[1] Wilhelm Michael Schaffrath was born, one of his parents' ten children, in Schöna, a small town in southern Saxony, close to the frontier with Austria.

Two years after his birth the family relocated in connection with his father's work the short distance to Lauterbach, a parish of Stolpen.

His father, Michael Gotthold Schaffrath, worked at one stage as a master weaver, and later, in Lauterbach, as a village school teacher.

[2] Wilhelm was identified early on by the local priest as a talented scholar, and his ability was encouraged, notably by the Stolpen deacon who taught him Latin.

Schaffrath succeeded in obtaining their acquittal at an appeal hearing before the High Court (Königlich-Sächsische Oberappellationsgericht) at Dresden.

[2] In 1840 he was elected a district judge in Sebnitz and in 1841 mayor in Mühltroff, but he was not able to take up either position because the central government refused to confirm the appointments.

In 1845/46 he was able to participate in the Saxony regional assembly (Landtag) as an "urban deputy" following an exhaustive investigation by the authorities which failed to find any reason to block the election result.

[1] He was described by the liberal radical contemporary Bernhard Hirschel as the "conscience" of the assembly ("Rechtsgewissen" der Zweiten Kammer) because of his "exceptional legal knowledge" (wegen seiner "außerordentlichen Gesetzkenntnis").

Together they produced two politically radical newspapers entitled "Verfassungsfreund" ("The Constitution's Friend ")[4] and the "Sächsische Vaterlandsblätter" ("The Saxony Fatherland's journal").