Ancestors of Peter Snyder of Allen Co., OH, b. 1820
Replies: 9
Who was Peter Snyder (b. c.1793) who married Betsy Lewis?
| baskaufs (View posts) | Posted: 28 Oct 2007 8:09PM GMT |
Classification: Query
Surnames: Snyder, Lewis, Bassitt
The land records of Allen County, Ohio record the names of those who first purchased tracts of land in Bath Township from the government and the list of these purchasers was published in the widely circulated 1880 History of Allen County, Ohio (Chicago: Warner, Beers, & Co.). One of these purchasers was "Peter Snyder", who bought land in section 11 in 1835. However, examination of the actual deeds associated with the transfer of this property reveal that this was not "our" Peter Snyder (b. 1820). The Peter Snyder who bought land in section 11 was married to a "Betsy" in the 1830's, while Peter (b. 1820) was not married to Clarinda Edgecomb until 1840. Over the years I have accumulated information about Peter and Betsy Snyder and am now convinced that Betsy was a sister to Elsa Lewis Bassitt (wife of Samuel) and that Peter (b. c.1793) was very likely an uncle to Peter (b. 1820). I will briefly outline the evidence for this here.
To facilitate this discussion, the plat map found at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/images/1830s.g...
may be helpful.
Several years ago, Wib Everett made a trip to New York to look for information on Snyder ancestors and after the trip he sent me copies of the material he found. I recently reviewed one item which did not make sense to me at the time, but which now has provided a critical piece of information for fitting Peter and Betsy Snyder into their context. This was a letter sent from Arthur G. Lyon to the Canandaigua Public Library requesting information about Peter Snyder and his wife Elizabeth (Betsey) Lewis Snyder. The letter can be seen at:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/images/notes/l...
and the reply at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/images/notes/l...
Two important facts emerge from this letter. The first is confirmation that Betsy Snyder was a Lewis, which I had suspected on the basis of circumstantial evidence. The second is a list of the children of Peter and Betsy, along with their birth dates: Cicero, 1819; Lewis, 1821; Alzina, 1825; Mary, 1827; and Ambrose, 1832. Mr. Lyon does not state the source of his information, but it is consistent with other material (which I will discuss next) and fills in important gaps.
This list corresponds generally to the 1850 U.S. Census for Lordstown Twp., Trumbull Co., Ohio, which gives the following information:
Peter Snyder, 57, born in NY (therefore born c. 1793 vs. 1790 listed in the Lyon letter)
Lewis, 28, born in NY (b. c.1822)
Alzina, 25, born in NY (b. c.1825)
Mary A., 21, born in OH (b. c.1829 vs. 1827 listed in the Lyon letter)
Ambrose, 17, born in OH (b. c.1833)
Seymor, 20, born in OH (b. c.1830)
It is not clear who Seymor is and I do not presently have an image of the original record, so can't check if a last name is listed. Except as noted, the birth dates derived from the ages agree with those listed in the Lyon letter. Apparently Betsy had died by 1850, since she is not in the list.
Assuming that Mr. Lyon was correct in giving Lewis as Betsy's maiden name, there are two pieces of circumstantial evidence that strongly support the conjecture that Betsy was a daughter of Peleg Lewis, sister to Jonathan and John Lewis shown on the plat map, and sister to Elsie Lewis Bassitt, wife of Samuel Bassitt also shown on the map. The first is the date of purchase of Peter and Betsy's land in section 11. This date, 15 Sep 1835 is the same as the date John and Fanny Lewis bought their adjacent land in section 14. Both Peter and Betsy and John and Fanny were residents of Lordstown Twp., Trumbull Co., OH when they made their purchases. Therefore it is very suggestive that these purchases were the coordinated effort of siblings.
