Background
Schaffer was the son of George Alfred and Mary Henrietta Irwin Schaffer.
Schaffer was the son of George Alfred and Mary Henrietta Irwin Schaffer.
He served briefly as the state"s Attorney General, resigning to serve on the state"s Supreme Court for over twenty years, including three years as Chief Justice. Schaffer grew up in Chester. He left school at age fifteen, finding odd jobs, ending up as an assistant in a law office, where he learned law.
He was admitted to the bar of Delaware County in 1888 on his 21st birthday, the legal minimum.
He served two terms as District Attorney for Delaware County. He was active in Republican politics, and was appointed by Governor Sproul, first to Attorney General, and then to fill a vacancy on the state Supreme Court.
He was elevated to Chief Justice based on seniority in 1940. After retiring from the Court, he returned to private practice, living in Haverford.
During his final illness, he stayed in Florida, where he died.
Schaffer wrote the majority opinion in the 1927 case deciding that Sunday baseball was in violation of the state"s 1794 "blue laws". Schaffer was identified, along with Justice John West. Kephart, in a Senate Banking Committee investigation, as being on a J. P. Morgan "preferred" list, allowing them steeply discounted prices for the purchase of certain securities. Governor Pinchot asked the two justices to resign.
The judges denied any impropriety.