The Snyder family · 1745 to today
How a Schneider household from Hessen crossed on the Two Brothers and became the Snyders of Hempfield and Franklin Township, told from the records.
One family. Two continents. A road cut through the mountains to a burned fort, and a carpenter’s line that still runs through Westmoreland.
Every claim on this page carries a label so you can see what it rests on.
I · Münster
Münster, near Butzbach in Hessen, was first written down as “Munstere” in 1271. Its parish took the Reformation in 1531, and it served the neighbouring village of Fauerbach as well. History
Here the family’s story begins with Johannes Conrad Schneider, born about 1723 in Fauerbach, and his wife Barbara Ursula Roeder. Published history
Their son Johannes Heinrich Schneider, later John Snyder, was born on 25 March 1745 and christened in early April. Published history
Online indexes place the christening in Münster bei Butzbach in one record and Münster bei Dieburg in another. Sources differ The church-book page itself will settle it, and it is the next record we are after.
II · The Two Brothers
The ship Two Brothers, under Captain Thomas Arnot, ran the emigrant route many times: down the Rhine to Rotterdam, across to an English Channel port, then on to Philadelphia, where the men on board swore their oaths at the Court House. Record
The family’s crossing followed that route. Family research
List 131 · last from Cowes
14 Sep 1749
Johan Christ Schneyder signs, with several other Schneider men.
RecordList 177 · last from Cowes
15 Sep 1752
Conradh Schneider signs his own name.
RecordList 208 · last from Portsmouth · family crossing
28 Sep 1753
Captain’s list #48: Johs Snyder. He signed Johannes Schneider (no mark). Two other Schneiders signed that day: Johann Mahteis (#22) and Johann Philipps (#74). This is the Two Brothers run that called at Portsmouth (Gosport).
RecordOur family reads #48 as Johannes Conrad (JC). His son Johannes Heinrich (JH) came with him; under sixteen, so not named. Family research
Several Schneider men crossed on the Two Brothers in these years. The others had different wives, and that is how our family is told apart from them. Family research
Only men sixteen and older signed the oath lists. Wives and children were not named, so a boy born in 1745 would not appear by name. A second list (1752) has a Conradh Schneider; that reading is kept in the sources but is not the family call.
III · Meanwhile, at the Forks
While those ships worked the Atlantic, the Forks of the Ohio were a prize between empires. The roads cut to take them became the roads the settlers later used.
The frontier
The family
IV · Schneider becomes Snyder
John Snyder, DAR patriot A106922, died on 22 November 1814 in Westmoreland County and is buried at Mount Zion Lutheran and Reformed Cemetery near Mayfield, under a stone carved in German. Published history
On a 1782 class roll of the Northampton County militia, Matthias Snyder stands in Captain Adam Diehl’s company, fourth class. That service is the basis for DAR patriot A133455. Record
Family trees name Mathias as John’s son. DAR’s list of John’s children does not include Mathias yet, so we are still working on that link. Research continuing
V · Over the mountains
The county historians write that after the war Matthias, born and raised in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, to a German-speaking family, came into Westmoreland while the forest still pressed in on the clearings. He settled about four miles northwest of Greensburg, in Hempfield Township, worked as a shoemaker, and worshipped at the Reformed church under Rev. John William Weber. He married Lucy Kuhns, died fairly young of a fever, and was buried in the German cemetery at Greensburg. Published history
He was still on the eastern militia roll in 1782, so the move came after that. One later history gives 1794 and a farm near Jeannette. Sources differ
Letters of administration on his estate were issued about 8 June 1813. The full estate file has been ordered; it may be the paper that names Jacob as his son. Record (abstract)
VI · Through Jacob
Jacob Snyder, named in the county histories as Matthias’s son, was born on 16 March 1797 in Hempfield Township and died on 11 January 1886. He learned the carpenter’s trade and worked at it for thirty years, including on the Old Manor and Brush Creek churches. He married Mary Marchand of the French Huguenot Marchand medical family, and in 1831 settled the Moore tract in Franklin Township, a mile and a half west of present-day Delmont. Published history
Their son Jonathan (1832–1916) married Jennet Sword and kept the old homestead. Published history
From there the line runs forward through Jacob of Trafford and Wilkinsburg (1860–1952), James Edward Snyder Sr. (1889–1958), James Edward Snyder Jr. (1921–2011) of McCandless, and Richard Snyder of Wexford, to Jonathan R. Snyder. Published history
Forbes’s axe opened the mountains. The baptism, the estate file, the church books: those are the records still on their way.
If you hold a family Bible, a letter, a deed, or a photograph with a name on the back, it may be the piece that settles a question here.