Schafer, Lewis bio

History of Fulton County, Illinois; together with Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. Chas. C. Chapman & Co., Peoria, Illinois, 1879, page 972, Young Hickory Township
Lewis Schafer was born in Germany, June 16, 1825, son of Jacob and Elizabeth; came to America in 1833 and to Fulton Co. in 1848; never went to school; learned the tailor's trade, clerked some, and taught school awhile; has followed farming since 1852; has 67 acres; is on sec. 23; P. O., Ellisville; served in most of the township offices; Sept. 1, 1853, married Susan Rist; has 2 boys and 1 girl, - Mary E., born Aug. 7, 1854; Franklin P., June 7, 1858, and Webster Lee, July 18, 1866.

Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County, Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States, and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890; page 291-293; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst
Lewis Schafer. This gentleman may truly be called a self-made man, as will be seen by the perusal of his history. He occupies a finely-improved farm in Young Hickory Township and ranks among the highly-respected citizens of the county by reason of his intelligence, his sterling character and reliable citizenship. He is an enterprising farmer, prudently changing his crops in order to keep up the fertility of the soil, and devoting the greater amount of his land to grain without neglecting other articles of produce. He raises graded hogs, cattle and Norman horses, and has his estate well supplied with orchards and groves. Neat fences enclose and subdivide the one hundred and thirty acres which he owns, and good buildings are favorably located upon it. The land is well supplied with springs, has been tiled wherever necessary and improved in every part.
Jacob Schafer, the father of our subject, was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, and reared on a farm. When seventeen years old he was drafted into the army of Napoleon Bonaparte, who at that time invaded Hesse Darmstadt. He marched to Moscow, Russia, suffering much en route, as he became footsore and otherwise practically unfit for the journey. After three years of army life he became one of Napoleon's body-guards. In the fifth year he was wounded in the heel and his horse killed. He lay by the side of the dead animal twelve hours, when a loose horse passed and he managed to secure the animal. He had his foot In the stirrup ready to mount when a shell took off the horse's head. Mr. Schafer thought it wise to "lay low" until assistance arrived, when he was taken to the hospital. He partially recovered from his wound, and was then honorably discharged. He drew a pension of $78 a year. He was a personal friend of Louis Napoleon, and never could bear to hear any one speak ill of him.
In the town of Naunheim, where he made his home, Mr. Schafer held office and was in prosperous circumstances. As the time approached when his oldest son would be obliged to enter the army according to the German laws, he sold his property, and in 1832 bade adieu to his native land. He left Bremen on an English sailing-vessel, and thirty-six days later landed in Baltimore with his wife and four children. He went to Bedford County, Pa., bought an unbroken tract of land and settled down in the woods. He built a log house, cleared his farm, and had it nicely improved when stricken with paralysis. He breathed his last in 1834, at the age of forty-four years. He was a member of the Lutheran Church. His wife, formerly Elizabeth Conrad, was the daughter of a farmer in Hesse Darmstadt. She remained with her older daughter until 1849, then came to this State and died in Fairview Township in the fall of 1851. She was then sixty-six years old. The parental family consisted of Mrs. Margeret Schaff, who died in Cooper County, Mo., in 1872; Jacob, who died in Fairview Township, this county, in 1852; Elizabeth, wife of Dr. Smith, of Medway: and our subject.
In Naunheim, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, the eyes of our subject opened to the light July 18, 1825. At the usual age he began attending school, continuing his studies until the family emigrated. While on the way to America he narrowly escaped drowning, being on deck when a huge wave broke over the vessel, sweeping him away from his mother. He clutched at the ropes and so escaped a watery grave. He saw icebergs and whales and experienced an ocean storm of three days duration. After three weeks spent in Baltimore he became an inmate of the log house in the forests of Bedford County, Pa., where he remained until the death of the father broke up the family. When he was ten years old he went to live with a Lutheran preacher, the Rev. Mr. Yeager, with whom he made his home for some years. He worked hard on the farm and in the winter would spend a day in school and then remain out two days to tramp out grain with a horse, or do other work. When fourteen years old he was apprenticed to his brother to learn the trade of a tailor, and at the age of twenty was set free.
Prior to this time young Schafer had but a few months' schooling, and he at once entered school. After close application for two months his health compelled him to leave school, and he secured a clerkship in Martinsburg, remaining there until 1848. He then started West with his brother, intending to go to Booneville, Mo. They came down the Ohio River to St. Louis, when the Missouri was found to be very low, and they came up to Copperas Creek Landing, Ill. Our subject liked the appearance of the country, determined to remain, and the day after his landing hired out to John W. Shinn, merchant and druggist in Canton. He remained in the employ of that gentleman a year, and then, in partnership with his brother, began farming in Fairview Township. The connection continued until the brother's death.
