I mentioned in my second post that a number of years ago, Wib Everett sent me a packet of information that he collected on a family history research trip to New York. At the time the information seemed overwhelming to me, given the seeming impossibility of tracking a common name like Philip Snyder. However, after I recently began to understand the relationship of the Lewis family to the Bassett-Edgecomb-Snyder families, enough pieces have fallen together that I think I can propose a timeline for our Snyder family back to the 1810's.
Before looking at the information in New York, we should examine the census records of Peter Snyder (b. c.1793):
1830 for Lordstown Twp., Trumbull Co., OH.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/census/1830-oh...It is clear that this is the same Peter Snyder mentioned in the 1850 census and the Lyon letter because the younger children match. However, it appears that there were probably older children whose names we do not know:
Males aged 5-10 (Lewis), 15-20 (son 1), and 30-40 (Peter age 37); females aged under 5 (Mary A.), 5 to 10 (Alzina), 10-15 (dau. 2), 15-20 (dau. 1), and 30-40 (Betsy about 35).
1840 census for Lordstown Twp. Daughters 1 (age 25-30) and 2 (age 20-25) are no longer listed, perhaps they married.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/census/1840-oh...males: one under 5 (?), one 5-10 (Ambrose age 7), one 15-20 (Lewis age 18), one 20-30 (son 1), one 40-50 (Peter age 47); females: one 10-15 (Mary A. age 11), one 15-20 (Alzina age 15), one 40-50 (Betsy about 45)
Now for New York. According to Wib's notes, Livingston County (the stated birthplace of Peter Snyder, b. 1820) did not exist in 1820, but rather was formed from Ontario and Genesee Counties in 1821. The only Philip Snyder listed in either of these counties was a Phillip Snider in Richmond Township of Ontario County:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/census/1820-ny...Phillip Snider - Males: three under 10, one 10-16 (Lorenzo age 11?), one 26-45; females: two under 10, one 10-16, one 26-45
Immediately following Phillip's entry is a Peter Snider. By comparison with the 1830 census and known birthdates of Peter and Betsy, one can see that there are individuals that correspond:
Peter Snider - Males: one under 10 (son 1), one 18 to 26, one 26 to 45 (Peter age 27), one over 45 (older male); females: two under 10 (dau. 1 & 2), one 16-24 (Betsy about 25), 1 over 45 (older female)
Assuming that we are correct in inferring that this is the same Peter of the 1830 census, in addition to the children listed in the 1830 census there is another young man and an older couple living with the family. One hypothesis is that the older couple is Betsy's parents, Peleg and Lydia Lewis. I am not aware of a census record for them in 1820, and the ages of the older couple would be correct for Peleg and Lydia. Another possibility is that this is not actually the same Peter as the one in Lordstown in 1830 and that the older couple is a different Peter and his wife. Because we do not have birth dates for Philip and Mary Snyder and most of their children (except for Lorenzo probably b. c.1806 and Peter b. 13 Aug 1820), it is not possible to assign particular children to particular individuals on the census list. However, the list given in the 1896 history gives an indication of the number of children of each sex that might be expected to have been present in Philip and Mary's household. Lorenzo would be the male aged 10-16. We don't know if Peter was born yet when the census taker came around, so he may or may not be one of the males under 10. Let's assume not for now. That leaves six other sons: John, Henry, Cornelius, William, Walter, and Philip. They could be represented in the three males under 10. The other three sons could have either died or been old enough to be living on their own. According to the history, the daughter Lydia died in New York. If she died before 1820, then the other three daughters: Mary, Louisa, and Phebe, could be the two females under 10 and the one female 10-16. Thus although this census record does not account for all of the children of Philip and Mary, there is nothing inconsistent with this record representing that of the Philip Snyder who was the father of Peter (b. 1820). Given that there were no other Philip Snyders living in 1820 in the part of New York where the 1896 history says he should be, it is a reasonable assumption to assume that this is indeed Peter's (b.1820) father. If I am correct in my supposition that the Peter Snyder b. c.1796 is Philip's brother, then the Philip and Peter Snyder listed in the 1820 census for the Town of Richmond, Ontario Co., NY were brothers and sons of the Philip Snyder who was a native of Germany.
