Recollections of Susanna Shaffner Lange, daughter of John CharlesShaffner, written in 1898 when she was 85 years old:
"About 1807 my uncle, father's brother Mathias, bought the old CarrollManor, or farm, at Hagerstown, Md. This was for many years the countryresidence of Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, one of the signers of theDeclaration of Independence. My father (Charles) assisted his brother inbuying the estate, which covered about 1,500 acres, I believe, and wasvery costly. About 1812, or just immediately before the War of 1812, myfather sold out his business in Brownsville and moved to the newly-boughtplace..........I recollect.......that the manor house was a huge whitehouse covered with a rough coating to imitate marble and that we enteredthrough a big wide vestibule. In the spacious hall were trophies of thechase and hunting implements. We stayed there about 14 years. I wasthirteen years old when we left there. It was my birthplace........Mygrandfather, Jacob Shaffner, was an importer, and made yearly trips toHolland at a time when it meant a three-month's voyage on the Atlantic.At the outbreak of the Revolution he sold out his business and taking themoney he had accumulated, sailed for Amsterdam expecting to invest it inthe then latest improved firearms. It was purely a privateenterprise..........But in Holland, my grandfather found that, owning tothe neutrality of Holland, it would be impossible to send the arms out ofthe country unless he smuggled them, and his sense of honor was too greatto permit him to do this. He suddenly fell very ill, which precluded hisdeparture for America, so he put his money in a bank inAmsterdam.........I could never find out conclusively just how much moneythere was, but it was a big sum for those days for my grandfather had avery lucrative business. I think the sum was about $20,000. We havetried to locate this money but it seems that fate is against us. PhillipGreenawalt was the administrator of my grandfather's estate. Heempowered another man to act as attorney in locating and securing themoney, but the paper giving the power of attorney was defective and wassent back to America. This caused a long delay, and from this time on wenever heard of the matter......Years ago--I suppose fully seventy yearsback--my sister was coming up the Ohio river on a steamer and happened tooverhear two negro women carrying on a conversation about anadvertisement that appeared in a German paper, calling for informationconcerning some Shaffner heirs. The advertisement was inserted by theDutch government, and related to a Shaffner estate. My sister was imbuedwith the old southern race prejudice and did not care to talk with thecolored women, especially in such a public place as a steamboat. If Ihad been in her place I would certainly have talked to them and found outsome particulars. I am sure the Shaffner estate referred to was the oneleft by my grandfather. We wrote to Holland and to the Greenawalt familyand received no satisfaction other than the latter told us the case wouldnow be in the hands of the state authorities (Pennsylvania) and thepapers relative thereto were most likely on file in Harrisburg. Mybrothers thought that to push the matter through Harrisburg would involvetoo much "red tape" and expense. It was too much expense to risk forsomething so uncertain."
From original deed copies:
(John) Charles Shaffner, of Fayette Co., Penna., purchased land, part ofa tract called "Clover Pasture", located in Fayette Co., per a deedprepared October 13, 1797. Witnessed by (John) Phillip Shaffner.
Charles Shaffner and (John) Phillip Shaffner, of Brownsville, Penna., purchased land, part of the Clover Pasture tract, per a deed prepared in 1800.
(John) Mathias Shaffner, of Washington Co., Maryland, purchased land in Elizabeth Town, Washington Co., Maryland, per a deed prepared on January 15, 1814.
