Alexander Mayer Schaeffer

http://hausegenealogy.com/schaeffer.html

Schaefferstown was founded in June 1758 by German immigrant, Alexander Schaeffer. He called his new village Heidelberg, but it was not long before people began referring to it simply as “Schaeffer’s Town.”

The town Schaeffer planned was very much like those he had known in Europe. Building lots for homes and businesses were arranged around a large central square, at the intersection of two main roads, one running east to west, from Harris’s Ferry (Harrisburg) and Hummelstown to Ephrata via the Cornwall Iron Furnace, and the other north and south, connecting Conrad Weiser’s settlement at Tulpehocken with Lancaster, passing by Elizabeth Furnace.

Because of its prominent location near larger settlements and iron sites there was much traffic through the town, and stores and taverns sprang up to cater to travelers and residents alike. In 1761 an advertiser in the Pennsylvania Gazette announced that a post rider would take mail each Monday between Lancaster and Lebanon, with the tavern kept by Paul Gemberling on the square in “Heidelberg Town” (now known as the Gemberling-Rex House) as one of the regular stops. By the end of the 18th century there was also an open-sided wooden market house on the north side of the square. 

To provide water for the town, Schaeffer installed underground wooden pipes connecting a spring at the north end of Market Street to the square. The flow from the spring was so strong that the water flowed uphill to fill two troughs or “fountains”—at the time both located on the town square. In 1763, Schaeffer deeded the reservoir property (now known as Fountain Park) and the water system itself to residents of Market Street. Homeowners on that street today are automatically members of the Schaefferstown Water Company, whose responsibility it is to maintain the park, and the two “fountains.” The trough on the square was replaced in 1910 with a granite fountain, donated by A. Matilda Zimmerman in memory of Mary Rex Zimmerman, her mother and great grand-daughter of Alexander Schaeffer.
After laying out the town, Schaeffer began immediately to sell lots, but he reserved the right to collect an annual ground rent of a few shillings from the buyers. He kept one of the best lots on the square for himself, and there he built a large limestone building where he ran a general store and a tavern. This building, still operating as a tavern, was once called the King George. After the American Revolution it was given its present name, Franklin House.
* Historic Schaefferstown Web Site

• DAR #A131177
• Find a grave memorial

Alexander Scheffer Tombstone Birth: Jan. 8, 1712 Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany Death: Apr. 10, 1786 Schaefferstown Lebanon County Pennsylvania, USA Alexander, son of Hans Henry and Anna Margaretha (Mayer) Schaeffer, immigrated to Philadelphia from Baden, Germany, in 1738. By the time of his death in 1786 he had laid out the town he named Heidelberg (now Schaefferstown), in Lancaster Co., PA, built the King George Hotel (the present day Franklin House), and created the first gravitational water conveyance system by underground pipes in all the British colonies. In about 1738 he married Anna Engel and together they had 7 children. He was of the German Reformed faith and was a guiding force in establishing that church in Heidelberg.

https://books.google.com/books?id=SNY4AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA517&lpg=PA517&d...

http://www.chipstone.org/article.php/619/American-Furniture-2011/Fr...

https://books.google.com/books?id=YAm65Yxtpe0C&pg=PA75&lpg=PA75&dq=...

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Schaeffer-455

Alexander Schaeffer was born January 8, 1712, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, a son of Hans Henry and Anna Margaretha (Mayer) Schaeffer, who immigrated to Philadelphia, in 1738. According to Mills, He immigrated to America aboard the ship "Robert and Alice" arriving in Philadelphia 11 Sep 1738 with his wife Anna Engel. He settled in the Lebanon Valley.[1]

"In 1758, he [Alexander] bought a tract of land in Heidelburg Township, and laid out a town which after his death came to be know as Schaefferstown. He subscribed to the Oaths to the Government 1n 1738; he took the Oath of Allegiance in 1777."[1] ”Schaefferstown was founded in June 1758 by German immigrant Alexander Schaeffer. He called his new village Heidelberg, but it was not long before people began referring to it simply as Schaeffer’s Town. The town Schaeffer planned was very much like those he had known in Europe. Building lots for homes and businesses were arranged around a large central square, at the intersection of two main roads, one running east to west, from Harris’s Ferry (Harrisburg) and Hummelstown to Ephrata via the Cornwall Iron Furnace, and the other north and south, connecting Conrad Weiser’s settlement at Tulpehocken with Lancaster, passing by Elizabeth Furnace. “ [2]

During the American Revolutionary War, Alexander took the oath of allegiance on August 4, 1777, and paid supply tax in 1779, in support of the Continental Army. Alexander was too old to fight in the military, but he is honored for his Patriotic Service, by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Their records indicate that he was twice married, first to Anna Engle and secondly to Catherine Unger. Applications for membership in the DAR have been made by the descendants of Alexander’s sons, Henry Schaeffer, who married Anna Eva Schweitzer; and John Nicholas Schaeffer, who married Barbara Miller; and through his daughters Anna Maria Schaeffer, who married Christopher Meyer; and Margaret Schaeffer, who married John Bright.

Dauphin county, Pennsylvania was established on March 4, 1785, from part of Lancaster County. Alexander died April 10, 1786, in Schaefferstown, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania. Lebanon county was established in 1813, and so Schaefferstown is in present day Lebanon county.

[1]
Passengers of the Robert & Alice1738 Voyage and
Passenger List:
"U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s," database
Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Year: 1738; Page Number: 29
3363784 (accessed 22 March 2023)
Source Bibliography: YODER, DON. Rhineland Emigrants: Lists of German Settlers in Colonial America. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1981. 170p.; Primary Immigrant: Schaeffer, Alexander; Arrival Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Source Publication Code: 9968; Annotation: Composed of 24 articles excerpted and reprinted from Pennsylvania Folklife. Especially important because of the difficulty in finding early numbers of this periodical.; Name: Anna Engle Schaeffer; Arrival Year: 1738;
Household Members (Name) Relationship:
Alexander Schaeffer
Anna Engle Schaeffer Wife
Schaeffer.
</ref>

https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1063...

Archeological Dig done on Alexander Schaeffer farm

https://hsimuseum.org/archaeological-research-at-the-alexander-scha...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrailsofhistory/5932139447/

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/vitals/LCQ4-BHX