Carlton SNYDER, farmer and stock-raiser, section 5, Jefferson Township, was born February 10, 1841, in Platte County, Missouri, a son of Andrew SNYDER, a native of Richland County, Ohio. He came with his parents to Iowa in 1847 and located in Warren County, eight miles south of Des Moines. Our subject was reared to agricultural pursuits, and was educated in the common school of Warren County and at the graded school at Winterset, Iowa.

He enlisted [at age 21 from Norwalk, Warren County, Iowa, on August 15, 1862] during the late [Civil] war in Company H, Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry and was with the regiment at the battles of Vicksburg or Chickasaw Bayou and Arkansas Post. He was discharged for disability in [March 17] 1863 [at St. Louis, Missouri]. [Carlton was a patient at the House of Refuge Hospital, Saint Louis, Missouri, February 12, 1863.]

He went to Central City, Nebraska, in 1871, remaining there till 1875.

He was married March 31, 1874 [Clarke County, Iowa], to Miss Amanda J[ane]. SHAWVER, a daughter of George SHAWVER, who lives near Maxburg, Madison County, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. SNYDER have had three children, two still living - George A. and Elbert. They have taken a boy to bring up, named Clyde A. HOPE.

Mr. SNYDER located in Madison County, Iowa, in 1875, and in 1876 came to Ringgold County, when he settled on his present farm, which contains 120 acres of choice land. Since coming to Jefferson Township Mr. SNYDER has served as trustee and school director. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church.

When the toesin of war sounded men from all walks of life flocked to the standard of the country, coming from the work shops, the fields, the counting houses, the stores and the offices, all actuated by the common purpose of defending the Union even at the sacrifice of their own lives if necessary. Forty-seven years have come and gone since the outbreak of hostilities and those who met the enemy on southern battlefields are fast passing away. Among the veterans now living in the Union county is Carlton SNYDER, of Shannon City, who for years was a farmer of Iowa and still owns a farm of one hundred and twenty acres in Ringgold county. He came to this state at a very early period in its settlement and development, being brought to Iowa by his father in the fall of 1846, when a little lad of five years. He was born in Platte County, Missouri, February 10, 1841.

His father, Andrew SNYDER, was a native of Ohio and was there reared after which he removed westward to Platte county, Missouri, becoming one of the early settlers of that locality. As stated, he came to Iowa in the fall on 1846, casting in his lot with the pioneer residents of Warren county which was then largely an unclaimed and unsettled district, much of the land being still in the possession of the government, while only here and there had a little home been build to indicate that the seeds of civilization were being planted in the west. Mr. SNYDER entered land from the government and opened up a farm, which he cultivated until 1872, when he sold that property and removed to Madison county, settling near Winterset. There he sent his remaining days, his death occuring in January, 1878, when he was seventy-four years of age. His wife died January 12, 1891, at the advanced age of eight-four years.

Carlton SNYDER was one of a family of four daughters and seven sons, who reached adult age, while one son and one daughter died in early life. He was reared to manhood upon the Warren county farm and was early trained in the work of the fields until he had become thoroughly familiar with the best methods of planting and caring for the crops. He was twenty-one years of age when he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting in August, 1862, with the Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry. With that command he went to the south, joining the Army of the Tennessee and participating in the first siege of Vicksburg at Chickasaw Bayou. He was also in the battle of the Arkansas Post with his regiment and during the winter of 1862-3 was ill in the hospital. He was then discharged for disability and returned home.

Three years passed before he thoroughly regained his health, after which he resumed farming, going to Nebraska, where he secured a homestead claim in 1871. He located upon this and improved it until he had obtained a deed to the property, remaining there until 1875. He then sold his place and returned to Madison county, where he carried on farming for a year, after which he took up his abode in Ringgold county, upon a tract of land which he had purchased some years before. It was wild and unimproved when it came into his possession, so he broke the sod, fenced the fields and did all the work necessary toward the production of crops. In due course of time the farm was brought under a high state of cultivation. He also worked a marked transformation in its appearane throught the erection of a set of substantial farm building and through the planting of a grove and large orchard. This farm adjoins the southern boundary line of Union county and is about three miles from Shannon City. Year by year Mr. SNYDER successfuly conducted his farming interests until 1899, when he removed to the village and purchased a residence. He then established a butchering business, conducting a meat marked for two years and at the same time gave supervision to the management and operation of his farm.

On the 31st of March, 1874, in Clarke county, Iowa, Mr. SNYDER was married to Amanda J. SHAWVER, who was born in Warren county but was reared in Clarke county. In the latter she was educated, also attending school at Indianola, Iowa. Her father, George SHAWVER, was a native of Indianola, born about 1824. (sic, Indianola had not been established in 1824) In that state he grew to manhood and was married there to Miss Sarah COX, also a native of Indiana. Removing westward to Iowa, they cast in their lot with its pioneer settlers. For a number of years they were residents of Clarke county, where the death of Mrs. SHAWVER occurred. The father afterward married again and later removed to Madison county, where he spent his last years, his death there occurring about 1894. Mrs. SNYDER was one of eight children, four sons and four daughters, of whom two sons and two daughters are yet living. By his secomd marriage Mr. SHAWVER had a son and a daughter. Mrs. SNYDER was a teacher for several years in Clarke and Warren counties and gave excellent satisfaction in her work in the schoolroom.

