Joseph Schaffer (1855 - 1909)

Ancestors Descendants

Biography

Josef was the oldest of five children, born on 12 Dec 1855.^[1] He was 13 years old when the family, with mother Anna pregnant, left Kosolup for America. They landed in New York City, then traveled to Wisconsin and, after a few years, his parents bought a farm just north of Denmark, WI. By the time he was about 20, he was employed in Manitowoc, a walk of 20+ miles. There he met Mathilda Mathisen. She was Norwegian by heritage and, therefore, a Lutheran. He had grown up in a staunchly Roman Catholic part of Europe, all a result of the 30-Years War (see Biography for Simon Schaffer). In all likelihood (surmised by both the Minnesota and Wisconsin families) he could not marry her and stay with his Wisconsin family, so he and Mathilda moved to Windom, MN, where Matilda's brother-in-law, Joe Woods, lived, one of the first settlers in Cottonwood County. He had stayed with "Uncle Joe" during the summer of 1877 and moved permanently to Windom in 1878.^[2] That was the beginning of the Minnesota Schaffer family. He had also worked at the same shingle factor his father did, now owned by a Patrick DePue, and earned enough money to buy 160 acres near Windom, just south of Joe Wood's farm, from a John Reisdorf. A short time later he bought another 40 acres for $7.00 per acre from a Miss Stork (or Stark?) and subsequently another 13 acres of slough for $13.00 per acre. He became a U.S. citizen on 22 June 1892.

As it turned out, there was another Schaffer family living in Windom, unrelated. Joseph did not like them, so he changed the pronunciation of his name, from German pronunciation to a long "a" sound (as in ate). To this day, the Minnesota Schaffers pronounce their name with a long "a" and the Wisconsin Schaffers with a more Germanic short "a" (as in about). Joe worked as a farmer throughout his life, as did at least two of his sons and some grandsons. He was overcome with the heat (heat stroke?) in July of 1909 and was ill until his death in October, according to an obituary. He died about six months before his father. Jack Schaffer

His Find a Grave site ^[3] has the following obituary and an obituary from the Windom newspaper:

Per Family History: Joseph Schaffer was born on Sep 12, 1856 in Kosolop, Bohemia, now Kozopky, part of the Czech Republic after several wars. Bohemia had been part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire when the Schaffers resided there. Joseph was the eldest child of Andreas Schaffer and Anna Feyerfeil. In 1868 Joseph and his six younger siblings - Catherine, Wenzel, Theresa, Anna, Mary,and Elizabeth - immigrated with their parents to Manitowoc County,Wisconsin. Sisters Lena and Barbara were born in Wisconsin.

In 1877 Joseph moved to Great Bend Township, Cottonwood County, Minnesota. There he married Mathilda Mathisen on Dec 22, 1880. Together they raised their family of six children - Ada, Arthur, George, Clyde, Mabel, and Clarence - until Joseph's untimely death at his home on Oct 19, 1909. Joseph and Mathilda had two daughters - Lenora and Roseanna - who passed away in childhood.

Per Newspaper accounts: According to the Sexton's register, he died in Great Bend Township age 59 years from "blood on the brain". Year of birth calculated from age at time of death. For additional details see the posted obituary. Frances Tauber Empke, his niece, daughter of Elizabeth, wrote that Joe worked at the factory packing shingles with his father for $0.50 a day. "Uncle Joe came several times to visit his parents. All of us enjoyed his visits, as he always gave us a nickel. He was a wonderful uncle, and had a hearty laugh like his son Clyde had."

Sources

1. ↑ Birth record: http://www.portafontium.eu/iipimage/30064185/kozolupy-03_1230-n?x=45&y=179&w=803&h=266
2. ↑ "Minnesota State Census, 1905," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:SPSV-4Q2 : 18 February 2021), Joseph Schaffer, Great Bend township, Cottonwood, Minnesota; citing p. 218, line 220, State Library and Records Service, St.Paul; FHL microfilm 928,774.
3. ↑ Find a Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/139978262/joseph-schaffer

• Family oral history and written history provided by son, Clyde.
• Burial: Lakeview Cemetery, Windom, Cottonwood County,, Minnesota, USA