I recently got a request on my website for information about this family. I've been drafting an answer and find that it is so long, I might make it a separate post. Before I do, I thought I'd see if there are any researchers out there who are also interested in these people. Here is the request: Keith Shepherd <kshepherd@yahoo.com> 1/3/2012: Do you happen to have any information on the German or Dutch Shafer/Shepherd familes of Amwell Township, Hunterdon County, NJ starting from about the mid 1750's? I've been to the Hunterdon County Historical Society several times and found a few files on them but there are a lot of missing pieces. I'm trying to track down the first Shafer/Shepherd to arrive in 1754. The tradition is that he died on shipboard on his way over from Germany but his wife Margaret and their 4 children named John, Henry, Peter & possibly Richard (he may have been in his Mother's womb) carried on to Amwell. She later married Andrew Bearder, who was on the ship with them when he traveled to America. Some of the unknowns--Did Shafers or Shaffers actually change their name to Shepherd? Did Margaret Shafer really have four children? I do have information on Margaret's second husband, George Henry Wambaugh, and other information provided in the *History of East Amwell*. Thanks for any help. Marfy *Marfy Goodspeed **marfyg@gmail.com** Goodspeed Histories http://goodspeedhistories.com/ *

Hello, Thanks for posting this request, Marfy. The legend sounds familiar, but in my memory pertains not to any of my own ancestors named Shafer or Shaver or Schaffer but to another surname in our family. I think for us it is Keller. Sadly, death or a parent or child on the voyage was very common. Our Keller version also features the widow marrying a man she had met on the voyage or soon after they both made land. This too must have been almost a necessity. Two other Palatine ancestors with surnames not Shafer (Isett, Rinehart) etc had spouses die on the voyage and struck onward with their children but did not remarry. As a Shafer whose roots in Hunterdon County go back to Lebanon and Bethlehem Twps I know of many ancestors who lived in Amwell but none I know of bore that surname. As to the move between Schafer variants and Shepherd variants I know of no one in "ours" who anglicized to Shepherd although the latter is the most-accepted translation version. My aunt, born in the 1890s always claimed that "our" Shafers were originally Shavers, not Schaffers. My own later work does not agree with her. I'm probably not a close relative to Keith but am certainly glad someone is working on the name, as will be my third-cousin (no so named) who is also on this list. If Keith has good reason to believe his Shafer or variant ancestor arrived 1754, he might want (if he hasn't already) to check the passenger lists. Rupp has a John Schaffer (I don't recall the spelling variant) who arrived 1754 on the Phenix. Presumably, however, this John was adult and survived if he was recorded. Best, Stephen Shafer great x 4 grandson of William Shafer b. 1738 Lebanon Twp. Quoting Marfy Goodspeed <marfyg@gmail.com>: > I recently got a request on my website for information about this family. > I've been drafting an answer and find that it is so long, I might make it a > separate post. Before I do, I thought I'd see if there are any researchers > out there who are also interested in these people. Here is the request: > > Keith Shepherd <kshepherd@yahoo.com> 1/3/2012: Do you happen to have any > information on the German or Dutch Shafer/Shepherd familes of Amwell > Township, Hunterdon County, NJ starting from about the mid 1750's? I've > been to the Hunterdon County Historical Society several times and found a > few files on them but there are a lot of missing pieces. I'm trying to > track down the first Shafer/Shepherd to arrive in 1754. The tradition is > that he died on shipboard on his way over from Germany but his wife > Margaret and their 4 children named John, Henry, Peter & possibly Richard > (he may have been in his Mother's womb) carried on to Amwell. She later > married Andrew Bearder, who was on the ship with them when he traveled to > America. > > Some of the unknowns--Did Shafers or Shaffers actually change their name to > Shepherd? Did Margaret Shafer really have four children? I do have > information on Margaret's second husband, George Henry Wambaugh, and other > information provided in the *History of East Amwell*. > > Thanks for any help. > Marfy > *Marfy Goodspeed **marfyg@gmail.com** > Goodspeed Histories http://goodspeedhistories.com/ > * > Visit the Hunterdon County GenWeb page at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~njhunter > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > NJHUNTER-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without > the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > Stephen Quentin Shafer