John Sheaffer born March 17,1773 in PA.,died September 15, 1858 in Latimore, Adams County, PA. He was the son of Nicolaus Schaefer. He married Elizabeth Gibboney about 1800.

Elizabeth Gibboney, born about 1780 in PA, was the daughter of John Gibboney and

Elizabeth Ferree.

Place of Birth

Sheaffer lineage data is good back to John Sheaffer (Johan Schaefer), but gets a little fuzzy with his place of birth. Nothing is known about his father Nicolaus or his mother. My earlier information indicated that John was born in Germany, but the following research data provides strong evidence that he was born in Pennsylvania:

1850 census, Cumberland County, South Middleton Twp. lists John Sheaffer, age 75, "born in Pennsylvania".

1870 census, Shippensburg, lists Henry Sheaffer (my ggrandfather and son of John) age 60, and does not indicate that his father or mother were foreign born in the space on the census sheet where that information was to be recorded.

1880 census, Ness County, Kansas lists Jacob Sheaffer (brother of the above Henry), age 64 and indicates that his mother and father were born in Pennsylvania.

German origin

Earlier information stated that this Sheaffer (Schaefer) family came from Hamburg. I believe this may be incorrect and that they came from the Homburg, Hesse area of the Rhineland, for the following reasons:

Practically all of the early German immigrants to America came from the Rhineland area and departed through Rotterdam, Amsterdam, or Antwerp.

Hamburg is a large seaport city approximately 250 miles north of Homburg, and was not a port of debarkation until 1845 because of city ordinances that prevented emigrants from leaving Hamburg.

Possible Marriage data

Information that I have states that John grew to manhood in Berks County and that he married Elizabeth Gibboney of Berks County and then took up land in South Middleton Twp., Cumberland County about 1800. Old church records for Berks County revealed the following: "Johan Schaefer married Nancy Gibboni September 22, 1799". Recorded at 1st Reformed Church, Lancaster, PA. The Johan in the above marriage may be my gggrandfather, as the date and location would fit, and Nancy Gibboni and Elizabeth Gibboney may be the same person, allowing for common spelling errors in old records.

Gibboney - Ferree connection

Several years ago I acquired some old pictures and old Sheaffer family history pages that had been in the possession of my father until his death. The history sheets recorded data back to the early 1800's through the Henry Sheaffer family. Included were items of birth and death relating to Ferree family members. The name Ferree meant nothing to me (I had never heard of the name) until recently when I decided to check it on the Internet. Much information was available on what must have been a very old, large, and well researched family in Central Pennsylvania, beginning very early in the 1700's. Also connected with Ferree was a Gibboney family line. Of interest was the fact that John Gibboney and wife, Elizabeth (Ferree) Gibboney had a daughter named Elizabeth Gibboney. This was the name of my gggrandmother (wife of John Sheaffer) and the date and location would fit. I have made the connection between the Sheaffer and Ferree lines through these old Sheaffer Family Bible sheets. KCS Sept. 2009