The Snyder Families of Henry County, Iowa

HENRY MILLER SNYDER

AtmtK UeH0X AMD B L in 1842, at the age of fifty-two years. His wife passed away in 1844. He was ever loyal to the interests of his country. Both he and his wife w'ere members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Their family consisted of eight children, of whom Henry Miller, better known as Miller Snyder, was the eldest. He was indebted to the schools of his native state for the educational privileges which he enjoyed. His youth was spent in Virginia. In 1836 he came to Mount Pleasant, Iowa, after a brief residence in Illinois, where he had been connected with the stage line and also in the grocery business. He was for many years the leading groceryman in Mount Pleasant, his location being in the north side of the square. He voted with the Whig party, and was very much interested in the welfare and progress of his party, and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, called him to the office of county treasurer and collector of taxes. He filled both offices up to the time of his death, and he was ever known as a loyal and progressive citizen, whose labor was a tangible factor in the development of this section of the state.

On the 27th of July, 1837, Mr. Snyder was married to Miss Susan A. Ellis, of the state of Kentucky, daughter of Henry and Susan Ellis. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder were the parents of eight children: Oscar H. Snyder, jeweler, of Fairfield, Iowa. George '. Snyder, mail clerk; C. I. Snyder, an accountant, and a soldier in the Civil war, both of Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Elizabeth, widow of Frank Hatton, Washington, D. C. Francis A. Snyder, an editor, who died in 1871. Stewart, who died in childhood. Newton M, Snyder, a newspaper man who is now in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, and Mary I. Snyder, of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, both of whom, together with George W., still reside in the old home place.

Mr. Snyder was for many years a prominent and valued resident of Henry county. For some time he was in feeble health and on the 21st of June, 1854, he passed away. He was a charter member of the Masonic and Odd Fellow lodges and one of the first Methodists in Henry county, and these membership relations indicated the character of the man, for he was true to the teachings and tenets of the fraternal orders and of the church as well.

In the early days of Iowa's development, trouble seemed about to break out between this state and Missouri and the troops were called for. Mr. Snyder was commissioned a lieutenant in one of the companies and his commission is in possession of his son Oscar. It is old and faded, but is of value to the family, being a cherished heirloom.

He was a pure and uncorrupted public official. His gifts and services to the Methodist church were many and his home was at all times open for the reception of those who possessed the same faith. His wife, too, was a member of the Methodist church, while Mary I. and three brothers are Christian Scientists.

Mrs. Snyder possessed a retiring nature but a sweet and gentle disposition and manifested those splendid traits of character which ever mark the true wife and mother. The poor and needy also found in her a friend, and she often ministered to those who needed assistance. She passed on, on Jnly 20, 1894.

Mr. and Mrs. Snyder were typical pioneer people, living for each other, their children, and what good they could do to friends and neighbors. No citizens of the community occupied a higher place in the regard of their fellow townsmen than did Mr. and Mrs. Snyder. They were kind, benevolent, and friendly to all and no better man ever lived in Henry county than Henry M. Snyder.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JAMES SNYDER, a farmer residing on section 25, Canaan Township, Henry Co., Iowa, was born in Marshall County, W. Va., April 21, 1830, and is a son of Andrew and Sarah (Baker) Snyder. Andrew Snyder was born in Jefferson County, Ohio, and Sarah Baker in Marshall County, Va. George Snyder was the grandfather of our subject and a Pennsylvanian German by birth and parentage. He married Rachel Taff in Pennsylvania, then removed to Virginia, and from thence to Highland County, Ohio, their last days being spent in Brown County, where they died and were buried. They were parents of Samuel, Hiram, William. Adam, Peter, Andrew, Mary A., Nancy and Kittie. Of these, Adam, and probably- Peter, are living, the first in Centerville, Iowa, the latter in Ladoga, Ind.

