monongahela City) having a troop ready to march in the War of 1812. As Mr. Peter Shouse came from Monongahela City, I take it he was a son of the Captain referred to. Peter Shouse, after helping to build the New Orleans at Pittsburgh in 1811, which was the first Steamboat to ply on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, located a boat yard on a 100-acre tract of land on the Ohio River at Flaherties Creek, thirteen miles below Pittsurgh. He bought this land from Michael O'Hara McNamee, who had large holdings of land in this locality. A town was laid out in 1827 called Shousetown and boat building commenced by Mr. Shouse. - he married a Miss Vandervort, daughter of a very worthy early resident of this locality and his daughters were Matilda who Married Capt. J. M. Harris, noted steamboat owner and captain on southern rivers; another daughter married Captain Cadwallader, also of the South; one married Jos. M. Kerr a noted architect of Pittsburgh and Eliza., the eldest daughter became the wife of Ezra Porter, who with his brother Nathan Porter acquired the boat yard and carried it on after Mr. Shouse, in his old days, decided to retire from the business."
/signed/ Ezra P. Young"
(Son of Heinrich Shouse, who was born about 1754 in Easton, Northampton, Pennsylvania). Grandson of Friedrich Christoph Schauss, born 13 April 1727 in Immesheim or Albisheim, Pfalz, came to America with his family in 1736.
Children: Eliza (1811); Matilda (1813); Margaret (1819); Francis (1826); Martha (1831); and James (1837).
"Shousetown, on the Ohio River at the mouth of Flougherty's Run, was laid out by Peter Shouse by 1837. Born at Easton, Northampton County, Pa., 06 November 1791, baptized in St. John Lutheran Church, 30 January 1792 of German parentage, he removed to the neighborhood of Pittsburgh when a young man. Here he obtained employment at a boat yard and was engaged in the construction of the New Orleans, the first steamboat that ever floated on the Ohio River or traversed the Mississippi from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. He married on 10 January 1810, Miss Ellen C Vandervort, and enlisted for service in the war of 1812. His skill as a mechanic was soon discovered, and he assisted in building the fleet that Commodore Perry led to victory on Lake Erie. On his return he settled at Elizabeth, and continued at his previous occupation in that rapidly growing town. April 2, 1832, he removed to the locality that bears his name, then a farm with a small log house and barn, and inaugurated his career as a boat-builder. The business was continued with uninterrupted success for Mr. Shouse until 1857, when he was succeeded by his brother, Samuel Shouse, and his son-in-law, Ezra Porter, and Nathan Porter, by whom it was continued for some years.
The following are excerpts from an account of Peter and Samuel Shouse written by Ezra P. Young (date of this sketch is not known):
"In Creigh's History of Washington County, page 293, I find reference to a Capt. Shouse of Williamsport (now Monongahela City) having a troop ready to march in the War of 1812. As Mr. Peter Shouse came from Monongahela City, I take it he was a son of the Captain referred to. Peter Shouse, after helping to build the New Orleans at Pittsburgh in 1811, which was the first Steamboat to ply on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, located a boat yard on a 100-acre tract of land on the Ohio River at Flaherties Creek, thirteen miles below Pittsurgh. He bought this land from Michael O'Hara McNamee, who had large holdings of land in this locality. A town was laid out in 1827 called Shousetown and boat building commenced by Mr. Shouse. - he married a Miss Vandervort, daughter of a very worthy early resident of this locality and his daughters were Matilda who Married Capt. J. M. Harris, noted steamboat owner and captain on southern rivers; another daughter married Captain Cadwallader, also of the South; one married Jos. M. Kerr a noted architect of Pittsburgh and Eliza., the eldest daughter became the wife of Ezra Porter, who with his brother Nathan Porter acquired the boat yard and carried it on after Mr. Shouse, in his old days, decided to retire from the business."
/signed/ Ezra P. Young"
Occupation: Shipwright, Pioneer Boat builder, Founder of Shousetown
(Son of Heinrich Shouse, who was born about 1754 in Easton, Northampton, Pennsylvania). Grandson of Friedrich Christoph Schauss, born 13 April 1727 in Immesheim or Albisheim, Pfalz, came to America with his family in 1736.
Children: Eliza (1811); Matilda (1813); Margaret (1819); Francis (1826); Martha (1831); and James (1837).
"Shousetown, on the Ohio River at the mouth of Flougherty's Run, was laid out by Peter Shouse by 1837. Born at Easton, Northampton County, Pa., 06 November 1791, baptized in St. John Lutheran Church, 30 January 1792 of German parentage, he removed to the neighborhood of Pittsburgh when a young man. Here he obtained employment at a boat yard and was engaged in the construction of the New Orleans, the first steamboat that ever floated on the Ohio River or traversed the Mississippi from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. He married on 10 January 1810, Miss Ellen C Vandervort, and enlisted for service in the war of 1812. His skill as a mechanic was soon discovered, and he assisted in building the fleet that Commodore Perry led to victory on Lake Erie. On his return he settled at Elizabeth, and continued at his previous occupation in that rapidly growing town. April 2, 1832, he removed to the locality that bears his name, then a farm with a small log house and barn, and inaugurated his career as a boat-builder. The business was continued with uninterrupted success for Mr. Shouse until 1857, when he was succeeded by his brother, Samuel Shouse, and his son-in-law, Ezra Porter, and Nathan Porter, by whom it was continued for some years.
The following are excerpts from an account of Peter and Samuel Shouse written by Ezra P. Young (date of this sketch is not known):
"In Creigh's History of Washington County, page 293, I find reference to a Capt. Shouse of Williamsport (now Monongahela City) having a troop ready to march in the War of 1812. As Mr. Peter Shouse came from Monongahela City, I take it he was a son of the Captain referred to. Peter Shouse, after helping to build the New Orleans at Pittsburgh in 1811, which was the first Steamboat to ply on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, located a boat yard on a 100-acre tract of land on the Ohio River at Flaherties Creek, thirteen miles below Pittsurgh. He bought this land from Michael O'Hara McNamee, who had large holdings of land in this locality. A town was laid out in 1827 called Shousetown and boat building commenced by Mr. Shouse. - he married a Miss Vandervort, daughter of a very worthy early resident of this locality and his daughters were Matilda who Married Capt. J. M. Harris, noted steamboat owner and captain on southern rivers; another daughter married Captain Cadwallader, also of the South; one married Jos. M. Kerr a noted architect of Pittsburgh and Eliza., the eldest daughter became the wife of Ezra Porter, who with his brother Nathan Porter acquired the boat yard and carried it on after Mr. Shouse, in his old days, decided to retire from the business."
/signed/ Ezra P. Young"
(Son of Heinrich Shouse, who was born about 1754 in Easton, Northampton, Pennsylvania). Grandson of Friedrich Christoph Schauss, born 13 April 1727 in Immesheim or Albisheim, Pfalz, came to America with his family in 1736.
Children: Eliza (1811); Matilda (1813); Margaret (1819); Francis (1826); Martha (1831); and James (1837).
"Shousetown, on the Ohio River at the mouth of Flougherty's Run, was laid out by Peter Shouse by 1837. Born at Easton, Northampton County, Pa., 06 November 1791, baptized in St. John Lutheran Church, 30 January 1792 of German parentage, he removed to the neighborhood of Pittsburgh when a young man. Here he obtained employment at a boat yard and was engaged in the construction of the New Orleans, the first steamboat that ever floated on the Ohio River or traversed the Mississippi from Pittsburgh to New Orleans. He married on 10 January 1810, Miss Ellen C Vandervort, and enlisted for service in the war of 1812. His skill as a mechanic was soon discovered, and he assisted in building the fleet that Commodore Perry led to victory on Lake Erie. On his return he settled at Elizabeth, and continued at his previous occupation in that rapidly growing town. April 2, 1832, he removed to the locality that bears his name, then a farm with a small log house and barn, and inaugurated his career as a boat-builder. The business was continued with uninterrupted success for Mr. Shouse until 1857, when he was succeeded by his brother, Samuel Shouse, and his son-in-law, Ezra Porter, and Nathan Porter, by whom it was continued for some years.
The following are excerpts from an account of Peter and Samuel Shouse written by Ezra P. Young (date of this sketch is not known):
"In Creigh's History of Washington County, page 293, I find reference to a Capt. Shouse of Williamsport (now Monongahela City) having a troop ready to march in the War of 1812. As Mr. Peter Shouse came from Monongahela City, I take it he was a son of the Captain referred to. Peter Shouse, after helping to build the New Orleans at Pittsburgh in 1811, which was the first Steamboat to ply on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, located a boat yard on a 100-acre tract of land on the Ohio River at Flaherties Creek, thirteen miles below Pittsurgh. He bought this land from Michael O'Hara McNamee, who had large holdings of land in this locality. A town was laid out in 1827 called Shousetown and boat building commenced by Mr. Shouse. - he married a Miss Vandervort, daughter of a very worthy early resident of this locality and his daughters were Matilda who Married Capt. J. M. Harris, noted steamboat owner and captain on southern rivers; another daughter married Captain Cadwallader, also of the South; one married Jos. M. Kerr a noted architect of Pittsburgh and Eliza., the eldest daughter became the wife of Ezra Porter, who with his brother Nathan Porter acquired the boat yard and carried it on after Mr. Shouse, in his old days, decided to retire from the business."
/signed/ Ezra P. Young"
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