Daniel Snyder

DANIEL SNYDER.

The fitting reward of a well-spent life is an honored retirement and a period of rest in which to enjoy the fruits of former toil. This has come to Mr. Snyder, who has put aside the more arduous duties of life and is living quietly at his pleasant home in Rose Hill. He was born in Mississinawa township, Darke county, January 20, 1842. His father, John K. Snyder, was a native of New Jersey, and when a young man came to Ohio, locating in Butler county, where, in 1835, he married Amy Hideley, whose birth occurred February 10, 1818. They had seven sons and one daughter, the latter being Sarah, the wife of F. A. Lehigh, of Illinois. They were married at her uncle's home in that state, and she died in Illinois, when about thirty-eight years of age, leaving a family. The sons are: Asa, a resident of Rockford, Ohio; George, who is living in Springfield, Ohio; William V., a farmer of Butler county, this state; David; James A., who carries on farming near 'Rose Hill; Cyrus, who died in 1888, at the age of forty-six years; and John W., a painter of Darke county. In April, 1839, the parents came with their children to Darke county, where the father soon afterward purchased six hundred acres of land from the government, for one dollar and a quarter per acre. This was divided into five tracts of forty acres, three tracts of eighty acres and a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. The father was a drove" and drove his stock to Cincinnati, and was also the proprietor of a country store, and hauled his goods from Cincinnati by way of Castine, Darke county.

For six generations the Snyder family, of which our subject is a representative, has been connected with American interests, but many of the sterling characteristics of their Scotch ancestry are shown in their lives. On the material side our subject is descended from one of the old families of Pennsylvania, and the grandfather, Henry Hidelev, removed from the Keystone state to Ohio, where he spent his remaining days, passing away at the age of seventy-nine years.

Mr. Snyder of this review is familiar with the story of pioneer life, having experienced the usual hardships, trials and pleasures which fall to the lot of the frontier settlers. When the family came to this portion of the state, everything was wild and the forests stood in their primeval strength; many kinds of wild animals were found, and the cattle and hogs of the pioneer settlers quickly lost the traits of domestic animals by running wild in the woods, and it required considerable strategy to capture them; but they resorted to the plan of capturing the leaders of the cattle and thing a handspike some eight feet long across their horns, so that they could not run through the brush, thus preventing the cattle from staying away. The parents were not in a good financial condition, and the privileges which the sons enjoyed were rather limited, but they were early trained to'habits of industry, economy and honest) and thus became practical business men, winning success in later life. The father, too, by the aid of his sons, accumulated a comfortable property, although he died in the prime of life. His widow afterward married Hugh McKibbon, who proved a kind husband and considerate stepfather.

In his early youth Daniel Snyder learned the harnessmaker's trade, at Greenville, entering upon the business in 1858. He had before attended school to a limited extent, but in the practical affairs of life he has gained a good knowledge and is now a well informed man. He continued working at his trade until after the inauguration of the civil war, when he enlisted in the One Hundred and Eighty-seventh Ohio Infantry, as a member of Company C. For a year he was at the front, and returned as a noncommissioned officer. He then resumed work as a harness maker, and carried on the business for a number of years, winning an excellent trade and thereby securing a desirable competence. He owns two small farms in Mississinawa township, improved with good buildings and other substantial accessories of the model farm. He has in Rose Hill a four-acre lot, adorned with a comfortable residence, and there he is now making his home and living retired from the active duties of life.

His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, frequently call Mr. Snyder to public office. He served as the township treasurer for seven years, resigning that position when elected county recorder in the fall of 1886. The following January he entered upon the duties of the office, which he discharged in a most satisfactory manner for six years. He served for two terms as postmaster and for a long period has been a member of the school board, doing all in his power to promote the growth of the schools and make them most effective.

On the 31st of October, 1869. occurred the marriage of Mr. Snyder and Miss Lydia I. Winterrowd, who was born in Mercer county, Ohio, July 8, 1850, a daughter of David and Sarah Jane ( Murphy) Winterrowd. Her parents are both now deceased. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Snyder has been blessed wth eight children: R. W., who is living at Redkey, Indiana, and has a wife and two daughters; J. H., who lives on the home farm with his wife and daughter; Amy, who is married, lives at Germantown, Ohio, and has one son and one daughter; Sally, the wife of Lee Williamson; Cliff C, a cigar manufacturer of Burkettsville, Ohio; Daniel E., a cigar manufacturer, working for his brother; a son who died in infancy; and Ralph, a many little lad of seven summers, who complete the family. The daughters display considerable musical talent, and the family is one of prominence in the community, its members occupying enviable positions in social circles. Mr. Snyder labored earnestly and untiringly in former years, acquiring a comfortable competence, and throughout his career his honorable business methods commended him to the respect and unqualified confidence of his fellow men.

As printed in A Biographical history of Darke County, Ohio : compendium of national biography (1900). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.