Tracking the Snyders back through New York
Posted: 9 Nov
2007 6:38AM GMT
with amendments Jan 2009
I mentioned in my second post that a number of years ago,
Wib Everett sent me a packet of information that he collected on a family history research trip to
New York. At the time the information seemed overwhelming to me, given the seeming impossibility of tracking a common name like Philip
Snyder. However, after I recently began to understand the relationship of the Lewis family to the Bassett-Edgecomb-Snyder families, enough pieces have fallen together that I think I can propose a timeline for our
Snyder family back to the 1810's.
Before looking at the information in
New York, we should examine the census records of Peter
Snyder (b. c.1793):
1830 for
Lordstown Twp., Trumbull Co., OH.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/census/1830-oh-trumbull-lordstown-196.jpg
It is clear that this is the same Peter
Snyder mentioned in the 1850 census and the
Lyon letter because the younger children match. However, it appears that there were probably older children whose names we do not know:
Males aged 5-10 (Lewis), 15-20 (Cicero
or an older son?), and 30-40 (Peter age 37); females aged under 5 (Mary A.), 5 to 10 (Alzina), 10-15 (dau. 2), 15-20 (dau. 1), and 30-40 (Betsy about 35).
1840 census for
Lordstown Twp. Daughters 1 (age 25-30) and 2 (age 20-25) are no longer listed, perhaps they married.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/census/1840-oh-trumbull-lordstown-87.jpg
males: one under 5 (?), one 5-10 (Ambrose age 7), one 15-20 (Lewis age 18), one 20-30 (Cicero), one 40-50 (Peter age 47); females: one 10-15 (Mary A. age 11), one 15-20 (Alzina age 15), one 40-50 (Betsy about 45)
Now for
New York. According to
Wib's notes,
Livingston County (the stated birthplace of Peter
Snyder, b. 1820) did not exist in 1820, but rather was formed from Ontario and Genesee Counties in 1821. The only Philip
Snyder listed in either of these counties was a Phillip
Snider in
Richmond Township of Ontario County:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/census/1820-ny-ontario-richmond-41.jpg
Phillip
Snider - Males: three under 10, one 10-16 (Lorenzo age 11?), one 26-45; females: two under 10, one 10-16, one 26-45
Immediately following Phillip's entry is a Peter
Snider. By comparison with the 1830 census and known birthdates of Peter and Betsy, one can see that there are individuals that correspond:
Peter
Snider - Males: one under 10 (Cicero?), one 18 to 26, one 26 to 45 (Peter age 27), one over 45 (older male); females: two under 10 (dau. 1 & 2), one 16-24 (Betsy about 25), 1 over 45 (older female)
Assuming that we are correct in inferring that this is the same Peter of the 1830 census, in addition to the children listed in the 1830 census there is another young man and an older couple living with the family. One hypothesis is that the older couple is Betsy's parents,
Peleg and Lydia Lewis. I am not aware of a census record for them in 1820, and the ages of the older couple would be correct for
Peleg and Lydia. Another possibility is that this is not actually the same Peter as the one in
Lordstown in 1830 and that the older couple is a different Peter and his wife.
[Later note: I suggested that the older couple in the
Peter
Snyder household in the 1820
Ontario County census might have been Betsy Lewis Snyder's parents,
Peleg and Lydia. However, it was pointed out to me that they are listed in the 1820 census for the Town of
Solon,
Cortland County,
New York, p. 584:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/census/1820-ny-cortland-solon-584.jpg
I suppose that another possibility would be that the older couple could be the elder Philip
Snyder (native of Germany) and his wife. Or I could be wrong entirely about this whole thing!]
Note on
2009 Feb 22: Another possibility is that the Peter Snyder listed
as the head of household could be another Peter Snyder, perhaps
the father of the Peter who married Betsey Lewis. That would
mean that the Peter who married Betsey Lewis was a cousin of
Philip Snyder Jr. rather than a brother. In favor of this
hypothesis is the fact that the head of household is usually
listed as the oldest person in the house. Another
interpretation that would be consistent with this would be that
the older person was named Philip Peter Snyder or Peter Philip
Snyder. Thus an older Peter Snyder could be Philip Snyder
Sr. (but I doubt it!)
