Greenbrier County, West Virginia Biography of JUDGE A. C. SNYDER. This biography was submitted by Sandy Spradling, E-mail address: This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm History of Greenbrier County J. R. Cole Lewisburg, WV 1917 p. 186-189 JUDGE A. C. SNYDER. (By K. M. Snyder.) Adam Clark Snyder, long an honored member of the bar of Greenbrier county, was born March 26, 1834, at Crabbottom, Highland county, Virginia, and died July 24, 1896. at his home in Lewisburg, W. Va. His parents, John and Elizabeth (Halderman) Snyder, were among the earliest settlers of Highland county, when it was a part of Pendleton. His early life was spent at Crabbottom, where his education was begun. Later he became a student of Mossy Creek Academy, in Augusta county, Virginia, and then, in 1854, he entered Dickinson College, Pennsylvania. He afterwards attended Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), Lexington, Va., where his academic education was terminated in i856. Shortly thereafter, he began the study of law with that eminent jurist and teacher, Hon. J. W. Brokenborough, the judge of the United States District Court, and under his instruction laid the foundation of the legal education which afterward made him famous as advocate, counsellor and judge. In 1859 he located in Lewisburg and practiced law there, save during the 186i-i865 Civil war, interspersing the early years of his lawyer's life with some journalistic work, which had a marked effect on his writing in after years, imparting to his diction a roundness, a conciseness and clearness, which are noticeable in every paper he prepared. When war broke upon the country in i86i he followed the fortunes of the South, enlisting in Company E of the Twenty-seventh Virginia Regiment, afterwards a part of the famous "Stonewall Brigade"; and after several promotions he was made adjutant of his regiment with the rank of captain, which position he held till his capture and imprisonment by the forces of the North. He was actively engaged in the Valley of Virginia campaign under Gen. Joseph F. Johnston and with the "Stonewall Brigade" in the first battle of Manassas, July 21, i86i, in which battle he received a severe wound in the side, which always thereafter gave him trouble. He was in the Romney expedition, in the battles of Kernstown, Winchester, Cross-Keys, Port Republic, and the seven days' fight around Richmond; and later in the battles of second Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg. In 1863 he was captured by the North and imprisoned in the Athenaum at Wheeling, where he was held a prisoner of war until exchanged, in 1864. Broken in health by disease and hardships of prison life, he was not thereafter in active service. Until the end of the war he again took up journalistic work. When the war closed. in 1865, and disbarment to practice law was removed by a decision of the United States Supreme Court, he resumed his profession at Lewisburg, and soon entered upon a lucrative practice and successful career. He rose rapidly in the legal profession, not only as a painstaking, careful, energetic lawyer, but made himself felt by the soundness of his logic and the breadth of his legal knowledge and acumen. In 1882, so well had he become known as a profound scholar and lawyer, that upon the death Of Hon. J. F. Patton, who had been appointed to the Supreme Court of West Virginia by Governor Jacob B. Jackson to fill the unexpired term of Judge Charles P. T. Moore, resigned, Governor Jackson appointed him in the room and stead of Judge Patton. When Judge Snyder was appointed nearly three years of Judge Patton's term were unexpired. and in the next succeeding election he was nominated by the Democratic party to fill that part of the term and elected by a large majority. In the fall of 1884 he was renominated and reelected for a full term of twelve years, beginning with January 1, 1885. He did not serve out his term, but in 1890, in order to attend to his large private business interests, which required his time and attention, resigned his position. During the latter portion of his career as judge he was president of the court, and during his career upon the bench won the unbounded admiration and respect of the bar and of the people of his State. His opinions are regarded among the ablest, perhaps the very ablest, ever delivered by the court. Their clear, forceful language, logical reasoning, breadth and accurate grasp of subject, pointed citation of authority and precedent, and the application of principles make them an ornament to the Reports of the State and a lasting monument to their author. He was a laborious worker, and his common sense enabled him to meet any question with an intrepid clearness and grasp. His mode of dealing with all questions was such as to assure confidence and inspire respect. He struck straight at the point and swept away irrelevant and impertinent matter with a swiftness and ease possessed by few jurists; and when his conclusion had been reached and his opinion formed the lucid statement made of the result of his investigation, the honesty with which he handled the subject, his knowledge displayed in the application of the law, and the reasons for his conclusion, were so convincing that they secured the respectful acquiescence of those even 'vhose interests had suffered by the judicial decision. He was one of the organizers and a member of the board of directors from the date of the organization of The Bank of Lewisburg, on July 1, 1871, until his death, and was for twenty years its president. As a banker his actions were always characterized by firmness, wisdom and discretion; faithful to duty and watchful of the interests of the institution, he was still ever willing to ac-commodate the needy and the worthy. Judge Snyder was a great student of times and men, a varied reader, and a writer upon many subjects; but as husband and father, as friend and neighbor, the beauty of his gentle, unambitious nature shone with its greatest lustre. His kind heart, his charity, his devotion to family and friends, his love of home and those who made up his household, were such as give to his inner life its chief charm. As proud as his admirers may have been of his ability and achievements, those who knew him best loved him more because of private virtues than for any achievements in his public life. In 1869 he married Miss Henryette Harrison Cary, daughter of William and Ophelia (Mathews) Cary, of Lewisburg, and to this union were born nine children. Three of them died in infancy, and one son, Dr. H. Harry 0. Snyder, died at Jefferson Hospital, Philadelphia, on August 21, 1903, in his thirtieth year. The widow and three sons, Jules Verne, of Chattanooga, Teun., Kenton Mathews, of Chicago, Ill., and Frederick William, of Richmond, Va., and one daughter, Zulieme Austin (now Mrs. Crockett Bowen Ratliff), of Lewisburg, are still living (1917). Judge Snyder possessed a wonderful charm of manner, which never failed to convert mere acquaintances into warm friends. In disposition he was genial and the most companionable of men. He was tall, somewhat stooped, displaying in his appearance the habits and mien of a student and of simple tastes.