Byron Alson Shaffer

1854 - 1937  (83 years)

• Name	Byron Alson Shaffer
  Birth	24 Jul 1854	Columbus, Franklin, Ohio, United States   [1]
  Gender	Male
  Death	27 Oct 1937	Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California   [2, 3]
  		Byron A Shaffer death certificate
  		Byron Shaffer Funeral Card
  		Byron Shaffer Obituary Obituary from Santa Cruz newspaper
  		Byron Shaffer death From the Santa Cruz Evening News
  Burial	Compton, Los Angeles, California, United States   [4]
  		Location of Byron and Rebecca Shaffer gravesites
  		Byron and Rebecca Shaffer headstone
  Person ID	I29	Mouchet-Roberts genealogy
  Last Modified	15 May 2017

  
  

  Father	George Washington Shaffer,   b. 1828, United States d. 7 Aug 1869, Vinton, Benton, Iowa (Age 41 years)
  Mother	Rosella Heart Davis,   b. 1831, Cartin, (Canton, Stark?), Ohio d. 10 Apr 1871, Vinton, Benton, Iowa (Age 40 years)
  Marriage	26 Aug 1852	Fulton County, Illinois   [5]
  		George and Rosella Shaffer Marriage Certificate
  Family ID	F2150	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	Rebecca Margaret Hunter,   b. 4 Dec 1855, Lawrence, Essex, Massachusetts, United States d. 10 Feb 1894, Compton, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age 38 years)
  Marriage	2 Sep 1879	Juniata, Adams, Nebraska   [6]
  		Marrige Certificate of Byron and Rebecca Shaffer
  Children	1. Lacy Elmer Shaffer,   b. 25 Dec 1889, Redding, Shasta County, California d. 7 Dec 1986, Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age 96 years)   2. William Alexander Shaffer,   b. 5 Feb 1881, Adams County, Nebraska, United States d. 17 Aug 1968, Ontario, Malheur, Oregon, United States (Age 87 years)   3. Margaret Rosela Shaffer,   b. 13 Mar 1884, Oakland, Alameda, California, United States d. 30 Nov 1968, Santa Paula, Ventura, California (Age 84 years)   4. George A Shaffer,   b. 20 May 1885, California d. 9 Apr 1892, Ventura County, California, United States (Age 6 years)   5. Pansy Frosine Shaffer,   b. 17 Sep 1886, Shasta County, CA d. 4 May 1988 (Age 101 years)   6. Mabel Shaffer,   b. 17 Mar 1891, Poverty Ridge, Belle Vista Dist, Shasta, California, United States d. 25 Nov 1972, Lancaster, Los Angeles, California, United States (Age 81 years)   7. Ralph Shaffer,   b. 22 Sep 1892, Santa Paula, Ventura, California, United States d. 20 Apr 1979, Fillmore, Ventura, California, United States (Age 86 years)
  Family ID	F1834	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	26 Feb 2021

  
  

  Family 2	Margaret Jane Adams,   b. 17 Oct 1857, Harvey, Marion, Iowa d. 2 Feb 1943, Camarillo, Ventura, California, United States (Age 85 years)
  Marriage	13 Oct 1903	Pella, Marion, Iowa, United States   [7, 8]
  		Byron Shaffer and Maggie Adams marriage
  Family ID	F9984	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	26 Feb 2021

  
  

• Photos » Slide Show		Byron and Rebecca Shaffer
  		cropped_headshots/Byron-Shaffer.jpg
  		Byron Shaffer and Children This picture was identified by Louise Shaffer Mouchet as having been taken about 1924 or 1925 at Will Shaffer's home in Van Nuys, CA. From left: Lacy. Maggie, Pansy, Ralph, Byron, Mabel, Maggie (Adams) Shaffer, William Shaffer.
  		Birthday! Byron Shaffer with wife Margaret Jane Adams
  		Byron Shaffer and children According to Louise Shaffer and Bertha Young, this photo was taken after Byron's wife died and he mailed it to Margaret Jane Adams who he later married: Shaffers from left: William, Mabel, Pansy, Byron, Ralph, Lacy, Magaret R.
  		Newspaper Article by Byron A Shaffer (publication unknown)
  		Byron Shaffer and family on the farm From left: Lacy, Pansy, Mabel, Maggie, William, Aunt Alice?, Byron, Ralph
  		Juniata Nebraska Found with a history of the town at: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~neadams/juniata.htm
  		B.A. Shaffer award at Shasta County Fair From the Pacific Rural Press. Byron's raisins got second place.
  		B.A. Shaffer marraige to Maggie Adams From the Los Angeles Times

