BIOGRAPHY: John J. SHAFFER, J. P., Cambria County, PA 

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From Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Portrait Cyclopedia of Cambria 
County, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Union Publishing Co., 1896, p. 378-9
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JOHN J. SHAFFER, J. P., a contractor and builder of Conemaugh, Cambria county, 
Pennsylvania, is a son of John D. and Catharine (Custer) Shaffer. He was born 
November 4, 1851, in Somerset county, Pennsylvania. His grandfather, who was a 
native of York county, and a farmer by occupation, settled in Somerset county, 
where he died in Paint township.
     The father of John J. Shaffer was born in York in 1801. He removed to 
Bedford about 1852, and died there March 12, 1889.
     Politically he was an old-line whig, which party was subsequently merged 
into the republican, the principles of which he continued to uphold. He married 
for his first wife the mother of our subject, and had a family of thirteen 
children; they are as follows: Philip F., who lives in Conemaugh; Abraham and 
Jacob, died in infancy; David J., who lives at Scalp Level, Cambria county; 
Lucy, now dead, was the wife of George Berkey; Susan, also deceased, was the 
wife of Moses Yoder; William J., residing in Bedford county, Pennsylvania; 
Rebecca, wife of Daniel B. Horne, of Bedford county, Pennsylvania; Daniel L., 
served in company E, Twenty-First regiment Pennsylvania volunteers, during the 
late war, and died in 1879; Elizabeth, wife of Jonathan Ling, now living in 
Somerset county, Pennsylvania; Dillie, wife of John Findly, of Bedford county; 
Silas, also a farmer of Bedford county, and the subject of this sketch.
     The father was married the second time to Miss Susan Allison, and had one 
child: Anna Mary.
     John J. Shaffer, April 28, 1881, married Maggie Ragen, a daughter of 
Jackson Ragen. The father of Mrs. Shaffer was born and has always lived in 
Jackson township, Cambria county, where he follows the occupation of a farmer. 
He is a loyal democrat and a leading member of the United Evangelical church.
     He was married to Nancy Miller, who is yet living, and has had nine 
children: Michael D., a farmer residing in Cambria county; Sarah J., who died at 
the age of twenty-six years; Maria, wife of George Empfield, who resides at 
Belsom, Cambria county; Agnes, married first to Philip Ruffner, and the second 
time to John Makin, who now resides in Cambria county, near the Indiana county 
line; Samuel, a farmer of Jackson township; Ella, wife of G. W. Dishing, of 
Jackson township; Adaline, married to David Slevens, a farmer of Jackson 
township; Herman, who is unmarried and lives on the old homestead, and the wife 
of Mr. Shaffer.
     The family of our subject consists of three daughters: Elsie B., Eva May 
and Fannie Estella.
     He was educated, to a limited extent, in the common schools of Bedford 
county, receiving, however, most of his education through selfdirected efforts 
and diligent study. At eighteen he learned the trade of a carpenter, which he 
followed for two years, and then he worked at the shuck-making business for a 
time. In 1872 he took a position as clerk in Conemaugh for two years, when he 
entered the employ of the Pennsylvania railroad for eighteen months. In 
discharging the duties of a brakeman on this road he met with an accident which 
decided him to relinquish the business, although solicited by the company to 
remain with them. For one year thereafter he clerked. Then eight months were 
spent in the Butler county oil-fields running an engine. He returned after this 
to east Conemaugh borough, and was engaged, until two years after the flood, in 
the contracting and lumber business combined. He then went into the mercantile 
business in Conemaugh, and since has been engaged in pursuit of the carpenter 
trade.
     He is a staunch republican. For fifteen years he has been justice of the 
peace of his borough, and for four years burgess.
     He has been secretary of the Conemaugh Building and Loan association for 
one and a half years, has been a member of the board of directors for five 
years, and is now treasurer of the Washington National Building and Loan 
association.
     He is a member of the junior Order United American Mechanics, formerly 
belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and the order of the Golden 
Eagle, and is an active and influential member of the United Brethren church. In 
all his life and work Mr. Shaffer has shown an interest in everything that 
pertains to the well-being of his fellow-man.