My Genealogy Hound

Alexander Snodgrass, his wife Malinda, and their three children — William L., Thomas A. and James C. — emigrated from Sullivan County, Tenn., in the fall of 1854, and settled in Madison Township, Polk County, Mo., on “Jump Off” Creek near the Cedar County line. The family was very poor, having one old horse, ten dollars in money, and such articles of furniture as could be brought in a two-horse wagon, in which they came upon reaching the county. It was one of those “dry years,” consequently this family had a very hard time to get along. The other horse and the wagon belonged to one William J. Lyon who, with his family, came with them. That winter the meat diet of the family consisted chiefly of rabbits, opossums and the like, which, in those days, were quite plentiful. Their house hold furniture for several years was of the plainest description, the two bedsteads used being made of hickory poles with one leg—the side railing, a pole, stuck into a log of the house at one end, and the foot-board, also a pole, stuck into another log, and the other end of each put into this corner leg. The bed-cords consisted of smaller poles. The table was made of round poles, and covered with shaved three-foot clapboards. For the first winter the main lights at night were a pile of dry limbs and brush thrown up in a corner of the room to be convenient and ready for use. About three years after their arrival they bought eighty acres of land, also lying on “Jump Off” Creek, formerly owned by one Louis Igo. This farm the family continued to own, and here the sons were principally reared until 1866. While living there, December 19, 1859, the mother died, and was buried at Red Hill graveyard, then in the woods. The sons of the family received but very limited educational advantages, and the first school attended by William Snodgrass was at “Possum Hollow,” a log school-house painted with yellow mud, one log cut out of the side for a window, split logs for benches, the ends of some of them resting on large rocks, answering as bench-legs. This session attended by William was a subscription school, taught by J. J. Gravelly, who afterward became colonel in the War of the Rebellion, and later a member of Congress and Lieutenant-Governor of Missouri. William taught his first term of school in 1856, in a similar structure higher up the creek, but in the neighborhood, and received eighteen dollars per month, and could not, at that time, cipher out all the “sums” in Ray’s third part of arithmetic. His brothers, Thomas and James, attended school to him at “Possum Hollow,” “Red Hill,” “Jump Off,” and Wesley Chapel, all in the neighborhood. The first certificate given to William to teach was by Nathaniel A. Anderson, school commissioner of the county, and read thus: “W. L. Snodgrass, having produced to me satisfactory evidence of a good moral character, was this day examined by me, and I find him qualified to teach orthography, reading, writing, arithmetic, English grammar and geography, in the public schools of this county.” Mr. Snodgrass continued to teach until the war broke out. Thomas married in the summer of 1860, and moved to Vernon County about the close of the war. William married Miss Melissa L. Marshall, December 4, i860, and moved, with her, his father and his brother James, to Bolivar, in October, 1865, and, while there, was appointed public administrator, but resigned before any estate was in his charge. In September, 1864, Mr. Snodgrass brought the family back to the farm, but, on the 8th of November, 1864, he was appointed clerk of the circuit court by the Hon. Burr H. Emerson, then circuit court judge of the judicial circuit in which Polk County was situated. On the 1st of February, 1864, he returned, with his family, to Bolivar. The cause of his appointment to the office of clerk came about in this manner: While at Bolivar in the winter of 1863, he set “copies” for the judge’s children, and the judge, taking a fancy to his old-fashioned round hand, appointed him to fill a vacancy in the office, November 8, 1864. He continued to serve as such until January 1, 1874, when A. J. Hunter succeeded him, but appointed William L. his deputy. Since that time Mr. Snodgrass has served continuously as deputy under the different clerks, until the present. The father, Alexander Snodgrass, died November 28, 1872. He was a member of the Presbyterian Church, as was also his wife, and was a Republican in politics, as are all his sons. James C. Snodgrass died April 26, 1870, and, at the time of his death, was deputy clerk of the circuit court under his brother, W. L.