Career
In 1851, Shaffner built a telegraph line from Saint Louis, Missouri to Jefferson City. Later, he organized the North Atlantic Telegraph Company, which projected building a line from Labrador to England through Greenland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. An advantage of Shaffner"s proposal was that none of its segments extended below water for more than 800 miles.
The British government took some interest in the project, but doubts about the long cable"s feasibility undermined its funding, and the line was never built.
Shaffner was chiefly self-taught. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, but mainly pursued inventing.
Shaffner invented several methods of blasting with nitroglycerine and other high explosives, for which he received twelve patents. In 1864, he served Denmark in the Second Schleswig War.
He wrote histories of the United States Civil War and was active in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.
