52 Ancestors: Joseph Snyder (1826-1895)—Who’s Your Daddy?

For the longest time my Snyder family research has been stuck at my 3x great grandfather Joseph Snyder. According to his gravestone, he was born 2 January 1826 and died 4 November 1895 at the age of 68 years, 10 months and 2 days.1 I’ve found him in census records from 1850 through 1880, the last surviving enumeration before his death. But I still had no idea who his parents were.

Joseph Snyder and Judith Deisher tombstone

Joseph Snyder tombstone

I decided to see if I could remedy that.

The earliest record I had was the 1850 census. A Joseph Snyder, aged 23, is listed with the Amos Jacoby family in Rockhill Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania.2 This Joseph was unmarried—my 3x great grandfather’s first child was born in 1856—and the correct age. A good match. Unfortunately, however, since Joseph wasn’t living at home in 1850, this record did not tell me who his parents were.

In 1860, Joseph was living with his wife and children in Upper Hanover Township, Montgomery County.3 His household included: Joseph, his wife Judith (Deisher), children Irwin, Mary Jane and Henry, and an older woman, Elizabeth Schneider, aged 58. Was this his mother? If so, it seemed to indicate that Joseph’s father was most likely dead by 1860 and possibly by 1850.

Who Is Henry Snyder?

Meanwhile, I possess the original document for a 1830 mortgage between Henry Snyder and George Hillegas for 62 acres in Upper Hanover Township. Who was this Henry Snyder? Could he be Joseph’s father? Why would the family have this document after more than 100 years if he’s not related to us?

Looking through census records, I found Henry Snyder in Upper Hanover Township in 18404 and 1830.5 In both records, Henry’s household has a male of the correct age bracket to be Joseph—10-15 in 1840 and under 5 in 1830—and a female of the same approximate age group as Elizabeth Schneider from the 1860 census.

Could it be that simple? Were Henry and Elizabeth Joseph’s parents?

Where was Elizabeth in 1850? I found an Elizabeth Schneider in Upper Hanover Township in 1850, living in the Joseph Gery household.6 The age was off—56 years, instead of the 48, I would have anticipated. But it’s a possibility. If it’s the same woman and she was Joseph’s mother, then Henry was probably deceased prior to 1850.

So, I went looking in Montgomery County estate records for an estate for Henry Snyder who died before 1850. I found nothing that matched date and location.

Bummer.

Taking a break from that seemingly fruitless search, I was reviewing Snyders buried in New Goshenhoppen UCC Cemetery on Findagrave.com and came across Joel Snyder, a contemporary of my Joseph Snyder. Joel is buried in the same section as Joseph, a couple of rows away. Maybe a cousin, I thought.

Then I saw who his father was—Heinrich Schneider, who was also buried in New Goshenhoppen Cemetery. Could this be Joseph’s father? He was a match in age and location to the Henry Snyder from the 1830 and 1840 census records. Joel matched the older male child from those records, too.

The only problem was that Heinrich died in 1860 and his wife’s name was Sarah. However, Sarah died in 1852, so maybe Henry remarried.

As clue, it was worth a little research. Maybe I’d learn something useful—even if he wasn’t Joseph’s father.

A search for Henry in the 1850 census records turned up no match. I found no estate records for a Henry or Heinrich who died in 1860 in Montgomery County. I began to wonder if this was a dead end.

I did, however, find Henry in the 1860 census for Upper Hanover Township.7 His household included Sophia Schneider and Lucy A. Mock and her family—both women matching the age ranges of the young females in Henry’s household in 1840. Joel Schneider, too, was living in Upper Hanover Township in 1860.8

Okay. So, now I was more than a little frustrated. Without an estate record naming Henry’s children, I had no direct information linking Henry to Joseph. Who was the second male in Henry’s household in 1830 and 1840—the one who matched Joseph age-wise? Where was Henry in 1850? Why couldn’t I find him? The 1850 census record might tell me who that second male was. I needed to find it.

