[ Return to Index ] [ Read Prev Msg ] [ Read Next Msg ]

Samuel Snyder (1912)

ARTHUR, COUCH, KOSER, MARDIS, SNYDER, YOUNG

Posted By: Treva Patterson
Date: 3/1/2007 at 10:23:51

The Winterset Madisonian
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, January 17, 1912

PIONEER MERCHANT PASSES AWAY

Saml. Snyder Dies, Aged 85. Was First Mail Carrier in County Among First Merchants

Samuel Snyder quietly passed away at his home on East North street, on Monday morning, at the age of eighty five. In some respects, his relation to the early history of Madison county was unusual. He carried the first mail ever delivered in Madison county. This was in 1848. Alfred D. Jones had come up from Des Moines and built a log store on section 26 in Union township, not far from the present residence of P. M. Lippy. Samuel Snyder and his brother then lived at Norwalk and carried the mail between Des Moines and the "Narrows" or the Montpelier post office, as the new trading post was known. Later the post office was moved to Winterset and Mr. Snyder continued to carry mail until 1852 when he moved to Winterset and opened a store just a short distance east of where the Madison County Bank now stands.

It is said that he was the only Winterset merchant who weathered the financial and business panic of 1857. His methods of business were somewhat unique and certainly quite different from present day business methods. He never bought a dollar's worth of goods for his store without paying for them the minute they were purchased. His honesty and his word were unquestioned and his plain speech and unassuming manner were characteristic of the pioneer type that will soon live only in memory.

Mr. Snyder was the eldest of a large family of children and is survived by five brothers and three sisters, two of whom reside in this county, A. J. Snyder of Winterset and Mrs. Wm. Young of Webster township. Of his immediate family, he is survived by one son and five daughters who reside as follows: Warren Snyder, Mrs. J. D. Couch, Mrs. Myles Young Jr., Mrs. Fred Mardis, Mrs. Chas Koser of Winterset and Mrs. E. W. Arthur of Omaha. Funeral services were held from the home at two p.m. today and burial in the Winterset cemetery.
________________________

The Winterset Reporter
Thursday, January 18,1912
Page 1, Column 2

The Oldest Merchant Dies.

Another of Winterset's representatives of pioneer days passed to the great beyond Monday morning in the person of Samuel Snyder. At the time of his death, Mr. Snyder was the oldest of Winterset's business men. Perhaps there Is nobody now living who anti-dates him. He was the proprietor of a general store here as far back as 1853. For at least twenty years his was one of the leading trading places of the town, and was known far and wide, for in those days trade came from many more miles then at present. The business methods of those days would seem peculiar and altogether carried along on primitive lines, his was known as a place of square dealing, honest weights and measures. It was said of his place that a child could buy of him as safely as a grown person.

Mr. Snyder has been in feeble health for several years but for the past six months has failed more rapidly. He died at the age of 80 years. He leaves a wife and six children Mrs. Mary Couch, Mrs. Jennie Koser, Mrs. Lulu Arthur, Warren Snyder, Mrs. Clara Young and Mrs. Jessie Mardis. He also leaves five brothers and three sisters.

Samuel Snyder was born Nov. 28 1820, In Richland county, Ohio. In 1833 he emigrated to Missouri and remained there until he removed to Polk county in 1840 and was for a time engaged in carrying the mail from Des Moines to what was at that time known as Montepelier, P O., four miles east of the present city of Winterset. He came to Winterset in 1853 and went into business. He was married to Mrs. J. Blair in 1852.

The funeral was held from the home Rev. A. A. Walburn and interment was made in the Rock City cemetery.
_______________________

The Winterset News
Winterset, Iowa
Wednesday, January 17, 1912
Page 1, Column 2

SAMUEL SNYDER DEAD

Veteran Business Man Dies at Home of Old Age. Funeral Today.

Samuel Snyder, veteran business man of Winterset, one of its very first citizens, always prominent in business, financial and social affairs until extreme old age, died at his home in the east part of the city Monday morning at 6:30. The funeral will be held from the residence this afternoon.

Mr. Snyder retired from active business twenty years ago, his health failing him at the time. During the past few years he has been in feeble health but was not confined to bed until about a week ago. His death was due to extreme old age.

Samuel Snyder was born in Ohio and came to Missouri with his parents in 1846 and to Iowa settling at Norwalk in Warren county. He carried the mail for a time between Norwalk and the little stage station where Tileville now is and was then supposed to be the center of Madison county. When it was found that the site of Winterset was the exact center of the county by survey and the town was platted he was one of the first purchasers of a town lot, buying the old home which was his residence for fifty years, and which is now occupied by Cooley.

He was married in 1852 to Miss Jude Blair. They came to Winterset in 1852 and Mr. Snyder opened a little grocery and bakery where Wilson’s meat market now is and more forty years gave the business his entire attention. He did not grow wealthy because no man, however poor, was refused credit in his store. At times he burned up thousands of dollars of bad accounts.

He was always prominent in political, and city and in business affairs and was a power in the community when he advocated any measure. He was scrupulously honest and to the day of his death his word was good as a bond. He was an ardent Democrat, a member for years of the Methodist church and always since the organization of the Odd Fellows Lodge in Winterset an active member.

He is survived by his aged wife who is in very feeble health, his son, Warren Snyder, and his daughters, Mrs. John Couch, Mrs. Charles Koser, Mrs. Myles Young, Jr., Mrs. Fred Mardis, all of Winterset, and Mrs. Lou Arthur, of Omaha.

Gravesite
 

Madison Obituaries maintained by Linda Griffith Smith.
WebBBS 4.33 Genealogy Modification Package by WebJourneymen

[ Return to Index ] [ Read Prev Msg ] [ Read Next Msg ]