Freestone County, Texas
Biographies 



Biography of Dr. James Edward Sneed  and Dr. William Newton Sneed
   (James: Dec 17, 1881-Oct. 15, 1918, buried Fairfield Cemetery)
   (William:	Sep. 14, 1844-Mar. 28, 1922, buried Fairfield Cemetery)

A History of Texas and Texans, VOLUME 4
By Frank White Johnson, Eugene Campbell Barker, Ernest William Winkler
Published by American Historical Society, 1914

Dr. James Edward Sneed has been a resident of Teague and a practicing physician here 
since the town started on its way to the dignity of the name of city, coming here as a 
young physician fresh from his alma mater at New Orleans. He is a Texas product, born 
in Fairfield, on December 17, 1881, and he was reared for the most part in the community 
of his birth. He is a son of Dr. Wm. N. Sneed, who still practices medicine in Fairfield, 
and concerning whom it is eminently fitting and proper that some mention be made at 
this point.

Dr. William N. Sneed came to Texas from Thomasville, Georgia, where he was born in 
1844. He had his education in Tulane University, in New Orleans, and from Texas, where 
he came as a youth, he entered the Confederate army from Freestone county, in the 
regiment of Colonel Bradley. He served in General Pemberton's army in Mississippi and 
was captured and paroled at Vicksburg. He then returned to the service in Texas and 
served in and about Galveston during the remainder of the war. He was never wounded, 
and when the long struggle was ended he turned at once to his professional studies, and 
was a graduate from the medical department of Tulane University. His service in a public 
capacity has been confined to membership on examining boards and other work 
pertaining to the making of fledgling doctors. He has attended the clinics and done post 
graduate work from time to time, keeping himself as fresh and up-to-date in the 
knowledge of his profession as he felt himself on the day he left college. Dr. Sneed has 
taken no active part in politics. He is a Democrat, and though prominent and popular with 
his fellow men, he has never shown any desire to hold office. He is a man of striking 
appearance, weighing about 190 pounds, and with a figure as erect as that of an early 
North American Indian. He is a man of pleasing personality, and is a natural leader, so 
that had he permitted himself to deviate from his chosen career, he would have 
undoubtedly won high honors in the political field. Dr. Sneed has given some time to 
agriculture, and he is the owner of a vast tract of land in Freestone county. He has 
brought much of his land under cultivation and has introduced blooded horses and cattle 
into the section where he carries on farming activities. He is also interested in banks in 
both Fairfield and Teague, and his investments have extended to other fields as well. He 
never makes public speeches, but among a company of friends, Dr. Sneed is an 
interesting and instructive conversationalist.

Dr. Sneed came to Texas with his father, Kit W. Sneed, who died in Fairfield, as a 
farmer. He became a large planter there and owned many slaves, and the colored Sneeds 
of the present day are, for the most part, descendants of his former holdings of blacks. He 
was a strong Secessionist, and a Yankee in his vicinity was shown no quarter. Kit W. 
Sneed married a Miss Davis, and their children were seven in number. They were Dr. W. 
N., Dr. J. A., Walter E. and Dr. Kit W., of Wortham, Texas; Mrs. J. B. Mclnnis, of 
Teague; Mrs. J. H. Oliver, of Buffalo, Texas; and Mrs. Ella Johnson, of Fairfield, now 
deceased.

Dr. William N. Sneed married Miss Alice Johnson, a daughter of Col. J. B. Johnson, a 
Confederate Colonel, and an ante-bellum settler of Freestone county. He was an 
extensive planter and slave owner and the famous old '' rock house'' of the Fairfield 
community was his home, and was of his own construction. His children were Edgar, of 
Waco; William P., a large planter near Fairfield; Mrs. W. F. Moore, who died in Mexia, 
Texas, and Mrs. Sneed. The issue of Dr. Sneed and his wife were Berta, wife of G. P. 
Davis, of Fairfield; Dr. Wm. X. Jr.; Dr. James Edward of this review; Mrs. John F. Fryer 
of Fairfield and Miss Alice Sneed, also of Fairfield.

Dr. James Edward Sneed spent his boyhood acquiring his common school training, and 
when he was a high school senior he entered the A. & M. College at Bryan. There he did 
the work of the Junior year in the engineering course, and when he left that institution he 
set about his preparation for a medical career. He had his medical training in Tulane 
University at New Orleans, and came fresh from his studies there to take up his 
professional duties at Teague, and here he has since continued successfully in his work.

Dr. Sneed is a member of the local medical societies, and he is also a member of the State 
and National Associations.

On November 6, 1906, Dr. Sneed was married in Camden, Alabama, to Miss Sallie Belle 
Bonner, a daughter of Irvin H. Bonner of Fairfield, Texas, and an old Confederate soldier 
and comrade of Dr. Sneed's father. Mr. Bonner came to Texas before the war and married 
Miss Jane Robinson, the daughter of a pioneer family of Freestone county. Mrs. Sneed is 
one of the two daughters of her parents, the other being the wife of Dr. Ernest Bonner of 
Camden, Alabama. Dr. and Mrs. Sneed are without issue.

Dr. Sneed is a Mason of the Blue Lodge and Chapter, and is also fraternally affiliated 
with the Elks and the Knights of Pythias. He and his wife are members of the 
Presbyterian church of Teague, and take an active part in its work.