Chapter XXX of the History of Ontario County found by Wib Everett (publication date unknown), gives the History of the Town of Candice on pp. 457-461.
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/images/notes/o...On page 460, it states that Benjamin, Philip and Peter Snyder came to Candice in 1815 but it does not give details. However, the "Town of Candice History" from History of Ontario Co., NY, 1878, p.253-258
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/county/ontario/canadicehistor...gives more details:
"In 1815, Benjamin, Peter, and Philip SNYDER came to Ball Hill. The first took the REMY place, Peter the WHITBECK farm, and Philip the east portion of the lands of the brothers Orlando G. and Andrew BROWN. … Philip SNYDER sold to D. ADAMS in 1838, and from him title descended to Ira MERRILLS and Jairus COLEGROVE, who sold to the brothers named. Benjamin SNYDER sold to E. MACOMBER and H. GREEN. J. DAVIDSON, S. PHIPPS, S. R. HICKOK, and J. DEWEY were successive owners prior to John REMY, the present possessor. Peter SNYDER and Captain GRANBY, a sea-captain in the war of 1812, were almost simultaneous settlers on this farm. The captain soon died. SNYDER sold to John CHAMBERLIN, he to I. W. MITCHELL, and Hart and Murray, Isaac GIFFORD, and Jacob WHITBECK…".
Both of these histories indicate that Peter and Philip Snyder came to the Town of Candice in 1815 and by the proximity of their names indicate that they came together. The inclusion of Benjamin in the list suggests that he might be another brother. There is no Benjamin listed in the census records for 1820 for the Town of Richmond (although there are two in other towns of Ontario Co.). It is possible that he is the 18-26 year old male living in the household of Peter and a younger brother of Philip and Peter.
One potentially problematic issue is the difference in locations mentioned in the census and histories. However, examination of a map of the towns of Ontario County made by Wib:
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/images/notes/o...show that Richmond and Candice are adjacent to each other and both border the present-day Livingston County on the west. ("Towns" in New York are the equivalent of townships in other states, they are not towns in the sense of "villages".) Given the many boundary changes that took place, it is not unreasonable to assume that the towns of Candice and Richmond in Ontario County and Livingston County are approximately the same location. Another potential problem is that the 1878 history says that Philip Snyder sold to D. Adams in 1838. We know from Peter Snyder's (b. 1820) history that his father Philip Snyder died in about 1824. However, it is possible that this indicates that the heirs of Philip Snyder (i.e. his wife Mary) sold the land in 1838. Philip and Mary's son Lorenzo was selling his farm in Bath Township, Allen County, Ohio to move to Michigan at about that time and the history of Peter Snyder (b. 1820) says that Mary moved to Michigan and died at Lorenzo's home there.
The date at which Peter (b. c.1793) moved from New York to Ohio can be inferred from the birthdates and places of his children listed in the 1850 Lordstown census record. As I noted in my second posting, the 1850 census record lists New York as the birthplace of the elder Peter's child Alzina in 1825, but Ohio was the birthplace of his daughter Mary A. in 1827-29. So presumably the elder Peter moved from New York to Ohio between about 1825 and 1829.
If my inferences about the identities and location of Philip and Peter (b. c.1793) in Richmond are correct, then the next important questions is: from where did they come in 1815? This is where the information that Peter's wife Betsy was a Lewis is critical. If Peter married a daughter of Peleg Lewis, then Peter's path (and presumably the path of Philip and Benjamin) must have intersected with that of the Lewis's around the time of the marriage. So an important question is: when were Peter Snyder (b. c.1793) and Betsy Lewis married? In the absence of an actual marriage record, the date of their marriage will have to be inferred from their ages and the birth dates of their children. The 1830 census record suggests both a son and a daughter born between 1810 and 1815. Thus, it is likely that the firstborn child was born at least by 1813 with a possible marriage date of about 1812. In 1812, Peter would have been about 19. Although we don't know the exact birth date of Betsy, if the Lewis inferences of
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/7.htmare correct, she would have been 16 or 17 years old in 1812. These are typical marriage ages for that era. So a guess of 1812-13 would be reasonable for the marriage date of Peter and Betsy. At that time, Peleg and Lydia were probably living in the Town of Otsego, Otsego Co., NY. So it seems likely that Peter (and probably his brothers) were in that part of New York before they moved to Ontario County.
