Samuel Wesley Snider (1823 - 1903)

Born 30 Mar 1823 in Preston, Virginia (now West Virginia), United States

Ancestors

Husband of Margaret (Martin) Snider — married 21 Mar 1841 in Preston, Virginia (now West Virginia), United States

Died 3 Jul 1903 at age 80 in Grinnell, Poweshiek, Iowa, United States

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Biography

Samuel was born in 1823. He was the son of Jacob Snider and Catharine Welch. He passed away in 1903.

The Preston County Journal.
KINGWOOD, WEST VIRGINIA, THURSDAY, JULY 9, 1903.
VOL. XXXVII. NO. 44. WHOLE NO. 1931
Page 3, Column 5
News was received here this week of the death of Capt. Samuel Snider of Grinnell, Iowa. Captain Snider was a very old man, having been Captain of Co. A., 7th West Virginia, of which Capt. Murdock was a member and which was organized at Albrightsville on July 4, 1861 and mustered into the United States Army on July 16, 1861. He served as captain of that company until a short time after the first battle of Antietam when he was promoted to Lieut. Col. of the 4th Va. Cavalry and was afterwards promoted to provost marshal for this district. He was a brother to the late Wm. Snider who lived between Kingwood and Albrightsville. He had a very large number of friends in Preston county.

THE WEST VIRGINIA ARGUS.
KINGWOOD, PRESTON COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA,
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 1903.
VOLUME XXXII. NUMBER 38.
Page 3, Column 3
Capt. Samuel Snider, formerly of this county, died recently at his home in Grinnell, Iowa.

The Preston County Journal.
KINGWOOD, WEST VIRGINIA, THURSDAY, AUGUST 6, 1903.
VOL. XXXVII. NO. 48. WHOLE NO. 1935.
Page 2, Column 2
In Memory of Captain Samuel W. Snyder.
When the intelligence reaehed [sic] us, that our aged and beloved Captain Samuel W. Snyder of Grinnell, Iowa had departed this life. my thoughts went back to the sixties, I remembered the very hard and pleasant times spent with him during the long struggle from ‘61 to ‘65, to preserve our flag and hand it down to our children without the loss of a single Star. During these years the writer became intimately acquainted with Captain Snyder. He was a progressive man and when the Rebellion broke out he was filled with patriotism and went to work with energy and recruited the second company in Preston county, W. Va. By the 4th day of July 1861 he recruited 109 men which afterwards became Company A Seventh Regiment, W. Va., Vol. Infantry, and was unanimously elected their first captain. He remained with the Company and shared our privitations [sic], hardships, heavy marching from Romney through the Valley of Virginia to Harrisons Landing, Malvern Hill and on our return to Alexandria, Virginia. After the battle of Antietam and after having served with the Company for sixteen months, received a commission from Gov. Pierpont, as Lieutenant Colonel of the 16th Virginia Vol., Infantry, serving with General Crook until the summer of ‘64 when he raised the 4th West Virginia Cavalry, which he commanded until January 1, 1865, then he was appointed Provost Marshall of Preston county and remained in that capacity until the close of the war. After the close of the war in 1865 he bid good-bye to his native county, Preston, relatives and friends and went to Iowa, and has remained there many years a good loyal and respected citizen, until called to the country from whence no traveler returns.
I have met Capt. Snyder but once since the close of the war––that was in September 1882 at a reunion of the company held at Albrightsville, September 24. This was the point that the company had started from twenty-one years before––when we entered the service. There was seventeen present at this reunion the remnant of the company, with Captain Snyder and his noble wife. The people of Albrightsville treated us very kindly, and through the efforts of comrades Harry Casteel and Henry McKnight, gave the remnant of the old comrades a splendid dinner which made us all feel that our services had been appreciated, at the conclusion each soldier was presented with a beautiful bouquet of flowers by the ladies. Miss Marsden at the organ, rendered: “God be With You till We Meet Again.” While this was being sung a general hand shaking and tears of joy shed. Since that time, several of that number has crossed the river and are waiting among the beautiful flowers on the banks of the river on the other side.
J. E. MURDOCK,
Co., A, 7th W. Va. Vol., Inf.

1850 residence District 45, Preston County, VA (now WV) as Snider; 1860 residence District 2, Preston County, VA (now WV) as Snider; 1870 residence Sheridan Twp., Poweshiek County, IA as Snider; 1880 residence Sheldahl, Palestine Twp., Story County, IA as Snider; 1900 residence Palestine Twp., Story County, IA as Snider

He served in the Union Army during the Civil Was as a Captain of Company A, 7th Regiment W. Va. Infantry and Lieutenant Colonel of the 4th Regiment W. Va. Cavalry.

He is buried in the Hazelwood Cemetery, Grinnell, Poweshiek County, IA.

Sources

• “A History of Preston County West Virginia, Part I,” Oren F. Morton, 1914, Pages 449, 469

Samuel W. Snider/Snyder obituaries

Find A Grave

U.S. census returns