Andrew Snyder went to Virginia, and there married Miss Sarah Baker about 1827. She was a daughter of George and Sarah Baker, who resided on a farm in that county. After a married life of eighteen years in Virginia, during which time eight children were born, the family removed to Iowa, settling in Des Moines County, near Danville, in 1844. The children were Rachel, wife of Oliver Little; James, our subject; Elizabeth, who resides with him: Mary A., who died unmarried; Caroline, who wedded James Crogan; Sarah, wife of Charles Crocker: William W.. who died in childhood, and Lou J., wife of E. A. Miller. Mr. Snyder purchased a half section of land in Des Moines County and erected a log house, which has long since been torn down. Under its roof were born Theo. B., an attorney-at-law in Burlington aa4/the husband of Mary L. Dorgan, and Wilbur, a resiclfent farmer of Pleasant Grove Township, who married Nellie Burns, of Des Moines County-. For third\'- seven happy years the parents lived on their old homestead, when the mother was taken from them, the father living three years longer, when he too died, on the old homestead.

The pioneer life of Mr. and Mrs. Snyder was shared in its fullest sense. The improving of a new farm was not such a hardship for them as for many, they living so near the city of Burlington. Their lands were productive, and their children grew to man and womanhood, bringing gladness and joy to the old homestead. All except one had reached maturity at the time of the mother's death, which occurred in December, 1882. Her remains were interred near the old family mansion in Pleasant Grove Township. She reached the mature age of seventy-four, and her funeral obsequies were held on Christmas Day in 1882. The husband survived until 188.5. and all that was mortal of the pioneer was laid to rest by the side of the wife he had loved so well. The very advanced age of eighty-three had been reached by that patriarch.

who had held in his arms a score and a half of grandchildren, some of whom are now parents. Andrew Snyder was a quiet and good citizen, always a farmer, and his children were early taught habits of thrift and sobriety.

Our subject gi-ew to manhood in Des Moines Count\'. He was united in marriage with Miss Mahala Doty, Nov. 27, 1859, Rev. G. B. Bowman, President of Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa, performing the ceremony at the residence of the bride's mother in Linn County\ Ephraim Doty, the father of Mrs. Snyder, was born in Ohio County, Va., and wedded Mary Snyder in that State. They removed to Highland County, and thence to Williams County, Ohio, where his death occurred in the autumn of 1844. He was the father of twelve children, the eldest of whom were born in Virginia. His widow came to Iowa the same year, locating at Mt. Vernon, Linn County, where she remained until her death, in August, 1881. Her house was the home of all her fatherless children except the eldest, who married in Ohio. We are pleased to give not only* the names, but the wives and husbands of those children, who were pioneers in Southeastern Iowa: Rachel manner Caleb Richart, who died in phiof Kittie A. became the wife of Barney Pettycourt, of Williams County\ Ohio: Abner, husband of Mary A. Barnes, died in Western Nebraska; Mary A. wedded Horatio Wtilker, and resides in Buchanan County, Iowa; Phiebe became the wife of Chauncy Blodgett, of Mt. Vernon, Iowa; Andrew married Hannah McElroy, and was killed at the battle of Champion Hills, where his bodjwas buried; George W. was killed at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and was buried in the National Cemetery there; Minerva, wife of Joseph S. Cookus, of Crete, Neb.; Mahala, wife of our subject, is a twin sister of Minerva; Ephraim married Emily L. Jenks. and resides in Mt. Vernon, and with Ruah, his sister, formed another pair of twins. She wedded Christian Cordes, of the same village, and Eliz.abfth became the wife of Peter H. H. Kepler, also of Mt. Vernon.

Six years after the marriage of our subject he removed to Henry Countv and purchased a farm, upon which he now lives. Not a tree was standing nor a furrow turned upon this tract, but from the beginning a farm has been made, substantial improvements erected, and for years Mr. Snyder has been recognized as one of the leading farmers of Canaan Township. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are the parents of six children: Virginia A., wife of W. H. Deal, of Scott Township; Rachel F., wife of J. H. Forbes, a resident farmer of Crawford, Neb.; Charles W., James P., Wilbur D. and Howard T., complete the family and are all beneath the paternal roof. Both the daughters were educated at Howe's Academy, and were engaged in teaching in this and Des Moines County prior to their marriage. Since 1865 Mr. Snyder and his family have been honored residents of Canaan Township, and as such we desire to do them justice and give them the credit they deserve for the part taken in the development of this goodly land.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.