What can we guess about Philip? If the estimates made based on the 1820 census are correct, the oldest three or so sons were probably old enough to be on their own and the oldest would have probably been at least 21 years old. That would put the marriage of Philip and Mary at around 1798. We do not know Philip and Mary's birth dates, except from their age ranges in 1820: 26-45 years. Since they could not have been more than 45 years old, they must have been born after 1775, meaning that they could not have been more than 23 years old in 1798. If we assume that they were about 18 years old when they married, then they would have been born in about 1780. This would make Philip in the order of 13 years older than Peter.
Where might Philip and Mary have been married? Probably no further west than Otsego County, and possibly somewhere to the south or east in New York. The 1885 history describes them as "natives of the Empire State" [New York]. Unfortunately, searching for Sharpsteen in the 1790-1810 census indices produces no results. Another question is when did the Snyders come over from Germany? The 1885 history describes Philip Snyder, father of Philip as "a native of Germany". Peter (b. c.1793) was listed as born in N.Y. in the 1850 census. So this insinuates that the elder Philip immigrated to New York state by that time.
Well, given the large number of assumptions and estimates made in this account, it would probably be advisable for additional research to validate the scenario that I've described here. I will end this series of postings with some research topics and questions that I think would be beneficial for filling out and pushing back the genealogy of our Snyder branch.
1. Attempt to locate more information in 1850+ censuses about the siblings of Peter Snyder (b. 1820) who moved to Michigan. In particular, their birth dates would be very helpful in improving the estimate of the marriage date of Philip and Mary (Sharpsteen) Snyder.
2. Search the land records of the Towns of Candice and Richmond in Ontario County for the transactions described in the 1878 Candice history. Determine if the land sale in 1838 was by Mary rather than Philip Snyder.
http://www.wemett.net/canadice/canadice_forward.html describes "Ball Hill" as follows:
"Canadice lies on the northern declivities of the central Allegheny Mountain Range, Separated by Canadice Lake into two distinct ranges running in a northerly and southerly direction. The west ridge is sometimes written as Bald Hill from the impression it presented to early pioneers, being covered only with small trees and shrubs, burned and stinted by the frequent fires of the Senecas. It was also referred to as Ball Hill from the shape, being a very well formed segment of a circle perhaps twelve or fifteen miles in diameter. …".
3. Look for more traces of Benjamin Snyder and find out his birth date and place if possible.
4. Trace the land transactions in section 11 of Bath Twp., Allen Co., OH to see how the land was passed from Peter Snyder (b. c.1793) to Peter (b. 1820).
5. Look for evidence of the Snyders in Otsego County and of their connection to Peleg Lewis' family. In particular, a marriage record would be nice.
The obvious ultimate goal would be to fix a date on which Philip Snyder came over to the U.S. and then trace the family back to Germany. This will probably be difficult. However, as these postings demonstrate, with a bit of luck and sleuthing the task is not necessarily impossible. Thanks again to Wib Everett who did all of the hard work digging around in New York!
As a parting comment, I think that it is interesting that the knowledge that Peter Snyder married Betsy Lewis establishes a connection between the Bassett's and Snyders at an earlier point than the marriages involving children of Uriah Edgecomb. If Betsy Snyder and Elsie Bassett were sisters (as I now believe was the case) then Peter Snyder (b. c.1793) and Samuel Bassitt (b. 1795) were brothers-in-law. There is a further Bassett-Edgecomb-Snyder connection if the Peter Snyder who married Lydia Doud Brown in 1851 was Peter (b. c.1793). See
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~besr/5.htmSince Lydia and Betsy Doud Edgecomb were sisters, it would mean that Uriah Edgecomb (b. 1781) and Peter Snyder (b. c.1793) were eventually brothers-in-law as well!
Steve Baskauf
Bassett-Edgecomb-Snyder Archives
http://besr.info