Jacob Snaufer

As printed in 1908

JACOB SNAUFER, township trustee of Moorefield Township and one of the leading citizens of this part of Clark County, where he owns a valuable farm of seventy-one acres which is situated in section 25, on the Villa road, was born in Germany, September 23, 1835. His parents were John and Magdalene (Weidman) Snaufer.

In 1852, John Snaufer, accompanied by his wife and four children, made his way to Liverpool, England, and took passage for America on. a sailing vessel that was then in the harbor. It was an unfortunate choice and doubly so on account of his being the only German family on board. None of the passengers nor any of the officers were able to speak the German language and this, of itself, would have made the position of the little family one of more or less hardship. For nine days the vessel was tossed about in terrific storms, but when cholera broke out, the passengers were in a pitiable state indeed. Over 160 of them died and among these were the father and mother of Jacob Snaufer. The mother lived but a few hours after being attacked but the father lingered for ten days. Their burial was in the sea. The ship, after forty-three days at sea, finally reached New York.

Jacob Snaufer was then sixteen years of age and was the eldest of the four children. When he landed in what seemed a very unfriendly country, he took his brother and two sisters to a small hotel and as he knew that he had two uncles living in Ohio, one in Logan and the other in Shelby County, he determined to communicate with the latter, in the hope of getting some assistance. The letter was written to the uncle and one can easily imagine the anxious waiting for an answer which followed. It was a very serious position for a boy of his years to find himself placed in, never having been forced to assume responsibility before this, and when ten days had gone by and no reply had come from the uncle, he decided to investigate the reason for himself. He left the three children in the shelter he had found for them and made his way to Shelby County, where he easily found his uncle. There were no rural mail carriers in those days and the boy's missive was found awaiting call in the country postoffice, never having been delivered. With true German family affection, the uncle hastened to New York and brought the three waiting children to his hospitable home. Of these, John subsequently became a soldier in the Federal Army in the Civil War, in which he was so seriously injured that consumption attacked him and he died in 1892, in South Dakota. Margaret grew to womanhood and married Reuben Culp, and the youngest sister, Magdalene, married John Keif, and both sisters live at Eureka, Illinois.

Jacob Snaufer remained in Shelby County with his uncle for two years and then worked with a farmer in Champaign County for three years, and at other work, up to 1862, having operated a rented farm for one year, and then he entered the army. He enlisted in August, 1862, at Urbana, Ohio, in Company H, Forty-fifth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in which he held the rank of corporal. This regiment was in General Thomas' command during a large part of the time and was prominent in the hard campaigning of that great force. Although Mr. Snaufer was a brave and fearless soldier and was always at the post of duty, he was never either captured or wounded, the worst that befell him was contracting rheumatism from the exposure and hardships. On one occasion a bullet went through his cap, coming that near to ending his life. He remained in the service until the close of the war and was mustered out at Nashville, Tennessee, June 12, 1865.

For some time prior to entering the army, Mr. Snaufer had work in a cemetery in Champaign County and when he went back after his military service he resumed this work for one year and then turned his attention to farming, in which he has been interested ever since. He continued to Hve in that neighborhood until February, 1882, when he came to a rented farm in Moorefield Township, in which township he has lived ever since, with the exception of one year spent in Harmony Township. In February, 1897, he purchased his present excellent farm and moved to it in the same vear.

On December 21, 1865, Mr. Snaufer was married to Rebecca W. Sampson, who was born and reared at Urbana, Ohio. Her father is William Samjjson and she is a first cousin of the naval hero, Rear Admiral Sampson. Mr. and Mrs. Snaufer have descendants numbering six children and fourteen grandchildren, as follows: Lura Belle, who married Walter D. Yeazell, has two children. Bertha Belle and Mary Evalyn; Annie Grace, who married George T. Walton, has four children. Crystal, Edwin, Harlan and Margaret; Walter D., who married Claret B. Yeazell, has six children, Blanche, Ruth, Sevina, Edith, Carl and Hazel; John M., who resides at Springfield, is one of the proprietors of the Buckeye hat store; Florence Edith, who married Harry R. Anderson, has two children, Maude and Mildred; and Jacob W., who lives at home and operates the farm. He married Jessie May Yeazell.

In politics, Mr. Snaufer is a Republican. He served for three years as a justice of the peace in Moorefield Township and for ten years has been a township trustee. Since the age of twenty-one years he has been a member of the Odd Fellows. With his wife he belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

As printed in 20th century history of Springfield, and Clark County, Ohio, and representative citizens (1908). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.