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From "The Mills of Walpole and Rainham" by Ross Makey
The Shoup Steam Mill
..... Christian, was born in 1803. Christian, in turn, was blessed with a family that included two daughters and five sons. Christian at some point came to the realization that his children would have more opportunity to prosper up in the less populated townships to the west. It was perhaps at the local grist mill, or maybe it was after services in the local Mennonite church that Christian heard of a piece of land for sale up in Walpole township. The 200 acre lot was still unimproved and it had been owned since 1802 by a local man, recently deceased, named Christian Vinecke. (Vinecke's daughter Fanny, incidently, had married into the Hoover family at Selkirk). The 200 acre lot was near what is now the hamlet of Springvale. Christian Shoup bought it for what seems like a fire sale price of only 50 pounds. The date was March 5th, 1845. The Christian Shoup family came to Walpole exactly half a century after old Martin Shoup had first set foot on Canadian soil at Niagara in 1797.
Two years later in 1847 Christian spent another 50 pounds and bought the northwest quarter of lot 10. This plot was 50 acres and it adjoined Christian's original purchase. This "fifty" had a good water supply and it was to become the site of the main farmstead. In 1853 the "50" just east of the farmstead became available and Christian bought it, too. The Shoups were hard working and industrious people. Within a decade they managed to transfer a bush lot into a prosperous working farm. As the years passed, in fact, as the Shoup sons grew up and set up places of their own, the original block of land became several working farms. The land record books for this area show many other land transactions over the years involving the Shoups.
Christian and Abigail Shoup's five sons and two daughters were all born in Willoughby township. In the year 1856 Christian Jr. was 28, John was 25, Elias was 19, Martin was 17, and Levi (the baby of the family) was 14. The daughters, both of them being older than the boys, were married and gone from the family home. Eva, 36, had married Henry Winger. Elizabeth, 32, was married to Abraham Winger. Abraham had come to Rainham Township with three of his brothers in the 1840s. About 1850 he moved to Walpole. In the year 1852 Abraham Winger bought the sawmill at Concession 14, Lot 7 from Dunham Hazelton.
In 1855 Abraham was able to buy the 200 acres across the road from his sawmill. This was Concession 14, Lot 6. Abraham must have preferred farming to sawing because in 1856 he decided to sell the mill. Christian Shoup, his father-in-law, had five sons and wanted to keep them all busy. Christian decided to buy the mill. He mortgaged his farm to the tune of 250 pounds to make the purchase and the Shoup sons found themselves to be officially in the sawmill business.
Elias Shoup seems to have been the one who did most of the operating at the Lot 7 sawmill. When Elias decided to strike off on his own in 1869 Christian sold the place to the Woltz Brothers who continued to run it for many years. Elias tried farming for a short while, then he became a sawyer at J. M. Porter's mill in Hagersville. Like so many other workers that followed the lumber trade he eventually went to Michigan.
1861 Census
Dwelling No. 1 Frame House
Christian Shoup, Farmer, Born in Canada West, Mennonist, 58
Abigail Shoup, Wife
Levi Shoup, Laborer, Age 18
Michael Effinger, Laborer, 39, Born in Germany
Charles ?, Laborer, 45, Born in Germany
Barbery Berwick, 14, Born in Germany
Dwelling No. 2 Log House
Martin Shoup, Laborer, Lutheran, Born Canada West, 23
Mary, Wife, 23
Dwelling No. 3 Log House
Christian Haberly, Laborer, Born in Germany, Lutheran, age 57
Edith Haberly, Wife, 52
Michael 19
Charles 16
Anna 12
Dwelling No. 4 Frame House
Elias Shoup, Laborer, Born Canada West, Age 25
Rebecca, Wife, 24
Elias Barnhart, Laborer, 18
John Barnhart 6
As the years went by Christian Jr. and John drifted off to start new lives in Norfolk County. Martin went to Oxford County. This eventually left only "Old" Christian and Levi at home. Levi, like his father, was a virtual whirlwind of activity and a very progressive thinker. And it probably didn't hurt that he had the financial backing of his father. Levi bought a new steam engine and a portable sawmill. Then he built a grist mill, also run by steam. He had a Cheese factory and he built a butchery. To quote a man who knew him personally, "He was into everything."
Levi was a very successful and respected man but, unlike his father, he was never the patriarch of a large family of sons. Levi had only two sons and one of them, Reuben, died young. The Shoup homestead was later taken over by Levi's other son William. It remains in the family to this day, in fact, it is currently occupied by Mrs. Fred Olds who is a direct Shoup descendant. Her late husband Fred was kind enough one day to guide me to a large granite mill stone that is lying near the old farmhouse. It is the last visible remnant of the glory days around the Shoup mills.
From "Memoirs Garden" by Annie (Shoup) Brewe, a passage written by Rev. Willis William Shoup
Before writing Grandfather's life, it might be stated that two brothers of his grandfather came from Pennsylvania to Canada at the same time that Christian Shoup came. They remained only a short time, and then returned to Pennsylvania. One remained in that state, Elias by name, while the other went west to, I think, Missouri, and eventually became the founder of a Community Sect. Grandfather visited this colony in all and was well pleased with their sincerity and thrift.
From Early Churches In The Niagara Peninsula
By Banns, Christian Shoup of the Township of Willoughby and Abigail Bernhart of the Township of Bertie married in Stamford the 20th day of March 1823
Christel Shoap is on the 1828 Census of Bertie with 2 females under 16 and 1 female over 16, total of 4 in the household.
Christian Shoup purchased Lot 9, Concession 13, Walpole Township from the estate of Christian Vinecke in 1845
Lot 9, Concession 13, Walpole
1802 Crown Patent to Christian Vinecke (His children are Christian Jr., Fanny wife of Henry Hoover and Anna wife of Samuel Hoover.)
1845 Christian Vinecke Jr. Heir of Christian Vinecke Sr. Quit Claims to Christian Shoup
1845 Henry Hoover and wife Fanny, Samuel Hoover (his wife Anna died in 1837) and Jesse Hoover (Jesse Hoover born 1820 was Samuel and Anna's eldest son) Quit Claim also to Christian Shoup.
Lot 2, Concession 15, Walpole
1847 David Beasley to Christian Shoup. 200 acres. No price was given.
1847 Christian Shoup to Jacob Shoup. West half. 100 acres. Again no price given.
1849 Jacob sold to Jonathan Beam. Price 100 pounds. Beam was there until 1858.
1855 Christian Shoup sold the east half to Peter Winger for 200 pounds.
1852 Census of Walpole Township, Haldimand County, Ontario are;
Shoup, Christian, Married, Male, born Upper Canada, aged 49, Mennonite
Shoup, Abigail, Married, born Upper Canada, aged 50, Mennonite
Shoup, Elias, born Upper Canada, aged 14, Mennonite
Shoup, Levi, born Upper Canada, aged 10, Mennonite
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Rainham Builders
1803 - 1875 (72 years)