continued from previous page

The authentic date of Peter Shaver's death is not officially recorded, but Professor Africa includes in his “History of Huntingdon County" a story of the tragic death of Peter Shaver as follows:

"There is a tradition that he (Peter Shaver) was murdered one evening while putting his horse in the pasture lot. From the fact that he was beheaded, but not scalped, it is believed that the crime was perpetrated by a white man. It is said that the most liberal reward offered failed to secure the least clue by which the author of this cruel deed might become known -- Shaver is buried on the right bank of Shaver’s Creek, below the present railroad bridge at Petersburg where, afterward there was established one of the earliest grave yards in the valley". (see paragraph 2 under the heading 'Fort Anderson,' on this page)

Whether or not the tradition is an authentic narrative describing Peter Shaver's death, there seems to be no record of the Shaver family until June 25, 1765, when the closing chapter of the life of this venerable o1d pioneer, Peter Shaver, was written in the following:

"On June 25,1765 Samuel Anderson, on behalf of Peter and John Shaver, minor children of Peter Shaver, an Indian Trader, entered a caveat against the acceptance of a survey or patent being granted to John Lytle, or any other person, for the tract of land, at the mouth of Shaver’s Creek, about four miles above the Standing Stone, whereon the said Peter Shaver, the father, made an improvement about the year 1754, the said Samuel Anderson alleging that the right of claim to the improvement is vested in the said children.”

In recording the above facts the writer started and continues his search from a previous effort which ended prior to the record of the untimely death of our ancestor, Peter Shaver, as related above.

return to first page