Berkeley County, West Virginia Biography of William Smith SNYDER ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , April 1999 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 114-115 WILLIAM SMITH SNYDER is a native of Martinsburg, and was an active business man of the city for twenty years or more, but now gives his time chiefly to the management of his private property interests. He is member of one of the substantial old families of the Eastern Panhandle. Mr. Snyder was born at Martinsburg, January 28, 1858. His grandfather, John Snyder, at one time was a resident of Chillicothe, Ohio, and from there came to Virginia, lived for a time in Jefferson County, and then established his perma- nent home at Martinsburg. He was a hatter by trade, and he served as a constable in Martinsburg. He had three sons. Two of them, John and Daniel, were shoemakers at a time when shoe making was a manual trade and all boots and shoes were made to order. John Snyder continued the business of custom shoemaker in Martinsburg for many years, and was also a member of the official board of the Methodist Church. All business houses of the city were closed during his funeral. Daniel Snyder specialized in the making of women's shoes. His son removed to Baltimore and for many years was in business in that city. Samuel Snyder, father of William Smith Snyder, learned the trade of carpenter and followed that occupation. He was a Union sympathizer when the war broke out between the states, removed to Pennsylvania and was soon stricken with diphtheria, and died in May, 1861, soon after return- ing home. He married Mary A. P. Legg, who was born at Annapolis, Maryland. Her father was a farmer in Mary- land, and on leaving the farm lived with her at Annapolis. Mrs. Mary Snyder was left a widow with three small children, named Clara W., who subsequently married Wil- liam Rouark, Maggie O. and William Smith. William Smith was only three years old when his father died. The mother kept her children together and carefully reared and educated them, and she died at the age of sixty-two. She and her husband were active members of the First Methodist Episcopal Church. William Smith Snyder attended the city schools, and early sought a useful occupation that would provide his self- support. He learned the tinner's trade at the age of twenty, established himself in business as a tinsmith, and that was the active business line he followed. Mr. Snyder has made numerous investments in local real estate, and his accumulating interests in this field give him property that requires much of his time. At the age of twenty-five he married Emma Susan Shaffer, who was born at Martinsburg, daughter of Jacob and Isabelle (Burnett) Shaffer. Her grandfather, John Shaffer, was born in 1795 and was a son of Peter Shaffer, a Pennsylvania soldier in the American Revolution. John Shaffer was an early settler of Martinsburg, and a wagon manufacturer whose place of business was at the corner of West King and South Raleigh streets. He married Sally Curtis. The father of Mrs. Snyder was the first superin- tendent of the Martinsburg Water Works, and continued in that official capacity for forty years. The maternal grand- parents of Mrs. Snyder were Archibald and Eve Burnett. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder, who are members of the First Meth- odist Episcopal Church, reared five children. Edith May, the oldest, is the wife of A. D. Darby and has two children, named Ruth May and Albert D., Jr. Roland Shaffer, the oldest son, entered the United States service in the World war, was first stationed at Kelly Field, near San Antonio, Texas, and was at Chanute Field, near Champaign, Illinois, until the close of the war. The third child is Hattie Webb. The fourth, Mary Isabella, is the wife of Roy Harrison and has two children, Isabella and Margaret. William Stanley, the younger son, also is an ex-service man, and was stationed at Camp Lee until the close of the war. He attended Washington and Lee University and West Virginia Uni- versity, and is now a clerk in the office of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at Cumberland, Maryland.