MRS. EMELINE SHAFER, of Lee township, was born in Kingston, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, December 9, 1808. Her father was Peter Shafer and her mother was Elizabeth Shoals, both of Pennsylvania. Grandfather Shoals and his wife both came from Germany and both were sold for their passage, as was the custom in those days, that their time for one year should be sold to pay their passage. Being sold to the same man in Philadelphia they became acquainted, and when they left this place they were married and walked the whole distance from Philadelphia to the Wyoming valley along the banks of the Susquehanna river. Here they soon became tenant farmers, and by industry and economy they became owners of a good farm there. Mrs. Shafer had grown up in the same neighborhood with her husband, and though marriage did not change her name, she was not related to him. Of course their means were very small, but their neighbors were in the same condition. After nine years they moved to Ohio by team. This was a pleasant trip of two weeks in 1834. They lived four years in Union county, four more in Madison county, and then traded their nice farm of 100 acres with good buildings and orchard for 160 acres of timber, two miles west of Mt. Sterling village, getting $200 in cash. They again took up the line of march, bringing with them their four children. They moved into an old log stable near their land, which they made tenable for a short time. Mr. Shafer was tired of his trade when he found that much of the fine timber had been cut, and upon making inquiry he found that the man who had taken much out of this timber had used it to fence eighty acres near what is now Fargo. They settled this by trading an eighty of Mr. Shafer's for the improved eighty that had been fenced with his timber. This was the place where Mrs. Shafer now lives, on which there was a comfortable, but rough house 16 x 16, with a fireplace and stick-and-mud chimney. They have lived here ever since. Here, Mr. Shafer died in 1864, aged sixty-nine years. They had buried three small children in Ohio and had eight living at his death, although all had gone from home but three. Charles Shafer and his brother Hiram D. were soldiers in the One Hundred and Seventeenth Illinois Volunteers Infantry from Brown county; Charles returned to die at his brother's at Mound Station at the age of twenty eight years. Hiram was in active service as a musician for over three years; Francis was in the ranks from February, 1864, to September of the same year. Of the eleven children born to Mrs. Shafer, seven are still living. Benjamin and Francis are at home conducting the farm for their venerable old mother. She has 170 acres in this farm. She has three motherless grandchildren with her, Maude, Cora and William. Perry Shafer, the eldest son, is a farmer in Kingman county, Kansas; Denison is a farmer in Smith county, Kansas; Wealthy Ann is the wife of Thomas Crabb, a farmer in Smith county, Kansas; Emeline, wife of Jordan Madison, a farmer in Leavenworth, Kansas; and Caroline, wife of James Wilson, a farmer in Kingman county, Kansas.

This grand old lady is now nearly eighty-four years of age and is still as vigorous as most women at fifty years. She thinks nothing of walking three or five miles and attends church regularly in the village. She has a lively recollection of much of her experience in pioneer life. She tells how they shelled the corn by driving the horses over it on the barn floor and drew it sixteen miles to the river market and then sold it for ten cents a bushel. She tells her children that a person can live entirely on corn meal, because she has tried it. All of her experiences, with many of her rough ones, are told with a zest which shows the stuff that this old heroine was made of, and it is refreshing to hear her speak of it as a rich romance in which she took part.
 

Biographical Review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois, Biographical Review Publishing Co., Chicago, 1892, pages 169-170.

Copyright 1999-2006 Judi Gilker; all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercial use of the information contained in these pages is strictly prohibited without prior permission. If copied, this copyright must appear with the information.

Return to Biographical Review index

MRS. EMELINE SHAFER, of Lee township, was born in Kingston, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, December 9, 1808. Her father was Peter Shafer and her mother was Elizabeth Shoals, both of Pennsylvania. Grandfather Shoals and his wife both came from Germany and both were sold for their passage, as was the custom in those days, that their time for one year should be sold to pay their passage. Being sold to the same man in Philadelphia they became acquainted, and when they left this place they were married and walked the whole distance from Philadelphia to the Wyoming valley along the banks of the Susquehanna river. Here they soon became tenant farmers, and by industry and economy they became owners of a good farm there. Mrs. Shafer had grown up in the same neighborhood with her husband, and though marriage did not change her name, she was not related to him. Of course their means were very small, but their neighbors were in the same condition. After nine years they moved to Ohio by team. This was a pleasant trip of two weeks in 1834. They lived four years in Union county, four more in Madison county, and then traded their nice farm of 100 acres with good buildings and orchard for 160 acres of timber, two miles west of Mt. Sterling village, getting $200 in cash. They again took up the line of march, bringing with them their four children. They moved into an old log stable near their land, which they made tenable for a short time. Mr. Shafer was tired of his trade when he found that much of the fine timber had been cut, and upon making inquiry he found that the man who had taken much out of this timber had used it to fence eighty acres near what is now Fargo. They settled this by trading an eighty of Mr. Shafer's for the improved eighty that had been fenced with his timber. This was the place where Mrs. Shafer now lives, on which there was a comfortable, but rough house 16 x 16, with a fireplace and stick-and-mud chimney. They have lived here ever since. Here, Mr. Shafer died in 1864, aged sixty-nine years. They had buried three small children in Ohio and had eight living at his death, although all had gone from home but three. Charles Shafer and his brother Hiram D. were soldiers in the One Hundred and Seventeenth Illinois Volunteers Infantry from Brown county; Charles returned to die at his brother's at Mound Station at the age of twenty eight years. Hiram was in active service as a musician for over three years; Francis was in the ranks from February, 1864, to September of the same year. Of the eleven children born to Mrs. Shafer, seven are still living. Benjamin and Francis are at home conducting the farm for their venerable old mother. She has 170 acres in this farm. She has three motherless grandchildren with her, Maude, Cora and William. Perry Shafer, the eldest son, is a farmer in Kingman county, Kansas; Denison is a farmer in Smith county, Kansas; Wealthy Ann is the wife of Thomas Crabb, a farmer in Smith county, Kansas; Emeline, wife of Jordan Madison, a farmer in Leavenworth, Kansas; and Caroline, wife of James Wilson, a farmer in Kingman county, Kansas.

This grand old lady is now nearly eighty-four years of age and is still as vigorous as most women at fifty years. She thinks nothing of walking three or five miles and attends church regularly in the village. She has a lively recollection of much of her experience in pioneer life. She tells how they shelled the corn by driving the horses over it on the barn floor and drew it sixteen miles to the river market and then sold it for ten cents a bushel. She tells her children that a person can live entirely on corn meal, because she has tried it. All of her experiences, with many of her rough ones, are told with a zest which shows the stuff that this old heroine was made of, and it is refreshing to hear her speak of it as a rich romance in which she took part.
 

Biographical Review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois, Biographical Review Publishing Co., Chicago, 1892, pages 169-170.

Copyright 1999-2006 Judi Gilker; all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercial use of the information contained in these pages is strictly prohibited without prior permission. If copied, this copyright must appear with the information.

Return to Biographical Review index