Jacob C. Snider

1791 - 1865  (74 years)

• Name	Jacob C. Snider
  Born	19 Feb 1791	Franklin Co., Pennsylvania   [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
  Gender	Male
  Name	Jacob C. Schneider
  Occupation	1835	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [7]
  	miller
  Residence	1845	194 Forsyth Dr., Waterloo, Ontario
  Occupation	1861	Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [6]
  	Gentleman
  Residence	1861	Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [6]
  	Mennonite
  Eby ID Number	00106-5817
  Grave Photograph - Find A Grave	Gravestone Image
  Died	19 Jun 1865	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1, 2, 3, 5, 8]
  	Cause: liver complaint and dropsy
  Buried	21 Jun 1865	First Mennonite Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [3]
  Person ID	I960	Generations
  Last Modified	6 Apr 2024

  
  

  Father	Christian Schneider,   b. 28 Aug 1758, , Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania ,   d. 6 Aug 1850, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 91 years)
  Mother	Elizabeth Erb,   b. 23 Jan 1770, Warwick Twp., Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania ,   d. 29 Sep 1818, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 48 years)
  Married	1789  [1, 9]
  Family ID	F4942	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Elizabeth Cressman,   b. 10 Jun 1791, , Montgomery Co., Pennsylvania ,   d. 12 Jan 1879, , Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 87 years)
  Married	21 Jul 1812  [1]
  Children	1. Mary Snider,   b. 19 May 1813, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 9 Nov 1831  (Age 18 years)   2. Rev. Elias Snider,   b. 3 Sep 1815, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 24 Apr 1890, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 74 years)   3. Elizabeth Snider,   b. 19 Apr 1817, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 13 Jan 1855, Near Bloomingdale, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 37 years)   4. Menno C. Snyder,   b. 15 Aug 1819, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 2 Feb 1889, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 69 years)   5. Jacob C. Snider,   b. 12 Jan 1822, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 12 Mar 1857, Desjardin Canal, Near Hamilton, Wentworth Co., Ontario  (Age 35 years)   6. Anna Snider,   b. 23 Jul 1824, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 23 Apr 1890, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 65 years)   7. Daniel C. Snider,   b. 4 Apr 1827, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 28 Oct 1889, West Of Waterloo Park, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 62 years)   8. Susannah Snider,   b. 4 Apr 1830, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 14 May 1916  (Age 86 years)   9. Christian Snider,   b. 16 May 1833, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 9 Aug 1836, Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 3 years)
  Last Modified	7 Apr 2024
  Family ID	F325	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Jacob C. Snider "was born in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, February 19th, 1791. On July 21st., 1812, he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of John and Anna (Schowalter) Cressman. She was born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, June 10th, 1791 and died in Waterloo, Ontario, January 12th, 1879. Soon after his marriage he moved on his farm a little to the west of the town of Waterloo where he resided until his death. Not many years after his arrival in Waterloo County he purchased the mill property belonging to the estate of Abraham Erb. Here he was engaged, besides farming, in the milling and saw-mill business and later erected the distillery. He died June 19th, 1865, leaving a family of nine children Eby, Ezra E. (1895). A biographical history of Waterloo township and other townships of the county: being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin: as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character. Berlin [Kitchener, Ont.]: [s.n.]. __________________________ St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church The congregation was founded in 1837 by Rev. F.W. Bindemann, pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Kitchener; early services were held in homes or other suitable meeting places. Property for the first church building was purchased from Jacob C. Snider for 5 shillings (approximately $1.25). The cornerstone was laid in the spring of 1838 and dedication services in the new church at 72 King Street North in Waterloo were held in the fall of the same year. Rev. Bindemann was pastor. He was replaced in 1841 by Rev. Jacob Huettner of Preston who then ministered to both congregations. When the church's first membership list was compiled on October 24, 1841, the congregation numbered sixteen persons. The frame church was destroyed by fire and replaced by a new, larger one in 1883. This, too, was destroyed by fire - on October 31, 1959. The congregation then built a new stone church at a new location on Willow Street, with dedication taking place on October 14, 1962. Early pastors except for Rev. Bindemann (1837-1841), who was asked to resign in 1841, were Revs. J. Huettner (1841-1849), F.A. Peifer, Immanuel Wurster (1851-1855), and Jacob Hoelsche who began his ministry in 1855. Rev. Wurster ministered to St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Preston jointly with St. John's for one year until assuming charge of only Preston in 1855. Waterloo County Churches A Research Guide To Churches Established Before 1900 By Rosemary Ambrose _______________________ On the 19th of June, in Waterloo Co., C.W., of liver complaint and dropsy, Jacob Schneider, aged 74 years, and 4 months. He was born in Franklin Co., Pa., in 1791, emigrated with his father to Waterloo Co., C.W., in 1805; married to Elizabeth Kressman in 1812, and leaves an aged widow and 5 children to mourn their loss. He was calm and composed during his sickness and we hope he has gone from this weary world to rest in his Father's house in heaven. He was buried on the 21st, followed to the grave by a large concourse of relatives and friends, on which occasion the brethren Geo. R. Schmidt and Joseph Hegey preached a funeral discourse from Rev. 3: 21. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I I(sic) also overcome, and am set down with my Father in his throne." E.S. Herald of Truth July 1865 - Vol. II, No.7 Page 56 ______________________ On September 1st, 1829, Abraham Erb transferred 240 acres of land including his saw-mill and flour-mill to Jacob C. Snider, who had moved from Pennsylvania to a farm a little west of the present town, and Mr. Snider, great-grandfather of Frederick W. Snider, who is now, with his partner, the owner of the same flour mill, carried on business here for many years. As the waterpower was not sufficient for his purposes, he installed a steam plant. As he then had more power than he required, he added a distillery to his other lines, and this branch of the business was carried on actively for a long time. His son Elias then rented the mill, and, as he objected to having the still, his father removed it to his own farm. Jacob C Snider transferred 320 acres to his son Elias in 1853, (see County Records), including the mill property and much of what is now the central part of town. A landmark for many years was a tall poplar tree which stood near the mill. It was said that early in the century a poplar switch was used to drive a team of horses from Pennsylvania, and, on his arrival, the driver planted the switch near the mill. It grew to be a very large tree, five feet or more in diameter, and for many years a heavy cable circled it several times as an anchor for a tall iron smokestack, the bark finally growing over the cable. The tree was cut down in the 90's to make way for street improvements, the tree having been planted before there was a street. The community had a very slow growth for three decades or more after Abraham Erb first located in the cedar swamp, for Jacob C. Snider, like his predecessor, was not anxious to sell his land in small lots to intending settlers. He had a large family and preferred holding his lands as an inheritance. ....In the year 1854, Elias Snider sold most of his holdings of land to John Hoffman and Isaac Weaver, retaining the mill property, the dam and various lots. The price obtained was said to have been $32,000. The land was surveyed by Mr. Schofield, a well known Berlin surveyor of that time, staked off into lots, and the lots sold. Sixteenth Annual Report of the Waterloo Historical Society, 1928, A Historical Sketch of the Town of Waterloo, Ontario, Clayton W. Wells, L.D.S., D. D. S. ________________________ Snider - Forsyth - Home 194 Forsyth Dr, Waterloo Part of Lot 22, German Company Tract The Germany Company, originating in Pennsylvania, was initially comprised of 26 shareholders. These shareholders raised 10,000 pounds to purchase 60,000 acres of property which came to be known as Waterloo Township. The property was bought from Richard Beasley. He, along with two partners, had purchased a total of 94,012 acres from the Crown who held the land in trust for Chief Joseph Brant of the Mohawk or Five Nations Indians. This transaction took place in 1798. Lot 22 of the German Company Tract originally comprised 448 acres stretching between boundaries now defined approximately by streets Erb and Glasgow. It was sold by David and Jacob Erb, agents of the German Company, to Abraham Gingrich in 1805. In 1815, David Gingrich, Abraham's son, sold the lot to John Binkley of Ancaster. Binkley, in turn, sold the entire 448 acres to Jacob C. Snider in 1842. Jacob C Snider was a Mennonite. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1790 and worked as a yeoman. His wife, Elizabeth, was born in 1791. The house at 194 Forsyth Drive was built by Jacob C. Snider in 1845. This fact is recorded in the census records of 1861. The original house was a two-storey, typical Georgian frame with walls 15 - 16 inches thick. These walls were made of concrete and brick, and were covered by a clapboard exterior. The entire house, at that time, was comprised of the present day living room and centre hall. In 1853, Jacob C. sold the property to his nephew, Samuel S., a farmer. In 1864, Samuel took out a mortgage for $6,000 from the Canada Permanent Building Society. The mortgage was discharged in 1863 according to the 1861 census. Samuel and his wife Anna had 8 children - Cyrus, Elizabeth, Catherine, Hiram, Samuel, Menno, Susanna and Titus. With a family of this size it is speculated that the money was used for very needy additions. These included four second floor bedrooms, a third floor attic, a dining room, and the present-day kitchen. The architectural design of the addition was Gothic rather than the original Georgian. This is evident in the pointed cathedral window, the centre peaked roof, and the decorative mouldings above the east and west entrances to the centre hall. One of the interesting additions to the house involves a separate building of brick construction which may be entered from the living room of the main house. The date of this addition is unclear according to some reports. It was used as a laundry prior to 1936. In a recent interview with Mrs. Howard Snider, who moved into the house as a new bride in 1929,[Howard and Linda were married in 1919] this addition was referred to by her as the "milk house," for the farm was still operational in those years. Mrs. Snider's daughter recalls, "my sister was old enough then to do the selling [of milk] to the townspeople. We would bring the milk from the barn, and use the milk house as our dairy." It is quite possible, however, that this building had been constructed prior to 1851 as "the doddy house" of Jacob and Elizabeth, for the census records of that year described their home as a "one storey brick." It was a very common Mennonite practice in those days for parents to have an add-on building constructed to the home of a son or daughter. Housed in this room is an enormous Dutch oven which was used for cooking. It remains uncertain whether this was the original location, or whether it had been relocated from another area of the house. While the large metal doors used to close the oven have been removed to expose the hearth, the cranes for supporting huge cooking pots remain. Of the 448 acre property, Samuel sold 117 acres to his son, Titus, in 1903 for $8,000. In 1908, the executors of Titus Snider sold the property to George H. Hahn for $10,550. Six years later, the land was returned to the Snider family, this time to Jacob S., a ninth child of Samuel S., born after the 1861 census. The cost was $17,550. For the same amount Jacob sold the land to his son Howard S. in 1929. Jacob and his family then moved to the farm house now designated as 131 William Street West [Waterloo]. Howard sold various parcels of his land off, including a sizeable portion to the Westmount Golf and Country Club, and 56 acres, a at a cost of $16,782 to John Derby C. Forsyth. The Forsyths, who purchased the property in 1936 never lived at 194 Forsyth Drive, the street which now bears his name. It was purchased as a guest house. Shortly after they acquired the property, the old barn was torn down and an elaborate new one was built. Pine beams from the old were salvaged and sawed into mellow panelling for the livingroom and master bedroom of the house. "He didn't want to leave the land empty," said Mrs. Forsyth, "so he put in grain and bought a herd of purebred Jersey cattle. He lost money every year." In 1947, the house was sold to Dominion Life Assurance Company. They planned a housing development and put the house up for sale. While the tender of Dr. Archie Case was not the highest submitted, his plans for the house most appealed to the company, and the property became his the following year. In his renovations, three-quarters of the house was replastered, and the old fashioned closed stairway was opened onto the centre hall. Part of the livingroom was put up on jacks, and garages were constructed under it at basement level. Adverse to change of any sort in the refurbishing, Dr. Case contracted for copies of the rotting window sashes, interior trim; and clapboard for exterior repairs was specially milled. In 1963, the house was sold to Mr. and Mrs. J. Askin. Subsequent owners to the Askins included Mr. and Mrs. D. D. Epp in 1978 - 1980, and a Ms. D. Crossan and a Mr. D. Zimmer, 1980 - 1982. Much of the research for the history was done by Marg Rowell, Waterloo. This was printed with permission by Marion Roes from the framed history hanging in the hall of the 2008 owners.