The other evidence is found in History of Trumbull and Mahoning Counties, Vol. 2, Cleveland, H.Z. Williams & Bro. 1882, p. 542. This is an account of the formation of the first church (later to be a part of the Disciples of Christ denomination) in Lordstown Twp. on 20 Mar 1830. The church was organized in a log cabin school house on the corner of the farm of David Lewis (another child of Peleg Lewis). Original members included Samuel Bassett and wife, Peleg, Fanny, and Rachel Lewis, David Lewis and wife, Peter Snyder and wife, and Betsy Snyder. It is believed that all of these Lewis' as well as Samuel Bassitt's wife, Elsie, were siblings. If the inferences made in this posting are correct, then Peter Snyder's wife, Betsy was a sibling as well. I do not know why in the list of original members the wife of Peter Snyder and Betsy Snyder are listed separately. Perhaps there were two Betsy Snyders. The support for relationships among those mentioned in this paragraph is given at:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/7.htm
Returning to the plat map of Bath Township, the relationships among the landowners listed are as follows: Uriah and Betsy (Doud) Edgecomb moved to Bath Township in 1832 and purchased land in section 3. Presumably Betsy communicated with her sister Fanny (Doud) Lewis of Lordstown Twp., Trumbull Co., OH about their new home and this information was shared with the siblings of John Lewis (Fanny's husband). Elsie (Lewis) Bassitt (John's sister) and her husband (also of Lordstown) decided to buy land in section 13 in 1834. On 15 Sep 1835, John (Elsie's brother) and Fannie (Betsy Edgecomb's sister) bough land in section 14 adjacent to Elsie and Samuel. On the same day, Betsy (Elsie's sister) and Peter Snyder (also of Lordstown) bought land in section 11 adjacent to John and Fanny's land. In 1836, Samuel and Elsie Bassitt moved to Bath Township. However, John and Fanny Lewis and Peter and Betsy Snyder apparently never leave Lordstown Twp., Trumbull County. On 25 Feb 1836 Jonathan (brother of Elsie Bassitt, John Lewis, and Betsy Snyder) and Nelly Lewis buy land in section 14 adjacent to John and Fanny Lewis and Peter and Betsy Snyder. They move there sometime before 1840 (perhaps with the Bassitts). Eventually John and Fanny and Peter and Betsy sell their land to others.
In addition to the evidence presented above, there are several other land transactions that support these proposed connections of Peter and Betsy Snyder to the Lewis' and Snyders of Bath Township. On 8 Feb 1839, Peter and Betsy sold the west 100 acres of their parcel in the southwest quarter of section 11 to "Cisero" Snyder (i.e. to their son; Deeds book G page 80). This property was then sold on 16 Dec 1839 by Cicero to a Peter Snyder (Deeds book H page 186). Although I have not done a careful search of all of the transactions in that quarter section, at least part of this land was sold on 5 Sep 1856 by Peter and Clarinda Snyder. Thus the Peter who purchased the land from Cicero was apparently his cousin, Peter (b. 1820). In another transaction dated 1 Mar 1840, Joseph and Maria Lewis of Lordstown Twp., Trumbull Co., OH sold land in section 1 to Martin Lewis of Putnam Co., OH. This transaction was witnessed by Peter and Alzina Snyder. I do not know who Joseph Lewis is, although it is thought that Martin Lewis was the son of Peleg Lewis, Jr., oldest sibling of John, Jonathan, Elsie, etc. This again shows that Peter (b. 1793) and his family were closely associated with the Lewis's.
I will end this posing and in the next installment will turn to the relationship between Peter Snyder (b. 1820) and Peter Snyder (b. 1793).
Steve Baskauf
Bassett-Edgecomb-Snyder Archives
http://besr.info
To facilitate this discussion, the plat map found at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/images/1830s.g...
may be helpful.
Several years ago, Wib Everett made a trip to New York to look for information on Snyder ancestors and after the trip he sent me copies of the material he found. I recently reviewed one item which did not make sense to me at the time, but which now has provided a critical piece of information for fitting Peter and Betsy Snyder into their context. This was a letter sent from Arthur G. Lyon to the Canandaigua Public Library requesting information about Peter Snyder and his wife Elizabeth (Betsey) Lewis Snyder. The letter can be seen at:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/images/notes/l...
and the reply at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/images/notes/l...
Two important facts emerge from this letter. The first is confirmation that Betsy Snyder was a Lewis, which I had suspected on the basis of circumstantial evidence. The second is a list of the children of Peter and Betsy, along with their birth dates: Cicero, 1819; Lewis, 1821; Alzina, 1825; Mary, 1827; and Ambrose, 1832. Mr. Lyon does not state the source of his information, but it is consistent with other material (which I will discuss next) and fills in important gaps.
This list corresponds generally to the 1850 U.S. Census for Lordstown Twp., Trumbull Co., Ohio, which gives the following information:
Peter Snyder, 57, born in NY (therefore born c. 1793 vs. 1790 listed in the Lyon letter)
Lewis, 28, born in NY (b. c.1822)
Alzina, 25, born in NY (b. c.1825)
Mary A., 21, born in OH (b. c.1829 vs. 1827 listed in the Lyon letter)
Ambrose, 17, born in OH (b. c.1833)
Seymor, 20, born in OH (b. c.1830)
It is not clear who Seymor is and I do not presently have an image of the original record, so can't check if a last name is listed. Except as noted, the birth dates derived from the ages agree with those listed in the Lyon letter. Apparently Betsy had died by 1850, since she is not in the list.
