Stauffer Family

About the Stauffer Family

John Stauffer Sr., of Swiss heritage, was born in Pennsylvania in 1810. He married a Maria Stauffer, no relation. John was known as an excellent herdsman and hunter. For this reason, he was selected, along with Maria’s brother Hans Stauffer, as one of ten scouts who crossed the Oregon Trail and selected Willapa Bay in Washington Territory as the site for Keil’s new western colony.  John and his family continued to live at Willapa until 1866 when, in response to Keil’s call for his daughters to work in the new hotel, he moved the family near Aurora.

A Log House

The Colony mill could not supply lumber fast enough to meet the demand for building material, but John Stauffer had an answer. The district was rich in medium growth timber, so why not build a log house? 

The Stauffer log house, with two stories plus attic and cellar, was constructed about 1867, three miles south of Aurora and just north of Hubbard. It is one of three surviving log structures from the Aurora Colony, and it is currently the site of a very active farm program conducted by the historical society for school children. Oddly, a new home built by the Stauffer family in 1883 did not survive, while the log house did. 

A Double Wedding

On September 3, 1876, Christina Stauffer married William Wolfer and her sister Hannah Stauffer married Jacob Steinbach in front of the fire place at the Stauffer log house. One observer remembered that “it was a festive occasion and a bright sunny morning—-music from a pick-up orchestra waxed clear and beautiful, and a table ran the full length of the dining hall loaded with food.”

How the Colony Worked

John Stauffer Sr. exchanged apples, onion sets, dried apples, eggs, butter, lard, bacon, and plums, as well as occasional animal skins, converting them into cash value at the Colony store. Dried apples made up the bulk of his goods — in 1874, he brought 333 pounds to the store.

After the Colony disbanded, he returned to Willapa where, in 1886, he was killed by a falling tree. In 1920, the Stauffer family claim on the farmstead passed into Will family ownership as a result of the marriage of August Will and Matilda Stauffer.