BIOGRAPHIES: David SHAFFER, Lucas Township, Dunn County, WI ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor, or the legal representative of the contributor, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Dunn Co. Archives File Manager 10 December 2002 ==================================================================== **Posted for informational purposes only. Poster is not related to the subject of this biography and has no further information. David Shaffer was born in Jefferson county, Pa., April 18, 1827, and was a son of Jacob and Mary Shaffer, of German descent. He lived at home with his parents until twenty-five years of age, when he married, December 29, 1850, Sarah Ann, daughter of Samuel and Mary Ann (Hamilton) Biss, of German descent. Her father was born in Pennsylvania March 22, 1790, and followed lumbering. Her mother was born in Pennsylvania September 15, 1807. After his marriage, David bought his father's farm and lived there three years, then immigrated to the Chippewa Valley and traded the team he brought from Pennsylvania for forty acres of land opposite Lake City, Minn. Shortly afterward he exchanged this for a farm near Downsville, Dunn county, where he lived six years, then bought a farm in section twenty, Lucas township, where he lived until the spring of 1889, when he rented his son George's farm on section twenty-nine, Lucas township, where he lived until his death, October 28, of the same year. Mr. Shaffer bought eighty acres of land at $1.25 an acre, and paid for the same in three years by digging ginseng. When he first came to Lucas township his nearest neighbor was five miles away, and the first night he had to leave the three children at home alone, the eldest being but nine years of age, while he went after the family effects. In politics he was a democrat. Nine children were born to David and Sarah A Shaffer, namely: Mary E., born February 12, 1852, died April 21, 1854; Amanda E., born March 9, 1854, now married to J. Proffit, and lives near her former home; George W., born July 29, 1856, married Angie G. Palmer; Isaac N., born May 10, 1858; Flora Ann, born June 20, 1861, married to F. M. Austin, of Lucas; Emily, born June 4, 1863; Katie, born June 17, 1865, died August 7, 1867, and Lillian, born February 7, 1871. George W., the third child and eldest son, was born in Downsville, Wis., and lived at home until fourteen years of age, when he learned the trade of brick- making, at which he worked three years, and during the winter made splint baskets, which latter he sold in the surrounding towns. He also made ox-bows and yokes for several winters, having made as high as 6,000 in one season. He was a cook for nearly five years on the N. P. R. R., where at times he had 160 men to cook for. March 15, 1885, he married Miss Angie G., daughter of Stephen and Emily (Thatcher) Palmer, who now live on Meadow Glen farm, in Weston, Dunn county. In 1889 he started a restaurant at Wallace, Idaho, which he sold out when his father died and then returned to Lucas, where he owned a farm on section twenty-nine, where he now resides. Two children have been born to this couple, both of whom are living. Mr. Shaffer has been successful as a farmer and stock grower, and also handles a great many bees. His farm is well stocked with horses, cattle and sheep. In politics he advocates labor reform; in religion he holds liberal views. Isaac N., the fourth child and second son, was born in Downsville, and lived at home until his death, January 18, 1890. He was thirty- two years old and unmarried. His occupation was farming and ginseng digging, and at the time of his death he owned a section of land, and was worth about $5,000. Emily was born in Lucas, and lived at home until her marriage with Frank Laughlin in 1888, when she moved to Osage, Iowa, where she lived until her death, January 28, 1891. She left one child, who is now with her mother. Lillian, the youngest child, is living at home with her mother. --Taken from "Historical and Biographical Album of the Chippewa Valley Wisconsin" Including A General Historical Sketch of the Chippewa Valley; Ancestral Records of Leading Families; Biographies of Representative Citizens, Past and Present; and Portraits of Prominent Men. Edited by George Forrester. Chicago, Illinois: A. Warner, Publisher. 1891-92 Page 599