The Snell Family History

Ida May Langdon, daughter of Joseph and Annie Langdon, married Willmont Albert Snell on October 5, 1887. The Snell name means the quick agile person. The Snells were early settlers in Virginia. Some of the Virginia Snells were from England, Germany and Scotland, but the Willmont Albert Snell lineage appears to have migrated from England.

The English Snells appear to be from the line of the Snells of Kingston Saint Michaels in Wiltshire. These Snells are found on the rolls of the Lord Abbots of Glastonbury from Reverend Roger Snell of Allington, Vicar of Malmsbury, near Chippenham in 1312, down to Sir Nicholas Snell, Knight, the first protestant in the family, who died in 1577 at Kingston Saint Michaels. The first connection with Virginia is in 1582 when Mary Snell granddaughter of Sir Nicholas, married John Berkeley who was killed by the Indians in 1622 in Virginia.

The first Snell believed to be in the direct lineage of Willmont Albert Snell to come to America was John Snell. He was imported in 1656 to Gloucester County, Virginia by John Curtis. One of John Snell's sons was also named John Snell (John Snell II). John Snell II is recorded in 1704 in King & Queen County as paying quit-rent on 150 acres and in 1724 and 1727 as witnessing deeds. His will dated April 3, 1734 was filed in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. His widow, Elizabeth Snell leased lands in Orange County, Virginia in 1739. John Snell II and Elizabeth Snell had at least four children; John Snell III who died in 1786 in Orange County, Joseph Snell whose estate was appraised in 1760 in Orange County, Martha Snell who married Samuel Hersley in Spotsylvania County in 1728 and Stephen Snell who was the first settler of Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West Virginia) and was killed by Indians in 1755.

John Snell III married Philadelphia Foster. In 1739 John Snell III planter of Orange County and Philadelphia his wife executed deeds to lands in Spotsylvania County. John Snell III and Philadelphia had at least eight children; John Snell IV who died in 1820 in Scott County Kentucky, Philemon Snell who died in 1797 in Albemarle County, Virginia, Robert F. Snell who died in 1827 in Orange County, Edsom Snell born between 1762 and 1767 fought in the Revolutionary War, Patsy Snell who married William Collins in 1776 in Orange County, Philadelphia Snell who married a Phillips, Catherine Snell who married Haskew Foster in 1794 in Orange County, and Sarah Garnet Snell. John Snell III "Planter of Saint Thomas Parish" died on June 5, 1786.

Philemon Snell was born in Orange County, Virginia. A deed shows he owned 65 acres of land on Virgin Spring Run in Albemarle County, Virginia. Philemon and his wife had at least five children; Lewis Snell born in 1760, Thomas Snell who fought in the Revolutionary War, John A. Snell, Susanna Snell and Albert Snell. John A. Snell in December 26, 1804 married Anna Richardson, daughter of Richard Richardson, in Albemarle County. John A. and Anna Snell had a son they named Albert Snell who was born in 1824.

Albert Snell is found in the 1840 Census in Saint Annes Parrish of Albemarle County, Virginia. This is the county where Charlottesville is located near the Blue Ridge Mountains. This area of Virginia was one of the earliest iron producing regions of colonial America. It is believed that the Snells were engaged in work associated with the iron industry there.

It appears that Albert Snell migrated to Lawrence County, Fayette Township, Ohio shortly after 1840. In any event he was in Ohio on October 10, 1843 when he married Sarah J. Anderson in Lawrence County, Ohio by Minister Elijah Frampton. Sarah J. Anderson was born in Virginia circa 1828.

(It should be noted that a discrepancy exists on the birth dates of Albert and Sarah Snell between the cemetery monuments which lists 1814 and 1818 respectively and the 1860 census where both are listed as ten years younger than the tombstones indicate. The 1870 census also indicates Sarah to be ten years younger. I assume the tombstones to be incorrect.)

Albert was a blacksmith by trade according to the 1860 Census. At the time of this census Albert and Sarah Anderson Snell had five children living at home; Albert Leonadis Snell born in August, 1846, Payton S. D. Snell born in 1848, Susan B. Snell born in 1852, Sarah L. Snell born in 1856 and George H. Snell born in 1859. At least four other children were born to Albert and Sarah. Lillian Snell was born in 1856, William Snell was born in 1859, Willmont Albert Snell was born in 1863, Benjamin Franklin Snell was born in 1867 and Silas Kenton Snell born in 1867.

The elder son, Albert Leonadis lived in Ironton, Ohio most of his life and died about 1873 according to a real estate transfer to his son found in the Ironton Register.

Wilmot B. Snell related to me that his father Charles told him that his grandfather Albert Snell was killed in 1870 in a threshing machine accident at Bays Hollow of Buffalo Creek. In the 1870 census Sarah Snell is listed as the head of the household. At the time of this census the children listed at home were Peyton, Lillian, William, Franklin and Silas. Sarah Anderson Snell passed away in 1876. Both Albert and his wife Sarah were first buried in the Crawford Cemetery adjacent to the Lawrence County Airpark near the mouth of Buffalo Creek on the banks of the Ohio River. Willmont A. Snell, their son, had the graves moved to the Rome-Proctorville Cemetery.

