BIO: John R. SHAFFER, Clearfield County, PA
 
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From Twentieth Century History of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania,
and Representative Citizens, by Roland D. Swoope, Jr.,
Chicago: Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, 1911, pages 706 & 707.
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  JOHN R. SHAFFER, who is an honored veteran of the great Civil war, resides on 
his farm of forty-eight acres, which is situated in Sandy township, about one 
mile southwest of West Liberty, Pa.  He was born June 3, 1845, on his father's 
farm which was then situated in Brady township, Clearfield county, but is now 
included in Sandy township, and is a son of Michael and Polly (Reishall) 
Shaffer.
  Michael Shaffer was born in Dauphin county, Pa., one of a family of four 
sons, the eldest of whom, John, remained in that county.  The other three, 
Michael, George and Fred Shaffer, all came to Clearfield county and Michael and 
Fred bought adjoining tracts of land, on the present site of the B. & S. Shaft 
No. 1, and cleared up their property.  Michael Shaffer sold his land and moved 
then to West Liberty where he lived during the remainder of his life.  He 
married Polly Reishall, who survived him some years, and they had six children:  
Innes, who is deceased; Elias; Emeline, who died when young; John R.; Mary, who 
is the wife of Augustus Heberling; and Caroline, who is now deceased, was the 
wife of David Lyon.
  John R. Shaffer learned his first lessons in a log schoolhouse where the 
rough slab benches were arranged around the room, the teacher, with his hickory 
stick usually in hand ready for any emergency, standing in the center.  Mr. 
Shaffer was obliged to walk quite a distance through the woods to reach school 
and frequently saw deer and other wild creatures in the forest.  When the Civil 
war broke out he determined to become a soldier, although he was then but a boy 
of sixteen years.  He managed to be accepted and on August 31, 1861, was 
enrolled in Co. D, 105th Pa. Vol. Inf., as a private, but shortly afterward 
gained promotion and was made corporal.  In July, 1863, he was detailed as an 
orderly on hospital duty first at Philadelphia and later at Washington.  He 
took part in the battles of Yorktown, Williamsburg, Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville, Kelley's Ford, the Wilderness and the Siege of Petersburg.  
On May 3, 1863, at the battle of Chancellorsville, he was wounded in the arm 
and was taken to a hospital at Philadelphia, where he remained a patient for 
five months, after which he returned to his regiment and on May 5, 1864, was 
wounded by a spent ball, in the shoulder, which injury caused his remaining in 
a Washington hospital for four months.  From an attack of lung fever, produced 
by exposure, he was kept in a hospital at Camp Jamison for two months, this 
being in the winter of 1861.  In June of the following year he was prostrated 
with typhoid fever and he spent four months recovering from this in a hospital 
at Brooklyn, N. Y.  In 1863 he was accorded a furlough of thirty days and on 
July 11, 1865, he was honorably discharged at Washington, D. C.
  Mr. Shaffer returned home and as soon as he had sufficiently recuperated, 
went to work at various things as occasion offered, having his own way to make, 
and it was not until the summer of 1879 that he was able to invest in farm land 
as was his desire.  He then purchased 116 acres of land from Samuel Arnold, 
paying $800 for the same, and later sold a part, the Mapledale lots having 
formerly been a part of his farm.  He cleared off the larger part of his 
remaining land and put up all the substantial farm buildings.  He continued to 
operate his farm until his son, Harvey Le Roy, was old enough to take the 
responsibility and Mr. Shaffer is now somewhat retired.
  Mr. Shaffer has been twice married, his first marriage taking place when he 
was twenty-one years of age to Miss Mary J. Downey, who died shortly afterward.  
He was married second on May 25, 1879, to Miss Penina J. Kness, a daughter of 
Henry and Elizabeth (Morehead) Kness.  The father of Mrs. Shaffer was a soldier 
in the Civil war, a volunteer from Armstrong county.  Both of her parents are 
now deceased.  She was the second born in a family of six children, the others 
being:  John, who is deceased; Nancy, who is deceased, was the wife of 
Jefferson Labord; William; Isaac; and Amanda, who is the wife of David Lyons.  
Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Shaffer, namely:  Mary, who is the 
wife of Arthur De Lorm, resides in Jefferson county, Pa., and they have two 
children - Ruby and Myrtle; Harry, who married Grace Marshall, lives in Sandy 
township, and they have three children - Alice, and Ruth, an infant, unnamed; 
Vergie, who is the wife of Stacy Lyons, lives in Jefferson county and they have 
one child, Cecil; Harvey Le Roy, who resides on the homestead and manages the 
farm, married Martha Horn and they have two children - Robert and Floyd; Olive, 
who is the wife of James Pierce and they live in Sandy township and have three 
children - Alto, Calvin and Russell; Myrtle, who is the wife of Dell Askey, and 
they reside in Montana and have two children - Alberta and Myrtle; and Cora, 
who lives at home.  Mr. Shaffer and family attend the Baptist church.  In 
politics he is a Republican.  He is a member of the Grange and belongs to 
Mingle Lodge, No. 753, Odd Fellows, at Troutville, while his son belongs to 
Lodge, No. 417, Knights of Pythias, at Salem.  The family is one that is held 
in the highest esteem in this section.