This is the genealogy homepage of Henry William and Martha Jane (Brubaker) Shaffer.  The focus is on the family of Homer Franklin Shaffer, but it is a big tent.  We have gathered up as much data and support information as we can and encourage you to contribute to the page as you wish.  We have pictures now going back to 1893.  As a point of reference, the first roll camera was patented in 1888 and in 1900 the first brownie appeared.


This site tends to focus on the family of Homer Franklin and Jennie Mae (Gindelsperger) Shaffer.  The Family tree includes extensive coverage of the Gindelsperger (Gindelsparger) linage and the Bluogh (Blauch) as well.  The tree includes just under 2000 family members going back to the 1750’s.


It all started with Lt. Henry Shaffer from Somerset County, Penna. He was born on or about 1751 in Germany. His long time common law wife was a lady named Agnes.  We are not sure where exactly he emigrated.  He changed his name at some point from Heirich Schafer to Henry Shaffer.  He did fight in the Revolutionary War for the York County Militia in PA and there are several members of the family in DAR.  He is buried in the left front section of the Freidens Luthern Cemetery.  He was a founding member of that Church and donated 30 acres to it at one point in his lifetime known as the “Homestead Farm”.  He was 83 when he died.


Our family tree includes the Families of Rev. Bishop Samuel Blauch (b 4/22/1803) and the family of Catherine (Blauch) Gindlesperger (b 11/16/1836).


This is a representation of family as we understand it today. The neat thing is that it all goes back to 1723.  These data were complied and supported by the "real" genealogists as follows:


Henry William Shaffer: Jessica S Catelinet, Barry Catelinet Dec 1994.


Rev. Bishop Samuel Blaugh: Daniel Weaver, D.D. Blaugh 1921.


Catherine Gindlesperger: Donna J. Veskosky, 1974.


Decendants of Ulrich Gindlesperger: Brian J. Ensley 1998.


John Long Family: Alice (Long) Waitr.


Aiding in this journey is Randy Litzinger who is undertaking gathering up many a family photo and doing a lot of leg work checking and re-checking the work.   We are both of the Homer Shaffer lineage.


New Additions as of 10/15/2010

  1. -    Added photos of the Reunion 2010 , Gen I to IV 

  2. -    in the Verna, Myrt, and Bud photo albums the photo of the five kids,

was labeled it wrong.-in my CA school write up, the school teacher in the list should read:

Lucille (Schmucker) Shaver  for 1936 & 1937  (had her maiden and married names inverted.

-        in 'the Farm' gallery:  The old barn was built in 1863 by E.B. Enock.

The farm was sold by Homer Shaffer to a real estate agent with the

last name of Custer in October of 1945 or November of 1946 for around $10,000.  Homer and

Jennie moved to Hooversville in June the following yr..  added this to the school write up as well.

  1. -       in the CA school photo gallery,we deleted a duplicate photo

  2. -        Added photo of family members after Roy’s Funeral Aug 16, 1980.  Added to John


New Additions as of 10/15/2010

-    Added photos of the Reunion 2010 , Gen I to IV 

-    in the Verna, Myrt, and Bud photo albums the photo of the five kids,

was labeled it wrong.-in the CA school write up, the school teacher in the list should read:

Lucille (Schmucker) Shaver  for 1936 & 1937  (had her maiden and married names inverted

 -   in 'the Farm' gallery:  The old barn was built in 1863 by E.B. Enock.

The farm was sold by Homer Shaffer to a real estate agent with the

last name of Custer in October of 1945 or November of 1946 for around $10,000.  Homer and

Jennie moved to Hooversville in June the following yr..  added this to the school write up as well.

-   in the CA school photo gallery,we deleted a duplicate photo

-   Added photo of family members after Roy’s Funeral Aug 16, 1980.  Added to John


New Additions as of 04/27/2010

  1. -    Added Somerset County Genealogy Site link

  2. -    Added additional relatives under the Arrich, Meyers and Jock lines

  3. -    Found Additional resources on Lt Henry including his death date and that of his wife!!

