John Homer Stapfer (né Hans Homer Stapfer; aka John Homer Staffer) was born in Horgen, SUI; died New York, NY USA.
Born in Horgen, in Switzerland near Lucerne, on February 9th, 1877 (sic; 1872), and came to this country in 1881 with his parents. Since he was a boy he has been in the silk manufacturing business. He was with the Lion Silk Company, of New York City for ten years, and when the firm went out of business in 1906, accepted a position as bookkeeper for the weaving department of Schwarzenbach Huber & Co.'s branch mill in Altoona, Pa.
At the age of fifteen he was taught the moves of chess by his father, who was a strong natural player. In 1893 he had his initial experience in tournament play in the annual handicap of the Hoboken Chess Club, where he won first prize, receiving the knight from such players as Cook, Vorrath, Lissner, and Hatfield. He improved rapidly after this, and in 1897 defeated S. Lissner fives games straight in a match. (1)
In 1895 he won the New Jersey championship and in 1898 tied for first with Dr. Herstein and in the play-off defeated the doctor handily. In 1904 he won the championship for a third time and in 1912 a fourth time.(1)(2)
In correspondence play in 1908 he won the 1905 Pillsbury Correspondence Association's 9th annual tournament, in 1946 won the 1943 Victory Tournament, and in 1956 he won the 1951 Golden Knights Postal Chess Championship with a clean score and at 83 years of age. (1)(3)
Obituary
John Staffer, 89, of 2589 Fulton St., Brooklyn, formerly of Paterson, died of complications yesterday in the Wartburg Funeral Home, Brooklyn.
He was a former supervisor in the Schwartzenbach-Hueber silk mill, Union City. (4)
Sources
(1) Corsair, v8 n101, 18 March 1909, pp9-12
(2) Paterson Morning Call, 1912.03.12, p3
(3) Chess Review, v28 n6, May 1960, p130
(4) Jersey City Evening Journal, 1961.07.18, p11
References
1910 US Census (age 38)
1950 US Census (age 78)
Kibitzing
