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Men of West Virginia
Charles E Shafer, the able editor and proprietor of the Clay County star, the only Republican journal of the county, was born May 3, 1868, in Jackson County, West Virginia, on a farm near the village of Gay. He is a son of A.J. and Elizabeth (Rhodes) Shafer, to whom the following named children were born: Mary C. (Mrs George W. Litton); Sarah A. (Mrs. N.D. Cunningham); Charles F.; W.E., a student at Grant University, Tennessee; J.P., and attorney-at-law of Kettle, Roane County; and H.M., also of Roane County, who is a student in the Marshall Business College, Huntington, West Virginia.
Our subject's mother, who was born in Jackson County, Virginia, now West Virginia, in 1842, and was married to A.J. Shafer in 1859, is a daughter of James and Annie (Casto) Rhodes. James Rhodes, who was of Scotch-Irish descent, was born in Rockbridge County, Virginia, in 1818; he was married in Jackson County, Virginia, now West Virginia, in 1838, to Annie Casto, who was born in Jackson County in 1817. James Rhodes died in December, 1888, and his wife died in June, 1902.
A.J. Shafer, our subject's father, was born in Kanawha County, Virginia, now West Virginia, in 1840 and is a son of John Shafer, a farmer of that locality. John Shafer was born in Missouri in 1808, and was married in Kanawha County in 1828, to Mary C. Cox, who was born in Lewis County in 1811; both died in Kanawha County, West Virginia, on the 21st day of December, 1864.
Charles F. Shafer was educated in the common schools and then entered the ministry. He began in this calling when less than 19 years of age. From the beginning his success was remarkable. He traveled through parts of West Virginia as an evangelist, often going on foot, and always found a welcome among both rich and poor. During the first five years of his ministry, about 600 souls were converted to Christ under his work, and numerous dead churches were awakened. In 1890 he made a trip to Mississippi to work as an evangelist in the "Sunny South". For 12 months he carried on the work in that state, and then he made a trip through Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, and preached in each of those states with good results. Mr. Shafer had never been accustomed to preaching outdoors, but he found it impossible to preach to all who came to hear him in the Southern field without preaching, frequently, in the open air. This brought on a number of attacks of malarial fever. He soon became unable to travel, and was compelled, to a great extent, to quit regular ministerail work. He became associated with the eitorial and publishing departments and was attached for a time to the editorial staff of several religious and also of political papers. He established the Raleigh Herald of Raleigh County, and issued his first number on June 8, 1900. Later he disposed of this journal and took control of the Clay County Star, which was established in 1888 as a Republican paper, and has been under his very capable management since December 1, 1902. Mr Shafer is a man of education and of superior mental endowment.
On September 7, 1892, Mr Shafer was united in marriage to Gertrude L. Edwards, of Webster County, Mississippi, who descended from and old Welsh family. Joshua Edwards was born in Pembrokeshire, South Wales in February, 1703; Abel Edwards was born at the Welsh tract in Delaware in 1739; Edward Edwards was born near the Welsh Neck, on the Pee Dee River, South Carolina, in 1769; E.D. Edwards was born January 3, 1804; G W Edwards, the father of Gertrude L.Edwards, the wife of our subject, was born September 10, 1848. Mrs. D.E.(Hubberd) Edwards, mother of Mrs Shafer, was born August 9, 1849. An interesting family of four children was born to Mr & Mrs Shafer, namely: Charles E., born July 14, 1893; Ebal C, born April 18, 1895; Ulla E., born January 4, 1897; and Edward P., born March 26, 1899, who died November 24, 1901. Mrs Shafer died November 24, 1902, and was buried at the cemetery of Clay Court House, West Virginia.
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The Back Rhodes of Our Genealogy
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