When Joseph Schaff was born on 19 March 1885, in Peschanyy Brod, Veselynove Raion, Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Soviet Union, his father, Georg Schaaf, was 39 and his mother, Anna Mary Degele, was 33. He married Anna Mary Zent on 19 April 1911, in Stark, North Dakota, United States. They were the parents of at least 10 sons and 3 daughters. He lived in Slope, North Dakota, United States in 1920 and Cash Township, Slope, North Dakota, United States for about 10 years. He died on 2 February 1955, at the age of 69.