The son of Adam & Sarah Warfel or Warfle, he married Elizabeth Herr and fathered Sarah (b. @1846), Frederick (b. @1847), Samuel Herr (b. 04/01/48 or 49 [age two in the 1850 census] - 214th Pa), Adam (b. 12/??/48), and Elizabeth (b. 07/22/51, d. 04/05/56). In 1850, he was a laborer living with his family in Cumberland Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania. Elizabeth died of consumption in 1853, and he married Elizabeth "Lizzie" Fry July 18, 1855, in Lancaster, fathering Hiram (b. 09/17/55, d. 08/31/56), Ephraim (b. 01/14/57), Christiann [Christine in her death certificate] (b. 08/25/58 - married Adam H. Watson and George D. Carlisle), Amos (b. @1861), Mary @1863), Daniel Fry (b. 08/05/64), Jonas (b. 02/28/67), Delia (b. @1868), Anna (b. @1872), George (b. 04/15/75), and Elizabeth (b. @1878). In 1860, he was a laborer living in Manor Township, Lancaster County, and stood 5' 10" tall with dark hair and gray eyes.

A Civil War veteran, he enlisted at the obviously understated age of twenty-eight [a clerical error?] and mustered into federal service in Lancaster County March 27, 1865, as a private with Co. B, 214th Pennsylvania Infantry, and honorably discharged with his company March 21, 1866. Whether the enlistment age is a clerical error or a deliberate lie is uncertain. He had no justifiable reason to understate his age by ten years. His son Samuel served with him and overstated his enlistment age by at least four years despite the presence of his father who could have granted him permission to enlist legally.

He was found dead on the street face down in a pool of water with a gash on his left temple. His wife reported that he had suffered a heart attack the week before, and coroner's inquest reported heart disease as the likely cause of death, concluding that the head injury was insufficient to be a factor in his death. The obituary in the Lancaster New Era described him as "quite an old man, being in his sixty-sixth year." By 1890, Elizabeth was living in Columbia, Lancaster County.

The "Warfle" shown on the tombstone is, according to a descendant, a misspelling. His obituaries spell the surname "Warfel," which is also how he and his son appear in the 214th Pennsylvania company register.