Camden People - Emmanuel Washington Schaeffer

EMMANUEL WASHINGTON SCHAEFFER was born in Rock, Pennsylvania in 1877. By 1902 he had come to Camden, New Jersey. In that year he married Mary Bartlett Williams. City Directories for 1903 show him at 209 Mickle Street, and at 211 Mickle Street when daughter Edna May was born. In 1905 he began working for the Reading Railroad. The following year he transferred to the Atlantic City Railroad, which in the 1930s became the Pennsylvania-Reading-Seashore line. The family moved to 320 Mickle Street in 1906, the year that son Ralph was born. They sayed at this address through 1910. The 1911 City Directory shows the Scheffers at 412 Mickle Street, and they are listed at 414 Mickle from 1912 through 1917. By September of 1918 Emmanuel and Mary Schaeffer moved to 449 Benson Street, where they would live out their days. Two other children were born, Dorothy and Elwood, sadly, oldest so Ralph died in June of 1920.

Working his way through the ranks at the railroad, Emmanuel Schaeffer worked until 1947 as an engineer. He retired on April 28, 1947 after 42 years of service. Locally, he was well known in his neighborhood for his Christmas display, which featured hand painted lights. His display was featured in the Christmas Eve edition of the Courier-Post in 1965.

Mary Schaeffer passed away in July of 1966, and Emmanel joined her in October of that year.

Circa 1950 - First Methodist Methodist Church steps in Camden?
Back Row: Elwood and Gladys Schaffer, Dorothy and Jack Dischert
Middle: Doris Stratton, her mother Edna Schaffer, Grandma and Grandpa Schaffer
Front: Allen Cabrera (Doris's son-first marriage), Terry John, Larry & David Dischert

Camden Courier-Post
September 10, 1964

World War I Draft Card