Because we do not have birth dates for Philip and Mary
Snyder and most of their children (except for
Lorenzo probably b. c.1806 and Peter b. 13 Aug 1820), it is not possible to assign particular children to particular individuals on the census list. However, the list given in the 1896 history gives an indication of the number of children of each sex that might be expected to have been present in Philip and Mary's household. Lorenzo would be the male aged 10-16. We don't know if Peter was born yet when the census taker came around, so he may or may not be one of the males under 10. Let's assume not for now. That leaves six other sons: John, Henry, Cornelius, William, Walter, and Philip. They could be represented in the three males under 10. The other three sons could have either died or been old enough to be living on their own. According to the history, the daughter Lydia died in
New York. If she died before 1820, then the other three daughters: Mary, Louisa, and
Phebe, could be the two females under 10 and the one female 10-16. Thus although this census record does not account for all of the children of Philip and Mary, there is nothing inconsistent with this record representing that of the Philip
Snyder who was the father of Peter (b. 1820). Given that there were no other Philip
Snyders living in 1820 in the part of
New York where the 1896 history says he should be, it is a reasonable assumption to assume that this is indeed Peter's (b.1820) father. If I am correct in my supposition that the Peter
Snyder b. c.1796 is Philip's brother, then the Philip and Peter
Snyder listed in the 1820 census for the Town of
Richmond,
Ontario Co., NY were brothers and sons of the Philip
Snyder who was a native of Germany.
Chapter XXX of the History of
Ontario County found by
Wib Everett (publication date unknown), gives the History of the Town of Candice on pp. 457-461.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/images/notes/ontario-history.pdf
On page 460, it states that Benjamin, Philip and Peter
Snyder came to Candice in 1815 but it does not give details. However, the "Town of Candice History" from History of
Ontario Co., NY, 1878, p.253-258
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/ontario/canadicehistory.html
gives more details:
"In 1815, Benjamin, Peter, and Philip
Snyder came to Ball Hill. The first took the
REMY place, Peter the
WHITBECK farm, and Philip the east portion of the lands of the brothers Orlando G. and Andrew BROWN. … Philip
Snyder sold to D. ADAMS in 1838, and from him title descended to Ira
MERRILLS and
Jairus
COLEGROVE, who sold to the brothers named. Benjamin
Snyder sold to E.
MACOMBER and H. GREEN. J. DAVIDSON, S. PHIPPS, S. R.
HICKOK, and J. DEWEY were successive owners prior to John
REMY, the present possessor. Peter
Snyder and Captain GRANBY, a sea-captain in the war of 1812, were almost simultaneous settlers on this farm. The captain soon died. SNYDER sold to John
CHAMBERLIN, he to I. W. MITCHELL, and Hart and
Murray, Isaac GIFFORD, and Jacob
WHITBECK…".
Both of these histories indicate that Peter and Philip
Snyder came to the Town of Candice in 1815 and by the proximity of their names indicate that they came together. The inclusion of Benjamin in the list suggests that he might be another brother. There is no Benjamin listed in the census records for 1820 for the Town of
Richmond (although there are two in other towns of
Ontario Co.). It is possible that he is the 18-26 year old male living in the household of Peter and a younger brother of Philip and Peter.
One potentially problematic issue is the difference in locations mentioned in the census and histories. However, examination of a map of the towns of
Ontario County made by
Wib:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/images/notes/ontario-map.jpg
show that
Richmond and Candice are adjacent to each other and both border the present-day
Livingston County on the west. ("Towns" in
New York are the equivalent of townships in other states, they are not towns in the sense of "villages".) Given the many boundary changes that took place, it is not unreasonable to assume that the towns of Candice and
Richmond in
Ontario County and
Livingston County are approximately the same location. Another potential problem is that the 1878 history says that Philip
Snyder sold to D. Adams in 1838. We know from Peter Snyder's (b. 1820) history that his father Philip
Snyder died in about 1824. However, it is possible that this indicates that the heirs of Philip
Snyder (i.e. his wife Mary) sold the land in 1838. Philip and Mary's son
Lorenzo was selling his farm in
Bath Township, Allen County,
Ohio to move to
Michigan at about that time and the history of Peter
Snyder (b. 1820) says that Mary moved to
Michigan and died at Lorenzo's home there.
