LAMBERT
SCHAFER JR. AND SOPHIA LEMM
First Families of Huron County, Ohio (Pioneers) - Marjean Holmes Workman #166
LAMBERT SCHAFER JR., son of Lambert Schaefer Sr. and Sara Freymauer, was born 7 June 1776 in Albany (now Schoharie) County New York and baptized as Lambert Schaffer in June of 1776 at the St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Schoharie, Albany (now Schoharie) County, New York.1 Based upon the census records, it is believed he died between 1840-1850 in Florence Township, Erie County, Ohio. However, an article about him ina county history indicates that he died at the home of his son Christopher, in Florence Township about 1853.2
He married first SOPHIA LEMM, daughter of Johan Christian Lemm or Lamb,3 about 1799.4 She was born about 1780,5 and died 21 August 1825.6 She is buried on what was the Shafer property, two miles south of Birmingham in Florence Township, Erie County, Ohio in the Shafer Cemetery.7 Lambert married secondly ELIZABETH [--?--], between 3 October 1825 and 28 July 1827,8 perhaps in Richland County, Ohio.9 Elizabeth was born about 1786/7 in New York,10 and died after the 1850 census.
Lambert and Sophia lived in Schoharie County, New York until all of their children were born. About the time of the beginning of the War of 1812 they decided to move west to Ohio. A brief description of their early days in Ohio is given in one of the county histories:
After the close of the war, the township [Florence] settled more rapidly. One of the first families that moved in was that of Lambert Shaeffer, formerly from Schoharie county, New York. He came to Ohio in 1812, stopping at Painesville, where he carried on blacksmithing until the war was over, when he removed to this township, arriving in February 1815. He settled on the Vermillion, in the first section, where Mr. Graves now lives. He moved into a cabin which stood on his purchase and formerly occupied by Jeremiah Wilson, who left at the breaking out of the war. Shaeffer died at the home of his son Christopher, in this township, about twenty-six years ago, his wife previously. They had seven children, one of whom died in the east. Three are yet living, viz: Mrs. Richard Brewer and Christopher Shaeffer in this township, and Elias in Illinois.11
On 24 December 1816, Lambert Shafer, of the Town of Jesup in the County of Huron and State of Ohio, purchased from Isaac and Anna Bronson, Ebenezer and Sarah Jesup and Jesup and Esther Wakeman, all of Fairfield Town and County and State of Connecticut, one lot of land in the Township of Jesup, being Lot No.67, for $160.12 Lambert kept this land until after Sophia died in 1825. Over the next two years, he sold pieces of the lot to sons Christopher, David and John. Lambert and his second wife then moved to Richland County, Ohio for a few years, but returned to Florence by 1840. The couple lived with son Christopher Shafer until their deaths.Issue of Lambert and Sophia (Lemm) Shafer:
i. ANNATGEN or NANCY SHAFER, b. 22 Apr 1800 Cobleskill, Schoharie Co, NY; d. 18 May 1886 Birmingham, Erie Co, OH. Married RICHARD BREWER on 26 Apr 1818.
ii. CHRISTIAN or CHRISTOPHER SHAFER, b. 14 Aug 1801 Cobleskill, Schoharie Co, NY; d. 17 Oct 1881 at Florence Twp, Erie Co, OH. Married first CATHERINE SHWARTS 20 Nov 1823 and secondly MARY MARIA MILLER on 11 Jan 1843.
iii. DAVID SHAFER, b. 1 Mar 1803 Sharon, Schoharie Co, NY; d. 28 Oct 1853 Lorain Co, OH. Married HANNAH SHERRARTS on 6 Apr 1828.
iv. JOHN SHAFER, b. 5 Nov 1805 Sharon, Schoharie Co, NY; d. 1873. Married HARRIET CORBIN on 20 Feb 1831.
v. PETER LAM SHAFER, b. 31 May 1807 Cobleskill, Schoharie Co, NY. No marriage or death date has been found for Peter. If he died in Huron or Erie County, Ohio, he is most likely buried in the Shafer Cemetery in Florence Township, Erie County, but most of the gravestones have been destroyed. He certainly had died by 1879 when the only surviving children of Lambert Shafer are names as: Mrs. Richard Brewer, Christopher and Elias Shafer.13
vi. ELIAS SHAFER, b. 22 Nov 1808 Sharon, Schoharie Co, NY; d. after 1881 prob. Marion Co, IL Married ANN MARIA BENTLEY.
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1 "Baptism of Lambert Schatter, " June 1776, Saint Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church Records, Schoharie, Schoharie County, New York, in Kelly, Baptismal St. Paul’s, p. 66.
2W. W. Williams, History of the Fire Lands. Comprising Huron and Erie Counties. Ohio. (Cleveland, Ohio: Press of Leader Printing Company, 1879), p. 448. Photocopy supplied to the author by Arlene Symonds.
3 She is recorded as the wife of Lambert Shaefer, Jr. and daughter of Christopher Lamb on her gravestone. She is named as Sophia Lemm in the baptism records of some of her children. A Christian Lamb appears in Canajoharrie, Montgomery County, NY for the 1790 census and in Sharon, Schoharie County, NY for the 1800 census. This would appear to be the father of Sophia. Note that Schoharie county was formed in 1795.
4The 1799 date is an estimate based upon the ages of the children, and their first appearance in the census records.
5The date of her birth calculated from age at death, as listed on her gravestone, would be about 1773/4, but this date is probably too early, with her date of birth more likely about 1780.
6 Date of death obtained from her gravestone.
7 DAR Martha Pritkin Chapter, Erie County Revolutionary Soldiers in Sandusky Library, Sandusky, Ohio. Photocopy supplied to the author by Arlene Symonds. Photo of the gravestone is also in possession of the author.
8The date of Lambert's second marriage is calculated to be after a deed dated 3 October 1825 where no wife is named, but before a deed dated 28 July 1827 naming Lambert and wife, Elisabeth Shafer.
9The marriage of Lambert Shafer Jr. to Elizabeth does not appear in the Huron County, Ohio marriage records. Since in the 1830 census they were found in Richland County, Ohio it is possible that they were also married there.
10Elizabeth was listed as 63 years of age and born in New York in the 1850 census. She is living with Christopher Shatter, her step-son, in this census.
11 W. W. Williams, History of the Fire Lands. Comprising Huron and Erie Counties,. Ohio. (Cleveland, Ohio: Press of Leader Printing Company, 1879), p. 448. Photocopy supplied to the author by Arlene Symonds.
12 “Deed of Sale from Bronson, Jesup and Wakeman to Lambert Shafer," 24 December 1816 (acknowledged 27 January 1817, received 5 October 1818 and recorded 13 November 1818), Huron County, OH, Deed Book (Old Series) 2:545-546, FHL Film No.0396145. Photocopy in possession of the author
13 W. W. Williams, History of the Fire Lands: Comprising Huron and Erie Counties. Ohio. (Cleveland, Ohio: Press of Leader Printing Company, 1879), p. 448. Photocopy supplied to the author by Arlene Symonds