David and Rachel Shaffer pioneers in Windber

By Patricia Shaffer

Windber-Johntown Genealogical Society

David J. Shaffer, son of John D. and Catherine (Custer) Shaffer, was born in the Greenland section of Paint Township on Jan. 27, 1828. He grew to adulthood in that section and received his education in the township schools, taking advantage of such education as existed in his younger days.

On Jan. 12, 1851, David J. Shaffer married Miss Rachel Holsapple, daughter of Isaac and Christina (Hoffman) Holsapple, who was born on Oct. 30, 1831, in Paint Township. The wedding ceremony was performed by Squire Adam Holsopple at his residence near Foustwell.

The young couple purchased land from his uncle, Daniel Shaffer that was situated in what presently is the Rummel-Old Ashtola area of land. Here they resided for the first years of their marriage. They became the parents of nine children—six boys and three girls.

In 1864 David J. Shaffer purchased the land of Jacob Messerbaugh, which was near the present day Windber Fire Company building, on the Paint Creek, and here the family resided in that section which then was as yet unpopulated.

The wilderness area that lay between Scalp Level and Rummel that we now know as Windber Borough was not settled until 1897. Except for the few scattering of farms on the outskirts, the only home situated on the land was that of David J. Shaffer.

The Shaffer homestead was situated where the Windber Municipal Building stands today, on the corner of Somerset Avenue and 15^th Street. It later was moved to face 15th Street. It is behind the Municipal Building, serving as the Windber Museum.

David J. Shaffer was a farmer who dealt in lumbering in the latter years of his life and became successful in business, managing his own affairs. He was noted as the last of the pioneers.

The homestead was sold to the Berwind White Coal Co. in 1893 and the Shaffers moved into Scalp Level where they retired from farming.

David and Rachel lived to see their farm fields turned into home sites that by 1900 held over 4,000 people. They saw progress in the making as the woodsman’s ax chopped the virgin trees and only the wild animals like thunder in the silent wood occupied the sound throughout the wilderness. Today this is the Borough of Windber.

David J. Shaffer, the last of the pioneers, died on Oct.7, 1900, and was buried in the Berkey Church Cemetery. Rachel outlived her husband by nearly 20 years and died on Sept. 16, 1919.

On July 23, 1914, Rachel Shaffer was seriously injured while returning from evening services at the church where Elder Carmen C. Johnson of Pittsburgh preached a sermon. She was within three feet of the curb in front of her home when a car driven by Joseph J. Johnson of Westmont ran her down. Elder Johnson was in the car when the accident occurred.

The aged woman’s skirts were caught in the right front wheel and although the driver applied the emergency brake as quickly as possible, the outer clothing was torn off and Mrs. Shaffer was thrown on her back, with her head striking the curb.

Dr. A. W. Brinham examined her and found internal injuries, broken ribs, and bad bruises. She was then aged 83 years old and never fully recovered form the injuries from the accident.

The children of David J. Shaffer were Frances, Isaac, Catherine, Jacob, Christina, Josiah, Lewis, Daniel, and Norman D. Shaffer.

Francis Shaffer was born on Aug. 28, 1851, and married Annanias Orris. She was the mother of two children, Bertha, wife of Lewis Weaver, and Cora, wife of Francis C. Weaver. Francis died on Dec. 22, 1893.

Isaac D. Shaffer was born on Feb. 2, 1854 and married Susanna Weaver. They moved to Quakertown, PA, where he died on May 12, 1936, at the age of 83. He was buried in the Springfield Brethren Cemetery. They were the parents of these children: Mahlon W., married to Anna Faust; Ida, wife of Milton Livingston; Emma, wife of Frank B. Seese; Mary, wife of John H. Lehman; Martha, wife of Glenn Holsinger, Minevra, wife of James I Livingston; and William a. Shaffer, who was an attorney in Elmira, N. Y., where he died in 1947.

Catherine Ann (Katie Ann) Shaffer was born on Jan. 16, 1856, and first married Isaac Newton Faust who was born in 1854 in Paint Township. After his death in 1891, Katie Ann married Joseph J. Yoder.