The Census records of 1880 show that in his early teen years Willmont A. Snell, then 17 years of age, along with his older brother William, then 19 years of age, were steamboatmen (steamboat workers) on the Ohio River. Steamboats played a major role in the development of the Ohio River Valley. The railroad reached the Ohio River at Huntington in 1870 just ten years earlier. Huntington was a major terminal where travelers and cargo were transferred between the railroad to the steamboats. The steamboats would then carry the cargo and passengers to Cincinnati, Saint Louis, or any other point along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and their tributaries.

At the time of the 1880 Census Willmont A. and William Snell were living with their older sister Susan B. Snell Howell. Susan had married Silas Howell in 1868 when she was 14 years old. They lived in Fayette Township in 1880. Willmont A. Snell's first name was spelled several different ways in the various records, i.e. Wilmott, Wilmot and Willmont. His nickname was "Mont".

Ida May and Willmont A. Snell's first child was Charles William Snell who was born on June 12, 1888 at a Rockwood, Ohio address. This was probably the family farm on Little Buffalo Creek which consisted of about 200 acres. Livestock, poultry, dairy products and orchard crops were marketed door to door mainly in Huntington, W. Va.

No bridges existed across the Ohio River in that day. A ferry took the horses and wagon across the river from a landing at the mouth of Symmes Creek. In the winter time one could often go across the river on the ice. Sometimes in dry summers the river was so narrow and shallow it could be forded. This time period was well before the installation of navigational locks and dams which were not completed until 1929.

Willmont A. was also a building contractor. He built many houses in the Chesapeake area besides the ones on the Little Buffalo Creek farm. Most of the houses still are occupied today. Many of the houses he built, including the one I lived in as a small child, were constructed of brick. Many of the foundations were made from large sand stones.

Willmont A. was an early member of the Tallow Ridge Baptist Church. During a three week revival service in November 1890 he joined the Church. Willmont A. served as a Trustee for 49 years. He also served as Church Treasurer, Sunday School Teacher and Superintendent at various times. In September 1892 the congregation completed renovation of an older Church building on Tallow Ridge. Later the Church changed their name to Mount Pleasant Baptist Church. In 1947 the congregation built a new Church building and moved to its present location on Buffalo Creek.

Willmont was not the best automobile driver. He had a difficult time adjusting from a horse and wagon. He had two collisions with trains in his lifetime. On one occasion he was hit by a train near the Carlyle Tile Quarry at Coal Grove. He ended up in the Deaconess Hospital in Ironton. Willmont did not trust banks and frequently carried a considerable amount of money on his person in a cloth draw string bag. Even when he was taken to the hospital he had not lost his money bag. However, the money bag was an embarrassment to his son because often when making a purchase his money would fall out all over the place as he tried to find the correct amount.

Willmont A. and Ida Langdon Snell had a second son, Noah E. born in 1893. Noah and his mother both died at home on the farm on Little Buffalo Creek in 1896. Ida died on the kitchen table during an operation for a ruptured appendix.

Willmont A. remarried later to Cyntha Viola Pemberton. They had a daughter they named Ethel Luellen. Luellen married Richard Cheek. For several years the Cheeks lived in Chesapeake.

Around 1920 Willmont A. retired from farming and turned over the farm to his son Charles W. Snell. Willmont and Viola moved from the farm to the house just down Little Buffalo. Willmont A. Snell died at his home (North Kenova was the address at that time for Little Buffalo Creek) on April 2, 1944 at the age of 81 of a heart attack. According to the obituary in the Ironton Tribune "Mr. Snell was a pioneer resident of the eastern section of Lawrence County and had several friends in that community. He was active in the Mt. Pleasant Church and a community leader." His older brother William (Will) who had moved to Albia, Iowa several years earlier returned with two of his daughters for the funeral. His other brother Silas K. Snell was living at Lexington, Missouri. (Many of Willmont's brothers and sisters lived in the Lexington, Missouri area and are buried there.)

Following Willmont's passing Viola moved to Chesapeake into one of the houses her husband had built. Viola was known as Grandmaw Dolly to her step grandchildren. She passed away in 1954.

As a youth Charles William Snell attended the Buffalo School located at the junction of Big Buffalo and Little Buffalo Creeks. When he was ten years old he received a book, Mosses From An Old Manse by Nathaniel Hawthorne, from his teacher. The written inscription reads: "To The Premium Speller Given at Buffalo School March 10, 1898. Mrs. Pearl B. Schug. Teacher."

Charles William Snell, according to his daughter, found his father to be a harsh taskmaster around the farm. So Charles William left Little Buffalo Creek to join the U. S. Army. One of the places he was stationed was Fort Riley, Kansas where he was a Private First Class of the Hospital Corps. One of the important ratings of a soldier in those days was horsemanship. Charles had enlisted when he was 19 years old at Columbus, Ohio and served 3 years.

After serving in the Army Charles returned home to Lawrence County. He attended Marshall Academy (now Marshall University) in Huntington, W. Va. where he earned a Teaching Certificate and began teaching school in Lawrence County at Getaway. He lived on the family farm on Little Buffalo Creek and walked to Getaway and back every day to teach. After a short time teaching he decided to join the U. S. Navy.