Family History

Only the Beginning

Almost every day, more information about the far-reaching Snider family becomes available. Many family genealogists have come forward with their carefully gathered histories, and we have exchanged data. Eleanor Jackson, a descendant of the Nobleton Sniders, provided her family's history. Sandra Thorne and Sue Claya in Michigan are both descendants of Elias Snider Senior, Martin’s brother and have shared their history. Sandra e-mailed a lengthy account of Elias Snider's "paper trail" in New Brunswick, and the sad story of his death as he was preparing to move to Ontario with Martin in 1811.

"According to Mary Cougle in her reminiscences to Sussex historian, Leonard Allison,

‘ . . . old Martin (sic) Snider lived across the river from Harrisons – had a mill where the road goes from ___ shop. He sold out to go to Canada. He was going down to the cellar to get tobacco and slipped and fell against a stone wall and killed him. Don’t know who his wife was – think before we came – he was a brother of old Peter – had a grown up family.’ Elias's death occurred sometime in April, 1811. "

Cousin Bill Ramsay, active in the North Toronto Historical Society for many years, lives in the 1885 Ramsay family home, listed by the Historical Board for architectural and historical reasons. Don Snider of Edmonton, provided much family data on the descendants of William and Nancy [Cummer] Snider of Eglinton and of the Pennsylvania German Cummers of Willowdale.

The involvement and generosity of families makes genealogy fascinating. Ted Snider in Seeleys Bay [now Kingston, Ontario] and Elgin Snider, until his death in 1982, both shared the fruits of their research with many others. Alice and Stanley Cox of Utah, spent hours of their time searching through files and records to share with the rest of the family.

I’m sure we all hope the generations following us will continue this family research begun many years ago in Ontario and Michigan and Utah; New Brunswick and Florida and California; Arizona – and all the other parts of the world where Christian and Jacob and Maria Magdalena Schneider’s descendants have chosen to live.

The electronic world of computers, e-mail, websites and search engines is crucial to today's genealogical environment. Won't you join us?

Postscript

In October 2001, with Sandra and Richard Thorne of New Brunswick [Sandra is a descendant of Martin Snider’s brother, Elias], I visited Northampton County, Pennsylvania. In the Marx Room of the Easton Public Library, Sandra found the name of Johann Jacob Schneider’s father, Christian Schneider, in Jacob and Maria Magdalena’s November 12, 1751 marriage record from the Old Goshenhoppen Lutheran Church.

Since then, through the efforts of many generous people and searches through scores of manuscripts, books, websites, historical archives, and subscriber lists, we are nearly ready to identify our Pennsylvania German ancestor, Christian Schneider/Schnyder.

The fact that several 18th century residents of Philadelphia County bore the same name, compounded our research obstacles. But with intensive investigation and another visit to Pennsylvania in October of 2005 with my daughter and son-in-law, I am almost satisfied that our Christian Schneider lived in the Old City of Philadelphia for much of his later life and I believe I know who he was. Please stay tuned . . .

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