I TAKE this Method to acquaint the Publick, and my Customers in particular, that Mess. _James Campbell_ and Company have resigned the SHOE FACTORY in Favour of me, by which Means I carry on double the Trade I did formerly. Gentlemen who may please to favour me with their Orders for Negro Shoes, or others, are desired to send them soon, that I may be capable of supplying them better than it was in my Power last Fall, on Account of the Scarcity of Leather. Ladies and Gentlemen may depend on being supplied with as neat Shoes, either Leather or Calimanco, as any from _London_; as I have on Hand _London_, _Philadelphia_, and _New York_ Calf Skins, red, green, and blue _Morocco_ Leather, Calimancoes of all Colours, and of the best Kinds. Those who choose to favour him with their Custom shall be served on reasonable Terms, by applying to him at the Sign of the _Boot_ and _Shoe_ in _Norfolk_. JOHN WILSON Just five months later, announcing his death, the _Gazette_ described John Wilson as a tradesman of “Credit and Reputation in Norfork, whose Industry, Integrity, and whole Deportment, were truly exemplary.” Shortly thereafter the same paper carried the notice that Wilson’s estate would be auctioned and that “The Shoemaker’s Business, in all its Branches, is carried on by George Wilson, Junior, and Company.” The “Company” here seems to have been John’s widow, for the next advertisement to appear in the _Gazette_ disclosed that her partnership with George Wilson having been dissolved, Mary Wilson “still carries on the Shoemaking Business, in all its Branches.” She was one of innumerable colonial widows whom fate threw into the awkward position of being master craftsmen, at least until they found another man to take over the shop—and very often the household, too. [Illustration: _Cordonnier et Bottier_ _A shoemaker’s shop and an assortment of his most important tools. Note the rows of lasts on the wall and the customer whose foot is being measured with a size stick, also shown as fig. 14._ Diderot.] George Wilson promptly turned up in Williamsburg, announcing to the public that he had just imported a “choice Cargo of the best sorts of English LEATHER for all Manner of Mens Shoes and Pumps, and excellent LONDON DRAW-LEGS for BOOTS.” Underscoring the ambitious size of the business he hoped to establish, he again signed himself “George Wilson & Co.,” and appended a notice that “Two or three JOURNEYMEN SHOEMAKERS, who understand making BOOTS and Mens WOOD HEELS, will meet with good encouragement by applying immediately to me, next Door to Mr. Greenhow’s Store in _Williamsburg_.”