Peter Henry Shafer (1851 - 1937)

Born Mar 1851 in New York

Descendants

Died 1937 at about age 85 in Independence, Oregon

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Biography

Peter Henry Shafer[1] was born in New York in March 1851 to Adam and Susannah Shafer.[2,7] Most census records indicate his father was born in Germany and his mother in Switzerland. The 1860 census shows that Peter had five brothers and three sisters.[3]

At age 19 or 20 Peter left home and went to Rock Island County, Illinois to work as a coal miner.[4] On August 24, 1871, Peter married Annie Middleham in Rock Island County.[10] In the next 16 years, Peter and Annie had 4 sons and 3 daughters in Illinois.[5,6] In 1888 the family moved to Independence, Oregon.[11] In Oregon they had two more sons and a daughter.[6,7] In Oregon, Peter farmed.[7,8,9]

Peter's wife died in 1928, and between 1930 and 1936, two of his sons and one daughter died, all in Oregon. Peter died in 1937 in Independence, Oregon.[1]

Sources

1. Early sources show his first and or first and middle names as Peter or Peter Henry while most later sources as Henry or Henry Peter.

2. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=54997414.

3. US Census, Ischua, Cattaraugus, New York, 1860.

4. US Census, Ischua, Cattaraugus, New York, 1870.

5. US Census, Hampton, Rock Island, Illinois, 1880.

6. US Census, Independence, Polk, Oregon, 1900.

7. US Census, South Independence, Polk, Oregon, 1910.

8. US Census, Independence, Polk, Oregon, 1920.

9. US Census, Buena Vista, Polk, Oregon, 1930.

10. Illinois, County Marriages, 1810-1934, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KFLV-DLP.

11. Date based on birth places of children.