SHAFER, Frank D.
Frank D. SHAFER, supervisor of Lacon
township, is the oldest member of the county board in point of
service, and is well-known as a thorough and progressive farmer,
and a sincere friend of the public school system. He was born
October 5, 1837, in Knox county, Ohio, and is a son of Henry and Nancy (FEAZEL) SHAFER, the
former a native of Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania, born July 4, 1800, and the latter of Knox
county, Ohio,
born in 1812. Henry SHAFER was of German descent, being a son of
Michael SHAFER, a native of
Germany. He was reared in
Pennsylvania, but in early manhood removed to Knox county, Ohio,
and there married Nancy FEAZEL, a daughter of Jeremiah FEAZEL,
who settled in Hopewell township, Marshall county, in 1845.
Soon after their marriage, Henry SHAFER and
wife came to Marshall county, Illinois, and in 1846,
settled upon the farm where our subject now lives. In 1850 he
bought the Williamson place on which was a large brick dwelling
house and there the family permanently located. He improved that
place and there died October 22, 1873. His wife died in April,
1888. They were the parents of three children: Mary, now the
widow of George BELFORD, of Lacon township, who is the mother of
four children – Annie, Fred, Dollie and William; Carrie, now the
widow of Henry PHELPS, of Springfield, Missouri; and Frank D.,
the subject of the sketch. Henry SHAFER was an old fashioned
farmer, a great reader and well posted in the various affairs of
the day, especially in political matters. He was a democrat, and
was very active in the councils of his party, although he would
never accept public office. He was a friend of the public school
system, and did all in his power to advance the interests of the
public schools in the locality in which he resided. He was a
successful farmer, and a man well known throughout Marshall county.
The subject of this sketch was born October
5, 1837, in Knox county, Ohio,
and came with his parents to
Marshall
county. He was reared on the farm, and received his education in
the Lacon schools. On the 3d of January, 1865, he was united in
marriage with Miss Amelia CAIN, a native of
Richland township, Marshall county, and a daughter of James and May (BURNS)
CAIN, the former a native of Virginia,
and the later of
Ireland. James CAIN was a son
of Abraham CAIN, who was born in
Pennsylvania, and who was killed at the battle of
Bunker Hill. The parents of Mrs. SHAFER were married
at Wheeling,
West Virginia, and came to
Marshall
county in 1835, and
settled in Richland township, where
they made a permanent home and where he died March 7, 1888, and
she in 1885. Their remains were interred in the Lacon cemetery.
They were the parents of two children, Mrs. SHAFER being the
only survivor. Her parents, however, reared James MADDEN, an
orphan boy, bringing him with them to this county and caring for
him as their own child. He married Susan HUSH, who died, leaving
six children. He now lives in Livingston county, Illinois, and has served as justice of the
peace and assessor for thirty years each.
Mr. and Mrs. SHAFER are the parents of five
children – Jessie, now deceased; Marie, wife of William
PORTERFIELD, living in Springfield, Missouri; James V., who married Alice HOLLAND, and lives
in Richland
township; Henry B., and Benjamin F. After their marriage, Mr.
and Mrs. SHAFER located on their present farm on section 24,
Lacon township, where they have since continued to reside. All
of the improvements upon the place were made by him and he has
here engaged in general farming and stock raising with great
success. He is the owner of six hundred and sixty acres of fine
farming land in Marshall county, all of which is under
improvement and has also a tract of land in Rush county, Kansas.
Fraternally, Mr. SHAFER is a member of
Lacon Lodge, No. 61, F. & A. M., and politically he is a
democrat. During his entire life he has taken great interest in
political matters, and is a firm believer in the principles of
the democratic party as enunciated by Jefferson and Jackson. He
has served his fellow-citizens in many of the local offices,
having served as a member of the board of education of Lacon for
seven years, twelve years as road commissioner, and is now
serving his tenth year as supervisor of the township. In all
matters pertaining to the best interests of Marshall county, he
is ever at the front, and has done as much as any other one man
in this locality to give it front rank among the sister counties
of the state. He has been a hard-working, industrious man, and
has been prospered much in this world’s goods. Few men in Marshall county are better known and none more
highly respected.
Extracted March 2011 by Norma Hass from
The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois,
1896.
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