  
  

  Documents

  George and Rosetta Shaffer probate file

  
  

• Notes

  Eight children were born to Byron and Rebecca Shaffer. She died in childbirth and the three youngest children, Lacy, Mabel and Ralph, were placed in the McKinley Home for Orphans in Los Angeles for a few years. Byron sent for a mail order bride, named Maggie, and after they were married he brought Lacy, Mabel and Ralph home. (Note: when Byron and Maggie were small children, he lived in Vinton, Iowa and she lived in southern Iowa. Could the families have known each other? If so, it calls into doubt the mail-order bride story.) Byron then went off to Alaska with one of his brothers to seek his fortune in the gold rush there. At one point he and the brother built a boat to cross a lake. Another gold seeker came along bought the boat. Before they knew it they were in the boat building business! They never did mine gold. Byron was very religious and was known to be a "holy roller" (talking in tongues, etc.), probably a member of the Assemby of God. In his later years, in Santa Cruz, he was a member of the Glad Tidings Assembly. The records don't quite agree on his middle name, where he was born, and when. Family bible: Byron Alson Shaffer b. July 24, 1854 in Columbus Ohio Marriage certificate: Byron A. Shaffer b. 1853 in Illinois Funeral card: Byron Allen Shaffer b. July 24, 1853 Obit: Byron Allison Shaffer b. 1853 in Illinois Death cert: Byron Allen Shaffer b. 1853 in Illinois (informant Ralph Shaffer) 1870 census: b. 1852 in Illinois 1880 census: b. 1853 in Ohio 1920 census: b. 1853 in Illinois 1930 census: b. 1854 in Iowa sources: General information - Louise Shaffer Mouchet Vital statistics - Bertha Young, Shaffer Family bible Alaska adventure - Gerald Young Religion - Louise Shaffer Mouchet, Byron Shaffer funeral card Byron didn't stay in once place for very long, as evidenced by this timeline: Born in Illinois?? Vinton Iowa - 1860 and 1870, census Juniata, Nebraska - 1879-1880, marriage, census Lincoln, Nebraska - 1881, birth of William (not confirmed) Oakland, California - 1883, birth of Margaret (not confirmed) Shasta County (2 locations near Redding: Mill Creek and Buckeye) - 1886-1891 Births of Pansy, Lacy, and Mabel; 1890 Great Register of Voters Santa Paula - 1892 birth of Ralph (not confirmed) Alaska - after 1894 (family story) Fillmore - on or shortly after 1904 (based on a photograph of Byron's Fillmore ranch) Tulare County (from Byron's obituary) Santa Cruz - 1913-1937 (from Byron's obituary)

  
  

• Sources

  [S12142] Shaffer Family Bible. [S12141] Santa Cruz County death certificate, death certificate; 216; Byron A Shaffer. [S12307] Ventura County Genealogical Society, Fillmore Newspaper Obituary Notices, 1916-1996; https://venturacogensoc.org/cpage.php?pt=303; viewed; 11 May 2017; B A Shaffer; Fillmore Herald, 29 October 1937. [S12304] Find-A-Grave, https://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=88375014; viewed; 10 May 2017; Headstone of Byron A and Rebecca H Hunter. [S12165] Illinois, Fulton County Court, marriage certificate; issued 26 August 1852; George W Shaffer and Rosella H Davis. [S12140] Nebraska, Adams County marriage record, Marriage affidavit, license and certificate; 3 September 1879; Byron A Shaffer and Rebecca M Hunter. [S12155] Iowa marriage index. [S12273] Marriages, Iowa, 1880-1937, downloaded; 15 December 2016; Marriage of Byron A Shaffer and Maggie J Adams, image 212, certificate #1158.