The company was founded by Walter A. Sheaffer in Fort Madison, Iowa, and incorporated in 1913[4] to exploit his invention of a lever-filling fountain pen.

[5] In August, 2022 the brand was sold to and is currently owned by William Penn Private Limited, a multi-brand retailer and distributor of writing instruments and accessories.

The company was established in the back room of Mr. Sheaffer's jewelry store with seven employees, and was incorporated a year later, in 1913.

The still very popular Connaisseur pen was introduced in 1986 (using the idiosyncratic spelling as a marketing ploy) as an upgraded version of the low-cost No-Nonsense line that paid homage to earlier Sheaffer flat-tops, and included the high end Grande series, and three series of Levenger Connoisseurs that were dual branded and sold by Levenger.

Current high end pens include the Valor and the Legacy series, all of which retain the inlaid nib.

Sheaffer's fountain pen point assembly department was moved to a third-party manufacturer in China.

Customer service, purchasing, information technology, warehousing and distribution operations, packaging, and quality control were relocated to Slovakia.