Henry
Schaffner was born on August 23, 1755 to his parents Michael Schaffner
and Margaretha Vogleman in Frankfurt
Germany.
The Schaffner family has a long proud heritage. During the Middle Ages
in
Germany, The
Schaffner family was responsible for caring for the great Cathedrals and
monasteries of
Germany.
By 1759, Michael would move his family across the ocean to
Philadelphia and then travel
down the
Great Wagon Road to
Rowan County North Carolina. He would eventually move his family to a
farm in present day Alamance
county
NC. Upon arrival in
America the
Schaffner name was changed to Schoffner
On May 16,
1771, Henry would watch in horror as the famous battle of Alamance was
fought on their family farm. The battle of Alamance was a battle
between the State militia consisting of British Troops and local
farmers over unfair taxation, land swindling and the constant seizure of
land to help pay for the French and Indian war. Henry watched in horror
as British troops fired upon the helpless farmers. Over200 farmers were
killed turning the green pastures of Schoffner land blood red. This
would have an impact on the rest of Henry’s life.
In November
1778, Henry would enlist in the
Mecklenberg
County militia, a unit within
the NC militia, as a private for 5monthsMost of 1778 was relatively
quiet of Tory and Indian activity in Mecklenberg
county
NC so Henry spent
most of the time out on patrols. In 1779 that all changed. The local
Tories dressed up like Indians burning their neighbor’s cabins to ground
if they supported the patriot cause. This caused local Indian wars which
the Indians weren’t responsible for. In March, Henry was paroled at
Turkey Creek near
Savannah
Georgia.
Henry would
reenlist under the command of captain John Starnes as a light horseman
from 1779 until November 1781. During that time he participated in a
Wilmington Expedition. In Early 1781, a British landing forced seized
Wilmington. The Wilmington
Expedition was an attempt to free
Wilmington from British
control but failed. Cornwallis arrived in
Wilmington in April 1781 to march to
Yorktown.
Henry would
also fight Tories in Charlotte NC. On September 1780, Cornwallis arrived
in
Charlotte. Cornwallis
nicknamed
Charlotte “The Hornet’s nest
of the South. In a letter to General Clinton of the British Army,
Cornwallis wrote
Charlotte was an agreeable village, but a
damned rebellious countryside and that the people of
Charlotte were more hostile to
England than
anywhere else in the Colonies. Henry would continue to fight Tories
until November 1781. After this Henry returned home to his wife Chloe
Hart who he had married on August 1, 1780. From this union they would
have 11 children.
In 1783,
Henry would move to
South Carolina. In 1790, He
moved to
Pennsylvania. In 1792,
Henry would take his family through the Cumberland Gap to
Mercer
County
KY. In 1799, Henry
moved to
Greene
County
KY where he would
die on August 28, 1847 at the age of 92. Henry is buried in
Saloma
KY located in
Taylor
County
KY. Descendents of
Henry Schoffner are scattered all over
Eastern
KY including a Schoffner family in
Bell
county
KY.