| Mrs.Emeline Shafer |
MRS. EMELINE SHAFER, of Lee township,was born in Kingston, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, December 9, 1808. Herfather was Peter Shafer and her mother was Elizabeth Shoals, both of Pennsylvania.Grandfather Shoals and his wife both came from Germany and both were soldfor their passage, as was the custom in those days, that their time forone year should be sold to pay their passage. Being sold to the same manin Philadelphia they became acquainted, and when they left this place theywere married and walked the whole distance from Philadelphia to the Wyomingvalley along the banks of the Susquehanna river. Here they soon becametenant farmers, and by industry and economy they became owners of a goodfarm there. Mrs. Shafer had grown up in the same neighborhood with herhusband, and though marriage did not change her name, she was not relatedto him. Of course their means were very small, but their neighbors werein the same condition. After nine years they moved to Ohio by team. Thiswas a pleasant trip of two weeks in 1834. They lived four years in Unioncounty, four more in Madison county, and then traded their nice farm of100 acres with good buildings and orchard for 160 acres of timber, twomiles west of Mt. Sterling village, getting $200 in cash. They again tookup the line of march, bringing with them their four children. They movedinto an old log stable near their land, which they made tenable for a shorttime. Mr. Shafer was tired of his trade when he found that much of thefine timber had been cut, and upon making inquiry he found that the manwho had taken much out of this timber had used it to fence eighty acresnear what is now Fargo. They settled this by trading an eighty of Mr. Shafer’sfor the improved eighty that had been fenced with his timber. This wasthe 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. Theyhave lived here ever since. Here, Mr. Shafer died in 1864, aged sixty-nineyears. They had buried three small children in Ohio and had eight livingat his death, although all had gone from home but three. Charles Shaferand his brother Hiram D. were soldiers in the One Hundred and SeventeenthIllinois Volunteers Infantry from Brown county; Charles returned to dieat his brother’s at Mound Station at the age of twenty eight years. Hiramwas in active service as a musician for over three years; Francis was inthe ranks from February, 1864, to September of the same year. Of the elevenchildren born to Mrs. Shafer, seven are still living. Benjamin and Francisare at home conducting the farm for their venerable old mother. She has170 acres in this farm. She has three motherless grandchildren with her,Maude, Cora and William. Perry Shafer, the eldest son, is a farmer in Kingmancounty, Kansas; Denison is a farmer in Smith county, Kansas; Wealthy Annis 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-fouryears of age and is still as vigorous as most women at fifty years. Shethinks nothing of walking three or five miles and attends church regularlyin the village. She has a lively recollection of much of her experiencein pioneer life. She tells how they shelled the corn by driving the horsesover it on the barn floor and drew it sixteen miles to the river marketand then sold it for ten cents a bushel. She tells her children that aperson can live entirely on corn meal, because she has tried it. All ofher experiences, with many of her rough ones, are told with a zest whichshows the stuff that this old heroine was made of, and it is refreshingto hear her speak of it as a rich romance in which she took part.
Biographical Review of Cass, Schuylerand Brown Counties, Illinois, Biographical Review Publishing Co., Chicago,1892, pages 169-170.
Copyright1999-2006 Judi Gilker; all rights reserved. For personal use only.Commercial use of the information contained in these pages is strictlyprohibited without prior permission. If copied, this copyright must appearwith the information.