Author: James Malcom Ruff
Peter Sheaffer, my 4th great grandfather, was of German descent. His parents were Johann Balthasar Schaeffer and Anna Margaretha Gleb. He was born on 24 Nov 1751, in what was then, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania.

While Peter was still a child, his father and his sister went scouting for new land to homestead. They were set upon and his father was killed by the Conestoga Indians around 1756, in Schuylkill, Pennsylvania.

Peter’s sister was captured during the attack and taken into captivity for seven years. While captive, Head War Chief, Mahontonga, took her for his wife. Following the signing of a Peace Treaty, she was returned. Peter moved to the village of Elizabethtown and he resided there until his death on 08 May 1848.

Peter served three tours of duty during the Revolutionary War. In 1776, at age 25, he was drafted, into the Militia in Lancaster County, PA. He served under Captain George Gantz’s Company, Colonel Gonegan’s Regiment. Following his first tour, he was later drafted into Captain McGee’s Co. While on duty, he marched and guarded 300 Hessian prisoners from Lebanon to Middleton. Following his second tour of duty, he enlisted in 1777 in Captain Robinson’s Co. and fought in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. At the end of the war, he returned again to civilian life in Elizabethtown, PA.

Following his service in the Revolutionary War, Peter had a tavern on Market Street in Elizabethtown. He also served as the Constable in Mt. Joy, Lancaster, PA and was a member of the Christ Evangel Lutheran Church in Elizabethtown, PA. He owned a two story log house on High Street which measured 30’ by 25’ with a carpenter shop on the lot. His son, Fredrick, took over the business and is listed as an innkeeper in 1825.

After the war Peter lived alone in his later years, and kept house in Elizabethtown, PA. He asked his neighbors to keep an eye on a certain window of his house. If they saw a red handkerchief hanging in the window, they would know he was sick and needed help. One morning the neighbors saw the handkerchief. They went to his aid and found him very ill. It proved fatal in a short time as recounted in The Middletown Press, 1887 by his daughter, Magdalena Schaeffer Boggs, on her 104th birthday.

Peter Sheaffer, one of the oldest living Revolutionary War veterans, died in Elizabethtown on 08 May 1848 at age 98. He was buried Wednesday, 10 May 1848 with full military honors in the Christ Evangel Lutheran Church cemetery. Three bands played at his service, The Jackson Infantry Band, the Swalora Infantry Band and the Elizabethtown Band.. A procession of several thousand citizens and friends marched through the streets of the borough to the Lutheran Cemetery, where he was interred. Col. A. Greenwalt served as marshal. The funeral ceremonies excited the liveliest interest, and were in the highest degree solemn and impressive. (Elizabethtown Chronicles 1848)

Additional biography by James Malcom Ruff, Jr., Piedmont Chapter, GA Society, SAR #193249:
Peter Schaffer was born in 1751 to Johann & Maria Schaffer in the Eastern Welsh Mountains of Pennsylvania. The two parents came from Germany in 1748 and were part of a large German population that migrated to and settled in Pennsylvania. This was part of the Appalachian Mountain range that was populated by Conestoga Indians and there was hostility because of the influx of settlers. Johan was eventually killed and scalped by these Indians, and his daughter was captured by them and held for seven years. His son Peter survived with his mother.

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War in 1776, Peter at age 25, was drafted in the PA militia under George Gantz in Col. Hannigan's regiment. His unit marched 180 miles through Lancaster Pennsylvania on their way to Philadelphia, Trenton, Perth Anvoy, and eventually the New York City area. He was stationed at Fort Paulus Hook in New Jersey, and at Governors Island, where he stood guard there.

The Battle of Long Island, or the Battle of Brooklyn Heights, was fought on August 27, 1776. It was a defeat for General George Washington and the Continental Army, that had to evacuate and retreat to Manhattan Island. "On the night of August 29-30, Washington evacuated the entire army to Manhattan without the loss of supplies or a single life."

Later, Patriot Peter Schaffer was drafted again into Captain McGee's unit in Lebanon PA., where they guarded Hessian prisoners. He served a third tour in 1777 and fought again at Brandywine & Germantown, two more disappointing battles to the Continental Army.

This information was obtained about Peter Schaffer from deposition he gave when applying for a pension.

During his third tour during the war, he married a woman named Catherine and they ended up having 10 children. Peter lived to be 97 years old and upon his death, his funeral services which were held outside the church because of the number of people that came to his funeral.