52 Ancestors: Ancestor #2 John Snyder 1854-1925

John Snyder, 1854-1925, was my 2nd great grandfather

I have less information on this ancestor than the one I wrote about last week.  As far as I can tell to date, no one has included his bio in a book.  ; )  On, the other hand, I am lucky enough to have a copy of some hand-written recollections of family by his daughter-in-law, Pearl Pauline Bailey (my great grand-mother, wife of John's son Philip A. Snyder). Thus far, her recollections of various family members in her family tree and that of her husband, have proven to be largely, but not entirely, accurate (or at least sometimes confusing), and a hand-drawn (on one sheet of paper) family tree which is drawn in a way that indicates the person drawing it tended to believe the viewer already knew these people as many names are incomplete (it's a help for verifying the record X I'm looking at refers to the right family). 

John Snyder was born in Pennsylvania on or about August 15, 1854, to John and Hannah Snyder, according to his obituary; however, the obituary is slightly inaccurate as his mother's name was Margaretha Pink. [My posts on my third great-grandparents: Johannes Schneider (see HERE) and Margaretha Pink  (see HERE2).]  John was christened Johannes Schneider on November 3, 1854 in the Second Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chambersburg, PA.  Some of my research indicates his parents were born in Pennsylvania, but more of it indicates they were born in Germany. John always told the census taker they were born in Germany and my great --grandmother's notes say his father was born ne near Stuttgart and his mother's father, Philip, was born in "Dumstart" but does not indicate where John's mother was born. Hannah’s maiden name was Pink (my great-grandmother’s notes say that her name was originally Pinkstein but that she dropped the “stein”, and that she may have been Jewish. GGM’s notes say that after she dropped the “stein” they laughed about her being named “Pink”).

So far I have nothing on his life with his birth family, other than he had three sisters and two brothers, according to GGM's tree.  They were Deenie (married name Buess or Buse), Elizabeth (married name Hines), Mary (married name Keckly), Ben, Charles, and John. [Charles is not listed in the obituary and may have predeceased John, if he existed; the others are listed as surviving John in his obituary.]

The first record I have of John is from when he married Catharine Snyder (daughter of Philip Snyder/Snider/Schneider, 1831-1909, and Hannah Essinger, 1834-1898), in Hancock County OH. I have a copy of their marriage license (bottom right of picture), but it contains little information, other than their names and that it was applied for on October 4, 1875, and they were  married on October 21, 1875, by minister A. W. P. Wilson.  I wonder if  it has been reconstructed after a fire in the courthouse? Or whether they eloped?

For the first few years of their marriage John was a farmer in Wyandot County, Ohio. The 1880 Census places them in Jackson Township, Wyandot County (Wyandot County is adjacent to Hancock County). They had a 3 year old daughter, Mary (born approx. 1877) and a 1 year old daughter Delly (born approx. 1879). It also says that John cannot read or write but Catherine can.

In 1882, Philip, my great grandfather was born, and in 1884 his brother George was born.  1984 was a year of major changes for the family, in that Delly died, and the family moved to Findlay,OH. I’m don’t know which occurred first but I imagine that the family may have moved back to Hancock county so that Catharine would be closer to her family for comfort after  her 15 year old daughter died.  

It’s also possible they could have moved back to allow Catherine to help care for elderly parents.  At the time of the 1990 Census, Catherine’s widowed father, Philip, 69, was living with them. My great grandfather, Philip, 17, also still lived at home, but his older sister, Mary, no longer lived with them – she had married Marion M. Greer in 1895. John worked as a saw mill hand, was renting their home, and had learned to read and write. I like to imagine that Catherine helped him learn to read and write over the course of their marriage.  

By the time of the 1920 Census, John owned their home at 301 East Main Cross Street in Findlay.  At 65, he was still "working out" as a laborer, paid by wages and not salaried. In 1925, at age 71, John still worked as a laborer. On November 3, 1925, he was working in a potato field near Arcadia OH for Mart Sausser, when he died suddenly of heart trouble. He had been in poor health for several years. He was a member of the Evangelical Church in Findlay and was buried in Arlington Cemetery in Hancock County, Ohio.

[Sources: Second Evangelical Lutheran Church records Chambersburg, PA, Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records,  Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; U.S. Census for 1880, 1900,and 1920; Obituary, John Snyder, "Dies Suddenly While Working", Findlay Morning Republican, 4 November 1925, p. 7 (Newspaperarchive.com);"Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-1994," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8FZ-73X : accessed 14 Jan 2014), John Snyder and Catharine Snyder, 21 Oct 1875; citing Hancock, Ohio, United States, reference Vol-6 P-239 #183; FHL microfilm 1299132; "Ohio, Deaths, 1908-1953," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X63H-8LT : accessed 14 Jan 2014), John Snyder, 03 Nov 1925; citing Washington Twp., Hancock, Ohio, reference fn 63938; FHL microfilm 1992764; Notes written by my great grand-mother, Pearl Pauline Bailey.]