At the time I was born my parents, Samuel C and Susan S Shaver, were residents of New Bloomfield, Perry County, and being friendly with a neighbor, Judge Charles Barnett, I was baptized with the above appellation. The town, New Bloomfield, now just plain Bloomfield, although the Postal authorities still retain the original name, derived its name from the blooming field of clover where it was settled. The county, Perry, was named after the gallant Commodore Perry.

While I was still an infant my parents moved to a small town, Blain, in the same county, where I grew to school age, when Father sent for the family, he having prepared a home for them in Altoona, Blair County, where he had secured employment with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Vividly I can remember the trip from Blain, Perry County, to Newport, same county. It took almost two days, via stage coach, to reach that town where we were to make connection with the Pennsylvania Railroad. The final hop of the journey, by rail, required but a few hours until we were met by Father. In Altoona I grew to a sturdy youth and procured my education in the grade schools and Altoona High School, class of 1900.

It had been the hope of my parents that I would become a minister of the Methodist Church, thus continuing the history of having a Shaver in the Ministry, but I disappointed them for several reasons, the principal one being that I felt that I was not 'called' for the Ministry, or that I wasn't suited for such a noble profession.

Sister Edith, however, partly appeased their disappointment by marrying the Rev Walter H Upham, a brother of the Rev Fred U Upham, who for a number of years served as pastor of several Methodist churches in New York City and before retirement served as pastor of Old St. John's church, within the limits of the walled city of Wall Street, New York.

After finishing High School, I entered upon a varied career of employment. A brief period as cub reporter for an Altoona evening newspaper was followed by four years service, as bookkeeper and cashier, with Morris and Company, Meat Packers. Serving first in Altoona, I was transferred to branches in McKeesport, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Ohio, and finally to Chicago, Illinois, where I resigned and returned to Altoona, my home.

In Altoona I re-entered the newspaper field, first as a reporter and then advancing to the position of City Editor of the Altoona Times, a newspaper now defunct, occasioned by a merger. About this time, while attending a ball game, of the old Tri-state League, in Altoona, we met again after five years separation – Cleona Galbraith, a former schoolmate, and with whom we exchanged those little "Puppy Love" notes when the teacher wasn't looking. Romance bloomed again and on October 14, 1908 we were married in the Galbraith home in Wilmerding.

Seven children blessed the union, but as the family grew in number, it was necessary that the income should also grow, so I turned to industry. In March, 1912, we moved to the Pittsburgh district and I found employment with Pennsylvania Railroad Company in Pitcairn. Of the six years with the railroad company, three years were served Assistant Foremen. In 1918 I secured a position with the Westinghouse Air Brake Company, where I remained for about twenty-eight years, serving as Supervisor of the Export Division in the plant at Wilmerding. On September 4, 1944 I reached the age of sixty-five years, but, on account of the second World War, I was not retired until November 1st 1945.

Enjoying good health and being unaccustomed to inactivity, after two months of idleness I found employment in a large office building in Pittsburgh, where I remained for over several years, being retired from there on May 2, 1958, at the age of 78 years.