  
  

• Sources

  [S3] Book - Vol I A Biographical History of Waterloo Township and other townships of the county : being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin..., 267. [S3] Book - Vol I A Biographical History of Waterloo Township and other townships of the county : being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin..., 477. [S47] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - First Mennonite CC#4507 Internet link First Mennonite Cemetery online. Zum Andenken / von / Jakob C. Schneider / gestorban / den 19ten June 1865 / im Alter von / 74 Jahr 4 Monat / (verse) [S131] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo Twp. - 1851, Div 3 pg 139. [S32] News - Herald of Truth, July 1865 - Vol. II, No.7 Page 56. [S1885] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo City - 1861, Waterloo 1861 Dist. 1 Page 5. [S9] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - Canada Museum und Allgemeine Zeitung (1835-1840), 12 Nov 1835:12. last Tuesday Rev B. Eby m. Elias Schneider (son of Jacob Schneider, miller) to Hannah Bingeman, both of Waterloo. [S168] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo North - 1871, Div. 3, Pg. 32. [S3] Book - Vol I A Biographical History of Waterloo Township and other townships of the county : being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin..., 615.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 19 Feb 1791 - Franklin Co., Pennsylvania Occupation - miller - 1835 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - 1845 - 194 Forsyth Dr., Waterloo, Ontario Occupation - Gentleman - 1861 - Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Residence - Mennonite - 1861 - Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Died - Cause: liver complaint and dropsy - 19 Jun 1865 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Buried - 21 Jun 1865 - First Mennonite Cemetery, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth