Background
Schaffer, Mary Townsend Sharpies was born in October 1861 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States. Daughter of Alfred and Elizabeth Cope (Sharpies) Sharples (distant cousins).
Schaffer, Mary Townsend Sharpies was born in October 1861 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, United States. Daughter of Alfred and Elizabeth Cope (Sharpies) Sharples (distant cousins).
Educated private schools and State Normal School, West Chester.
Explored in mountains of Canada, penetrating to parts previously unknown to white mentor Visited the interior of Island of Hokkaido to see the dying aboriginal race of Japan—the Ainus. Also visited the hills in island of Formosa which are inhabited by head hunters.
Member Society of Friends, National Geography Society, Philadelphia Geography Society, Royal Geography Society of England, Academy Natural Sciences, Canadian Alpine.
Married Charles Schäffer, Doctor of Medicine of Philadelphia, July 24, 1889 (died, 1903).