Page:Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, Containing a Concise History of the Two Counties and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families.pdf/730

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COLUMBIA AND MONTOUR COUNTIES ' to the bar in 1882. M r. Snyder served (or a time as supervising principal of the Blooms* burg public schools, and in 1884 w as elected prothonotary. filling the office for two consectitive terms, six years. A t (he end o f hts last term he opened an office in the M . E. Ent building, now the Farm ers' National Bank building, and practiced law until his death. At that time he was a notar)’ public, and attorney for the Bloomsburg poor district. A s a lawyer M r. Snyder was known for his thorough and e.xact knowledge o f difficult points o f law* and as a man he w as greatly admired for his happy di.sposition and frankness. Possessed o f keen judgment, he alw’ays expressed himself clearly and positively u(>on any matters o f which he had correct knowledge. H e died N ov. n, 1898, at the age o f fifty-seven years, eleven months, eighteen days, and is laid at rest in Laurel Hill cemetery* at Orangeville. H e w as a member of the Keform ed Church, having been confirmed in Orangeville by the Kev. A lfred Hautz. On Dec. 26, i868* Mr. Snyder w as married* by Rev. E . B . Wilson, at the Stillwater (P a .) parsonage, to Sarah M. Fleckenstine, and in the course o f time six children came to bless their home for a little while. Bruce ) . died Nov. 14* 1879. at (he age o f four years, six months, as the result o f whooping cough. Wtb liam R. died Feb. 9, tS8i* aged five months. In 1884 (he saddest loss came to the parents. Three of their children passed aw ay in the short space o f three weeks of the terrible scourge o f childhood—diphtheria. Charles J . died Oct. 6* 1884, aged thirteen years and two months: George R . died Oct. 24, 1884. aged one year and ten months; and Jennie C died Oct. 28, 1884, aged sixteen years, eighteen days. Paul 11., the b s t of the children, was bom Oct. 23, (885, attended public school and w as president of the senior class of the high school and of the Franklin Literary So ­ ciety* when he died, Dec. t. 1902, o f typhoid fever. Memorial services were held at the high school building* M iss Lau ra Prosser read­ ing his biography and the class singing his favorite hymn, “ .Abide With M e.” Resolu­ tions. written by Edna Briggs, M ary W clliver and Silas Kiddle, were also read. In 188c M r. Snyder bought a home a l the corner o f Fourth and Catherine streets, and there his widow stil! lives. She w as bom M ay 24. 1844, in Orangeville, second daughter o f Nathan Fleckenstine and Catherine Poc, and attended country school until she was nineteen. Every* day she faithfully walked a mile and a half to the Khool. where she sat

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on wooden benches and wrote standing up against the wall at the crude desks of the time. In those days punishments were more severe than at present. Besides whipping, a split stick was sometimes clamped over the fleshy part of the ear. where the piercing for earrings w as done, thus causing much pain. M rs. Snyder w as confirmed under Rev. W il­ liam Goodrich, of the Reform ed Church at Orangeville* when she was fifteen years old, and lived at home until her marriage. Since her husband's death she has taken great in­ terest in the cause o f temperance* and is presi­ dent of the Charity Union. She attended the International Sunday School convention at San Francisco, Cal., in 1 9 1 1, and w as a dele­ gate to the W orld’s Sunday & h o o l convention at Zurich* Switzerland, in 19 13 . Joseph Foe, grandfather o f Mrs. Snyder, was a first cousin o f E d gar Allan Poe. He w as bom in Albany township, Berks Co., Pa.* Sept. 19, 1790. H is parents w’crc o f French and English descent. H is father came to America with a colony of Ocrmans who set­ tled in Berks county during the days o f In ­ dian occupation, and served as a captain in the Revolutionary* war. H is mother w as a rel­ ative of the Booth family which furnished so many illustrious members to the dramatic stage. George Poc and his w ife Ephic (uncle and aunt of Joscph Poc)* and Sarah (Booth) Foe* mother o f Joseph Poe* are all buried within an inclosure in the Mifllinville cemetery, their resting places being marked by monu­ ments erected by Joscph. Ferdinand Booth, with his w ife and baby* Sarah* se*cn weeks old, was living in a log house southwest o f Mifllinville in 1777. Dur­ ing the absence of the father and the hired girl Indians captured the mother and child and carried them to the Wyoming valley, and thence to Ohio. In the latter State M rs. Booth was forced to m arry an Indian chief, but was treated well, although alw ays watched. A fter eleven years had passed she was assisted to escape with the cnild by a fu r trader* who brought her hack to her home. There she found the husband had married again, thinking her dead. She refused to interfere with him. so he built her a house some distance from the one he lived in. and there she reared Sarah to womanhood. There the father of Joscph Poc married Sarah Booth, the stolen chi d. and Joscph was born after (heir removal to Albany township. Joscph Poe was but sixteen years old when he was apprenticed to U r r y Ruck, o f Blooms­ burg, (0 learn the trade o f shoemaker. A fte r