I decided to do what I always do when someone isn’t where I expect them to be in the census indices. I go back to the records. I scrolled page-by-page through the Upper Hanover Township 1850 census records. After torturing my eyes for 20+ pages, I finally found him—right where I expected him to be.

And I couldn’t believe my eyes!

Henry Schneider 1850 census

Right there on page page 417B, I found, not only Henry Schneider, but also Joseph Schneider.9 The 1850 census record for Joseph Snyder in Rockhill Township was not my Joseph Snyder. This was most likely my 3x great grandfather, living in the same location in which I’d found him from 1860 on. He probably lived there all his life!

Although the 1850 census does not include the relationship between the head and the other members of the household, Henry’s household in 1850 matches the 1840 and 1830 census enumerations, making it quite likely that Joseph is Henry and Sarah’s son. Additionally, Henry’s 1860 occupation—shoemaker—corresponds with the occupation included on the 1830 mortgage—cordweiner.10 He likely earned a living from multiple occupations–as many did back then—as both a shoemaker and farmer, and was recorded as a shoemaker after he retired from farming.

Furthermore, a little deed research may provide some additional information regarding proof that Henry Schneider is Joseph’s father. Some of Henry’s 1850 neighbors—William Keck, Jacob Styer, Solomon Steltz, and John F. Gerhard—were Joseph’s neighbors in 1860.

Given that I found no estate records for Henry, it’s possible that he sold or gave his estate to his children prior to his death. Henry was a farmer in 1850; Joseph was a farmer in 1860. Joel was consistently a mason or bricklayer in census records. Both Joel and Joseph went from no real or personal estate in 1850 to having both in 1860.

Conclusions

After several wrong turns and false starts, I’m pretty convinced that Henry Schneider (aka Heinrich Schneider) is Joseph’s father. Turns out—as is usually the case—I was the brick wall in finding Joseph’s father.

So, what did I learn from this exercise?

  • Check for alternate spellings. There may be a better match to your family member under an alternate version of their surname, ie. Schneider.
  • Don’t stop at the index. I got frustrated because I couldn’t find Henry in the 1850 census. FamilySearch is really good about matching alternate spellings on surnames in their index search. However, that won’t help you if the name is way off in the index. In this case, the family was indexed as “Sohneider” which doesn’t resemble Snyder at all.
  • Keep it simple. My maternal lines all seem to have a long history—well into the 20th century—in the Upper Hanover Township/East Greenville/Pennsburg area. I need to first rule out clues and possibilities in that general location before branching out to other areas.

I already knew all of this. Really, I did. But when your research is flowing along nicely with clues falling smoothly and easily into place, it’s easy to forget the techniques required for when it’s not. This search was a timely reminder.


This post is part of an ongoing, blogging challenge entitled 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, created by Amy Crow of No Story Too Small. Participants must write about one ancestor every week. This is my seventh 52 Ancestors post and part of week six.

