Charles F. Shaeffer

CHARLES F.
Son of
F .W. & R.
SHAEFFER
Born Feb 23rd, 1885,
Died April 29th, 1885

Photo Credit: Rosa G. Gonzales

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Living only a couple of months, this small infant was the son of Franklin Wingot Shaeffer and his second wife, Rowena Davidson. Frank W. Shaeffer was born in Ohio in 1825 and went to California to seek his fortune in the early days of the gold rush to that state where he operated a freight line. He later moved to Texas, settling near Boerne in 1857 before removing to Duval County in 1859. There he engaged in the stock business. While accumulating a large herd of cattle, he was probably best known as one of the wealthiest sheep owners in Texas. After the death of his first wife Mary in 1875, he married at Galveston on August 7, 1877 to Rowena Davidson, a woman considerably younger than him (the 1880 census lists Frank as 51 years old and Rowena as 27 years old). To this union little Charles F. Shaeffer was born on February 23, 1885. However, this little infant died in only two months on April 29, 1885, and the remains of his father were interred next to his little body the following year when F. W. Shaeffer died in October of 1886 as the result of a carriage accident.

Research and transcription: Michael A. Howel