The date at which Peter (b. c.1793) moved from
New York to
Ohio can be inferred from the birthdates and places of his children listed in the 1850
Lordstown census record. As I noted in my second posting, the 1850 census record lists
New York as the birthplace of the elder Peter's child
Alzina in 1825, but
Ohio was the birthplace of his daughter Mary A. in 1827-29. So presumably the elder Peter moved from
New York to
Ohio between about 1825 and 1829.
If my inferences about the identities and location of Philip and Peter (b. c.1793) in
Richmond are correct, then the next important questions is: from where did they come in 1815? This is where the information that Peter's wife Betsy was a Lewis is critical. If Peter married a daughter of
Peleg Lewis, then Peter's path (and presumably the path of Philip and Benjamin) must have intersected with that of the Lewis's around the time of the marriage. So an important question is: when were Peter
Snyder (b. c.1793) and Betsy Lewis married? In the absence of an actual marriage record, the date of their marriage will have to be inferred from their ages and the birth dates of their children. The 1830 census record suggests both a son and a daughter born between 1810 and 1815. Thus, it is likely that the firstborn child was born at least by 1813 with a possible marriage date of about 1812. In 1812, Peter would have been about 19. Although we don't know the exact birth date of Betsy, if the Lewis inferences of
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/7.htm
are correct, she would have been 16 or 17 years old in 1812. These are typical marriage ages for that era. So a guess of 1812-13 would be reasonable for the marriage date of Peter and Betsy. At that time,
Peleg and Lydia were probably living in the Town of Otsego, Otsego Co., NY. So it seems likely that Peter (and probably his brothers) were in that part of
New York before they moved to
Ontario County.
What can we guess about Philip? If the estimates made based on the 1820 census are correct, the oldest three or so sons were probably old enough to be on their own and the oldest would have probably been at least 21 years old. That would put the marriage of Philip and Mary at around 1798. We do not know Philip and Mary's birth dates, except from their age ranges in 1820: 26-45 years. Since they could not have been more than 45 years old, they must have been born after 1775, meaning that they could not have been more than 23 years old in 1798. If we assume that they were about 18 years old when they married, then they would have been born in about 1780. This would make Philip in the order of 13 years older than Peter.
Where might Philip and Mary have been married? Probably no further west than
Otsego County, and possibly somewhere to the south or east in
New York. The 1885 history describes them as "natives of the Empire State" [New York].
Searching for Sharpsteen in the 1790-1810 census indices produces no results.
However, an email from Barry Coomber regarding his Sharpsteen
ancestors says that their name was listed as Sharpstone. So
a search of Sharpstones in the census records may shed some light
on Mary's origins.
Another question is when did the
Snyders come over from Germany? The 1885 history describes Philip
Snyder, father of Philip as "a native of Germany". Peter (b. c.1793) was listed as born in N.Y. in the 1850 census. So this insinuates that the elder Philip immigrated to
New York state by that time.
Well, given the large number of assumptions and estimates made in this account, it would probably be advisable for additional research to validate the scenario that I've described here. I will end this series of postings with some research topics and questions that I think would be beneficial for filling out and pushing back the genealogy of our
Snyder branch.
1. Attempt to locate more information in 1850+ censuses about the siblings of Peter
Snyder (b. 1820) who moved to
Michigan. In particular, their birth dates would be very helpful in improving the estimate of the marriage date of Philip and Mary (Sharpsteen)
Snyder.
2. Search the land records of the
Towns of Candice and
Richmond in
Ontario County for the transactions described in the 1878 Candice history. Determine if the land sale in 1838 was by Mary rather than Philip
Snyder.
http://www.wemett.net/canadice/canadice_forward.html
describes "Ball Hill" as follows:
"Canadice lies on the northern declivities of the central Allegheny Mountain Range, Separated by
Canadice Lake into two distinct ranges running in a northerly and southerly direction. The west ridge is sometimes written as Bald Hill from the impression it presented to early pioneers, being covered only with small trees and shrubs, burned and stinted by the frequent fires of the
Senecas. It was also referred to as Ball Hill from the shape, being a very well formed segment of a circle perhaps twelve or fifteen miles in diameter. …".