For some time our subject continued to clerk, being employed by Maple & Piper, but the illness of his brother took him to the farm, where he afterward remained. Wild game was then plentiful, deer abounding in great numbers. In 1854 he rented a farm in Young Hickory Township, but two years later removed to McDonough County, buying eighty acres of raw land not far from Good Hope. His nearest neighbor on the west was five five miles away. He improved the land with good buildings, making it his home until 1863, when he sold out and returned to this county. He then bought sixty acres of his present estate, which was partly improved, and upon which he continued the work which had been begun. His labors included grubbing from the timber and the breaking of uncultivated portions. In 1878 he bought seventy acres, also partly improved, and now has both tracts in excellent condition. The estate is four miles from London Mills, lying partly on section 23, and partly on section 22.
In Young Hickory Township, September 1,1853, marriage rites were solemnized between Mr. Schafer and Miss Susan Rest. This estimable lady was born near Connellsville, Pa., July 5, 1832, and in 1838 accompanied her parents to this county. The removal was made with two wagons drawn by horses, and consumed a considerable period of time. Mrs. Schafer was reared and educated here, attending the common schools, where her writing exercises were done with a quill pen and her text books were by authors now unknown to pupils. She learned to hackle flax, spin, weave and perform other household duties, which were then considered necessary parts of a girl's education.
Mrs. Schafer is a lineal descendant of John and Barbara (Striker) Rest, natives of Germany, who, after coming to America, located in Fayette County, Pa. There their son Jacob was born February 15, 1795. When of a suitable age he learned the trade of a clock-maker, but later engaged in milling. He remained in his native State until October, 1838, when he came West with his family, settling in Fairview Township, this county. He remained in his native State until October, 1838, when he came West with his family, settling in Fairview Township, this county. After a few years he bought one hundred and sixty acres on section 23, Young Hickory Township, reclaimed the land from its raw condition and placed it under good improvements. He prospered financially, becoming quite well-to-do. He was quite a famous hunter and fisherman. He killed many deer, frequently bringing down two in a day. He was originally a member of the Whig party, but in later years was a Democrat. He was active in religious work, being a Class-Leader and chorister in the New Light Christian Church. He helped to build the first schoolhouse in the neighborhood and a house of worship. He died in 1872, at the age of seventy-seven years.
The wife of Jacob Rest and mother of Mrs. Schafer was Mary Orban, who was born in Fayette County, Pa., and died in Ellisville in 1874, when nearly four-score years old. She had twelve children, of whom we note the following: John is now living in Fairview Township; Mrs. Barbara Hamilton died in Liverpool Township; Mrs. Jane Dorland lives in Young Hickory Township; Henry makes his home in Iowa; Mrs. Elizabeth White died in Young Hickory Township; Mrs. Nancy Hendricks lives in Texas; Mrs. Mary Hendricks lives in the same State; Mrs. Caroline Irons lives in Young Hickory Township; the next on the family roll is the wife of our subject; Mrs. Julia A. Beer died in Deerfield Township; Jacob died in Young Hickory Township; Mrs. Rowena Palmer died in Iowa. Jacob served his country during the Civil War in the One Hundred and Third Illinois Infantry.
The family of our subject and his good wife consists of three children - Mary E., Frank P. and Webster L.; Jacob B. died January 26, 1860. They also have as inmates of their household two orphan children of a sister of Mr. Schafer, the younger of whom was three years old when their father died. Other members of the family did not seem to concern themselves about the children, and our subject, who had known what it was to be left fatherless, sent his younger son for them. They now have a good home and are as lovingly cared for as were the children who are Mr. and Mrs. Schafer's by ties of blood. Their daughter was married to Anderson Matter, who died in the year 1889, and has one daughter Phebe B.; she follows the profession of school-teaching and is self-supporting. Frank Shafer married Lib Shoemaker and lives on a part of his father's farm; Webster, who has attended the college at Bushnell, is still a member of the home circle.
In 1849 Mr. Schafer taught a rate bill school in Young Hickory Township, in 1853 taught again, and in 1864 field his third and last school. He has been School Director and Trustee for years, was Collector one year and has been Township Clerk ten years. He is a member of the Odd Fellow's lodge, at Ellisville, in which he has passed through the Chairs. His son Frank is also identified with it. Politically, he is a Democrat, and he has frequently served as a delegate to county conventions and as a member of the Central Committee. Mrs. Schafer belongs to the Christian Church.