The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 923 JOHN J. SCHAEFFER. Arriving in the Yakima valley in 1911, John J. Schaeffer has since made his home two and a half miles north of Buena, where he owns an excellent property of twelve and a half acres. He was born in Yankton county, South Dakota, then Dakota territory, on the 31st of October, 1874, a son of Henry and Doris (Voss) Schaeffer, who upon their removal to South Dakota in 1869 took up government land in the vicinity of Yankton, being among the early pioneers of that section. Both were natives of Germany and the father's last days were spent in South Dakota, where his carefully directed business affairs made him a successful farmer. The mother survives and still makes her home in South Dakota. John J. Schaeffer supplemented his early public school training by study in Yankton College at Yankton, South Dakota, and also in a college at Naperville, Illinois. He then entered the ministry of the Evangelical Association in 1898, remaining a preacher of the gospel until 1911. In the latter year he came to the Yakima valley and made investment in twelve and a half acres of land two and a half miles north of Buena. It was entirely destitute of improvements and he then began its development, supplanting the sagebrush with carefully nurtured trees that are now in bearing, making his orchards a gratifying source of income. He specializes on the production of apples and pears. On the 20th of April, 1898, Mr. Schaeffer was united in marriage to Miss Annie Sade, who was born in Germany and came to the United States in girlhood, becoming a resident of South Dakota. They now have two children, Estelle and Opal, who are ten and four years of age respectively. The family occupy a nice home which Mr. Schaeffer erected. He and his wife are members of the Evangelical Association and are people of genuine worth, highly esteemed by all who know them. In politics he is an independent republican, for while he usually supports the men and measures of that party, he feels free to cast his ballot without regard for party ties if he so desires. He has made a success in his ranching and orcharding. He served for one year as a director of the Union Gap Irrigation District and he put in on his own place a pumping plant that furnishes irrigation for the land and thus greatly enhances its productiveness. ******************************** Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in January 2008 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.