Notes
Note N249
Index
Elizabeth Harris: Christen in Hope NC, house of Frederick Long.
Notes
Note N250
Index
Julie may be his 2nd wife
Notes
Note N251
Index
Died a bachelor.
Notes
Note N252
Index
His grandchildren claim in researching their own records, that Nicholas was born in the year 1735 in Germany, near Heidesheim on the River Rhine. He came to America & landed at Philadelphia in the year 1755. He helped to cut the road from Shippensburg to Fort London & was paid by a British officer at 2 shillings per day, & the men had to board themselves.
Nicholas was taken ill at Hagerstown, MD & attended by a Dr. Snively of that place, who had no hope for his recovery. He rallied, however, & lived 28 years longer & died age 59 years.
It is said there was another brother, Jacob Snyder, & the sister's name is suppose to have been Magdalena Snyder & was married to Mathias George.
Nicholas took up 400 acres of land on the Conococheague Creek, 4 miles from any neighbors. It is now part of Franklin Co., PA. The Indians were very troublesome at that time.
Notes
Note N253
Index
Did not marry.
Notes
Note N254
Index
Deathdate can't be right if she was married.
Notes
Note N255
Index
HISTORY OF JOHN PETER SNYDER:
From the days of his boyhood in Germany, to the close of his life in Franklin Co., PA:
"There is a destiny that shapes our ends, rough hew them as He will." When John Peter Snyder, a mere lad, bade adieu to his beloved home near Stromberg, near fair Bingen on the Rhine, & took a long, lingering farewell look upon the Hundarick Mountains, which had inspired many bright fancies of childhood, & strengthened the energy & ambition of boyhood, little dreamed he, as he passed through those trying hours of the possibilities of his future; but as we, his descendants, look down through the vista of 150 years, we feel like bowing low at his feet, as a father of a great & properous family.
While we boast no royal lineage, no crested coat-of-arms, no knights of chivalry in our ranks, we may proudly say that as we listen to the steady march of our ancestors from the cradle to the grave, we hear but a few wandering steps. A firm, unwavering triumphant battle all the way for truth & right, for honest purpose & sincere faith in our Lord of Lords & King of Kings, characterizes the lives of our 6 generations.
John Peter Snyder was born January 18, 1729, in the Palatinate (in German, Chur Pfaltz, which means the elect oral state of the Palatinate & the ruler was Churfurst von der Pfaltz, which is in English, the elector of the Palatinate.) The county seat was Stromberg, a small town on the south slope of the Hundsrick Mountains.
The Hundsrick Moutains are a range on the left bank of the River Rhine. The highest part of these mountains is 2,500 feet, about the same as our noted Pen Mar, so beautifully located upon the Blue Mountain range east of Franklin Co., PA. The three provinces: Rhinish Prussia, Darmstadt, & Bavaria, are what constituted the Palatinate but are now divided among those 3 states of Germany & the people of the Palatinate are Germans, just as are the people of PA., are Americans.
All our first German settlers of PA came from the Palatinate, except a few who came from Switzerland, William Penn went to Holland & Germany in the year 1677 & requested the Elector to assist him in colonizing his new dominion of PA with worthy citizens. Hence we learn that what is termed, "Pennsylvania Dutch", here are the best elements of Germany, else William Penn had not chosen them.
John Peter Snyder sailed on the ship, "Samuel", William Chilton, Commander, between the years 1745 & 1750. In those days, ocean travel was slow & wearisome & Peter Snyder was 9 months in making the voyage. When he did land, he was a serf & had to serve 7 years to pay for his voyage. This was a custom of those early times that we would think barbarous now. Fortunately, his let fell under the tutorship of a gun & lock smith at Linden Town, Northampton Co., PA., where he learned his trade.
On April 15, 1759, hemarried Mary Catharine Elizabeth Stant of York, PA., who was born January 28, 1739. She was a daughter of Henry Stantz, a native of Switzerland. A German Bible (still in the possession of Mrs. Susan Snyder of Marion, Franklin Co., PA, widow of Jacob Snyder of the 3rd generation), bears this record that also states that Peter Snyder bought said Bible, May 20, 1750, for 6 gulden ($2.40 American money) from his cousin, Peter Enk, in a small village near Stromberg.
