1918 John William Schafer registered for the draft on September 12. The registration card state that he was born 5 June 1880, lived at Eskridge, Wabaunsee, Kansas and was a lumberman in business for himself. His wife was Goldie S. Schafer. He was of medium height and build and had blues eyes and dark brown hair. [1]
1920 On Janurary 12, John W. Schafer (age 39) and his wife Goldie S. (age 40) lived on Main St., Eskridge, Wilmington, Wabaunsee, Kansas, with their children Gladys M. (age 10), John S. (age 9), and Glenn H. (age 4 5/12),. John Schafer was a lumberman in the lumber industry. [2]
1930 On April 7, John W. Schafer (age 49) and his wife Goldie S. (age 50) lived on Davis Road West, Rio Grande County, Colorado (Precinct 5), with their children Gladys M. (age 21), John S. (age 19), and Glen H. (age 14). All were born in Kansas. John's parents were born in Germany, Goldie's father was born in New York and her mother in Illinois. John Schafer was a farmer on a general farm. [3]
1940 On April 11, John Schafer (age 59) and his wife Goldie (age 59) lived in Rio Grande County, Colorado, where they were living in 1935. John had completed 4 years of college, and Goldie had completed 2 years of college. John was a farmer, and they lived on a farm. [4]
1967 Goldie Schafer died on April 21. She was buried at San Luis Valley Cemetery, Monte Vista, Rio Grande County, Colorado. [5]
1969 John William Schafer died on December 31 in Topekea, Shawnee, Kansas. The Social Security index lists his birth date as June 5, 1880. [6] He was buried with his wife Goldie at San Luis Valley Cemetery, Monte Vista, Rio Grande County, Colorado. [7]
Research Notes:
John William was called Will. [8]
Robert Schafer, grandson of John William and Goldie, wrote:[9]
The spouse of John William Schafer was Goldie Seaton, born Nov. 26, 1879, in Jewell County, Kansas, and died April 21, 1967, in Center, Colorado. Her husband was born June 5, 1880, in Jewel County and died December 31, 1969. After his wife died, he left Colorado and came back to Topeka to live with my family for a while, and then later moved into the Methodist Home in Topeka, where he was living when he died.
The one story that I remember hearing about my grandfather (John William Schafer) was that he shot the last known grizzly bear in Colorado in the 1920s. The bear apparently had come down from the mountains and was raiding sheep ranches in the San Luis Valley. I believe that at the time my grandfather owned a lumber yard in Del Norte, Colorado, on the western side of the San Luis Valley. He couldn't have lived for long in Colorado at that time, because my father graduated from Eskridge High School in Kansas. I don't now the year of his graduation, but since he was born in 1910, it probably was in 1926 or 1927. He then went to Kansas State, and his parents moved from Eskridge to Del Norte while he was at Kansas State.
Goldie Seaton came from a fairly prominent family; one of her brothers was the dean of engineering at Kansas State University for years and years (the main engineering building, Seaton Hall, is named for him) and another brother was a newspaper publisher. One of her nephews was a U.S. Senator from Nebraska briefly and then secretary of the interior in the Eisenhower administration.
[1] United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, [FamilySearchImage], [FamilySearchRecord].
[2] United States Federal Census, 1920, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[3] United States Federal Census, 1930, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[4] United States Federal Census, 1940, [AncestryImage], [AncestryRecord].
[5] Find A Grave Memorial 62386537, [FindAGrave].
[6] United States Social Security Death Index, [FamilySearchRecord].
[7] Find A Grave Memorial 62386530, [FindAGrave].
[8] Personal Communication, conversation with Judith Schafer Chevalley Hiss.
[9] Family Document, Notes of Robert Schafer.