From the notes of Edwin George Schafer:
Lewis, the youngest of the Johann Michael Schafer family, came to the United States at the age of about 17. It has been stated that he thought if he returned to Germany for a visit he would be confronted with the question, why he left to avoid military service. After he came he joined his brother Jacob in mining adventures mostly in Colorado but likely other areas including New Mexico or Arizona or perhaps both. Neither Jacob nor Lewis married.