3. Look for more traces of Benjamin
Snyder and find out his birth date and place if possible.
4. Look for evidence of the
Snyders in
Otsego County and of their connection to
Peleg Lewis' family. In particular, a marriage record would be nice.
The obvious ultimate goal would be to fix a date on which Philip
Snyder came over to the U.S. and then trace the family back to Germany. This will probably be difficult. However, as these postings demonstrate, with a bit of luck and sleuthing the task is not necessarily impossible. Thanks again to
Wib Everett who did all of the hard work digging around in
New York!
As a parting comment, I think that it is interesting that the knowledge that Peter
Snyder married Betsy Lewis establishes a connection between the Bassett's and
Snyders at an earlier point than the marriages involving children of
Uriah
Edgecomb. If Betsy
Snyder and Elsie Bassett were sisters (as I now believe was the case) then Peter
Snyder (b. c.1793) and Samuel
Bassitt (b. 1795) were brothers-in-law. There is a further Bassett-Edgecomb-Snyder connection if the Peter
Snyder who married Lydia
Doud Brown in 1851 was Peter (b. c.1793). See
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/5.htm
Since Lydia and Betsy
Doud
Edgecomb were sisters, it would mean that
Uriah
Edgecomb (b. 1781) and Peter
Snyder (b. c.1793) were eventually brothers-in-law as well!
Further comment, posted on 21 Nov
2007 12:29PM GMT
with amendments Jan 2009
I now have an image of the 1850 Census record for
Lorenzo
Snyder in the Town of Marshall,
Calhoun Co., Michigan (p.148):
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/census/1850-mi-calhoun-marshall-148.jpg
The first question is whether this is actually the
Lorenzo who was the brother of Peter (1820-1900). As previously noted, the
birthdate (c. 1809) would be reasonable for an older brother of Peter. Unfortunately, the census taker was too lazy to write the names of the other members of the households and only wrote initials. However, the female, aged 32, apparently has the initials "J.A." which
undoubtedly stands for Julia Ann (a.k.a. Julian, the wife of
Lorenzo listed in the
Bath Twp.,
Allen Co.,OH deeds). Both are listed as born in N.Y., which would fit.
There are five other members listed in the household. (Note: the initials are hard to read - look at the image and decide for yourself.) If one assumes that they are children, the movement of the family can be reconstructed by the birth dates:
M.J. 16 F N.Y.
W.(?) 14 M O.
T.(?) 5 M N.Y.
L.A. 3 F
Mich.
D. 7/12 M
Mich.
From this we can infer that
Lorenzo and Julia
Ann moved from
New York to
Ohio between about 1834-36. This is consistent with the statement that Peter
Snyder lived with his brother
Lorenzo in
Trumbull Co., OH about 1833. Sometime between 1836 and 1845 they moved back to
New York. This is consistent with
Lorenzo and Julian selling their land in
Bath Twp. in 1838 and 1840 and not being listed in the 1840 census for
Bath Twp. They then moved from
New York to
Michigan between about 1845 and 1847.
Theresa Wirth, a
descendant of Lorenzo and Julia Ann, also put me on to the 1860
census record for the family:
U.S. Census of
1860 for Convis Twp., Calhoun Co., MI, p. 182.
In this record, Julia
is now married to Charles Smith. She is listed as 44 years
old (and therefore born c.1816) and born in Ohio. The
children are listed as:
William 24 Ohio
Theodore 16 N.Y.
Lydia 14 Mich.
Daniel 11 Mich.
Phoebe 9 Mich.
Samuel Smith 1 Mich.
Alice Snyder 1 Mich.
Several things are
evident from this. One is that this is the same family as
the 1850 census record. There is a discrepancy in age and
birthplace between the two census records for Julia Ann, but are
very likely the same person. The names, ages, and
birthplaces of the children agree with the 1850 census (the oldest
girl, M.J., aged 26 is no longer living with the family).
Samuel may be a child of Juila and Charles. Alice may be a
child of one of the older boys (maybe William, but where is his
wife??).