Peter Snyder came with his bride to Franklin Co., PA where he bought his first tract of land on September 24, 1755, 3 miles south of Chambersburg, PA, containing 171 acres, 111 perches, for which he paid the sum of 4,000 pounds, 200 in hand & balance in 4 annual payments of 50 pounds each. Careful research proves that at one time he owned from 1000 to 1200 acres of land. The date of building the old barn recently torn down by Dr. Gikland, was in 1794, but prior to that date there had been a log barn there. In connection with farming, he worked at his trade, & Indian, civil & savage, sought him to repair their arms & make their bullets. There were times when their savage manners & gestures would terrify him, but he would calmly tell them that coal & lead were exhausted. This was no tax to the ingenuity of the Sage Indian. They would quickly depart taking with them sacks in which they would bring both coal & lead. Where they found these treasures were a mystery to the pioneer. It was no less a perplexing mystery to our Franklin Co. people today, as neither coal nor lead ever has been discovered on or near the land, yet the Indians never tarried long. On several occasions, he was tempted to follow but feared their wrath & never dared to ask them. His skill is serving them with their weapons of war, combined with his tender, quiet, honest manner toward them, & the ability to converse with them, inspired the Indian with a feeling of reverence forhim & often has the story of their protection in times of invasion of strange tribes of Indians been recited by the grandparents. One especially impresses the writer, "A gang of strange Indians attempted to steal the wood axe from the wood pile, when the home Indians cried out, "No, no, Indian no steal white man's axe. White mangood to Indian."
Sometime after the Sage Indian left, there was a class of men by the name of Nugent, natives of PA., whom he feared more than the Indians. They were a terror to early settlers & were known as a villianous, thieving set, capable of any atrocity.
But summer came & summer sped, And autumn into winter wed, And queenly spring in blossom who Oft' flitted by the old abode, And while the seasons came & went, The woods were felled, and man intent Upon the progressof his race, Drove back the Indian in the chase.
Today, we hear no steps of Indians or Nugent, & we see no evidence of their past, saves the lone grave in the meadow, where lies a victim shot in the long ago.
The lively fawn no longer bounds over the brooks & woodlands. The forest trees no longer sway to & fro in the tempest; they are gone. And the voices that made merry those olden times are hushed & still. Even while we have gathered these pages, some have fallen by the wayside. Yea, even some who took up the pen to help us have been called away, & I hasten to complete my work lest I too be called 'ere the work is done. We look back as in a dream to the homestead of our grandfather, Peter Snyder, & we find they were given 14 children. The devoted mother was taken from her interesting family, November 21, 1762, age 42 years, 8 months, 7 days. The father survived until June 18, 1807, age 78 years, 5 months. Twenty-five years to linger on the shore of time waiting for the summons to rejoin the departed one is a long time, but no doubt in his large family he found much to comfort, & by & by the angel come with the silver oars & bore dear Father Snyder to the "Saints Sweet Home".
This little volume is the result of an earnest desire, cherished for many years by Mrs. Barbara Snyder Grove, to trace the family lines ofher ancestors & kinship. It was but a desire until 1888, when she heard of the effort of a western branch of the family to make a family tree. She ten began the work of writing a brief history of the Snyder family.
The task has been an arduous one, as all know who witnessed her perseverence in gleaning notes & records. She traveled through storm & snow & rain to visit persons interested in the work. She has gone to Grindstone Hill Church Yard & secured the tombstones to learn records of the dead. Many a midnight hour she spent planning & arranging records for this work when her physical nature demanded respose. Now that it is done, she sends it out into the world not claiming that it is complete or perfect, this could not be, for the branches of this family reach out beyond ourkin; but she hath done what she could & we dare ask no more, but give thanks that one of this great family had energy sufficient to push to completion so great a task.
Much of the work was completed a year ago; but some of the members were so tardy about giving names & data, thus delaying the publication. Much credit is due to Mrs. Hannah Margaret Snyder Snively & Miss Elizabeth Poorman, co-authors of the originial family history, for the assistance they rendered in looking up their own family lines.
I submit this just tribute as a preface to this record.
A Friend
On the 3rd day of February 1961, Herbert R. Carnicom of 228 Walnut St., Crooksville, OH, began revising the records of this great family & bring it up-to-date with respect to his immediate family. I would like very much to have the whole line of the descendants of John Peter Snyder brought up-to-date; but this is an impossible task for one of my means & age. (Will be celebrating my 80th birthday in a few more days.)
I am calling on any & all, who have any information that should be included here to make it available so that this may be as complete as possible.
INTRODUCTION:
When John Peter Snyder came to this country, as far as known, he had four brothers & one sister.