Footnotes

  1. New Goshenhoppen Cemetery (Montgomery County, Pennsylvania; just west of East Greenville), Joseph and Judith (Deisher) Snyder gravestone, personally read and photographed.
  2. Amos Jacoby household, 1850 United States Federal Census, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Rockhill Township, page 188A, dwelling 386, family 419, line 20; image, Internet Archive, “Population schedules of the seventh census of the United States, 1850, Pennsylvania” (https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu0759unix#page/n380/mode/1up : accessed 13 Jun 2011); citing NARA micropublication M432, roll 759.
  3. Joseph Schneider household, 1860 United States Federal Census, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Upper Hanover Township, page 958, dwelling 119, family 130, lines 26-31; index and image, Ancestry, “1860 United States Federal Census” (https://www.ancestry.com : accessed 14 Jun 2011); citing NARA micropublication M653, roll 1144.
  4. Henry Schneider household, 1840 United States Federal Census, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover Township, page 120, line 22; image, Internet Archive, “Population schedules of the sixth census of the United States, 1840, Pennsylvania” (https://archive.org/stream/populationsch1840478unit#page/n242/mode/1up : accessed 8 Feb 2014); citing NARA micropublication M704, roll 477.
  5. Henry Snyder household, 1830 United States Federal Census, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Upper Hanover Township, page 183, line 23; image, Internet Archive, “Population schedules of the fifth census of the United States, 1830, Pennsylvania” (https://archive.org/stream/populationsc18300154unit#page/n364/mode/1up : accessed 8 Feb 2014); citing NARA micropublication M19, roll 154.
  6. Joseph Gery household, 1850 United States Federal Census, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Upper Hanover Township, page 211, dwelling 889 & 89, family 95; index and image, FamilySearch.org, “United States Census, 1850” (https://www.familysearch.org/search/ : accessed 8 Feb 2014); citing NARA micropublication M432, roll 799.
  7. Henry Schneider household, 1860 United States Federal Census, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, post office: Pennsburgh, Upper Hanover Township, page 946 (stamped), dwelling 40, family 44; image, Internet Archive, “Population schedules of the eighth census of the United States, 1860, Pennsylvania” (https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu1144unix#page/n452/mode/1up : accessed 8 Feb 2014); citing NARA micropublication M653, roll 1144.
  8. Joel Schneider household, 1860 United States Federal Census, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, post office: Pennsburgh, Upper Hanover Township, page 947 (stamped), dwelling 47, family 51; image, Internet Archive, “Population schedules of the eighth census of the United States, 1860, Pennsylvania” (https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu1144unix#page/n453/mode/1up : accessed 8 Feb 2014); citing NARA micropublication M653, roll 1144.
  9. Henry Schneider household, 1850 United States Federal Census, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, population schedule, Upper Hanover Township, page 217B (stamped), dwelling 191, family 198; image, Internet Archive, “Population schedules of the seventh census of the United States, 1850, Pennsylvania” (https://archive.org/stream/populationschedu0799unix#page/n431/mode/1up : accessed 8 Feb 2014); citing NARA micropublication M432, roll 799.
  10. Dictionary.com defines cordweiner as “one who makes shoes from cordovan leather, a shoemaker, a cobbler.”

Cite This Page:

, "52 Ancestors: Joseph Snyder (1826-1895)—Who’s Your Daddy?," A Pennsylvania Dutch Genealogy, the genealogy & family research site of Kris Hocker, modified 31 May 2017 (https://www.krishocker.com/52-ancestors-joseph-snyder-1826-1895-whos-your-daddy/ : accessed 28 Mar 2024).

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4 Replies to “52 Ancestors: Joseph Snyder (1826-1895)—Who’s Your Daddy?”

  1. Michael Snyder 26 Dec 2014 at 1:23 pm

    Hello All, I also am stuck on my 3rd Great Grandparents. Peter & Sarah Catherine (Daniels) Snider/Snyder. I have been looking for Peter Snider’s parents for years as several others have as welI I see. I know about his wife’s side (Sarah C. Daniels) and I have there children (My 2ndGreat David Chestnut Snyder) and so on. But not Peter’s family and Parents. Peter Snider was Born in Bedford Co. Pa. Around 1803 near Fort Littleton in what is now Fulton. If any one can help me it would be great. Thanks a lot Michael D. Snyder.

  2. Our family recorders shows that Joseph Snyder came from Germany in the 1780’s and settled Snyderstown PA and his son Joseph Snyder came to ohio.

    1. Thanks for the comment.

      However, we must be talking about two different Joseph Snyders, Ron. My ancestor Joseph Snyder was born and lived in Pennsylvania all his life—likely in the same township. Furthermore, my research is leading me to believe that his father was named Henry Snyder and that Henry’s father was named Jacob. I’ve found no association with Ohio.

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