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Page 13
GEORGE SHAFFER
CHAPTER II
INTO this wilderness, about the 12th of May, 1812, George Shaffer I,
and
his three sons, viz: George Shaffer II, Michael Shaffer and
Frederick Shaffer
came. The history of a community, state, or neighborhood is found in
the
biography of the lives of those who entered into it. Thus, we must
look into
the life of George Shaffer I.
Who was George Shaffer? He is like the heroes of the Old Testament.
At a
certain period these heroes appeared, and they may have been
referred to as the
son of someone. However, in the case of George Shaffer I, we do not
even have
that reference. We know that he lived in Dauphin County prior to his
migration
to tract 521. Who his father or mother were is not known. From what
location he
moved is in the hazy past, and not even a reference to that location
can be
found. When George Shaffer I. was born is just as clear as his
location in
Dauphin County. There is no record of it. His wife's name was
Catherine
Shaffer, nee Catherine Strubel. Her ancestors were as well known as
those of
George Shaffer I. All that can be learned is the fact that George
Shaffer I.
had four sons, viz: John Shaffer, George Shaffer II, Michael Shaffer
and
Frederick Shaffer. How many other children there were in the family
is not known.
George Shaffer I. appears to have been a man of means and standing
in his
community, and this is known because his name was taken as a
guarantor or
surety for his son John Shaffer. The son John Shaffer conducted a
wagon train,
hauling merchandise from Philadelphia west, probably as far as
Pittsburgh, but
when the iron industry of Bellefonte arose about 1785, John Shaffer
was
supposed to have wagoned between Bellefonte and Philadelphia. This
did not
prove a profitable enterprise, and by reason of George Shaffer
guaranteeing his
paper, said George Shaffer lost his property in Dauphin County.
Prior to this incident of his life, George Shaffer I. had
accompanied a
corps of surveyors into what was then Lycoming County prior to 1785,
and on the
17th day of May, 1785, he laid a warrant on tract No. 92, now at the
location
of Shaft No. 1, and where Morningside Cemetery is located. This
warrant was
surveyed on the first of August, 1785, and the land was patented to
George
Shaffer on August 17, 1796.
So far as can be learned, about all that George Shaffer had left
when his
son's debts were settled was this piece of land of 320 acres, two
team of oxen,
maybe two Conestoga wagons, a cow, and some household goods. The
household
goods were loaded into the wagons, and together with his wife,
Catherine, and
his sons, George Shaffer II,
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