Theresa also pointed me
to Lorenzo and Julia's tombstones in Austin Cemetery Section 22,
15 Mile Road, Convis Township, Calhoun Co., MI.
Tombstone of Lorenzo Snyder
Tombstone of Julia Ann Snyder
From this we learn that
Lorenzo died December 3, 1852 at the age of 43 (which corroborates
the birtdate of 1809). Julia A. was born in 1816 and died in
1904. This supports the age of the 1860 census.
So this record is consistent with this
Lorenzo being Peter's brother. Assuming that it is true, it tells us several things:
1. Lorenzo must have been born about 1809.
2. Julian
was born in 1816 and was married to
Lorenzo in
1832 at the age of about 16. Although this is pretty young it is not unusual for that time.
Note: Theresa says that Julia Ann was a Browne and that she
married Lorenzo on June 16, 1832
in Trumbull Co., OH.
3. If
Lorenzo moved to
Michigan in about 1845-47, then the mother of Peter and
Lorenzo (Mary Sharpsteen
Snyder must have still been living by then, since she died
in Michigan at Lorenzo's home. Since she is not listed in the 1850
census record, she either died between 1845 and 1850, or did not
move to Michigan until after 1850. If my previous estimate of
birth date for Mary, 1780, is accurate, then the former is more
likely than the latter since she would have been about 70 years
old in 1850.
New questions raised:
1. Where were Lorenzo and Mary Sharpsteen Snyder in 1840? I have
not checked the NY census records for them.
2. Where were the other siblings of Peter (1820-1900) who were
said to have died in Michigan?
A check of more census records is in order.
Tracking the Snyders back through New York (part 2)
posted 2009 Feb 22 by Steve Baskauf
I had occasion to go to the library yesterday and had a couple
hours to spend, so I decided to do some searches on Sharpstones.
I hit the jackpot!!!! This is
probably the most important Snyder/Sharpsteen information that
I've found since I read the Peter Snyder article in the
1896 History of Allen County thirty years ago! I don't know
how much time I'm going to have to finish writing this, but in
order to get the links to the census records online, I'm going to
publish this now and add the commentary later.
U. S. Census of 1810 for Gallatin, Columbia Co., New York, p. 838.
U.S. Census of 1800 for Livingston, Columbia Co., New York, p.
293.
U.S. Census of 1790 for Washington, Dutchess Co., New York, p.150.
These records trace Philip Snyder, Jr. and John H. Sharpstone back
to the extreme eastern part of New York. By comparison of
the ages, and number of children and their ages among these census
records and with the text above, you can see that they fit for our
ancestors. Add to this the fact that Philip Snyder, Jr. was
the household following John H. Sharpstone in the 1810 census and
you have the perfect smoking gun! More commentary later...
For a speculative chronology, see
Speculation about Ancestors of Peter (1820-1900) and Lorenzo
(1809-1852) Snyder.
Tracking the Snyders back through New York (part 3)
posted 2009 Mar 19 by Steve Baskauf
I had about an hour at the library again yesterday. Theresa
Wirth told me that her ancestor, Theodore Snyder, was born in
Cattaraugus Co., NY, so I decided to look for Lorenzo Snyder
there. I immediately found him there with males and females
in the household of the appropriate ages to be Julia Ann, "M.J."
and William. So I have no doubt that this is the right
Lorenzo. See
U.S. Census of 1840 for Hinsdale, Cattaraugus Co., New York, p.
44.
There were several other Snyders listed under Cattaraugus Co. but
unfortunately I didn't have time to look them all up. Of
particular significance were Henry, who was listed as an older
brother of Peter and Lorenzo. That listing should establish
a birth date range for him. Also significant was George P.
Snyder, a name found in eastern NY in earlier censuses. In
one of the Snyder references there should be an older female that
corresponds to Mary Sharpsteen Snyder, Peter and Lorenzo's mother
who must have been living with someone before she moved to
Michigan and died at Lorenzo's home. Careful checking of
these names and comparison with the earlier Columbia County, NY
census records should help with sorting out the various Snyder
families. Also, it would be good to check the 1830 and 1850
records for Cattaraugus Co. to see if any of the same names with
corresponding ages show up.