The Faust children to the first marriage were Delilah, married to Rodger T. Harvey: Addie, married to Joseph C. Holsinger, Louis (Red) Faust, married to Elizabeth Murphy; Irvin, married to Gussie Holsopple; Leslie L., married to Carrie Shaffer, Harry; and Emma, married to Hamilton Steele.

Katie Ann Faust Yoder died on Dec. 29. 1941, and is buried in the Berkey Cemetery. Joseph J. Yoder died on Aug. 2., 1918. They had no children in this second marriage.

Jacob W. Shaffer was born on Jan. 18, 1858, and married Alice Berkebile. Their children were Carrie, wife of Willis Weaver, Maggie, wife of Lemon Berkey, Clarence, married to Daisy Wright, Florence, wife of Albert Weaver, Walter, married to Minnie Kaufmann, George w., married to Evelyn Kaufmann, David, who died in Pittsburgh, in 1972, married to Norma Custer, and Emerson, married to Gertrude Schrader.

Christena Shaffer was born on April 21, 1860, and married Albert Berkey, who was born on Jan. 7, 1860 in Paint Township. Their children were Emma, wife of Harvey Berkebile, Elizabeth, wife of Harvey Knavel and Lewis Ott; Mary, wife of Harvey Allison, Alvin, Ila, wife of David Callihan, and Effie, married to John Statler.

Josiah D. Shaffer was born on April 11, 1862, and married Catherine Ann Baumgardner, who was born in Richland Township on June 17, 1864. Their children included Daisy m., who became a missionary to China and then married Dr. Michael E. Ritzman. Daisy died in 1970 at the age of 81.

Other children were Percy W. Shaffer, married to Elsie Lehman, resided in the Windber area; Cloyd, married to Ida Lehman; Morris, married to Stella Ripple; Edith, died when young; and Dr. Foster C. Shaffer, who became the first local man to enter the medical profession in Windber. He was graduated from Windber High School in 1917.

Lewis D. Shaffer was born on Feb. 20, 1864, and married Carrie Weaver Their children were Bessie, who married Charles Prosser, Ethel, married to Boyd Baumgardner, and Helen, married to Professor Clyde E. Bounds.

Daniel D. Shaffer was born on Feb. 8, 1868, and became an ordained minister in the Brethren Church. He married Marilla Grush, who was born on June 25, 1870, in Adams Township. Daniel died when he was only 32 years of age on Dec. 6, 1900. Their children were Nora, married to Adam Goudy; Agnes, married to William Nipps; Elizabeth, married to William Lochrie; D. Floyd, married to Vera Mcmullen ; Mayme, married to Daniel Rose; and Paul, married to Grace Gohn.

Norman D. Shaffer was the youngest of the children and was born on Dec. 14, 1869. He married Matilda Faust, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Eash) Faust, who was born on Jan. 8, 1871. They were married by Rev. Houpt of Salix on March 27, 1892 and became the parents of the following children, Nellie, married to Frank Cooper, Forrest, married to Edith Cover, Mildred wife of C. G. Brown, E. Clark Shaffer, married Margaret Barnes, and J. Park Shaffer married Marian Challis.

Many of the children of the nine children who were born to David J. Shaffer and Rachel (Holsapple) Shaffer went on to be prominent and well remembered citizens in the Windber-Johnstown area, as well as throughout the United States.

The residents of the Scalp Level area will remember especially Mr. P. W. (Percy) Shaffer who was in the construction department of the Berwind White Coal Co. office for more than 33 years. He had taught school in the Richland Township area for six years and served as principal in the Paint Borough schools for ten years prior to working for Berwind. Two of the children of Percy and Elsie (Lehman) Shaffer, Glenn and Harold went on to be teachers at State College, Pa. Clark Shaffer, a well known athletic director and head coach at Greater Johnstown High School, is a son of Norman D. Shaffer and grandson of David J. Shaffer.

Ms. Helen Steele, daughter of Emma Faust and Hamilton Steele and granddaughter of Katie Ann Shaffer and Isaac N. Faust, is now retired in the Windber area after serving many years in the Windber High School system.

Down through the generations the descendants of this first family, who resided on the land that today is the town of Windber, have proven to their communities, wherever they may live, that they still maintain high level of service and faith as did their ancestor over 100 years ago in Paint Township.

Taken from The Windber Era, April 7, 1987