Assuming that Mr. Lyon was correct in giving Lewis as Betsy's maiden name, there are two pieces of circumstantial evidence that strongly support the conjecture that Betsy was a daughter of Peleg Lewis, sister to Jonathan and John Lewis shown on the plat map, and sister to Elsie Lewis Bassitt, wife of Samuel Bassitt also shown on the map. The first is the date of purchase of Peter and Betsy's land in section 11. This date, 15 Sep 1835 is the same as the date John and Fanny Lewis bought their adjacent land in section 14. Both Peter and Betsy and John and Fanny were residents of Lordstown Twp., Trumbull Co., OH when they made their purchases. Therefore it is very suggestive that these purchases were the coordinated effort of siblings.
The other evidence is found in History of Trumbull and Mahoning Counties, Vol. 2, Cleveland, H.Z. Williams & Bro. 1882, p. 542. This is an account of the formation of the first church (later to be a part of the Disciples of Christ denomination) in Lordstown Twp. on 20 Mar 1830. The church was organized in a log cabin school house on the corner of the farm of David Lewis (another child of Peleg Lewis). Original members included Samuel Bassett and wife, Peleg, Fanny, and Rachel Lewis, David Lewis and wife, Peter Snyder and wife, and Betsy Snyder. It is believed that all of these Lewis' as well as Samuel Bassitt's wife, Elsie, were siblings. If the inferences made in this posting are correct, then Peter Snyder's wife, Betsy was a sibling as well. I do not know why in the list of original members the wife of Peter Snyder and Betsy Snyder are listed separately. Perhaps there were two Betsy Snyders. The support for relationships among those mentioned in this paragraph is given at:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/7.htm
Returning to the plat map of Bath Township, the relationships among the landowners listed are as follows: Uriah and Betsy (Doud) Edgecomb moved to Bath Township in 1832 and purchased land in section 3. Presumably Betsy communicated with her sister Fanny (Doud) Lewis of Lordstown Twp., Trumbull Co., OH about their new home and this information was shared with the siblings of John Lewis (Fanny's husband). Elsie (Lewis) Bassitt (John's sister) and her husband (also of Lordstown) decided to buy land in section 13 in 1834. On 15 Sep 1835, John (Elsie's brother) and Fannie (Betsy Edgecomb's sister) bough land in section 14 adjacent to Elsie and Samuel. On the same day, Betsy (Elsie's sister) and Peter Snyder (also of Lordstown) bought land in section 11 adjacent to John and Fanny's land. In 1836, Samuel and Elsie Bassitt moved to Bath Township. However, John and Fanny Lewis and Peter and Betsy Snyder apparently never leave Lordstown Twp., Trumbull County. On 25 Feb 1836 Jonathan (brother of Elsie Bassitt, John Lewis, and Betsy Snyder) and Nelly Lewis buy land in section 14 adjacent to John and Fanny Lewis and Peter and Betsy Snyder. They move there sometime before 1840 (perhaps with the Bassitts). Eventually John and Fanny and Peter and Betsy sell their land to others.
In addition to the evidence presented above, there are several other land transactions that support these proposed connections of Peter and Betsy Snyder to the Lewis' and Snyders of Bath Township. On 8 Feb 1839, Peter and Betsy sold the west 100 acres of their parcel in the southwest quarter of section 11 to "Cisero" Snyder (i.e. to their son; Deeds book G page 80). This property was then sold on 16 Dec 1839 by Cicero to a Peter Snyder (Deeds book H page 186). Although I have not done a careful search of all of the transactions in that quarter section, at least part of this land was sold on 5 Sep 1856 by Peter and Clarinda Snyder. Thus the Peter who purchased the land from Cicero was apparently his cousin, Peter (b. 1820). In another transaction dated 1 Mar 1840, Joseph and Maria Lewis of Lordstown Twp., Trumbull Co., OH sold land in section 1 to Martin Lewis of Putnam Co., OH. This transaction was witnessed by Peter and Alzina Snyder. I do not know who Joseph Lewis is, although it is thought that Martin Lewis was the son of Peleg Lewis, Jr., oldest sibling of John, Jonathan, Elsie, etc. This again shows that Peter (b. 1793) and his family were closely associated with the Lewis's.
I will end this posing and in the next installment will turn to the relationship between Peter Snyder (b. 1820) and Peter Snyder (b. 1793).
Steve Baskauf
Bassett-Edgecomb-Snyder Archives
http://besr.info