Amaziah M. Shaeffer

Among the veterans of the Civil war residing in Boone county is Amaziah M. Shaeffer, who is also numbered among the early settlers of this section of the state. He has been active along many lines of life which have contributed to the public welfare as well as to individual success. For many years he held political office, and he has been equally active in church work so that his labors, have been far-reaching and beneficial. He has been a resident of Iowa since 1855, at which time he settled in Boonesboro, and he was born in White county, Indiana, near Delphi, January 26, 1843. His paternal grandfather, John Shaeffer, was a native of Germany, it is believed. However, in early life he lived in Pennsylvania and thence removed to Ohio. He served as a soldier in the Mexican war and died in White county, Indiana. His son, Peter Shaeffer, was born in Pennsylvania and when quite young was taken by his parents to Muskingum county, Ohio, where he lived to the age of eighteen years, and then removed to White county, Indiana. He wedded Nancy Merriman and in 1855 they left the Hoosier state for Iowa, settling in Boone county, where the father died at the age of fifty-seven years. He had long survived his wife, who passed away in this county at the age of thirty-three years. He married again, his second wife being Martha Price, who passed away in West, Iowa. Seven children were born to Peter Shaeffer, as follows: John R., who enlisted for service in the Civil war with the Forty-sixth Indiana Volunteer Infantry and was killed at the battle of Champion's Hill; Tillmann H., a resident of Hotchkiss, Colorado; Amaziah M.; Jasper, living in Oklahoma; Newton, whose home is in Marshalltown, Iowa; William, deceased; and George W., who makes his home in Fraser, this county.

Amaziah M. Shaeffer was reared to the age of twelve years in the place of his nativity and then became a resident of Iowa. He is indebted to the public school systems of Indiana and of this state for the educational privileges he enjoyed. On the 28th of February, 1862, he enlisted in Boonesboro as a Union soldier, becoming a private of Company K, Sixteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, for three years, or during the war. On the 18th of March, 1864, he veteranized and was honorably discharged at Goldsboro, North Carolina, on the 28th of March, 1865. His first captain, Michael Zetter, was killed at Shiloh. His next captain was Jesse Lucas, Alexander Weingardner being first lieutenant, while Colonel Alexander Chambers commanded the regiment. Mr. Shaeffer participated in many of the most important battles of the war, including the engagement at Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, the battle of Iuka, the siege of Vicksburg, the Meridian raid, the battles of Kenesaw Mountain, Nicajack Creek, Chattahooche river, Atlanta, and the celebrated march to the sea under Sherman, Later he was on detached duty for a time in a hospital at Atlanta and afterward participated in the battles of Savannah, Pocataligo, Cambechee river, Orangeburg, North Edisto river, Fayetteville and Bentonville. He then proceeded to Goldsboro with his command and was there honorably discharged.

Following his return home Mr. Shaeffer recuperated and then took up active farm work, purchasing eighty acres of land in Hamilton county, Iowa, where he lived for two years. He then came to Boone county, settling in Dodge township, where he purchased two hundred and forty acres. There he carried on farming for sixteen years, after which he sold that property and invested in one hundred and sixty acres, upon which he lived for seven years. Later he disposed of that farm and bought eighty acres a mile east of Boone, which he improved. In 1906 he once more sold out and, retiring from active farm life, took up his residence in Boone, where he now makes his home. He has greatly improved all of these different properties and has thus added to the agricultural progress of the county. He now owns one hundred and sixty acres of land in Potter county, South Dakota. His life has been a busy, useful and active one, and his labors have brought to him a measure of success which now numbers him among the men of affluence in his section of the state.

Mr. Shaeffer was married in Boone county, December 31, 1865, to Miss Dorothy Getzman, of this county, a daughter of Barnhart and Mary Getzman. Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Shaeffer as follows: Leora M., who died in September, 1878, when twelve years of age; Lafayette M., who passed away in July, 1878, at the age of ten; Samuel R., whose death occurred in 1898 when he was twenty years of age; Maggie L., who married George Shafer and who departed this life in 1910; Elsie who became the wife of William Phipps of Idaho; and Russell G., who married Juanita Sifford and lives at New Hartford, Iowa.

Mr. Shaeffer belongs to C. W. Crooks Post, No. 329, G. A. R., of which he is the present commander, and through his association therewith he keeps in close touch with many of his old army comrades. He is also a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. High and honorable principles have guided him in all life's relations, molding his character and making him a man worthy the high regard and confidence of all with whom he has come in contact. While living in Dodge township he held office almost continuously, serving as road supervisor, as constable, justice of the peace and school director, and in all these positions he discharged his duties with promptness and fidelity. He has also been township trustee and as such managed well the interests committed to his care. He has been equally active in the church, serving as steward and as chairman of the building committee during the erection of the Bethel church, to which he was a generous contributor. He possesses an even disposition and kindly spirit and has been very popular among his fellow townsmen. He was considered one of the best farmers and stock-raisers in this section of the state and did much to promote agricultural activity and to raise the standards of farming. His life has indeed been one of far-reaching influence and benefit and has won for him a good name, which is rather to be chosen than great riches. Nevertheless he has gained a substantial measure of this world's goods, and his record proves that success and an honored name may be won simultaneously.

SOURCE: Nathan Edward Goldthwait, Editor, History of Boone County, Iowa, Volume 2, p. 372-6