Following their marriage the young couple began their domestic life on the homestead claim in Nebraska, where Mr. SNYDER had kept bachelor's hall for a few years. Three children have come to bless their union but they lost their first born, Frank in infancy. Their second son, George A., is now married and is a business man of Shannon City, where he is engaged in dealing in grain and coal. Ira E[lbert]. is upon the home farm. They also reared an adopted son, Clyde A. HOPE, who was the child of Mr. SNYDER's sister and who lived with them from the age of six months. He is now a farmer of this county.

Politically Mr. SNYDER is a Republican and has voted for every presidential nominee of the party since casting his first ballot for Abraham LINCOLN in 1864 with the single exception of the year 1872. For several years, while living on the farm, he served as township trustee and had previously been township clerk in Warren county, while in Nebraska he was officially identified with the schools. He has also filled the office of road supervisor in this county and his official duties have been discharged with a promptness and fidelity that indicates his deep interest in the welfare of the community.

Mr. and Mrs. SNYDER are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, taking an active interest in its work and doing all in their power to extend its influences. Mr. SNYDER has been superintendent of the Sunday school at Shannon City for twelve years and Mrs. SNYDER is a teacher in the Sunday school, while in the various departments of church work they are active. He has also been one of the trustees of the church and steward for twenty-four years and, moreover, their lives are in harmony with their professions and are a force in the moral development of the community.

Mr. SNYDER belongs to Shannon City Lodge, I. O. O. F., is a valued member of the Grand Army post and has served as commander, while for a number of years he has filled the position of quartermaster. In all matters of citizenship he has been as faithful to the interests of his country as when he followed the old flag on the southern battlefields and gave substantial proof of his loyalty to the Union cause.

NOTE: Andrew SNYDER, the son of Christian SYNDER (1765-1863) and Mary Magdaline (FATE) SNYDER (1764-1872), was born in Steuberville, Jackson County, Ohio, on May 3, 1803. Andrew died January 18, 1878, Winterset, Madison County, Iowa, at the age of 75 years. Andrew was interred at Norwalk Cemetery, Norwalk, Warren County, Iowa. Andrew's dying request, according to his obituary, was that all his children would meet him in Heaven. Andrew married in 1825 to Elizabeth MOSIER. Elizabeth (MOSIER) SNYDER was born in Pennsylvania on October 22, 1806, the daughter of Elizabeth (CRAFT) and Jonathan MOSIER, and died at Winterset, Madison County, Iowa, January 12, 1891, aged 85 years. Elizabeth was interred beside her husband Andrew at the Norwalk Cemetery. Andrew and Elisabeth were the parents of eleven children.

George SHAWVER was born April 10, 1816, Greenbrier County, Virginia, and died at the age of 79 years on November 14, 1895, Madison County, , with interment at Kivett Cemetery, Macksburg, Madison County, Iowa. George married first on February 29, 1844, Hendricks County, Indiana to Sarah Martha COX, and he married second to Elizabeth MAIZE (1863-?) in Iowa on August 28, 1861. Sarah Martha (COX) SHAWVER was born November 23, 1825, Pennsylvania, and died March 1, 1861, Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa. Amanda Jane (SHAWVER) SNYDER was the third-born of George and Sarah's eight children.

Carlton SNYDER, the eighth of Andrew and Elizabeth (MOSIER) SNYDER's eleven children, died at the age of 74 years on June 15, 1915, near Shannon City in Ringgold County, Iowa. Amanda Jane (SHAWVER) SNYDER was born May 9, 1850, Warren County, Iowa, and at the age of 76 years in 1926. Carlton and Amanda were interred at Oakland Cemetery, Ringgold County, Iowa. Carlton and Amanda were the parents of three sons and raised Amanda's nephew Clyde A. HOPE from infancy. Clyde's mother died when he was born.

1) Frank P. SNYDER, born 1878, Ringgold Co. IA; died 05 Jul 1878, Ringgold Co. IA
    interment Harmony Cemetery near Shannon City, Untion Co. IA

2) Clyde A. HOPE, born 25 Jun 1875, Shenandoah IA; died 20 Oct 1945, Valley City SD
    interment Hillside Cemetery, Valley City SD
    29 Sep 1897, Ladaga, IA married Clara MURRAY (1878-1962); 8 children

3) George Arthur "Art" SNYDER, born 17 Mar 1880, Ringgold Co. IA
    married Edith (?), born 1882

4) Ia "Elbert" SNYDER, born Apr 1882, Ringgold Co. IA

SOURCES:
Biography & Historical Record of Ringgold County, Pp. 393-94, 1887.

History of Union County, Iowa Clarke Publishing Company. Chicago. 1908.

American Civil War Soldiers Database, ancestry.com

"Obituary - Andrew SNYDER" Winterset Madisonian, January 10, 1878

WPA Graves Survey

Transcription and note by Sharon R. Becker, March of 2009

Biographical Sketches Pages Index: A - F,   G - L,   M - R,  S - Z