  4. -    Corrected Uncle Bud’s birthdate on the veterans pages

  5. -    Added Simon Peter Shaffer Sr and his 13 (yes 13) kids under Lt Henry



New Additions as of 04/26/2010

    Added a separate page for Uncle Bud under Veterans

  1. -    Added 2 new letters home to Bob from Paul from April and September 1941

  2. -    Added one new letter home to Bob from Bud in May 1951


New Additions as of 08-30-09

  1. -    Added a separate page for Homer and Jennie

  2. -    Added picture of Homer and Jennie Porch swing - date unknown

  3. -    Added 1935 Schoolhouse group pictures

  4. -    Added 1936 Schoolhouse group photo

  5. -    Added close-up of 1935 schoolhouse group of Verna, Myrtle and Bud

  6. -    Update 1937 Schoolhouse group picture

  7. -    Added Photos to Roy’s Gen II page

  8. -    Added Photos to Lois’s Gen II page

  9. -    Added photo of Donnie about age 12

  10. -    Added photo of Homer from 1967 as most remember him


New Additions as of 08-09-09

  1. -    Added a better picture of the Henry and Martha family - 1920

  2. -    Randy Litzinger did a Fabulous write up on the history of the California Schoolhouse

  3. -    Added new photos of Homer and Jennie when they were young

  4. -    Added pictures to ALL the boys pages

  5. -    Added pages to Lois, Myrtle and Verna pages. 

  6. -    Added photos of Noah’s and Paul’s graves

  7. -    Added pictures of the California School House as it is today

  8. -    Moved a picture of the Homer Signed board from the School to the Farm where it was found

  9. -    Made a few typo corrections to the Site

  10. -    Updated the Ryan Shaffer tree

  11. -    Created a Bud Gen II page



New Additions as of 08-02-09

  1. -    Added a wonderful article on the life of Noah after enlisting From Brian Shaffer

  2. -    Corrected Paul’s Battalion and company data

  3. -    Corrected the welcome page to reflect new Lt Henry Shaffer information

  4. -    Added Lt Henry Shaffer page

  5. -    Added Lt Henry Shaffer history pages done by Alice Long Waitr

  6. -    Added Lt Henry Shaffer Dedication proceedings from Sept 15, 1973

  7. -    Corrected the Kessler / Litzinger tree

  8. -    Corrected the Thomas Neil tree

  9. -    Corrected the James/Loraine Puleo tree

  10. -    Added Myrtle Obit and Memorial card to photo gallery

  11. -    Updated Welcome/Gallery Picture of Henry W.

  12. -    Added to the Homer/Jennie Gallery - Great Stuff

  13. -    Added Lois and Roy Gen II & II Gallery


New Additions as of 07-26-09

  1. -    Added pictures to Lois page

  2. -    Added last paragraph of letter of Paul to Jennie before his death

  3. -    Corrected the Brian Neil family tree

  4. -    Added History of Somerset County 1906 , pages 303-311 to Noah page


New Additions as of 07-20-09

  1. -   Added Noah Shaffer and Paul Shaffer to a new Veterans page

  2. -   Added pictures of the 2009 Reunion and added some past reunion pics

  3. -   Added closer picture of Ira “Jack” Shaffer

  4. -   Added Pictures of the old California School House restored

  5. -   Added pictures of the old Shaffer farm restored

  6. -   Added and corrected the Roy Shaffer and Alan Roy tree

  7. -   Added and corrected the Robert Shaffer tree

  8. -   Corrected the Karin and Merv tree

  9. -   Added pictures of Lois, John and Helen to their galleries

  10. -   Added a new Gen II and Gen III Gallery

  11. -   Corrected date on Paul’s last know pictures at home

  12. -   Corrected the names on the 1934 California School house picture


Enjoy and if you can help add to the tree and site or correct mistakes, please email us at scott@shaffer.com or randylitzinger@gmail.com