Joshua Monroe Shaffer and Melvina Jane Curry

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Husband Joshua Monroe Shaffer ¹

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           Born: 13 Sep 1830 - Washington, Washington Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: 25 Mar 1913 - Keokuk, Lee Co, IA 1
         Buried: 

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         Father: John Shaffer (1776-1863) 1
         Mother: Charlotte Slagle (1792-1846) 1

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       Marriage: 18 Mar 1856 - Elizabeth, Allegheny Co, PA 1

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Wife Melvina Jane Curry ¹

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           Born: 6 Sep 1833 - Carmichaels, Greene Co, PA 1
     Christened: 
           Died: 15 Jun 1904 - Keokuk, Lee Co, IA 1
         Buried: 

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         Father: Dr. Joseph Curry (      -      ) 1
         Mother: Susan [Unk] (      -      ) 1

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Children

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• Descendant information.
To read a brief list of their descendants, click here.

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General Notes: Husband - Joshua Monroe Shaffer

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In 1843, at the age of thirteen years, he entered Washington College, graduating from it in 1848, and in 1849 he commenced the study of medicine with his brother, Dr. John Eckert Shaffer, in Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, and also attended lectures at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Having finished his medical studies, he went to Fairfield, Iowa, in 1852, where he began to practice. In 1862 the honorary degree of M. D. was conferred on him by the Iowa State University. In 1863 he was appointed by the United States, surgeon of the Board of Enrollment, and in two years examined over two thousand applicants for enrollment in the army. For twelve years he was secretary of the Iowa State Agricultural Society, which institution had its origin in his office in 1853. In 1874 he removed to Keokuk, Iowa, in order to take up his duties as secretary of the Iowa Life Insurance Company. Dr. Shaffer was a careful and enthusiastic student of Natural History and a fine taxidermist, and was considered a high authority by the government officials at Washington, D. C. He was a consistent and staunch Republican in politics, a prominent and active member of the Unitarian Church and secretary of that body for a long term of years; was a member of Damascus Commandery of Knights Templars and of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

1 Ella Campbell Slagle Nichols, Family Record (Pittsburgh, PA: Privately published, 1914).